Multicultural Communication

In this clip, the ISRC (International Committee of the Red Cross discuss how the Red Cross performs humanitarian aid within the political climate and upheaval of the modern world. Members of the board include someone from Great Britain, Switzerland, France, and Belgium. The discussion between persons from different countries and cultures is a fascinating watch to see how influence, negotiation, and immunization takes place at the highest levels.Liking They all communicate very formally, sometimes clumsily, in English. Several elements of influence are demonstrated. At the conclusion of her opening remarks, Bea Ivanhoe, Director of the ISRC Visitor Service Center, refers to Peter Manure as ‘his Excellency'. This is not common language, but in a formal, eastern European setting, this provides Mr.. Manure a form of Authority. When one leader refers to another in this manner, it makes clear to the audience that Mr.. Manure likes the presenter, and his credibility can easily transfe r in the audiences mind..Liking is defined as a principle â€Å"that holds that people are more likely to be influenced by those whom they like or with whom they have similarities† (Localhost & Burton, 2010). When introducing Mr.. Manure, Ms. Ivanhoe actually nods her head in subjection as well. Social Proof Alexander Basel begins his speech in his native French when speaking to his immediate superiors. However, when opening remarks begin to be addressed to the general audience, he transfers to English. This is a way of demonstrating social proof hat he is well respected by his compatriots, and therefore should be respected by other on the panel and in the audience.Social proof is defined as a â€Å"principle of influence that states people are more likely to want to do something if they believe that many others are doing the same thing or buying the same product† (Localhost & Burton, 2010). Reciprocation When the panel begins its discussion, Mr.. Manure discusses how Professor Musses Capita mentioned that the ISRC is successful because it runs away from politics. Mr.. Manure compliments Professor Capita on his expertise, then disagrees to say that the ISRC works within the confines of the political landscape, but does not run from it.This compliment then disagree is all done without emotion, and done in the same way that DRP. Capita speaks, this is a form of reciprocation. As defined, reciprocation is a â€Å"principle of influence that states people are more likely to say yes too request when the requester has done something for that person in the past† (Localhost & Burton, 2010). Non-verbal Communication & Conformity Antonio Gestures (Portugal) begins his discussion with much more facial expressions ND hand gestures than the remainder of the board.When asked questions, he uses his body language to appear humble in his responses and positions. This non-verbal communication gives an appearance of conformity, and shows he is not one to reb el against the group.

Answers to lectures 5, 7, 8

Answer to Lecture 5 – Health Plan OperationsIn the article released by Healthcare Price, Cost and Utilization Benchmarks entitled ‘Study Reveals Best Practice In Plan Administrations’, it was stated how Sherlock Company conducted a very innovative study on more than 1,700 statistical data of finance and operations (Study reveals best practice in plan administration, 2006, p.214).   From the given article, if I were to pick only three operating metrics, which I would use in monitoring a health care plan, I would choose the following metrics:Membership growth rate – This is very important, since it reveals the highest rate of membership growth, which is directly connected to the total marketing and commission costs.   Going over the advertising & promotion, the average group size, the total marketing, and the commissions would make way for lower advertising costs, which would deliver greater privileges of producing higher profits and income.Total Costs of Market – This is also very important, since it reveals the overall cost of marketing, from advertising costs to product development and marketing research.   It would reveal the customer satisfaction rate, and would be linked to membership growth rate and group growth rate.   Higher costs mean growth for the product.Local Market Share – This cannot be abandoned as well, especially that it shows the rates of marketing and members, wherein greater rates mean fewer opportunities for brokers.   Market share would reveal the approximate number of employees, as revealed in the study (Study reveals best practice, 2006, p.214).   This influences the total cost of marketing, which would directly influence savings and profit.The membership growth rate, the total costs of market, and the local market share are three of the most important metrics that can be used in monitoring health care plans.   They are directly linked to one another, and producing one without the ot her would be almost useless.   The whole picture is drawn by comparing the three most basic metrics as a whole.Answer to Lecture 7 – Public Sector Managed Care  In the article released by Managed Healthcare Executive, and written by Jill Wechsler (2007), it revealed how the Congress pushed through its legislation to entail the Health and Human Services or HHS to â€Å"negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies on prices for medications covered by the Medicare drug benefit† (Wechsler, 2007).   The ‘non-interference’ act of the Medicare Modernization Act or MMA was replaced with the HR 4, with a requirement for the government to negotiate prices of drug manufacturers on prescription drug plans and the Medicare Advantage drug plans.From what it appears, the federal government’s act of negotiating drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries is a good and sensible act.   Medicare is a government health care project.   It concerns medi cal privileges that are to be scattered among its legal citizens, and would, therefore, need proper execution of prices, products, and the market.   A failure in this aspect would not only affect the citizens of the present era but also those that would avail it in the future.   As spoken by Sen. Baucus, the act would also produce â€Å"better prices for seniors† (Wechsler, 2007), so that it reflects a good and sensible act, so long as there is a rightful cause and target for each of the projects and legislations involved.Certain monopoly drugs need greater attention and supervision by the government, which Wechsler proposes as the â€Å"certain unique drugs where the market fails to provide seniors with affordable medicines† (2007).   A targeted legislation will do no harm—even to the ongoing market competition—if the pharmaceutical companies are treated evenly and fairly, not as an interference to the marketing environment, but as a way to manage the environment more effectively without the use of tricks.   However, this would also mean that what Wechsler (2007) indicated as a ‘limited clout’ would have to be improved for greater liberty on the side of the pharmaceutical companies.   Limiting their capacity should give rise to other opportunities that can be made available, other than their freedom to negotiate prices.Answer to Lecture 8 – Trends and Current IssuesIn the article released by the HealthLeaders Magazine entitled ‘5 Intersections’, Jim Molpus revealed that â€Å"Healthcare is approaching a hopeful turning point in 2006†¦ the intersection of extreme cost pressures with improving technology† (2006).   He described the ‘high cost and poor quality’ of the healthcare industry, saying that ‘optimism’ would make way for future influences and development that build some ‘propitious intersections’ and what Molpus called â€Å"a nav igable healthcare system† (2006).There are five trends that would most probably arise in terms of healthcare management: first is the explosion of P4P or pay for performance, which is improving nowadays, as stated by the CMS; second is the improvement of quality of healthcare service, especially since only 55% of the total amount of patients in U.S.A. receives recommended care service (Molpus, 2006); third is the decline of what he called the ‘mess-information era’, where the dispense of healthcare information will center more on consumer needs; fourth is the growing force of the uninsured, wherein the middle class is also being swept down among the list of the uninsured; fifth and final trend is that the stakeholders will start in becoming more self-interested, together with the growth of the P4P programs (Molpus, 2006).If I were to choose mainly one of the five trends that appear to be the most important for the country at the present era, it would definitely be the fourth trend, which speaks of the growing force and number of the uninsured.   This appears to be the most significant among the five listed under trend because it is the most powerful evidence that is available, which would prove that the healthcare industry is in critical need for some quality improvement, some redesigning and reinvention.   It is the most powerful force that would influence the explosion of P4P, the improvement of quality, the decline of the mess-information, as well as the booming of more self-interested stakeholders.   There are 45.8 Americans that are without adequate health insurances (Molpus, 2006), and this should trigger forces among its citizens.ReferencesMolpus, J. (2006, December). 5 Intersections. Retrieved March 30, 2008, from the HealthLeaders Media database: http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/81594/topic/WS_HLM2_MAG/5-Intersections.html.Study reveals best practice in plan administrations. (2006). Healthcare Price, Cost and Utilizat ion Benchmarks, 4, 214-215.Wechsler, J. (2007, February). Congress moves to curb Medicare drug spending. Retrieved March 30, 2008, from the Managed Healthcare Executive database: http://managedhealthcareexecutive.modernmedicine.com/mhe/Politics+and+Policy/Congress-moves-to-curb-Medicare-drug-spending/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/401866.

