Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Reflective Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflective Analysis - Essay Example d, highlight and report similarities of results and methods of research that is done in a particular subject matter over the specified number of years. Following are the analyses of works which I have done in the recent years. Finally, this report is intended for my parents and will be used as a means of communicating my educational progress to them. The first assignment was written to highlight the development of electronic and digital means by which humans can now take notes. The work also noted the adverse influences of the abovementioned technological interventions as people are not being to write manually when they have to while they also fail to remember spellings and commit lots of grammatical mistakes and errors in punctuation. On the positive side, the fashion of digital noting helped the students in the learning process because they can accumulate obscene amount of information both effectively and efficiently (Wang, 2). The work also had quite a few grammatical errors of its own but I am trying to overcome my weaknesses in regard to grammar by writing on a more frequent basis. The second assignment was nothing new but a refined form of the first one in which I duly attempted to control and manage quality of the content whereas I also put significant level of effort in terms of studying the subject in more detailed manner. I added that digital note taking is better as it allows the audience to record information with less effort. And there is nothing wrong in adopting new sand improved methods of taking notes as conventional ones are going to become obsolete in a few years from now (Wang, 2). Finally, the work suggested all people to master both traditional and modern techniques of note taking (Wang, 3) so that they will become capable of doing that despite of having technological difficulties that may render their modern devices inoperable. This review and analytical paper was developed in order to put my thinking ability to test and I put my best

Monday, October 28, 2019

Childhood and Physical Contact Essay Example for Free

Childhood and Physical Contact Essay 3.4 Explain how practitioners can take steps to protect themselves within their everyday practice in the work setting and on off site visits. Many jobs within children’s workforce require physical contact with children as part of their role. There are also occasions when it is entirely appropriate for other adults to have some physical contact with a child or young person with whom they are working with. However it is crucial that in all circumstances, adults should only touch children or young people in ways which are appropriate to their professionals or agreed roles and responsibilities Practitioners need to be aware that even well intentioned physical contact may be seen as inappropriate by the child, other adults or by anyone to whom this action may be viewed by, also never touch a child in a way which may be considered indecent. Always be prepared to report and explain actions and accept that all physical contact, but understand that physical contact in some circumstances can be easily misinterpreted because of the state of mind of the child or the adult. Be aware of all cultural and religious views about touching and always be sensitive to issues of gender and always encourage children, where possible, to undertake self-care tasks independently e.g. changing and use of the bathroom. As an adult working with children always pre –empt situations that may put you in a vulnerable position and plan to avoid them such as concealed one to one contact with a child or young person. Where possible always leave a record of a planned visit which may have the potential to be problematic e.g. where, when and why and take to follow up any incidents/ accidents or concerning behaviour.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

You Can be a Good Christian and Read Harry Potter :: Harry Potter Essays

You Can be a Good Christian and Read Harry Potter When my family and I bought tickets for the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, released shortly before Thanksgiving, my dad reminded me of one thing. â€Å"Just †¦don’t mention it to your relatives, when they come down for Thanksgiving,† he cautioned. â€Å"If your relatives say anything negative about Harry Potter, just try to be diplomatic. Don’t start a fight,† was my mother’s request. Harry Potter is a very sensitive issue to many people, especially now that a movie has been made, based on the first book – a movie that broke almost all US box office records as flocks of people came to watch it. The movie alone brought in just under one hundred million dollars in the first week (Brook). In addition, J.K. Rowling’s first four Harry Potter books (there are three more books planned in the series) have kept her on the bestseller list for the last four years. Each book has sold over a million copies (BBC News Online). As a reader and lover of the books, and a fan of the movie, I am naturally interested in the Harry Potter controversy, which centers on some individuals, notably in the Christian community, who are concerned that the Harry Potter books are spiritually dangerous to their children. Many have even gone so far as to claim that the books are inherently evil, and J.K. Rowling’s intent, in writing the books, was to desensitize, and furthermore attract children to the occult. But while some in the Christian community have sharply criticized the books, others have given them high praise, leaving many parents concerned and confused. The primary concern surrounding Harry Potter books seems to be that they are being marketed almost exclusively to children, yet present witchcraft throughout the story as an attractive, and even desirable thing (John Mark Ministries). The opposition to the books claim that this is causing a rise of interest in youth toward the occult, as well as opening our young people up to the influences of the Enemy (namely, Satan).