Mobile Phones Essay

A mobile operating system, also referred to as mobile OS, is the operating system that operates a smartphone, tablet, PDA, or other digital mobile devices. Modern mobile operating systems combine the features of a personal computer operating system with touchscreen, cellular, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS mobile navigation, camera, video camera,speech recognition, voice recorder, music player, Near field communication, personal digital assistant (PDA), and other features. History Main article: Smartphone Mobile operating system milestones mirror the development of mobile phones and smartphones: ââ€" ª 1979–1992 Mobile phones have embedded systems to control operation. ââ€" ª 1993 The first smartphone, the IBM Simon, had a touchscreen, email, and PDA features. ââ€" ª 1996 Palm Pilot 1000 personal digital assistant is introduced with the Palm OS mobile operating system. ââ€" ª 1996 First Windows CE Handheld PC devices are introduced. ââ€" ª 1999 Nokia S40 OS was officially introduced with the launch of the Nokia 7110 ââ€" ª 2000 Symbian became the first modern mobile OS on a smartphone with the launch of the Ericsson R380. ââ€" ª 2001 The Kyocera 6035 is the first smartphone with Palm OS. ââ€" ª 2002 Microsoft’s first Windows CE (Pocket PC) smartphones are introduced. ââ€" ª 2002 BlackBerry releases its first smartphone. ââ€" ª 2005 Nokia introduced Maemo OS on the first internet tablet N770. ââ€" ª 2007 Apple iPhone with iOS introduced as an iPhone, â€Å"mobile phone† and â€Å"internet communicator.†[1] ââ€" ª 2007 Open Handset Alliance (OHA) formed by Google, HTC, Sony, Dell, Intel, Motorola, Samsung, LG, etc.[2] ââ€" ª 2008 OHA releases Android 1.0 with the HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1) as the first Android phone. ââ€" ª 2009 Palm introduced webOS with the Palm Pre. By 2012 webOS devices were no longer sold. ââ€" ª 2009 Samsung announces the Bada OS with the introduction of the Samsung S8500. ââ€" ª 2010 Windows Phone OS phones are released but are not compatible with the previous Windows Mobile OS. ââ€" ª 2011 The MeeGo the first mobile Linux, combined Maemo and Moblin, was introduced with Nokia N9 in effect of cooperation of Nokia, Intel and Linux Foundation ââ€" ª In September 2011 Samsung, Intel and the Linux Foundation announced that their efforts will shift from Bada, MeeGo to Tizen during 2011 and 2012. ââ€" ª In October 2011 the Mer project was announced, centered around an ultra-portable Linux + HTML5/QML/JS Core for building products with, derived from the MeeGo codebase. ââ€" ª 2012 The Lenovo K800 will be the first Intel powered smartphone (Android OS).[3] ââ€" ª Common software platforms ââ€" ª See also: Comparison of Android devices, List of BlackBerry products, List of iOS devices, Comparison of Symbian devices, and List of Windows Phone devices ââ€" ª The most common mobile operating systems are: ââ€" ª Android from Google Inc.[4] (free and open source)[5] ââ€" ª The Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.0.1 ââ€" ª Android was developed by a small startup company that was purchased by Google Inc. in 2005, and Google continues to update the software. Android is a Linux-derived OS backed by Google, along with major hardware and software developers (such as Intel, HTC, ARM, Samsung, Motorola and eBay, to name a few), that form the Open Handset Alliance.[6] Released on November 5th 2007, the OS received praise from a number of developers upon its introduction.[7] Android releases prior to 2.0 (1.0, 1.5, 1.6) were used exclusively on mobile phones. Most Android phones, and some Android tablets, now use a 2.x release. Android 3.0 was a tablet-oriented release and does not officially run on mobile phones. The current Android version is 4.1. Android releases are nicknamed after sweets or dessert items like Cupcake (1.5), Frozen Yogurt (2.2), Honeycomb (3.0), Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) and Jelly Bean (4.1). Most major mobile service providers carry an Android device. Since the HTC Dream was introduced, there has been an explosion in the number of devices that carry Android OS. From Q2 of 2009 to the second quarter of 2010, Android’s worldwide market share rose 850% from 1.8% to 17.2%. On 15 November 2011, Android reached 52.5% of the global smartphone market share.[8] ââ€" ª The Apple iPad tablet computer uses a version of iOS. ââ€" ª bada from Samsung Electronics (closed source, proprietary) ââ€" ª This is a mobile operating system being developed by Samsung Electronics. Samsung claims that bada will rapidly replace its proprietary feature phone platform, converting feature phones to smartphones.The name ‘bada’ is derived from ë °â€Ã«â€¹ ¤, the Korean word for ocean or sea. The first device to run bada is called ‘Wave’ and was unveiled to the public at Mobile World Congress 2010. The Wave is a fully touchscreen running the new mobile operating system. With the phone, Samsung also released an app store, called Samsung Apps, to the public. It has close to 3000[9] mobile applications. ââ€" ª Samsung has said that they don’t see Bada as a smartphone operating system, but as an OS with a kernel configurable architecture, which allows the use of either a proprietary real-time operating system, or the Linux kernel. Though Samsung plans to install bada on many phones, the company still has a large lineup of Android phones. ââ€" ª BlackBerry OS from RIM (closed source, proprietary) ââ€" ª This OS is focused on easy operation and was originally designed for business. Recently it has seen a surge in third-party applications and has been improved to offer full multimedia support. Currently Blackberry’s App World has over 50,000 downloadable applications. RIM’s future strategy will focus on the newly acquired QNX, having already launched the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet running a version of QNX and expecting the first QNX smartphones in early 2012.[10] ââ€" ª iOS from Apple Inc.[4] (closed source, proprietary, on top of open source Darwin core OS) ââ€" ª The Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and second-generation Apple TV all use an operating system called iOS, which is derived fromMac OS X. Native third party applications were not officially supported until the release of iOS 2.0 on July 11th 2008. Before this, â€Å"jailbreaking† allowed third party applications to be installed, and this method is still available. Currently all iOS devices are developed by Apple and manufactured by Foxconn or another of Apple’s partners. ââ€" ª S40 (Series40) from Nokia (closed source, proprietary) ââ€" ª Nokia uses S40 OS in their low end phones (aka feature phones). Over the years over 150 phone models have been developed running S40 OS.[11] Since the introduction of S40 OS it has evolved from monochrome low resolution UI to full touch 256k color UI. ââ€" ª Symbian OS from Nokia and Accenture[4] (open public license) ââ€" ª Symbian has the largest smartphone share in most markets worldwide, but lags behind other companies in the relatively small but highly visible North American market.[12] This matches the success of Nokia in all markets except Japan. In Japan Symbian is strong due to a relationship with NTT DoCoMo, with only one of the 44 Symbian handsets released in Japan coming from Nokia.[13] It has been used by many major handset manufacturers, including BenQ, Fujitsu, LG, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sharp, andSony Ericsson. Current Symbian-based devices are being made by Fujitsu, Nokia, Samsung, Sharp, and Sony Ericsson. Prior to 2009 Symbian supported multiple user interfaces, i.e. UIQ from UIQ Technologies, S60 from Nokia, and MOAP from NTT DOCOMO. As part of the formation of the Symbian OS in 2009 these three UIs were merged into a single OS which is now fully open source. Recently, though shipments of Symbian devices have increased, the operating system’s worldwide market share has declined from over 50% to just over 40% from 2009 to 2010. Nokia handed the development of Symbian to Accenture, which will continue to support the OS until 2016.[14] ââ€" ª The Palm Pre running HP (formerly Palm)webOS. HP purchased Palm in 2010. ââ€" ª Windows Phone from Microsoft (closed source, proprietary) ââ€" ª On February 15th, 2010, Microsoft unveiled its next-generation mobile OS, Windows Phone. The new mobile OS includes a completely new over-hauled UI inspired by Microsoft’s â€Å"Metro Design Language†. It includes full integration of Microsoft services such as Windows Live, Zune, Xbox Live and Bing, but also integrates with many other non-Microsoft services such as Facebook andGoogle accounts. The new software platform has received some positive reception from the technology press.

Can those who commit violent crimes be considered otherwise ordinary Essay

Can those who commit violent crimes be considered otherwise ordinary young men Discuss - Essay Example Higher quality essays are different from lower quality example essays in the sense that higher quality essays are well-referenced with credible resources. These high quality essays hardly utilize personal opinions of the authors; instead, they utilize facts and other information supported by research and other scholarly studies. The references used in these high quality essays are also credible and reliable sources, with authors who are considered experts in the field they are writing on. These studies are also peer-reviewed and evaluated by other similar experts. They are also published in credible journals, publishing companies, news writing crews, and academic websites. The resources are also unbiased as they are not being financially supported by private firms or companies who can manipulate the information being used. There are no logical fallacies in the references used by the authors; the statements made by the authors are well-supported by facts, statistics, and empirical dat a. In effect, they flow from one logical truth to another, making the results valid and reliable for the study being carried out. The studies cited in the example essays used in this study also included detailed bibliographies at the end of their writing. The more detail contained in the referenced, the higher the quality of the essays. This helps ensure that the references can be evaluated by other authors and the process of research itself is repeatable and verifiable. I used the information gained from critiquing the essays in order to provide structure to the essays. I compared such information with each other and compared the results for these studies, noting differences and similarities in results based on such information. Studies which presented the most reliable information after each view were included in the study. The studies which provided reliable data were also compared with each other and later critiqued based on methodology and ethical validity. Studies which did no t pass muster under ethical validity were discarded in favour of other more reliable studies. I also used the information gained from the critique to gain credible information which I then compared with other credible studies. Inconsistencies in data or differing results merited a repeat evaluation and critique of the example essays in order to weed out possible causes of inconsistencies. A high quality essay is also one which is structurally sound, using any of the academically recommended styles like APA, MLA, and Harvard styles. The grammar is correct and consistent all throughout the essay. There are no spelling mistakes and the writing style is formal and academic. There are no abbreviations and contractions throughout the text and the proper headings and page numbers are included in the text. With these structural and functional elements, and with proper references, a paper can be deemed high

CF&F in Light of the Aforementioned Areas Research Paper

CF&F in Light of the Aforementioned Areas - Research Paper Example A need arose to change management of the organization. The following are some of the problems: Training for the hourly employees and the management – after the promotion of the frontline supervisors, none of them received any managerial development training. The management of the company has been promising the hourly employees that they will get training and promotion but this has never happened. They are now afraid that the management is not adhering to the company policies. Communication – there is lack of communication in the organization. The absence of communication is felt all over the organization, that is, between the managerial positions and between the management and the employees. Teamwork – teamwork lacks in the organization. This can be ascertained by the allegations raised by both the frontline supervisors and the employees. The employees allege that the frontline supervisors do not offer them enough training. On the other hand, the frontline supervisors allege that the upper management does not support and respond to the concerns raised. There are a number of causes of the mentioned problems. These causes stem from the past management, for example, the frontline supervisors were promoted within the company and the once promoted, they did not receive any management development training, the management has been promising the hourly employees that they will get training and promotion but this has never been fulfilled, the management of the company has not been adhering to the company policies and they are forcing the employees to follow the policies, this has made the employees feel resentment, the lack of training among the employees is attributed to the fact that the frontline supervisors are overwhelmed by the production schedule.

Methods available for the assessment of alcohol abuse Essay

Methods available for the assessment of alcohol abuse - Essay Example neurotransmitters like the opioid systems, dopamine, serotonin and gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) and their interactions are most affected (Chastain 2006). Being volatile, alcohol can be inhaled during ingestion and freely diffused into the airways (George, et al. 1996). This property became the basis for the breath test for estimating levels of blood alcohol (Hlastala 1998). Changes in levels of important enzymes were based on the effect of alcohol on hepatic functions and characteristics (Purohit and Brenner 2006) and other diseases (Purohit, Khalsa and Serrano, 2005). Liver damage due to alcohol has been attributed to increased oxidative stress which could be due to alterations in the liver’s antioxidant defense mechanism. Chronic ethanol intake was found to decrease cytosolic and mitochondrial glutathione/glutathione peroxidase-1 activities by 40% and 30%, respectively thereby promoting the oxidative modification of liver proteins (Bailey, et al. 2006) (Cunningham and Bai ley 2001). The long-term mean daily intake of 61.6 g of ethanol increases the frequency for fatty liver and alcoholic hepatitis (Savolainen, et al. 2007). Ethanol transfers from the blood into the air sacs in the lungs, and thus, consumption can be routinely determined by what is known as the breath test (Hlastala 1998). The breath alcohol concentration predicts the blood alcohol concentration at certain time points. The development of breath testing instruments (â€Å"breathalyzers†) has resulted in a low-cost, accurate, rapid and painless ethanol quantification. The level of alcohol exhaled is then multiplied with a factor to get an approximation of blood alcohol. However, many factors can affect the breathalyzer results; among these is diabetes (which can increase blood alcohol levels due to ketogenic reactions in the body (Berg, Tymoczko and Stryer 2002). In emergency cases where a breath test is not suitable, ethanol concentrations can be determined from blood, urine and saliva

Carmen by Georges Bizet - Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Carmen by Georges Bizet - Report - Essay Example The costumes of the opera singers were typically in the character of a Spanish Seville setting. At one point we saw actual Toreador clothing. PERFORMANCE SETTING According to the Grove Music Online the opera was chosen after a French book. A distant cousin of Bizet was one of the two people who wrote the libretto. The librettist were Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy. (Grove 2011)They wrote for other French composers. Bizet chose the subject himself. He wanted to use melodrame as it had been used since 1850 in opera comique . (Grove 2011) An opera where there was dialogue accompanied by music was a technique that came from Italy in the opera buffa. TYPE(S) OF MUSIC . The opera was an opera comique taking after the opera buffa in the classical period. There were spoken parts. Carmen, the provocative bohemiane gypsy was a mezzo- soprano. Don Jose was a tenor which is higher than a bass. Before the opera began there was a short spoken introduction. I did not listen. I was too excited to hear the performance begin. Carmen is a gypsy who provokes men into loving her. A soldier, Don Josee, sees her kill another women and takes her to the police. He falls in love and lets her go. When he finds her again, she is already married to someone else. He becomes a bandit. He kills Carmen out of jealousy or madness because she won't come back to him. This soldier is Don Josee. Carmen, Don Josee, Micaella, and Escamillo are the principal characters. It was so different seeing the opera on stage than seeing it on a screen; the sounds of hearing the whole hall were amazing. Knowing that Bizet never had been to Spain makes one wonder how he could have written such Spanish sounding music. The Grove's said his opera changed the Spaniard's conception of their own music. The two parts of the opera chosen were. Carmen's Fate aria, and the Duet in Act IV before Don Josee kills Carmen. Carmen's Habanara "aria" is using all of Bizet's use of musical genres. 1. It starts with the use of voi ce as if were spoken drama with music being played under the voice. Please note the music is not accompanying the voice at certain points where it is at others. 2. The voice is used in dialogue with the chorus answering 3. The voice is used as an accompaniment to the chorus 4. The voice is used as a solo without any instrumental accompaniment. 5. The full orchestra with the full chorus begins the Fate "aria" The second part chosen is in Act IV of the opera. It is the final duet which ends the opera. The duet between Carmen an Don Josee is exquisitely beautiful. It is long for a duet of the Romantic Era. Bizet uses many techniques to change the emotions and the color of the aria. In the beginning there is very little instrumental intervention and the voices are calm. He is singing of how he loved her and she is saying she doesn't anymore. There is a build up of emotions when she says in the bottom of her soul she doesn't love him. The percussion and strings are playing and there is a change of attitude of Don Josee. He starts to beg and she sings in duet that she cannot go away with him. At one moment we hear the chorus and orchestra playing the Toreador theme. Don Josee knows Escamillo is coming and starts to sing more quickly. When he sings he is going to kill her, the key (tone ) changes to minor and the bass instruments play to show the gravity of the situation. He does kill her and the Toreador, Escamillo comes. This is a duet with

Information systeams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Information systeams - Essay Example More so, the bank offers offshore banking services for the UK expatriates and foreigners residing in the UK. On the other hand, Barclays bank traces its origin in 1690 through a gold smith banking business in London. Later in 1736, an investor named James Barclay joined the business, which expanded tremendously to become a nationwide bank under the name Barclays and Co. Currently, the bank is a British multinational banking as well as a financial service company whose headquarters are in London, UK (Jain, 2005:96). The bank serves millions of customers with its outstanding services like saving accounts, current accounts, loans, mortgages, and much more all over the globe. This paper will evaluate the process of the two named banks’ personal loan processes and compare the two bank processes, not forgetting to outline the type of information system the banks use to process the personal loans NatWest personal loan There are two types of personal loans, which are secure and unsecu red loans. Unsecured loan is that which is supported by the credit worthiness of the borrower without using collateral or property. On the other hand, the secured loan is the loan acquired after rendering property or any other collateral as security to stand in place of the loan acquired. Unsecured loan is the most common type of loan acquired by individuals of all categories. To begin with, NatWest bank offers unsecured personal loans at a rate of 8.9% APR typical and this loan is available to existing current account holders only. The other account holders like the Advantage Gold,  Advantage Private, and Black Current Account holders the APR or preferential representative rates at 6.4% for loans ranging between ?7,500 and ?14,950. In addition, the applicant must be eighteen years and above and should be UK residence. In order for a borrower to estimate or work out how much loan he would like to borrow, the rates, monthly repayments and total loan costs, the bank offers personal loan calculators online. More so, the bank offers Jargon Buster to clarify confusing terminologies that are commonly associated with loans. Prior to unsecured loans, the bank also offers secured personal loan. This is a type of loan granted by banks over security of one or more asset. These assets will belong to the bank after the customer defaults on his personal loan repayments. In most cases, this loan is offered to people who offer houses or even personal vehicles as their security or collateral, which means that customers with these assets are the only individuals entitled to the loan. Unlike the unsecured loans, secured loans are more flexible in a manner that the borrower chooses on the period of repayment and can borrow as much amount of cash as they need as long as it is of the same value with the asset offered. Nevertheless, secured and unsecured personal loans fall under the same department. NatWest secured personal loan interest rates are paid based on personal circumsta nces where loans extending to ?14,950 have a maximum term of five years, while loans ranging from ?14,950 to ?25,000 have a maximum period of seven years. More so, home improvement loans over ?15,000, the repayment period takes up to ten years. In addition, no matter how much the amount one borrows, NatWest offers a minimum term of one year, and the borrower can repay the credit earlier

Costa Rican Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Costa Rican Economy - Essay Example (Culture in Costa Rica 2002) Recently, Costa Rica has been trying to shift its economic trend, and adopting a more global approach. Plans are to turn Costa Rica, from a coffee exporter, to a silicon based company. Skilled labor, new opportunities, global participation is the new goal, as it is with most developing countries. (Costa Rica Businesses 2008) A small scale chain of grocery stores in a developing country can go both ways when it comes to 'making it'. If we talk about the current world events, then there are many going on right now. With the phenomenon of global inflation taking over the planet, businesses, both small and large scale, are feeling the thump. A global issue that engulfs us all, are the prices of fossil fuels, namely; oil. As oil prices sky rocket above, everyone is feeling the shock. Major steps are being taken such as the development of alternative fuels, international talks, visits and conferences. This is an issue that affects the global economy. A grocery store chain in Costa Rica wo uld be no exception. It is simple economics that, the inflation caused by the rise in oil prices, would result in higher prices of goods and products all across the globe. Products will be more costly to produce and thus, will be exported at a higher price. The local Costa Rican grocery store will have inflated prices as well, of both, local and imported products. As prices of products increase, their demand goes down. Extreme conditions could result in recession or worse. Local producers would find it costly to produce with input costs going high because of the oil prices, and thus, a decrease in production could result in loss of jobs and a lower standard of living. This situation can be seen in many regions around the world including many third world countries. Obama vs. Clinton Another major global event is the U.S presidential elections. The ongoing rivalry between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is heating up day by day. (Troy 2007) The United States being a neighboring country and a trade partner can have a significant role in the Costa Rican economy. A change in government often results in a change in trade policies and international relations. New government expenditure would result in creation of employment in the country. This would open up newer opportunities to earn and contribute to a raise in the GDP. Demand for local and imported goods would increase and people would be willing to buy more. If situation in the U.S improves further and employment over there increases, such activity can bring about a rise in the demand for Costa Rican imports. As a result, employment is created in Costa Rica, with production increasing and firms hiring more skilled and unskilled labor, resulting in a higher aggregate income level. This would stimulate demand for products locally and people would have a higher level of disposable income. In this way, the chain of grocery stores could experience higher levels of business and revenues. War and Unrest Another major issue is the ongoing unrest in the Middle East. Though the whole scenario may seem geographically far away but the world is a global village now. War and unrest in the Middle East is causing countries around the world to experience threats to national security, strained international relations and so forth. (Yahoo News 2008) With many countries, including the United States,

Operations Strategies at Marks & Spencers Clothing Industry Assignment

Operations Strategies at Marks & Spencers Clothing Industry - Assignment Example Tables of Contents Introduction Operations strategies include all actions that a firm conducts to support the main business strategy. Through development and implementation of such operations strategies firms create strong foundations in their markets thereby outcompeting other competitor firms. Through a particular operations strategy that firm will be able to develop products that win the market by outcompeting products from other companies. To make products succeed in the market, firms set their operations strategies in relation to cost, quality, service, flexibility, and other factors. The situation is similar even in the clothing industry. For instance, Mark’s and Spencer’s use some operations strategies in order to remain successful in the market (Johnson, 2003). This forms the core of this paper. Effects Product design process The product design process is important in developing products that will eventually succeed in the market. The design process must be very innovative (Hsiao, 2004). This process makes products as per the requirements of the customers. In most cases companies use feedback from customers to manufacturer products that meet the needs and requirements of the target customers. Good product designs heavily depend on individual designers (Hemoen, 2013). Marks and Spencer is one of the most successful retailers in the UK due to the numerous competitive advantages the company offers. This attaches to the design process that ensures the company offers good quality products at reasonable prices. The company’s competitive advantage is also because it only sells its own products. The company develops measures to reduce the cost of production through reducing the amount of materials and energy... This essay stresses that the qualifier for the Classic range product its classic and stylish identity, which define most of the classic range products. Another characteristic of the classic range is its good quality. Such order winning characteristics and qualifiers lure the customers into buying these products. The qualifier for Per Una is its high-fashion design trends that make it suitable for teenagers and the young generations full of new expectations. The autograph range display unique designs that are suitable for the design-lovers. All the three clothing ranges at Mark and Spencer relate to some specific operations objectives. These are quality, speed and cost. The classic range manufactures quality products from fabric of very high quality. In terms of speed, the Per Una is an exception since it has to catch up with the changing trends in the clothing industry. This paper makes a conclusion that operations strategies include are important for a firm as it supports the main business strategy of the firm in question. Firms set their operations strategies in relation to cost, quality, service, flexibility, and other factors. The product designing process will affect the operations performance strategies for Mark and Spencer Company. Segmentation is important in the business strategy of M&S because it helps in leading the clothing market. Operations performance objectives for the three clothing ranges at M&S include quality, speed, and cost.

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Marketing - Essay Example The company’s gross turnover for the 2008/2009 full year was reported in February 2009 as ?59.4 billion. The retailer has over 4308 stores in 14 countries worldwide, over half a million employees and it was estimated in 2007 that over ?1 out of every ?7 of UK retail stores was spent in Tesco (Dennis and Perrey, 2011, p.52). Tesco PLC Established by Jack Cohen in London in 1919, it began as a stall in East London before gradually growing to include markets all over London. Cohen thereafter began wholesale trade and within five years, the first Tesco brand appeared, and, in 1929, the first Tesco store was opened. The key to Tesco’s growth over in the XX century lies in its change of image and strategy. Aaker and McLoughlin (2010, p.127) document that from the onset, Cohen’s approach was to sell it cheap a strategy that had caused the company to overstretch itself thereby having dwindling profitability. Prior to 2006, Tesco had faced a number of challenges such as l ow food price inflation, increasing difficulty in getting permission especially for the large Greenfields sites, three strong competitors Sainsbury, Safeway and Asda, being in number two market position and the arrival of two new store formats; the assortment stores and the warehouse clubs. Nonetheless, the store used a number of strategies and a range of innovative schemes to develop its brand name and grow to become a leading supermarket chain by 2006 (Aaker and McLoughlin, 2010, p.52). Retail theory Tesco’s retail format can be analyzed through the Retail Accordion Theory which recognizes the wide-narrow-wide pattern of the dominant retailing which forms the market (Baker and Saren, 2000, p.356). Tesco has continuously changed its strategy and image with the first major feat being able to appeal to all segments of the market, the lower, the middle and the upper classes. The inclusive offer strategy was based on the vision of selling high-quality products at reasonable pric e, a vision that was achieved by offering four different levels of its products. There were the finest range of premium products introduced in 1998, followed by the Tesco Organic rage introduced in 2006 and the Tesco Healthy Living range and, finally, the Value range to attract the price conscious customers was rolled out in 2008 and 2009. This focus on customer’s service lies in the company’s belief in continuously improving the standard of services provided and responding to customer’s needs (Fernie and Sparks 2009, p.49). The retail format Tesco’s retail format is interesting having six different store formats differentiated by the range of products sold and their size, but all branded as variants of the Tesco Umbrellas (Baker and Saren, 2000, p.356). The six formats include the Tesco Extra or the Hypermarkets, Tesco Superstores or the large supermarkets and Tesco Express or the convenience stores, Tesco Home plus, Tesco Metro and Tesco One Stop. Evide ntly, Tesco’s retail outlets range from small local stores often attached to petrol stations to one stop stores with an average of 1,300 square feet providing customers with essential products on a 23/7 basis to the extra stores which are 70 times bigger and cover all the major consumer goods including furniture and entertainment, foods,