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Welfare State

HISTORY OF THE WELFARE STATE: The role and significance of the Beveridge Report in establishing the Welfare State in Britain. The purpose of this essay is to look at the long history of the Welfare State in Britain and the evolving social, economic and political changes in society today, as well as the birth of the Welfare State after the Second World War which was the turning point (watershed) in British History.The freshly appointed Labour government by then took on the job of setting up a ‘welfare state’ that would systematically deal with the ‘five giant evils’ proposed by William Beveridge in a report, which later became known as the Beveridge report. The British welfare state, if it is to be defined, it is generally incorporated with Sir William Beveridge and the after war period.Welfare State is the concept in which government plays a key role in protecting and promoting the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based on the principles of eq ual opportunity in the distribution of wealth and public responsibility for those who lack the minimal provisions for a good life, for example good health, education and basic income (Abercrombie and Warde 2000). Is it the responsibility of a government to provide for its citizen, what about the cost, because it can lead to ever-increasing public spending that the government may find difficult to sustain.According to Abercrombie and Warde (2000) the term ‘welfare state’ was invented, following the Second World War when Social policy was developing. During the Second World War, the coalition government headed by Winston Churchill, the conservative party torch bearer deliberately planned the creation of a better Britain than the one in which many people have lived in the poverty-stricken 1930s.Plans were drafted and policies were generated which were to ensure that, in peacetime, there would be a family support system, good health care for all, more jobs will be made avai lable as well as creating new towns and adequate housing (Walsh et al, 2000). However, in 1941, during the Second World War, Sir William Beveridge was given a task by Winston Churchill (wartime prime minister of the coalition government) to head an interdepartmental committee of civil servants in an nvestigation and evaluate the national insurance policies as well as suggestions of ways to improve them (Addison, 2005). But, according to Walsh et al (2000) Beveridge went further than the original terms of references given him. In the final statement know as the ‘Beveridge report’ ( ), it was introduced by its architect, Sir William Beveridge, to the British parliament in 1942. Throughout this report, Beveridge kept mentioning the abolition of ‘want’ which was believed to be the major problem at the time.He predicted major reforms in health, housing, and education; because the policies needed to attack the five giant evils were set out in detail in his report . The five giant evils were want, disease, ignorance, idleness and squalor by which he meant poverty, unemployment, poor housing and lack of access to decent education and health care. This report was radical and became popular partly because of its promise of social security for all, and partly because it brings to mind the vision of the peacetime life promised by Winston Churchill at that time for which million were longing (Abercrombie and Warde 2000).Winston Churchill was not happy because the Beveridge report brought up issues which distracted people’s attention from the Second World War as well as threatening to produce controversy between the coalition governments. He also disapproved of the Beveridge report on the ground that no government could commit in advance the expenditure involved, thus, confusions between the Conservative and the Labour members and this affected his election champagne during the post war (Addison, 2005).William Beveridge recommendations based on social survey, were designed to tackle poverty primarily through the development of a national social security system, providing income security ‘from the cradle to the grave’( life -long) that will for the first time allowed the British people to have real income security that would be available to everyone regardless of means testing.As much as the ‘five giant’ differs from each other, there is a connection between the five of them, for example, unemployment in society causes people to lack financially and this can lead to lack of good medical care, want, poor housing and etc. The Five giant evils; Want, essentially this refers to poverty or lack, during the post war a lot of the British people were in need, they had no basic financial support and health care to keep them alive as well as keeping them above the poverty line by which income does not cover necessities.Due to lack of financial support people could not afford education and this resulted in lack of knowledge which is referred to as Ignorance, this was due to poor education. To make matter worst there was no national health care because, this had to be paid for, but there was no money and medical care was not free and this led to the outbreak of many diseases such as cholera, this was also linked to want, no money no medical care.Nevertheless, there were hospitals and only the rich in society could afford medical treatment, however, today the welfare state had made medical treatment available for all regardless of employment status. People were living in slums because there was poor housing and this was referred to as squalors, there is no difference today even though the welfare state has made provision for housing and some of these houses have been turned into slums by their occupant.Occupant of these houses don’t care to keep these houses clean because it cost them nothing, this giant is called Squalor, it is still with us today. The last giant was referred t o as Idleness, this was due to the hangover from depressions from the time of unemployment, today some people have chosen to stay idle, because the state will feed and house them. As much as the welfare state is good, the Victorian ‘workhouses’ would have been helpful in dealing with idleness in society, because one would need to work at the workhouse in order to get help from the state.The Beveridge report was an important document because it set out detailed policies for the attack needed to destroy the five giant evils, though the five giant evils were not destroyed completely, however, the Beveridge report left a legacy, the NHS and now there is nothing like absolute poverty in Britain as compare to the years before the Second World War when people use to actually sleep in slum, therefore the Beveridge report was a blueprint on which the welfare state was emerged because it helped shape Britain’s social policies. (Naidoo and Wills, 2008). The publication of t he Beveridge report was a great success.Majority of the British public welcomed the report’s finding and wished to see them implemented as quickly as possible according to an opinion poll (national archives, 2003). This shows the extent to which the population had shifted to the left wing (representing the Labour party) during the course of the Second World War. The post war election, in June 1945 resulted in a landslide victory for the Labour Party led by Clement Attlee , who promised in their election campaign that they will tackle Beveridge’s five giant evils and established ‘New Jerusalem’ which was reluctantly rejected by Winston Churchill.To implement the Beveridge’s report, the Labour party attacked the ‘five giant evil’ by passing legislations, though they were not completely destroyed, however, one of the giant called disease, the most famous tackled by the Labour government left the state with a legacy, the 1946 National Healt h Service Act which meant free accessible health care system for all beginning in 1948, though it was hugely expensive. In 1946 the national insurance act was passed to tackled the giant called ‘want’ making provisions for the unemployed and pregnant women, pension for the retired and etc.The education Act 1944, a conservative idea to tackle ‘ignorance’ so education was made free, the school leaving age was moved to 16 years previously 15. In 1947 Labour passed the education act into law. In 1948 the employment and training act was passed to tackle both ‘ignorance’ and ‘idleness’ making provision for school leavers , demobbed service men to train and established a skilled workforce. In addition, council house buildings and full employment was made possible by a better economy after the war. The five giants were tackled, but were not destroyed, because poverty has always lived with society.Comparably, there is nothing like absolute poverty in Britain today unlike before the welfare state when people had to make their homes in slums. Welfare states vary temporally as well as geographically. Like time welfare states do not stand still. Their evolution depends on choices made within restrictions (Powell, 1999). According to Marx (1999) welfare states make their own histories, but not within circumstances of their own choosing (cited in Powell, 1999). Today, the recommendations and policies that were detailed in the Beveridge eport to tackle poverty primarily through the development of a national social security system are still considered to provide the foundation of the modern welfare state References Lambert, T (2010). A Brief History of Poverty [online]. Available from: http://www. localhistories. org/povhist. html. [Accessed on 25th January 2011] National Archive (2003). The Welfare State [online]. Available from: http://www. nationalarchives. gov. uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/welfare. htm. [Access ed on 30th January 2011] Addison, P. 2005) Churchill The Unexpected Hero. New York: Oxford University Press. Abercrombie, N. And Warde, A. (2000) Contemporary British Society. Third Edition. Cambridge: Polity Press. Naidoo, J. and Wills, J. (2008) Health Studies An Introduction. Second Edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Lowe, R. (1999) The Welfare State In Britain Since 1945. Second Edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Powell, M. (1999) New Labour, New Welfare State? Bristol: Policy Press. Osborne, R. and Loon, B. V. (2004) Introducing Sociology. Cambridge: Icon Books Limited.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Meanings of Intelligence and Adaptive Behavior Essay

Until several years ago, many students who were classified as having ID or assigned into an inclusion classroom were not expected to participate in standardized testing, however as late, everyone in public schools is expected to participate in standardized assessments. Some educators are happy with the change while others are concerned the assessments are not an accurate assessment of what students actually know. For many students with learning disabilities, standardized assessments often don’t accurately indicate what the student truly knows and where they have deficits. One problem with assessing students with ID is the identification and classification of ID is that they differ greatly between states and is often inconsistent. According to Kortez, students with specific learning disabilities are served under the IDEA, however we use the word â€Å"classification† when referring to the category of and indentified student’s specific disability or disabilities (K ortez). The major problem that arises is the fact that identification is being highly inconsistent which is raising the concern students being mislabeled. It seems as though some educators are either over identifying or under indentifying students. However, this is not just a problem on the educator’s level; it is also showing up on the state level. It seems as though when the combined across the nation, identification is inconsistent. More than half of all students being served are doing so under the IDEA part B umbrella, students with specific disabilities, while the number of students recognized as† learning disabled ranges from 3% to 9%† across the United States (Kortez). According to Kortez, not all states implement the same policies, guidelines, or criteria, therefore some states have a significant higher or lower number of students identified based on what they as a state deem legitimate. Because there is such a difference in policies, it is therefore difficult to d etermine an adequate way to assess students with disabilities. Inclusion needs to be implemented in a way that will not only boost the quality of performance generated by the assessment but also the constructive outcome of the education being provided. The difficulty therefore lies in being able to implement a sound assessment because of the significant essential factors. One factor that would have to be determined is how many special education students would qualify as ineligible to partake in the regular education assessments. Another factor that would be solved would be how the regular education assessment could be enhanced to better suit the needs of the special education students. Also, the decision would have to be made to determine the criteria for students who would qualify for accommodations and which accommodations would be appropriate. In order for all these decisions to be made, it is essential for all the characteristics as well as the needs of the indentified students be met, and it is almost impossible if the identification and cl assification of the students continue to be inconsistent. Another problem with assessing indentified students is the fact of accommodations. When a test is given to a student with disabilities, certain changes or â€Å"accommodations† are made. Some of these accommodations are simple as testing the student in a smaller group, allowing the frequent monitored breaks, allowing the student extra time to finish the assessment, or reading the directions or questions to the student. When small changes such as these mentioned are made, they are referred to as accommodations. However if changes such giving the student a different test, illuminating parts of the test, or change the test in any way it is referred to as a â€Å"modification† and the assessment is no longer considered a standard test and is referred to as a non-standard test. When it comes to the element of measuring the assessment, the main goal to implementing accommodations is to better validate the information regarding the students and their disabilities. Testing cons istency is implemented in order to increase the accuracy by getting rid of the immaterial variations for the testing between schools. For instance, if one school allows thirty minutes for a test and another allows an hour and a half, the longer test would be considered the bias between the two. When it comes to students and their disabilities it is only fair that accommodations be made in order to make the test fair for everyone. For example, if a student has a profound vision problem then it would only make sense to change the presentation of the test (larger print, recording), in order to show a more true result of what the student actually knows, instead of not doing well simply because they can’t see the text well enough. If accommodations aren’t standard then results will not be consistent and therefore we won’t have an accurate snapshot of what the students actually know. A third problem that may arise when testing students with disabilities is the design, construction, and evaluations of the test. One circumstance that needs to be considered where testing is concerned is the design of th e test. Some tests can be biased in one area where another assessment may be biased in another area. Some tests are designed to assess a certain group of students with similar backgrounds and therefore are biased against those students who don’t share a similar background. While there are methods for dealing with bias are implemented, not all the methods are not equipped to detect bias toward students with disabilities. Systems used for assessing bias often insist on students being paired on some criterion measure of the structure of relevance. For example, if a reasonable criterion could be settled on for fifth graders in math proficiency, then the students without disabilities and students with disabilities could be matched together and then determine if the two sets of students were similar or different in the same areas. The second area of design that needs to be considered is the difficulty of the assessment itself. Often, most students with disabilities do not perform well on assessments. Furthermore, most assessments are too complex for students with disabilities, therefore often rendering results that are intimidating for students with disabilities and may also cause unfavorable reactions from their teachers. Some students may be nonverbal students and may not be about to write or say their answers, making it impossible for them to par take in standardized tests. Many of the students with ID have a mixture of intelligence deficits and adaptive behavior that initiates their academic deficits. These deficits can’t be the effect of a sensory impairment, a specific learning disability, or a behavior disorder, and would have to start showing systems before the child reaches school age. If a student’s cognitive deficit seems to be mild, then their deficit would resemble a broad disability with no specific area. The students who have been diagnosed with a specific learning disability will have functioning highs and lows. Students with intelligence disabilities have a difficult time across the curriculum as well as adaptive behavior. As time goes on there are more and more students who have to take standardized tests. This can be difficult for teachers, especially when it is almost impossible to accurately assess them and their progress. Some of the problems that occur when assessing students with ID, is the classification and identification of students, deciding what accommodations or modifications should be used for each child, and if the test that is being administered is level appropriate for the students with disabilities. References 1. Kortez, Daniel. Center for the Study of Evaluation. Project 1.1 Comparative Analyses of Current Assessment and Accountability Systems/Strand 3 Daniel Koretz, Project Director, CRESST/Harvard Graduate School of Education http://www.cse.ucla.edu/products/reports/TR587.pdf 2. Centra, J. A., (1986). Handicapped student performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 19, 324-327. 3. Clarizio, H. F., & Phillips, S. E. (1992). A comparison of severe discrepancy formulae: Implications for policy consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 3, 55-68.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Misuse of Connective Symbols with Numbers