Expansionary Economic Policy Essay Example for Free

Expansionary Economic Policy Essay In economic terms, a recession is defined as a general slowdown in economic activity. In an effort to move the economy out of a recession, the government would implement expansionary economic policies. One action the government would take would include conducting expansionary fiscal policy. The other action taken would be conducting expansionary monetary policy. Both of these actions would have an effect on such things as money supply, interest rates, spending, aggregate demand, GDP, and employment. Expansionary fiscal policy consists of change in government expenditures, or taxes, in order in influence the level of economic activity, inflation, and economic growth (Amacher Pate, 2012). Expansionary fiscal policy is when taxes are cut and government spending is increased. Lower taxes will increase disposable income. The increase in disposable income will lead to higher levels of consumer spending. In theory the more money that consumers spend, the higher the chance for economic growth. Tax cuts will also lead to an increase in aggregate demand. Aggregate demand is the total demand for goods and services is the economy. As stated earlier, a tax cut will increase people’s disposable income therefore increasing the amount of money available for consumption. The increase in consumption would increase the demand for goods and services. This in turn increases GDP (gross domestic product). GDP is the value of the total output that the economy produces in a given time period (Amacher Pate, 2012). The higher the demand that there is for goods and services, the need for employees to produces these goods and services are needed. This increases employment. Lower tax cuts will also increase people’s incentive to work. With lower taxes comes more money to spend from their paychecks. There are arguments, from economists and politicians, regarding the effect tax cuts in fiscal policy will have on the economy. Some economists argue that the effect of future tax cuts will lead consumers to change their saving (David, 2008). Some economists feel that people will save the value of the tax cut that they receive today in order to pay those future taxes (David, 2008). Some politicians feel that tax cuts will have no effect because changes in private saving will offset changes in government saving. Tax cuts allow the government to increase spending on special programs and health care. The increased revenue allows a government to borrow less money or lower government debt. This will result in lower interest rates which are beneficial to everyone involved. What is important to look at though is what the increased spending by the government is going towards. Those against increased government spending say that the government spends foolishly. In order to stimulate the economy, the increased government spending needs to go towards those things that are beneficial to its citizens. An example of this would be if the unemployment rate is high and the government spends on hiring workers to fix the roads, this would help to decrease the high unemployment rate. According to a global poll taken in 2009, an average of three in five citizens (60%) supports the increased spending by the government to help stimulate the economy (Global Poll Shows Support for Increased Government Spending and Regulation, 2009). Strongest support is for investments such as renewable energy, green technology, and giving financial support for troubled industries and companies. Expansionary monetary policy is when a central bank, for example the Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed), uses its tools to stimulate the economy. Often times this means lowering the Fed funds rate in order to increase the money supply. What this does is it increases liquidity which gives the banks more money to lend. The result of this would be lower interest rates. The Fed’s use three tools when conducting monetary policy; open market operations, the discount rate, and reserve requirements (How the Fed Guides Monetary Policy, 2011). The most common tool used is the open market operations tool. This is used to buy or sell government bonds on the open market. It is used to manipulate the short term interest rate and the supply of base money in an economy. The discount rate is the interest rate a Reserve Bank charges eligible financial institutions to borrow funds on a short term basis (How the Fed Guides Monetary Policy, 2011). A higher discount rate can indicate a more restrictive policy, while a lower rate can be used to signal a more expansive policy (How the Fed Guides Monetary Policy, 2011). All financial institutions, whether or not they are members of the Federal Reserve System, must set aside a percentage of their deposits as reserves to be held either as cash or as reserve account balances. The Federal Reserve sets these requirements for all commercial banks, savings banks, savings and loans, credit unions, and U. S. branches and agencies of foreign banks (How the Fed Guides Monetary Policy, 2011). This tool is the least common used of the three. There are two kinds of assets that banks can count toward meeting the required reserve. The first is valued cash such as currency and coins. The second, and largest, consists of funds the bank has on deposit with its direct Reserve Bank (Amacher Pate, 2012). A change in the reserve ratio is rarely made and when a change is made it usually is in small amounts. A reduction in the ratio usually has a double impact on the money supply. First, it converts some required reserves into excess reserves. Second, it increases the size of the deposit multiplier (Amacher Pate, 2012). An increase in the reserve ratio works in the opposite way. The interest rate the Fed charges a bank is the discount rate (Amacher Pate, 2012). The higher the rate, the less likely banks are to borrow. The discount rate acts more as a function than a tool in monetary policy. An increase in the discount rate indicates to banks that the Fed wants cool down the economy by reducing bank lending. An increase indicates the Fed’s desire to stimulate the economy. The Fed most likely would increase the discount rate when conducting monetary policy because by doing so, it would keep banks from using this source before turning to other less expensive alternatives. Whether or not the Fed wants to buy or sell government securities depends on this; whether or not they want the funds rate to rise or fall. If the fed wants the funds rate to fall, it will buy government securities from a bank. What happens is that the Fed then pays for securities by increasing the bank’s reserves (frbsf. org, 2011). The banks will then have more reserves than it wants. Then the Fed can lend these unwanted reserves to another bank. If the Fed wants the funds rate to rise, then the opposite will happen. It will sell the government securities. The fed receives payment in reserves from the banks, which will lower the supply of reserves in the banking system (frbsf. org, 2011). To tighten money and credit in the economy, the Federal Open market Committee (FOMC), directs the New York trading desk to sell government securities, collecting payments from banks by reducing their reserve accounts. With less money in these reserve accounts, banks will have less money to lend, interest rates will increase and consumer spending will decrease. This will have a negative effect on the economy. Some may argue that there can be too much expansionary monetary policy. If the Fed stimulates the economy too much, that could trigger inflation. Inflation is when prices rise above the 2 inflation target that the Fed has set. What happens is that consumers will start buying immediately in order to avoid higher prices in the future. This raises the demand which will cause businesses to have to hire more workers to produce the product. The additional income will allow consumers to spend more which in turn will stimulate more demand. This will cause businesses to start raising prices because they know that they will not be able to produce enough. They will also raise prices because they know that their costs will rise as well. This is what will cause an increase in inflation. During a recession, the government will implement expansionary economic policies. One type of policy conducted is fiscal policy. This policy consists of changes in taxes and government spending in order to stimulate the economy. The other is monetary policy, which is when a central bank, such as the Fed, uses tools to stimulate the economy. Both of these policies have been and will be used in the future to stabilize the economy.