Misuse of Connective Symbols with Numbers Misuse of Connective Symbols with Numbers Misuse of Connective Symbols with Numbers By Mark Nichol In each of the following sentences, a connective symbol is employed in a reference to numbers or numerical values, but the usage is incorrect. Explanation of the error, and a revision of the error, follows each example. 1. Open enrollment for 2018 runs from November 1 December 15. A connective symbol linking two values in a number range functions as a replacement for from and to (or between and and), not just the latter word (though only to is pronounced when the number range is read aloud, hence the confusion), so do not precede a number range formatted this way with from (or between): â€Å"Open enrollment for 2018 runs November 1–December 15.† If the word from is retained, to should replace the symbol. (Note also that the symbol should be an en dash, not a simple hyphen- except when a publication’s style guide specifies use of that symbol- and that no letter spaces should intervene.) 2. Five-thousand service members are expected to participate in the event. Hyphenation is used in spelled-out numbers only to link two words representing two place values, as in seventy-five. â€Å"Five thousand† modifies â€Å"service members† but is an open compound: â€Å"Five thousand service members are expected to participate in the event.† Note that large round numbers are often spelled out in isolation but should be treated as figures if other numbers appear in proximity, but numbers should always be spelled out at the head of a sentence. (If doing so is awkward, as in the case of a large precise number such as that representing a year like 2017 that requires more than a couple of words to convey, recast the sentence.) 3. The most fatalities occurred in the 15-24 year old age group. In most books and in some publications, style would dictate that the numbers in this sentence should be spelled out. However, in other content, or in a case in which using numerals is preferable (as when a concentration of numbers occurs), the phrase in which the figures appear should be treated as shown here: â€Å"The most fatalities occurred in the 15- to 24-year-old age group.† (When numbers are spelled out, the sentence should read, â€Å"The most fatalities occurred in the fifteen- to twenty-four-year-old age group.†) The hyphen does not function as a linking symbol connecting two figures in a number range; it links words that are part of a phrasal adjective, an abridgement of â€Å"15-year-old to 24-year-old† in which the first instance of â€Å"year-old† is omitted because it is clearly implicit. (This tactic, called suspensive hyphenation, renders such phrases more concise and less cluttered. In addition, the sentence can be further pared to â€Å"The most fatalities occurred among 15- to 24-year-olds.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Definitely use "the" or "a"At Your DisposalWhat the heck are "learnings"?

Monday, October 21, 2019

Tartuffe and Adventure Quest Play Analysis Essay Example

Tartuffe and Adventure Quest Play Analysis Essay Example Tartuffe and Adventure Quest Play Analysis Essay Tartuffe and Adventure Quest Play Analysis Essay Essay Topic: The Importance Of Being Earnest Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Tartuffe and Adventure Quest Play Analysis Question One In the turbulent era of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, deus ex machine was used to establish a controversial thesis. For example, one scene in Adventure Quest shows the audience the heroes being rescued from an awful fate by the king’s agent. The play also uses deus ex machine when it concludes. This is seen in the scene where a passing navy officer rescues the savage children. The author applies this device to inform the audience that the children would have been afflicted with a terrible fate if the officer had not intervened at the right moment. Ultimately, the ending changes the role of the humor in the play. Humor in this case is replaced by deus ex machine with the audience being given a relief through a happy conclusion contrary to what they were expecting. Question Two By summarizing a wit tradition in a unique perspective, the play â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest† does not confine itself to a witty Lord Goring and Lord Darlington. The entire script in this case includes shrewd absurdities and a single voice. This makes it hard to establish characters that are witty deliberately. The often-childish Algy is a wit self-consciously. A contrasting scene comes through Algy’s laconic worker Lane. This contrast brings about the theme of social class in the society. The witty Algy has employed Lane as his manservant and even though Lane has been afforded the privilege of living in the house, their lifestyles are quite different. Question Three ‘The importance of being honest† is an excellent example of a comedy of manners and this is particularly supported by Lady Bracknell’s role and her interview with Jack. Bracknell applies the use of irony to challenge the subversive arm of the system. She fights this system even she is aware that loosing is inevitable. Hence, she uses manners and irony as her weapons in this battle. The dominant class in this society is demonstrated in the interview. This interview reveals social class in this society that ultimately fosters manners. Question Four One monologue with a significant role in the play Tartuffe comes in Act I scene II when Dorian is exceptionally willing to express her sentiments. This scene plays the role of bringing out pace and rhythm. Asides and soliloquies were used frequently. The social and character comedies were based on inventive activity therefore making movement rapid and selective in tempo. The characters in this scene are highly theatric and have clear attitudes. The comic and witty situations have a tendency of rending the characters in this scene humorous and ludicrous event though a serious viewpoint complements the comic facade. Question Five The play â€Å"Tartuffe† uses satire to attack human characteristics and behavior but with a main objective of improving these faults instead of worsening them. In particular, the Tartuffe satirized play mainly shifts its focus on religious hypocrisy. Even though Tartuffe is an obvious antagonist and hypocrite, he also represents the rest of society that preaches religious views but engages in actions contrary to their beliefs and morals. In particular, religious satire in this play comes out through Orgon. On the other hand, the play â€Å"Adventure Quest† bears satire that revolves around a consumerist culture. The society in this play encourages purchase of service and goods in great amounts. Ultimately, this is true since economic order was in full force in the 19th to 20th century.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Bill of Rights - Smart Custom Writing Samples