Importance Of Continual Self Development Management Essay

Importance Of Continual Self Development Management Essay One of the approaches to leadership is the traits approach as identified by Mullins, 1999 where the assumption is that leaders are born and not created based on the theory of the so-called Great Person theory of leadership. However most of the major existing theories provide the basis that leadership skills can be developed such as the contingency model analyses the leadership styles which can be identified and learned to develop leadership skills. Although leadership and management are seen similar but it has some distinction such as; leaders may not have a hierarchical position but the manager has which was identified by (Mullins, 1999); Leadership does not necessarily take place within the hierarchical structure of the organisation. To be an effective manager it is necessary to exercise the role of leadership (Mullins, 1999). The focus of my work will be on the personal development of managerial leadership where the manager is a leader within a formal hierarchical structure and the word manager and leader has been used interchangeably. For developing leadership and managerial skills the primary initiatives must come from the individual where the opportunities are provided by an organisation. 1. Be Able to Assess and Plan for Personal Professional Development (LO 1) 1.1. The Importance of Continual Self-Development in Achieving Organisational Objectives (AC 1.1) Continuous self-development is the continuous process of developing oneself by building his/her competencies and realizing his/her potential (Rothwell, 2010). Since leaders get others to follow (Mullins, 1999) a leader cannot build talent in others if the leader cannot do it her/him-self (Rothwell, 2010). A leader should realise the importance of continual self-development. The basic concept of continuous self-development has been derived from the concept of continuous development and its objective is to achieve organisational objectives through the recognition of the links between learning and performance (Martin, 2005). An organisation is a group of individuals and as individuals develop, so do the organisations that employ them (Martin, 2005). The performance of employees is directly linked to organisational performance hence the achievement of organisational objectives and the performance of employees can be improved through continuous self-development process. 1.2. Assessment of Current Skills and Competencies against Defined Role Requirements and Organisational Objectives (AC 1.2) Sainsburys is the second retail company in UK (Retail-Index.com, 2012) has various leadership roles and here is an assessment of the skills and competencies requirements against the roles of a cafà © department manager and related company objectives; Skills and Competencies Requirements Role Requirements of a Department Manager of a Depot Company Objectives Related to the Role of Department Manager Leadership skills; Leadership skills are required for the specified role since the department manager needs to lead a group of people in the department and the manager is responsible for them. Knowledge of health and safety requirements are important for the role as the manager will have to ensure safe and secure environment for both customers and other employees. Other skills related with the operations. And all the above skills are required to fulfil the responsibilities and to achieve the objectives. To lead the entire customer restaurant operation to provide a delicious range of meals, snacks and beverages. This will involve providing leadership and coach to colleagues, making sure everyone is in the right place at the right time, and ensuring a safe and secure environment (Sainsburys, 2012). The objective of the cafà © department is to delivering an ever-improving shopping experience for the customers of Sainsburys (Sainsburys, 2012). 1.3. Identifying Development Opportunities to Meet Current and Future Defined Needs (AC 1.3) Here the development opportunities have been identified to meet the current and future needs of the role of a department manager of Sainsburys; Current Skills Needs Future Skills Needs of 2020 Leaders of Sainsburys Development Opportunities The current skills that are required for a department manager are; Extensive leadership skills, Customer service knowledge, Operational knowledge. According to Sainsburys during the next decade, the retail sector will become a very different place (Sainsburys, 2012). To achieve the 2020 vision Sainsburys need the 2020 leaders with different skills and competencies such as; Individuals with; Outstanding intellect, Business acumen and ambition (Sainsburys, 2012). The development opportunities that will be provided by Sainsburys to meet the skills and competencies needs of a department manager under the 2020 leadership programme will be in two phases. First phase: The first phase will involve an introduction to various operational areas such as stores and logistics and then move to Sainsburys local where the manager will be trained on a wider range of retail issues than in a single department (Sainsburys, 2012). The second phase; involves developing the management skills as a Deputy Store Manager or Shift Manager, supply chain management skills, exceptional customer services etc. (Sainsburys, 2012). 1.4. Constructing a Personal Development Plan (AC 1.4) A personal development plan sets out the actions people propose to take to learn and to develop themselves (Armstrong, 2003). The responsibility is taken by the individual and the support is provided by the organisation and their managers. The purpose is to provide a self-organised learning framework as identified by Tamkin, Barber and Hirsh (1995) (Armstrong, 2003). A personal development plan follows the following steps as identified by (Armstrong, 2003); Analyse current situation and development needs Set goals Preparing an action plan Here a personal development plan as a cafà © department manager in Sainsburys has been constructed below; Analysis of current situation and development needs; Current situation; A newly graduate joined as a cafà © manager. No previous work experience Development needs; To obtain operational knowledge, To obtain leadership skills, To obtain knowledge about customer services. To improve innovative and creative skills to contribute to the performance of the Sainsburys cafà ©. (Challenging) Set goals; goals is set to the areas of development needs and they are SMART. Specific: the goals should not be vague. Measureable: the goals needs to be recognised when achieved. Achievable: setting realistic goals. Relevant: have a connection with the development needs. Time bound: there is a time period for achieving the goals. Here are the SMRT and challenging goals for the development needs identified in step one; To read through the operational manual over one month to obtain operational knowledge and perform an MCQ test on operational knowledge. To study books on leadership development and use of coaching and mentor to develop leadership skills for six months and to achieve feedback from the employees. To seek for training on customer services management form the company within six months. To talk with the customers and try to identify their needs and innovate new systems or product idea for improving the performance of the cafà © department. (Challenging) Prepare action plans; The action plan for achieving the operational knowledge might be for example; to collect the operational manual from the office and make copy of them and arrange timely discussion with the senior manager to clearly understand the issues. 2. Be Abel to Plan for the Resources Required for Personal Development (LO 2) 2.1. Identifying the Resources Required to Support the Personal Development Plan (AC 2.1) A personal development plan has been developed in the previous section here the resource requirement has been identified to support the personal development plan; The availability of operational manual and access to it and also online learning resources to so that the operational knowledge can be obtained quickly. An arrangement of training facilities with academic institutions to improve the leadership skills of employees and also different coaching and mentoring facilities to improve the leadership skills. Training and workshop facilities for improving knowledge on customer services. Facilities and options of customer survey to be conducted by the departmental manager so that the departmental manager can develop innovative ideas. 2.2. Developing a Business Case to Secure the Resources to Support the Personal Development (AC 2.2) A business case is a justification of pursuing a course of action in an organisational context to meet stated organisational objectives or goals (Remenyi, 1999). The business case will look at how investment on resources required to support the personal development plan will help achieving various objectives of an organisation; Investment on the resources as identified in section 2.1 will ensure that not only a departmental manager but also other employees will be benefitted to improve their skills and skilled employees will make organisational operations efficient and effective and organisational objectives will be achieved such as minimising costs by improving the efficiency of the organisation. The cafà © department of Sainsburys requires highly skilled employees and with good knowledge of customer services. Investment on personal development resources will help the employees of Sainsburys cafà © department to improve their skills and knowledge with their self-initiatives and in a self-managed learning environment. Employees will improve their efficiency and will reduce the wastage level and minimise the costs hence improve profitability. 3. Be Able to Implement and Evaluate the Personal Development Plan (LO 3) 3.1. Discussion of the Process Required to Implement the Personal Development Plan (AC 3.1) Due to its significant importance in achieving organisational objectives the implementation of personal development plan should be taken very strictly since it is not just mere filling up a performance review from or a guidance note of what employees should do to improve their importance. The introduction of personal development plan requires the following process; Informing the employees: If the employees do not know about the PDP clearly it will be impossible to implement such plan. Hence managers, team leaders and all individuals need to learn about personal development planning (Armstrong, 2009). Participation of employees in the PDP process: Employees should be involved in deciding how the planning process will work and what their roles will be (Armstrong, 2009). Developing a culture of self-learning responsibilities and allowing time and opportunities: It has to be recognised that everyone will need time and support to adjust to a culture in which they have to take much more responsibilities for their own learning (Armstrong, 2009). Providing guidance: Guidance should be given to all concerned regarding how to identify learning needs, the means of satisfying the needs identified and how they should use the available facilities. 3.2. Evaluating the Impact of the Personal Development Plan on the Achievement of Defined Role Requirements and Organisational Objectives. (AC 3.2) We have already considered the role requirements and departmental objectives of cafà © department in Sainsburys retail stores in previous sections which are; To lead the entire customer restaurant operation to provide a delicious range of meals, snacks and beverages. This will involve providing leadership and coach to colleagues, making sure everyone is in the right place at the right time, and ensuring a safe and secure environment (Sainsburys, 2012). The objective of the cafà © department is to delivering an ever-improving shopping experience for the customers of Sainsbury (Sainsburys, 2012). If the cafà © manager prepares a personal development plan such as to develop his/her leadership skills it will help him/her to fulfil his role requirements and achieving the departmental objectives for example the cafà © manager has the responsibilities for leading a group of people and the leadership skills will help him/her in this regard and the leadership skills for example will help the manager to motivate the working group under him to work hard and improve performance of the department hence achieving the objectives. 3.3. Review and Update the Personal Development Plan (AC 3.3) Personal development is a continuous process. Personal development plan is a systematic approach and follows sequential steps in a continuous way. The Scottish Qualifications Authority has identified seven steps process of PDP where the last step is the review and evaluation of the PDP. Review and evaluation of PDP assures that the concerned people have learned something from the PDP process and they can apply the process in the future personal development planning. In the case of Sainsburys cafà © depot the manager can review after frequent interval that the objectives relating to the needs from the PDP are met and take corrective actions and make new and revised plans. 4. Be Able to Promote Healthy and Safe Working Practices (AC 4.1) 4.1. Discussion of the Relationships between Healthy and Safe Working Practices and Organisational Objectives (AC 4.1) The relationship between health and safety working practices and organisational objectives seems very vague at first sight. If we could think an organisation without people there would be no need for this discussion. Organisational objective is a broad concept and there are lot of objectives which pursue an organisations aim, mission and vision. For a simplified discussion we will chose a practical departmental objective of Sainsburys and discuss the relationship between health and safe working Practices and organisational objectives. As it has been identified the objective of the cafà © department is; to delivering an ever-improving shopping experience for the customers of Sainsburys (Sainsburys, 2012). The objective of the cafà © department is very customer centric that the customer must be satisfied. The outcome of productivity inevitably make customer satisfied and in restaurant industries it is very obvious than others. The relationship between customer satisfaction and productivity in the restaurant industry is less ambiguous and customer satisfaction in many ways embodies the ultimate outcome associated with productivity (Gu, n.d.). Healthy and safe workplaces are fundamental to achieving productive work and high quality working lives (Minstry of Business Innovation and Employment, 2012). Hence health and safety practices in the cafà © department can improve the employee productivity which in turn can achieve Sainsburys cafà © departments objective of customer satisfaction. 4.2. An Explanation of the Process for Conducting a Risk Assessment (AC 4.2) According to the Institute of Risk Management risk assessment involves mainly risk analysis and risk evaluation; Risk analysis involves; Risk identification: involves identifying an organisations exposure to uncertainty. This requires detailed information about the companys environment, operation and clear understanding of organisations strategic and operational objectives. In Sainsburys cafà © department an identified risk may be the control of hazardous substances. Risk description: This involves displaying the identified risks in a structured way for better understanding. The above identified risk of Sainsburys can be described as; various cleaning materials used in the kitchen of the cafà © department which are hazardous to health such as; bleach must be used in a guided way. Risk estimation: This involves measuring the possibility of occurrence and the measurement can be qualitative and quantitative. There is a high chance that the cleaning chemicals might become in contact with food. Risk evaluation: involves making decision about the significance of risks. What will be the consequence if such incidents happen; chemicals in food! Causing ill health to customers sues the company resulting to penalty. 4.3. Identifying the Actions Taken by the Manager in Dealing with a Breach in Healthy and Safe Working Practices (AC 4.3) Health and safety in the workplace is a legal issue and in UK it is enforced by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The breach of the law will have serious consequences such as significant amount of penalty and also it has been described how it will affect organisational objectives by worsening employee productivity. The following plan should be under taken if health and safety working practices are breached; To arrange for workshop to improve the knowledge of the employee about the healthy working practices. To give first performance improvement plan if breached after the workshop. To give second performance improvement plan. To give final performance action plan. To dismiss form the job. 4.4. Communicating Responsibilities for Healthy and Safe Working Practices to the Team (AC 4.4) A good communication is essential for ensuring the health and safe working practices without proper communication the whole purpose will be destroyed. Appropriate communication channel must be chosen to make sure health and safety initiatives are co-ordinated and well understood. This may include; Formal: Workplace inspections, health and safety committee meetings, training, incident investigations and reports, or hazard registers; and or Informal: Suggestion box, day to day interactions, tool box meetings or leading etc. 4.5. Relevant Records to Maintain to Demonstrate that Healthy and Safe Working Practices are Met (AC 4.5) Healthy and safe working practices records are both voluntary and mandatory. In UK under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) it is the duties of the employers, the self -employed and people in control of work premises to report serious workplace accidents, occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences (Health and Saftey Executive, 2012). To meet the legal requirements accident and incidents reporting books are maintained by the employers. Organisations also must keep record of health and safety policies manual, health and safety training manual etc. Conclusion Nothing can bring success unless done in a systematic and organised way. Although personal development plan is mostly practiced at organisational level it should start form personal life to decide at a career goal of life and this will bring enrichment in personal life and for the society as well and what would be the meaning of life going on like a rudderless boat when PDP can create a meaning of life.