Bill of Rights - Smart Custom Writing Human Resource ManagementIt might sound indisputably to say that the planet we inhabit and all living beings are under the constant process of movement. Still, another true point suggests itself. The movement appears to be quite an ambiguous notion, since it can be represented by either progress or regress. Needless to say, the contemporary world strives for constant development, evolvement and progress. In this tight connection emerges the notion of leadership, the latter in its turn provokes competition. Nowadays world with its immitigable and unforgiving race and pace inevitably induces companies to be involved in the competitive rush. Clearly, to be the first means a lot. In attempts to take dominant position in the marketplace of rivals the companies are forced to resort to complicated strategies and tactics. After all, leadership is undoubtedly worthwhile expending some effort with the intention to overcome obstacles and hindrances on the way. Currently contest participants encounter the difficulties to be tackled. They are facing a trickish problem of competitive challenges, these being the challenge of sustainability, global challenge and technology challenge. With the aim to have a clear idea of how the above mentioned challenge factors matter, let’s scrutinize a company’s inner structure in general. It’s true to claim, each company focuses on success but to make this success feasible it has to attract a lot of resources. First of all, it is people employed, thus forming the personnel in each company’s department. Second of all, that is technological base. Third of all, inputs into the research field. Fourth of all, it is the company budget that forms the condition for the company’s development and all its constituents’ improvement.   Thus we deal with the mutual interconnection and interdependence. Hence, it’s hard to imagine each sector of the company’s arrangement to do without a human resource as a ‘fuel of production’ (Jeremy Gutsche. 2009, Sept. 23). The extant to which a separate staff member and the whole coherent team will be the contribution to the company de pends on the high quality of the functions performed. Therefore the human resources management (HRM) plays the role of an accelerator and intensifier of the employees’ potential leading to the prosperity of the company. Moreover, the HRM practices are supposed to be in compliance with the company’s rules and the main policy it pursues (Carter McNamara). So, the HRM is called for promoting the capabilities of each company’s member by means of special programs and training courses to reach the goals of a particular organization. Up to a point, we need to elucidate the whole HRM system’s mechanism. By means of being involved in the process of personal ‘upgrading’ each member acquires useful experience and enhances his or her own proficiency. But how can be a global challenge addressed? The answer is in the thoroughly elaborated HRM strategy that may be seen as follows. With the help of clever HRM each particular specialist in the sphere of his or her responsibility becomes not only aware of the technological novelties, progressive engineering, international economic and political situation, but also of how the acquired knowledge can be applied in the company’s specific sector. Thus, the technological challenge becomes not so irresistible and insurmountable with the highly qualified collaborative team of computer engineering workers, IT specialists who are always in the know of changes and are the first to develop new and new high tech ‘products’. The processes of globalization and integration embrace the international market as well. Contemporary situation in the global marketplace is that the customers’ demands are constantly rising, by this forcing the companies to always keep its head on a swivel not to let a client slip into another company’s hands. Thus we speak about the global competition scale. Giving the unceasingly changing global picture, arises the necessity of the company’s prompt operational response and reaction what increases the demand in HRM practices with the help of which the staff research the modern global tendencies to implement the information gathered and expand the horizon of the company’s activity and investment policy offshore. The HRM assists in overcoming the challenge of sustainability. Virtually, the very term sustainability presupposes to be able to endure, survive by reducing and eliminating negative influences. Due to the cooperative and joint efforts and powerful technological armory, awareness in the world processes the company’s business is sure to keep up with the time and secured against defeat in every day struggle for leadership and thus is able to demonstrate long-term performance and prosperity on the global market. HRM doesn’t stand still either. It introduces and encloses new approaches and methods to develop the resistance to negative and formidable global factors. The importance of such organization as the HRM is dramatically increasing, since its practices are directed to and focused on the company-bound policy and flexible, subtle and smart human resource coordination and monitoring by proving constant and systematic trainings. Not of the least is the strategy of the contemporary HRM that also realizes the role of technologies in making the administration performance not so time-consuming and the staff productivity more effective. On the whole, the human resources (HR) being an integral part of any organization, company, enterprise by means of skillful HRM are the driving power in counteracting the competitive challenges that may inflict damage not only on the company’s finances but also be menacing to the whole company’s organism.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Economic of Employment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Economic of Employment - Essay Example Investment banking services include commodity trading, equity trading which are the shares of companies and finally futures and option trading. These are just some of the services they offer in the market and their main difference with the commercial banks is that they do not accept deposits by the clients as savings and also those they don't offer loans. The roles played by the investment banks in the market clearly indicates the type of activities in the bank, employment into an investment bank is usually very competitive and this is because the rewards and high plus other benefits, the firms also offer various personal development programs which enable workers to personally advance in the future. This paper discusses the various daily activities that are present in an investment bank, training programs in the investment bank, and requirements for one to be recruited into the industry, compensation and reward system and finally the problems faced by the investment banks. An investment ban can be defined as a form of bank acts as an intermediary between investors and capital companies and firms, their main purpose is to provide capital requirements of companies and firms in the market, for this reason they will trade in stocks and bonds, they will also undertake structuring and evaluations on mergers and acquisitions, below are the major functions of investment banks: Function: a. Advisory services: An investment bank will offer advice to clients regarding the various investments and business planning, advice will also be offered on strategic planning and financial restructuring in order to achieve a fair proposed transaction, this service is important in the market because most investors and business are not aware of risks involved and also potential profits in the market. These services are offered by those employed and for this reason we can conclude that an individual may be chosen to undertake advisory services in the organization, this services requires good communication skills and also a wide knowledge of the market regarding the various risks and profitability of these options. b. Trading and sales of stocks and option: An investment bank will sell and trade in stocks and new offering in the market, this service is offered to clients who wish to hold securities by buying or selling these securities to them, this process involves the calculation of risk involved in holding stocks sold to them by clients and communicating this information to the clients regarding what they will offer for the stocks. This process requires the hedge of risks of holding such options and also information on the prevailing prices in the market. This service therefore requires that an individual interested in joining the investment bank as an employee must be good in mathematics and also must have the ability to undertake accurate predictions regarding prices in the market in order to avoid losses that may be occurred due to improper decision making, for this reason therefore the recruitment process is very competitive and only the academically qualified applicants are considered. c. Capital

Friday, October 18, 2019

Use of Social Media Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Use of Social Media - Research Paper Example This paper tells that social media has been flagged as a potential threat if used inappropriately. Issues of privacy, unnecessary information, negative influence, devaluation of human values are some of the negative issues associated with social media. For proper utilization of social media, governments should take control on managing social media so that issues like privacy, dangerous outcomes, and endless distractions can be maintained. Certainly, social media connects millions of people across the world. Among these people are genuine users as well as hackers and other malicious identities. Social media such as Facebook is a good avenue for accessing a large pool of people of all kinds. This makes it an attractive haven for any person with personal interests. For instance, politicians have often used social media to propagate their political ideologies some of which may trigger hatred among the target groups. North Africa an Arabian region revolution that began in Tunisia is a goo d example of overwhelming political usage of social media. Advertisers and business entities are always crawling through social media in search for opportunity to exploit. Whereas everybody is looking at an opportunity to benefit themselves, it poses a serious privacy risks to social media users. Certainly, â€Å"Breaches of privacy and security are frequently mentioned topics and so is identity theft, online bullying, and disclosure of potentially damaging or embarrassing personal information† (Shneiderman et al, 2011).  Perhaps one of the most potentially dangerous technologies is social media. Due to the high degree of penetration, wide usage, freedom, anonymity, and interconnectivity, social media is potentially dangerous if not properly regulated. Politically, social media, particularly Facebook, has been a prime platform for the propagation of political and religious views. It does not come by surprise that the recent revolution in Tunisia, Egypt, and other Islamic co untries was made possible by social media. The hazardous nature of social media stems from the fact that it supports anonymity. People have different thoughts and ideologies that they would like others to adopt. Whereas some people have well-meaning ideologies, others such as extremists, pose a danger to the population. According to Shneiderman et al (2011), â€Å"the potential for more polarized discussions as users selectively view only materials aligned with their world view and scientists retreat to narrow research topics.† Terrorists have also been using social media platforms to propagate their ideologies. In order to protect users of social media against uncontrolled use, the relevant authorities need to put measures into place (Madhava, 2011). For example, it may be necessary and important for all social media platforms to keep electronic and retrievable copies of all web activities. This way, it would be easy for the relevant authorities to keep track of potentially harmful use. Additionally, user information may be required to be incorporated within the usage of the media platforms so that users can be held accountable for wrongful use of social media.  

Professional skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Professional skills - Essay Example School does not prepare you for these challenges out in the real world. One of the challenges relates to job decisions I had to make. The central challenge was to locate a job, which took me a long time. I sent many applications with no response. Here is an evidence of one application I sent with no response. Students wonder why they have to think about their career already or their future for that matter. It probably still seems too far away in the presence of more irresistible subjects such as final exams and housing lottery. On the contrary, students tend not to think of knowing exactly what to do after college. Instead, they prioritize college life, with primary aim of succeeding in the respective courses. However, if you imagine yourself in a certain career at that moment, it would remain an excellent opportunity to start making dreams a reality. In addition, even if you are not sure of what you want to do, it is still helpful to maintain focus. In fact, it is even more indispensable to maintain focus because of the many decisions that waits in the future. Moreover, It is would be imperious to not change your major course hastily while in college. Rather, an individual ought to remain vigilant and mindful while critically analyzing the available success opportunities. Possible careers now may also help you make other decisions while in college, including what activities to participate in and which courses to study. In College, an individual gets the exposure to many different opportunities and ideas within a single place. Moreover, looking ahead of time can also serve as a powerful motivator. Students who have even a vague sense of direction tend to do better than those who really do not know why they are in college. As a contemporary college student, you have many resources at your disposal, from the library to the career services office. You also have the internet, which can provide a wealth

Thursday, October 17, 2019

A Midsummer Night's Dream Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A Midsummer Night's Dream - Assignment Example Another instance that people make decisions for others is Demetrius wants to marry Helena but since his father has asked him to marry Hermia then he has to obey. Another situation is where the decision to love is placed on a cupid. In the play there is a quote â€Å"Cupid painted blind. Nor hath loves mind of any judgment taste†¦ Because of the choice, he is so oft beguiled. The writer of the play has bestowed the decision to love or not to love on Cupid. This might not be a person making a decision for another but rather leaving this to fate. Theseus makes a comment in the last scene that says that people let fear distort people’s senses and make people see things that do not exist. In a literal sense allowing fear make decisions for you is a sense of control. This quotes shows it â€Å"Or in the night, imagining some fear, How easy is a bush supposed a bear?†.