Benefits of Leading a Healthy Lifestyle for Children

Benefits of Leading a Healthy Lifestyle for Children Unit one – Healthy living Healthy Lifestyle Leading a healthy lifestyle has numerous benefits, a few being: disease and chronic illness prevention, injury prevention, increased energy, healthy weight, good mental health and a prolonged life. There are many chronic illnesses and diseases, but below are six of the most common associated with an unhealthy lifestyle and ways in which they can be prevented: Coronary heart disease (CHD): In order to avoid CHD a low-fat, high-fibre diet is recommended, to prevent high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels, two main factors which could cause CHD. Cancer: ‘Through scientific research, we know that our risk actually depends on a combination of our genes, our environment and aspects of our lives, many of which we can control.’ Reference taken from: Cancer research UK website, ‘Can cancer be prevented’ page, updated April 2014. So although genetically we cannot guarantee whether we suffer from cancer or not, this reference suggests there are things we can do to minimise our chances. Not smoking, limited alcohol consumption, staying safe in the sun and leading a healthy lifestyle are just a few. Stroke: In order to reduce the risk of a stroke we should: avoid smoking and second-hand smoke, eat foods low in fat, cholesterol, sodium and added sugars, check blood pressure often and decrease stress levels, where possible. Diabetes: Eating healthily, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight, in both type one and type two diabetes is crucial to ensure the condition is well controlled or for type two diabetes, prevented. High levels of glucose in the blood is the main cause, therefore a healthy lifestyle which is low in sugar, is strongly advised to minimise the condition. Should it not be controlled adequately then many further complications could be experienced. High blood pressure (HBP): There isn’t always an explanation for HBP, however not exercising regularly, being overweight, consuming too much salt in your diet, drinking too much alcohol and having family history of BPHBP are all factors. Suffering from HBP can lead to the risk of suffering from coronary heart disease and a stroke. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): The main cause of this progressive disease is smoking, and usually affects people over 35years of age, who are or have been heavy smokers. So leading a healthy lifestyle and refraining from smoking will significantly reduce the risk. Overall eating healthily, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight and BMI, limiting alcohol consumption and not smoking will ensure the risks of chronic illnesses and diseases is minimised. Family history can sometimes be a major factor when suffering from any chronic illness or disease, it is believed that the above measures can be taken to minimise the symptoms. Eating Healthily Eating healthily is one of the main ways to lead a healthy lifestyle, along with exercise and good wellbeing. Eating healthily is very important, especially for children to ensure they are consuming essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients, in order for their bodies to function and grow well. To make up a nutritionally balanced plate it is important to choose a varied amount of foods from the five food groups listed below: Carbohydrates Protein Fat Fruit and vegetables Sugars A nutritionally balanced plate should be proportioned as the pie chart shows. I have created this pie chart based on information I have read in my study guide and from http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/eatwell-plate.aspx. Information obtained from NHS choices ‘The eatwell plate’ as of June 2014. Carbohydrates make up quite a large section on diagram above, this is because they contain essential nutrients, and in wholegrain varieties, are a good source of fibre, which in turn is essential for effective bowel function. Carbohydrates are foods such as potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy foods. Meat, fish, beans, eggs, milk, and other dairy products are protein rich foods. Alike carbohydrates, these foods are a great source of essential minerals and vitamins which are necessary for good growth of body cells. Dairy products are a great source of calcium, which helps keep bones and teeth strong, which is essential especially for children whilst they are still growing. Some fat is necessary in our diet, particularly unsaturated fat, as this is a ‘good’ source of fat, because it helps to lower cholesterol levels in our bodies. Unsaturated fat, such as omega 3 is found in: oily fish, nuts and seeds, sunflower and olive oil and avocados. Saturated fats are ‘bad’ as they can cause high cholesterol levels, which built up over time can cause heart disease. However these can still be enjoyed in moderation. Foods high in saturated fat include: fatty cuts of meat, butter, lard, cheese, cream, chocolate, biscuits and cakes. At least five portions of fruit and vegetables should be consumed per person daily, by doing so the risk of suffering from a stroke, heart disease and some types of cancer may be reduced. Also fruit and vegetables are a great source of vitamins, minerals and fibre, therefore helps the digestive tract to work efficiently. Sugar naturally occurs in foods such as fruit and milk, but it’s not these sugars that we need to cut down on – it’s food with added sugar that we need to consume less frequently. Such as sweets, fizzy drinks, cakes, chocolate and biscuits. These foods alike unsaturated fat should be consumed in moderation. Eating too many foods high in sugar can cause weight gain, which in turn can lead to conditions such as heart disease and type-2 diabetes. Activities for young children. There are many activities that can be carried out with young children, which contribute towards a healthy lifestyle. Below I have chosen three that I believe are particularly important and fun! They are favourite activities of the children whom I nanny for. Firstly cooking: the kitchen is the main ‘hub’ of the house, the children’s favourite place to be. Whether the children are old enough to be helping or sat in their highchair watching, I believe children are never too young to be in the kitchen and learning. Every day at least twice a day they will be there offering their help. They enjoy chopping vegetables (with child friendly knives of course), weighing and measuring ingredients, stirring and mixing and even washing up! All of which I believe are some great life skills, that will endeavour that they grow up independent and knowledgeable. Cooking obviously contributes towards a healthy lifestyle when cooking healthy meals and generally the children will eat more when they know what the ingredients are and have helped to prepare it. Secondly Role play: A very enjoyable time for all ages of young children, a chance for a child’s mind to run wild! Imaginative play is a favourite with my nanny family, we could be dressing up and acting out a scene from our favourite book or acting out a real life situation like ‘shops’. The definition of play: ‘When children follow their own ideas and interests, in their own way for their own reasons.’ Reference taken from: http://www.playengland.org.uk/about-us/why-is-play-important.aspx. All types of play have numerous benefits for children, which contribute towards their health and wellbeing. Some of these being: To play better with others and learn to share Enjoyment of childhood and To enhance social, emotional, intellectual and physical development. And thirdly: Physical activities. A trip to our local park is both beneficial for the children and myself. From leaving the house to walk to the park, the children are constantly learning and evaluating situations and there consequences. Firstly by being aware of the space around them (generally the children are on bikes/scooters), and the roads, of which we have to evaluate and discuss a safe crossing time/space. The children benefit from this enormously by learning about spatial awareness, riding/scooting independently on paths and the ‘stop, look and listen’ method when crossing the roads. Then physically they’re benefitting from the exercise to and from the park and the time spent at the park. Most days I aim to get the children to be as active as possible, by encouraging outdoor play, as well as partaking in extracurricular sports/activities that they already attend. I believe these three activities provide children with enough creative, imaginative and physical benefits to contribute towards a healthy lifestyle. Wellbeing for children and their families I believe wellbeing means different things to different people. For me the definition of wellbeing is split into three parts: social and emotional, mental and physical. A child’s wellbeing starts at home, from the very first day they’re born. Maintaining wellbeing in families is imperative for both children and adults. Socially and emotionally I believe it means to be content, happy and loved, not only by yourself but by the people around you. Meaning it is important for a child to feel safe and secure with their family and friends, providing a loving environment, ensuring consistency and keeping to a routine can provide this safety and security. It is important that a child should feel able to express their emotions and concerns with a family member, so I believe it is important to spend quality time with each child individually, to make them feel they have their own opportunity to discuss and show their emotions. Equally it is then important to build a special bond with your child so they feel like they have someone they trust to do this with, being supportive of each other along the way and developing their self-esteem and self-worth. And mental wellbeing, alike social and emotional, means to be happy and living in a way that is good for you and good for others around you. To have good relationships that bring joy, with the people around you. And to feel contentment, enjoyment, confidence and engagement with the world are all aspects of mental wellbeing. To achieve good metal wellbeing you need to connect with the people around you, e.g. your children. Spend time developing and working on these relationships. Teaching your child a new skill such as riding a bike, continue to let them learn and praise and encourage where necessary. Also taking notice and being aware of the present moment can help, taking time to think about the world around you and your feelings and thoughts. Encourage your child to do the same. And finally I believe being active has a huge impact on our metal health. For me personally it’s running, taking 30minutes out of a day to think of nothing but running, helps to clear my head and foc us on what’s important in life. I believe it’s also very beneficial to children as it is adults. And finally physical wellbeing: I believe it means to be healthy, safe, and physically fit. To maintain good physical wellbeing a parent’s role is imperative as a child can’t necessarily ensure they are leading a healthy lifestyle alone. To achieve good physical wellbeing parents should make sure healthy meals are made and that they are encouraging their child to take part in regular physical activity. To maintain a child’s health and safety they should be free from illness, injury and pain. To achieve this regular health checks should be made with the doctor, as well as when an illness/injury may occur. Also keeping a watchful eye to minimise injury is also very important. A child who is in a child care setting, will be evaluated regularly to identify any signs of emotional or social difficulties affecting their wellbeing. If any signs are noticed at home or parents want to be aware of addressing health and wellbeing issues or to discuss any current issues, they can request to attend a workshop which is available to parents, where possible.

Malawi and Tobacco Essay -- Trade Tobacco Malawi Essays

Malawi and Tobacco What strategies can Malawi use to overcome problems relating to a change in demand of its main export, tobacco. QUESTION- what strategies can Malawi use to overcome problems relating to a change in demand of its main export, tobacco? Malawi, a LEDC, located in Southern Africa, has a population of 10 million. Tobacco is its main export and this provides the majority of the countries export revenues. It has become dependant on exporting tobacco to firms based in MEDC's such as the United States. Demand for cigarettes has recently decreased because of health and ethical reasons. Cigarettes, has reached the end on its product lifecycle. However South East Asia remains a growing market, because of the effects of globalisation and dumping. The decrease in demand is a major problem for Malawi, a country that is not market orientated or market aware. Decline in demand for cigarettes will obviously have a direct effect on demand for tobacco because they are complimentary products. With decreased demand for its crops of tobacco, Malawi will find itself in a very dangerous situation that will not only threaten its economic position but the very lives of its population. Another concern that Malawi must take into account is the state of the tobacco industry. At present the market could be described as an oligopoly (see appendix) where suppliers compete on price. The outcome of this is that the firms involved have a high market share and therefore have much power to control supply and demand. They have the power to control prices of tobacco and they can exploit countries like Malawi. The national economy is dictated by exports of tobacco. The decreased revenue, due to loss of demand, will an... ...E UK (BRANDS): Two firms, Gallaher and Imperial Tobacco, who between them, control around 80% of the market, dominate the cigarette and tobacco market in the United Kingdom. One other major firm, British American Tobacco (BAT), manufactures cigarettes in the UK but sells almost all of them abroad. In 1999 BAT merged with Rothmans International thereby increasing its share of the world tobacco market to 15.4%, just behind the world leader Philip Morris which controls 17% of the global market. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www.ash.org.uk http://www.tobacco.org http://www.mcspotlight.org http://www.cdc.gov http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Country_Specific/Malawi.html http://allafrica.com www.google.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk www.altavista.com www.theguardian.co.uk Nuffield Business and economics- Students Book

Human Evolution Essay -- Biology Papers

Human Evolution Human evolution is the biological and cultural development of humans. A human is any member of the species Homo sapiens, meaning "wise man." Since at least the Upper Paleolithic era, some 40,000 years ago, every human society has devised a creation myth to explain how humans came to be. Creation myths are based on cultural beliefs that have been adopted as a legitimate explanation by a society as to where we came from. The science of paleoanthropology, which also tries to create a narrative about how humans came to be, is deeply technical. Paleoantropology is the science of the evolution of humans, and it is the base of all research in that field. Humans have undergone many different changes during the last hundred million years, and it is the paleoanthropologist's job to identify and explain these changes. In this research paper I will examine: human physical traits that define their species, human origins from pre-humans to modern humans, major discoveries and the history of human evolution, and what the future may hold as far as evolution for the human species. Homo sapiens are the only living representative of the family Hominidae. The Hominidae, or hominids are a group of upright walking primates with relatively large brains. So all humans are hominids, but not all hominids could be called human. Next all humans are primates. The mammalian order of primates includes about 180 species of prosimians (lemur like animals), monkeys, apes, and ourselves. Primates are unusual mammals for they have evolved such distinctive traits as highly developed binocular vision, mobile fingers and toes with flat nails instead of claws, a shortened snout with a reduced sense of smell, and large brains relative to body siz... ...hat the species is "going somewhere" under natural selection and then describe how most successful species are stable through their geological lifetimes. Furthermore, given the relative pace of cultural change and lack of isolation of human populations, there is little chance for a new different human species. Modern understanding of human evolution rests on known fossils, but the picture is far from complete. Only future fossil discoveries will enable scientists to fill many of the blanks in the present picture of human evolution. Employing sophisticated technological devices as well as the accumulated knowledge of the patterns of geological deposition, anthropologists are now able to pinpoint the most promising locations for fossil hunting more accurately. In the years ahead this will result in an enormous increase in the understanding of human biological history.

Jean-Paul Sartre Essay

Existentialism focuses on the idea that life has no meaning and is considered absurd. Existential philosophers believe that humans create their own values and determine a meaning for their lives because, from the start, the human being does not possess any inherent value or identity. â€Å"Existence precedes essence† is one of the most well-known existential statements and describes how our concrete being is more important than its purpose. The existentialism movement introduced a new way of perceiving life and was illustrated through poetry, visual art and lecturing. Using these methods poets, artists and philosophers were able to convey the understanding that searching for a meaning to life is futile, and pursuing it can lead to the brink of complete comprehension about one’s purpose for existing, and in turn can cause one to recognize that life is only as meaningful as one makes it out to be. In â€Å"Freedom vs. Determinism† by Tom Greening, the poet rhetorically questions how the universe works in order to show the reader the impossibility of knowing why things happen. Greening uses the line â€Å"While we argue, life goes by† to illustrate the point that no matter how much time and effort is put into fighting over why things happen, life will continuously move forward. He is arguing that if we waste time attempting to understand the meaning of life, we will only reach the edge of understanding. Through the struggle to achieve this â€Å"understanding,† our personal lives can begin to elude us. In â€Å"Untitled† by Jackson Pollock, the artist uses abstract paint dripping and brush strokes to express the idea that life is not meant to be understood. With the painting, Pollock is showing how life is abstract at times, especially when its meaning is pursued. This is similar to the idea in the unifying thematic statement of the futility of searching for the meaning of life. Life’s conceivable meaning is not meant to be understood, much like the painting. In â€Å"Existentialism is a Humanism† by Jean-Paul Sartre, the lecturer defends existentialism from criticisms of being pessimistic and gloomy. He explains that man materializes at birth, and only after this occurs can he make something of himself, creating his own life without any outside force pushing him. He states that man is what he conceives himself to be, and nothing else. Sartre says â€Å"man is nothing other than what he makes of himself,† to convey the idea similar to the one in the unifying thematic statement, that life is only as significant as an individual makes it out to be. All three existentialists used their mediums to come to the conclusion that there is not one concrete meaning to life. Each individual puts meaning to their own lives. Through understanding this principle meaning of existentialism, Greening, Pollock and Sartre exhibited the fact that one should realize the mere existence of life is the only thing that matters, and should not be wasted on vain attempts to understand its meaning.

Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini is well-known Italian dictator. From 1992 to 1943, he ruled over Italy as the leader of the Italian government. His administration adhered to fascism, which was established by Mussolini himself. On the 28th of April 1945, due to uprising and his political defeat, he was captured and executed by a firing squad. Benito Mussolini was born on the 29th of July 1883 in Dovia de Predappio in Italy. His family was not granted with a prosperous life as his father worked as a blacksmith and his mother worked as a grade school teacher.The sinister side of Mussolini materialized even during his younger years. In addition to his inability to perform well academically, he also committed violent acts against his peers. Mussolini was capable of perpetrating menacing and treacherous acts, as he was able to stab one of his schoolmates in his attendance at a boarding school. When he grew up, he was able to get a job as a teacher at a secondary school, after acquiring his college diplom a. In 1904, Mussolini joined attended military services and pursued a career in politics from then on.He united with the Socialist Party. Socialism is a political belief or principle that adheres to equal distribution of property and income between the members of the social system. However, in the advent of World War I, he opposed the Socialist Party and joined the rival nationalist group. Shortly after his crossover, he was able to establish a newspaper, which he called Popolo d’Italia. His political beliefs and ideals served as the backbone of the Popolo d’Italia. His then changed ideologies and principles were learning toward Fascism.Fascism was an established political doctrine where the authority is embodied by a dictator who promoted the primary interest of the nation and enforces tyranny to achieve an end. Mussolini despised communism and socialism. To show opposition for these two parties, he organized a group who promoted the ideas of nationalism. In 1921, the result of the elections put him in Parliament where the National Fascist Party was also organized. Mussolini was the leader of this party who has gained over a thousand followers.He abused his position to stay in power and altered the political system into a dictatorship style of government. Several members of the opposition party were assassinated and mass media was influenced into broadcasting propaganda in favor of the National Fascist Party. During his days as leaders of the Italian government, he employed the use of power and vigor to force people into doing what was favorable to him. However, during the 1930’s, Italy suffered a great blow in its economy.Because of this, Mussolini aimed to establish and develop the Italian Empire. Mussolini believed that in order to improve the economic status of Italy, he should be able to conquer other countries, especially countries in power, in order to capture dominance over the Mediterranean. To further his accomplishment, he supp orted the Nazi Fascist government of Adolf Hitler, and engaged in oppressing the Jews. Because of his brutal means of ruling the government, Italy was not able to bear his rule and discontinued their support for Mussolini.During the World War II, Mussolini submerged Italy into war despite the opposition of the people. It was fear that drove Mussolini into joining the World War II. In this period of chaos and hostilities, Mussolini was able to conquer the European Sea and African Mediterranean Sea, including France, Greece, and Egypt. In the 1940’s, Mussolini suffered a great loss as he lost his control over the Mediterranean Sea. After this political failure, Mussolini was capture and dubbed as the pawn of Hitler.He was shot in Como province leading him to his grave. References About. Com. (2007). The Columbia Encyclopedia: Mussolini, Benito. Retrieved December 7, 2007, from About. Com. Website: http://history1900s. about. com/gi/dynamic/offsite. htm? site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww. b artleby. com%2F65%2Fmu%2FMussolin. html Notable Biographies. (2007). Benito Mussolini Biography. Retrieved December 7, 2007, from Advameg, Inc. Website: http://www. notablebiographies. com/Mo-Ni/Mussolini-Benito. html Benito Mussolini A fascist leader of Italy form 1922 to 1943, BENITO MUSSOLINI, centralized all of his power as the leader of the powerful fascist party and tried to make an Italian empire in coalition with the German dictator Adolph Hitler. The conquering of the Italian army in WW2 led to the end of his grand dream and the downfall of his empire. He was born in the town of Predappio close to Forli in Romagna in July 29 1883 to a Black smith name Alessandro and a School teacher Rosa. Just like his father, Mussolini became a keen socialist.In 1901 he qualified as an elementary schoolmaster. The next year he migrated to Switzerland. There he was having difficulty in finding a stable job and was later arrested because of vagrancy, he was barred from Switzerland and was returned to his native land of Italy to serve in the Military. Due to some more trouble with the police, he started working in a newspaper in the town of Trento in Austria where he wrote a novel The Cardinal’s Mistress which was la ter translated into English. Socialist AssociationsHe was later barred by the Austrians too. He later became an editor of a socialist newspaper La Lotta di Classe (The Class struggle) in Forli. His early passion for Karl Marx was enhanced by a combination of ideas from the innovative policy of Auguste Blanqui, syndicalism of Georges Sorel and the thinking of Friedrich Nietzche. Benito later became a secretary of a local Socialist party in Forli in the year 1910. At this point of life, he had a political view totally opposite to what was to come later. He was antipatriotic.In 1911 when Turkey was to be attacked by Italy, he was jailed for his propaganda of peace keeping. He was later editor of an official Socialist newspaper by the name of Avanti in Milan where he recognized himself as one of the most powerful labor leaders in the Italian communism. He had a viewpoint that the working class should unite into a formidable unit prepared to seize power at any time. From here on than the Fascist movement started. When the WW1 started in 1914, Benito along with other communists agreed that Italy should not be a part of it.The only war acceptable to him was the Class war, and he threatened the government that he will lead a When World War I broke out in 1914; Mussolini agreed with the other Socialists that Italy should not join it. Only a class war was acceptable to him, and he threatened to be the leader of a People’s revolt against the government if Italy was a part of the WW1. After several months he suddenly changed his viewpoint on the war and decided to leave the editorial chair along with the socialist party. Birth of FascismHe established a new paper in November of 1914 by the name of Popolo D Italia and prewar group Fascia d Azione Rivoluzionaria. He clearly hoped that the WW1 would result in the collapse of the Italian government which would gain him power. He was to serve in the military later where he was injured in a grenade practice and because o f that he returned to his newspaper editing. In March 1919 Fascism developed into a planned political movement when Mussolini established the Fasci de Combattimento. He failed in the 1919 elections but later in 1921 he entered into the Parliament as a right wing member.Armed squads were established by the Fascist to terrify Benito’s former communist co workers. The government rarely hampered the movement. He got support from the industrialists and in return he gave his support to strike breaking and later he deserted radical demonstrations. The moderate governments of Giovanni Giolitti, Luigi Facta and Ivanoe Bonomi failed to prevent the increase of chaos, Benito was asked by king in October of 1922 to establish a government. Fascist Dictatorship He was supported by the Liberals in the parliament.With their support he initiated stringent censorship and changed the way elections were held in 1925-26 so that he had absolute power and could suspend all other political parties to work. As he had control over the press, he slowly made a legend of Duce, a human being capable of making everything right and had the ability to solve all the problems whether they are political or economic. Soon Italy became a police state. Whoever resisted him like Giacomo Matteotti did of the Socialist party he was very much cruel to them. He had a great skill in propaganda that he had very little opposition.After 1922, many time he personally took over seven departments at the same time like foreign affairs, ministry of the corporations, Army and other armed service, public works, interior ministry along with the premiership. He was the leader of the Powerful Fascist party which was established in the 1921 and also was the leader of the Fascist armed Militia. This made him to be successful in keeping power in his own hands and averting the surfacing of any competitor. This all came at a price of making a government which was corrupt, over centralized and totally inefficient.He spent most of his time on propaganda whether he was in Italy or some where else, here his training as a journalist was precious. Each and every mode of information was carefully monitored to create a fantasy that fascism was the main principle of the 20th century and was take the place of equality and freethinking. He wrote an article in which he laid down the principles of this policy which appeared in Encyclopedia Italiana in 1932. An agreement was signed in 1929 with the Vatican, which finally recognized the Italian State. His leadership finished the parliamentary system.He rewrote the law codes. The teacher teaching in universities or schools were swearing on an oath to secure the regime of Fascist. Mussolini himself started choosing editors of the newspapers and no other editor could establish a newspaper without the permission of the Fascist party. Trade unions were not given total independence were included in what was called the corporative system. The main aim was to place all the Italian public in different organization and corporations which were professional but all under the rule of the government.Mussolini had the idea of shifting the industries from public to private owners with the help of his financial backers. But later in 1930 he started moving back to the conflicting intensity of inflexible governmental control of industry. A huge sum of money was spent on different public works due to which the Italian economy suffered a great deal as he had placed so much money on the heavy industry to make Italy self sufficient but this was not possible as Italy was lacking numerous resources. Military AggressionIn his foreign policy Mussolini started shifting from a peace loving anti imperialism to a tremendous outline of violent self rule. In 1923 the bombing of Corfu is an example of his self rule. After setting up a dummy government in Albania and re capturing Libya, he had a dream of making the Mediterranean Sea Italian Sea. Later in 1935 he along w ith others established an anti Hitler policy at the Stresa Conference to protect the freedom of Austria. His successful battle against Ethiopia (than Abyssinia) was opposed by the League of Nations.Because of this he made a deal with the Nazi Germany, which before had been introverted from the league. Any prospect of a settlement between Britain and France ended when took an active part in the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War and took the side of General Francisco Franco. After having to make a deal with the Germans, he had to accept the German capturing of Austria and Czechoslovakia’s dismemberment. In 1938 at the Munich Conference, he portrayed himself as a fair person functioning for peace in Europe.His allegiance with Germany was later confirmed when in 1939 he made a Pact of Steel with Adolph Hitler. Being an inferior partner to the Germans, Benito followed the same racial policy as did the German’s did against the Jews. When World War 2 was coming nearer, Mussolini ma de his intention clear to conquer Tunisia, Malta and Corsica. He conquered Albania after a short war in 1939. He didn’t realize that by gaining more power he would have a power balance in Europe, instead he favored a policy pretending and threaten to persuade the Western powers to make way for his growing territorial demands.He lectured for 15 years regarding the merits of war and the military keenness of Italy to battle, but his army was totally unprepared when the attack on Poland by Hitler led to the World War 2. He remained quite for a while until n unless he was sure who will win. He declared war in1940 after the collapse of France, thinking that the war will only last for a few weeks. He later attacked Greece which showed everyone that he was not prepared for a successful military machine. He had no alternative left but to pursue Hitler in announcing war on Russia and United States both in 1941.After Italy was defeated all ends, and the landing of Anglo American in Sici ly in 1943 led to many of Benito’s co workers to turn against him at a conference in Fascist Grand hall on July 25, 1943. This also led to the king dismissing him and ordered for his arrest. The Germans rescued him after a couple of months, after being rescued he set up a Republican Fascist state in north of Italy. Under the German’s he was not more than a dummy. Benito later returned to his ideas of collectivization and communism. He executed the Fascist leader who turned against him including his own son in law.He blamed the Italian public for this although they had been supporting all along his colonial dream. When the Allied Armies reached Milan on April 27 in 1945, Benito along with his mistress Clara Petacci were captured by the Italian enthusiasts, when he was trying to flee into Switzerland. Assassination A day later, Benito and his mistress were both shot dead near a village of Dongo, along with his 15 colleagues, comprising of ministers and officials. The kil lings were conducted by Colonel Walter Audisio; he was given the order to kill Benito by the National Liberation Committee.Later a witness by the name of Bruno Giovanni confessed that he had killed Benito and his mistress but these reports were never confirmed. After the killings, both the bodies were hanging upside down on meat hooks in Milan along with the fifteen colleagues killed, to confirm that the once mighty leader has been killed. This was to discourage the fighting by the fascists. The body was to become a thing of mockery and mistreatment by those who felt he was a cruel ruler. His body was later taken down and buried in an unmarked grave in Milan. Later his body was stolen but retrieved and brought to Predappio.Here he was buried in his family vault. A large marble of himself sits on top of the tomb. He was survived by his wife, Rachel, two sons Romano and Vittorio and his daughter Edda, whose husband was killed by Benito. His third son was killed in an air incident. Bib liography †¢ Benito Mussolini from Answers. com. Retrieved March 27, 2007. From http://www. answers. com/topic/benito-mussolini †¢ Benito Mussolini from Wikipedia (2007). Retrieved on March 28, 2007. From http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini †¢ Benito Mussolini Background. Retrieved on March 28, 2007.From http://library. thinkquest. org/17120/data/bios/mussolini/background/backg1. html †¢ Mussolini, Benito from BartleBy (2005). Retrieved on March 28, 2007. From http://www. bartleby. com/65/mu/Mussolin. html †¢ Benito Mussolini. Retrieved on March 28, 2007. From http://www. info. tampere. fi/a/amuri/tyot/ilduce3. htm †¢ Benito Mussolini from Spartacus Educational. Retrieved on March 28, 2007. From http://www. spartacus. schoolnet. co. uk/2WWmussolini. htm †¢ Benito Mussolini. Retrieved on March 28, 2007. From http://www. moreorless. au. com/killers/mussolini. html Benito Mussolini Mussolini is considered to be the founding Father of Fascism, seizing power by a combination of terror and persuasion. He held Italy firmly in his grasp by crushing his enemies while still promising glory. Mussolini was able to successfully turn Italy into a com/world-history-unit-3/">dictatorship under a fascist regime because of the country’s internally divided war-torn society as well as the weak state of Italy’s minority governments which could not unite to oppose fascism and finally because of his ability to appeal to this country through a false sense of security and nationalism. Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born in Predappio on July 29, 1883.Son of a socialist blacksmith, he grew up to be a self-proclaimed â€Å"anti-patriot† like his father (The Columbia Encyclopedia 33087). He hadn’t taken to school and rebelled against most things. He had gotten expelled from his first school, which was a catholic school ran my monks, though he did better in his second. He went on to become a qualified school teacher, even though he wasn’t interested in teaching. Benito Mussolini had a passion for politics. In June 1902, Mussolini went to Switzerland and got involved with some Italian socialists and got a job as a brick layer and joined the trade union.When he had suggested the very revolutionary idea for a general strike, he got expelled from Switzerland in 1903. He then went to an area called Trentino, which was ruled by the Austrians. The authorities soon labeled him as a trouble-maker; he encouraged the trade unions and attacked the Catholic Church. He was then expelled from Trentino in 1909 (Hibbert 4-10). Throughout Mussolini’s life, he had made his rise to power, many accomplishments, and in the end he had made a huge effect on his country.After being wounded in the trenches during World War I, he was sent home because of an injury only to become editor of his own newspaper. It was called Il Popolo d’Ital ia or The People of Italy. This represented his changing of his pacifist views, he used his paper to spread his new ideas and gain support. Mussolini also organized a pro-war group called Fasci d’Azione Rivoluzionaria. After the war he joined a different group called the Arditi Association, which was a military assembly composed of WWI veterans. Both of the associations contributed to the beginning of fascism.In 1919, Mussolini founded the Fasci de Combattimento, which was the skeletal structure for what was to become the political movement of Fascism. This attracted the attention of the lower-middle class with its nationalistic, anti-liberal ideas (The Columbia Encyclopedia 33087). During the 1920’s the Black Shirt Militia was formed by Mussolini due to his disgust with the corruption of the liberal and later socialist Italian government. Originally, they were reformers but then their methods became harsher and they used violence, intimidation, and murder.One of their typical techniques was to force-feed they’re opponents castor oil, which was often laced with petrol. Another method was to force them to swallow live frogs! Mussolini slowly began to back away from the Arditi Association as his Fascist movement became more powerful. In 1921 he was elected to parliament and the National Fascist party was organized. When his Fascists were sent to march on Rome they were permitted to enter the city and King Victor Emmanuel III called on him to form a cabinet (Lewis 16). This helped him gradually transform the government into a dictatorship.He soon got the official title of head of the government. His ambition to restore greatness found expression in pretentious slogans and speeches in the creation of monumental buildings which helped his encouragement of extreme nationalist groups. The fascist regime turned society into individuals who would just obey and distrust reason as well as understand violence as an essential tool to order. Ideally the country would transform into a totalitarian state; where the government would have total control over the lives of individuals and this would mean that anything is justified if it serves the states ands.Fascism emphasized victory, glorified war, is cruel to the weak, and is irrational and intolerant. Mussolini used the condition of the country to his advantage in his journey to becoming the dictator of Italy. Mussolini actually began his political career as a socialist and then became attracted to fasces, the ancient Roman symbol of the life-and-death power of the state, bundles of the lictor’s rods of chastisement which, when bound together, were stronger then when they were apart – reflecting the intellectual debt that fascism owed to socialism and presaging the symbolism of the renewed Roman imperium Mussolini promised to bring about.Mussolini claimed that it would help strengthen a relatively new nation (which had been united only in the 1860's in the Risorgimento ), although some would say that, like Lenin, he wished for a collapse of society that would bring him to power. Evidently, Mussolini accomplished many things during WW II on the Axis side. He started taking over Italy when he was dubbed Dictator. This was when he first was addressed as Il Duce, which means â€Å"the leader. † Since he had all the power of Italy, he began to take over and make all of the decisions.Mussolini started building roads, kept rivers from over-flowing, increased over production and ran the trains on time. He also extended his control over other countries. He invaded Ethiopia in 1935 and took over Albania in 1939. Not only was Benito Mussolini the leader of Italy, he was also the youngest dictator of Italy. Mussolini’s main role during WW II was being the leader of Italy. As earlier stated, he had tried taking over Ethiopia and seized Albania. Later on, the axis powers took over countries such as: Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Polan d, Romania, and many more.Mussolini soon became known as Hitler’s right hand man, and this helped him become very popular. Through his accomplishments, he pushed Hitler to make his own Fascist party. They became known as the Nazis. The axis power created a Rome-Berlin alliance of totalitarianism. As the axis power had every say in what people did, German, Italy, and Japan felt as though they could do anything. Mussolini had been a huge part with the axis powers during WW II (Lewis 15- 16). Once the Allies had occupied the southern part of Italy in 1943, the King had ordered Mussolini to be arrested in order to sign the peace agreement.He had then been imprisoned and then liberated by the Germans, Mussolini lived in northern Italy until his capture by the Italian Monarchy. He was then executed by the monarchy on April 28, 1945 along with his mistress, Claretta Petacci, by military forces of the Italian Resistance. The next day, their corpses and those of Mussolini’s hen chmen were hanged in the Piazzale Loreto, Milan, for public view (Antliff 1). Antagonisms between political parties had given rise to a civil war that continued for about three more years. Italians then decided, in 1946, to vote to dissolve the Monarchy.Then in 1948, the first political elections were held. Mussolini’s dictatorship will forever be remembered for bringing on many Mafia and Mani Pulite scandals and for political disillusion among Italian youth which escalated into such terrorist acts as Brigate Rosse and the Moro Affair. The Brigate Rosse was a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization that arose out of a student protest movement in the late 1960’s. They had wanted to separate Italy from NATO and promoted violence in the service of class warfare and revolution. The original group concentrated on assassination and kidnapping of Italian Government and private-sector targets.They haven’t conducted an act since 1988, and have been largely inactive since the Italian and France police arrested many of the group’s members. In 1978, the BR had kidnapped Aldo Moro who was the Italian president-to-be. This became known as the Moro Affair. The 50 year period that Mussolini ran as dictator is now labeled as the First Republic which renewed Italian confidence in the democratic process (Lewis 17). The recent appearance of skinhead guards of honour at Mussolini’s tomb had provoked a controversy about how Italians should view their fascist period.Unlike Germany, Italy has never faced up to its role in WW II, preferring to see itself in the role of victim. The national narrative omits the first part of the war, in which Italians fought along side the Germans, and committed crimes in Albania, Greece, and Yugoslavia. Today, a resurgent nationalism has continued to gloss over the more shameful parts of Italian history, while at the same time allowing fascist apologists to exalt Italy’s most notorious 20th leader (Antliff 1). As the great dictator of Italy Benito Mussolini had rose to power by forcing his way to the top.He didn’t let anything stand in his way, even if it meant scamming. He achieved whatever he felt needed to happen, which finally, effected Italy’s history. All in all, Italy unlike the rest of Europe was greatly affected by the first World War and the state that the country was left in made it vulnerable to the extremist view of Mussolini and was easily transformed into a dictatorship and lead into a fateful alliance with Germany. Mussolini and his fascist ideals were able to overthrow Italy and turn it into a dictatorship and lead it into the second World War behind Hitler’s Germany.Mussolini was able to successfully turn Italy into a dictatorship under a fascist regime because of the country’s internally divided war-torn society as well as the weak state of Italy’s minority governments which could not unite to oppose fascism and finally because of his ability to appeal to this country through a false sense of security and nationalism. In my opinion, Mussolini played a negative role in the course of history. He led the Italians into the Second World War and so happened to join the wrong side. Subsequently, the country suffered lasting physical, political, and cultural damage.Their government remains constantly in turmoil. His methods and tactics fostered the rise of the Mafia in Italy. The Mafia and related activities gave the Italians an unfavorable international reputation with crime and trust even today. He fostered distrust of the government by the Italian people, which in itself was not bad, but his chosen methods of accomplishing objectives were proven to be ineffective. His leadership led to the eventual dissolution of the Italian Monarchy, which could have helped stabilize the country had it remained intact much like Britain’s and Sweden’s.His effect on Italy, in many ways, is still being felt today. Works Ci ted Antliff, Mark. Fascism, Modernism and Modernity. The Art Bulletin, Vol. 84, 2002. Falasca-Zamponi, Simonetta. Fascist Spectacle: The Aesthetics of Power in Mussolini's Italy. Berkeley: U of California P, 1997. Fermi, Laura. Mussolini. University of Chicago Press, 1966 Hibbert, Christopher. Il Duce: The Life of Benito Mussolini. Little, Brown, 1962. Lewis, Paul H. Latin Fascist Elites: The Mussolini, Franco, and Salazar Regimes. Praeger, 2002. Mussolini, Benito. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2004.