Case Study Paper also referred to as the Applied Learning Theory Paper

Paper also referred to as the Applied Learning Theory Paper - Case Study Example In Kounin’s ‘Teacher With-it-ness theory’, the teacher must balance all of these aspects of childhood personality development and social learning methods in order to be able to control and transform the tensions that appear in the classroom and school. In this manner, a combined approach that takes the best of these theories and applies them to education and classroom management as Patricia P. Willems and Alyssa R. Gonzalez-DeHass do in â€Å"Educational Psychology Casebook† can lead to a more efficient learning process for both the teacher and students in public education or private schools. Development - Case 19: Erikson’s Personality Development Statement of Problem: â€Å"To Belong or Not to Belong† Mr. Turner is a 10th grade teacher is a three-year high school with both male and female students. The students have no dress code or uniforms, and come from a wide variety of diverse social backgrounds. Mr. Turner has a â€Å"Goth† stud ent in class who he identifies with in her inter-personal relationship struggles with other cliques in the school. Mr. Turner is not certain how to motivate the full range of his students or why they are not all preparing their assignments or completing the readings. He has a reputation of taking on large problems at the school and in teaching deep themes in English literature. Mr. Turner discusses the problems with the cliques with another teacher who advises him to take a more influential role in the character development of the students and to become more involved in building outreach to the community. Mr. Turner does not see the problem involving a wider solution outside of the classroom. Analysis: In Erik Erikson’s theory of human development, the girls are in the adolescent stage representative of Erikson’s 5th stage of personality development representing ‘Identity’ and ‘Identity Conflicts

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

A Midsummer Night's Dream Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A Midsummer Night's Dream - Assignment Example Another instance that people make decisions for others is Demetrius wants to marry Helena but since his father has asked him to marry Hermia then he has to obey. Another situation is where the decision to love is placed on a cupid. In the play there is a quote â€Å"Cupid painted blind. Nor hath loves mind of any judgment taste†¦ Because of the choice, he is so oft beguiled. The writer of the play has bestowed the decision to love or not to love on Cupid. This might not be a person making a decision for another but rather leaving this to fate. Theseus makes a comment in the last scene that says that people let fear distort people’s senses and make people see things that do not exist. In a literal sense allowing fear make decisions for you is a sense of control. This quotes shows it â€Å"Or in the night, imagining some fear, How easy is a bush supposed a bear?†.

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Skype Reseach Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Skype Reseach - Research Paper Example The business world has also not been left at the rear in the technological advancements and more and more businessmen are willing to venture into the world, in search of potential international markets. No longer is one required to physically attend a conference or a meeting. One can simply log in to their specific business website and chat with those who are online as well, where they can discuss business issues from the comfort of their residences or wherever else they might be (Fulmer & Bleak 2008). The Internet has also made it possible for people to call their loved ones or fellow businessmen in whichever division of the nation they may be, at whatever time of day. Skype is one such company that has embraced technological advancements and enabled people to share, communicate and transact with each other irrespective of where they may be in the world. Skype is a company that was established in the year 2003 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis (Ferrell & Hartline 2010). These 2 individuals created a little piece of software that eases communication between individuals, making it fun. This particular software also allows people to video-call and make voice calls using the Internet (Fulmer & Bleak 2008). The company generates its revenue via its premium offerings which are offered in making and receiving calls to and from mobile and landline phones, together with call forwarding and voice mail (Ferrell & Hartline 2010).... Skype’s mission and vision statement is to be the fabric of real-time communication on the web (Ferrell & Hartline 2010). In the world of business, Skype is responsible for enabling employers to bring their entire workforce, partners and customers together to fulfill the company’s goals and objectives (Fulmer & Bleak 2008). A mission and vision statement tells everyone reading a company’s business plan or researching it a little bit about the company in summary. That is why it is important for any given company to have a strong and catchy mission and vision statement so as to attract potential clientele. A strong mission and vision provides shareholders, supporters and employees with a clear perspective of the company’s reason for existing (Ferrell & Hartline 2010). This should also be short enough for people to remember it as well as share it with the rest of the world. Businesses should carry out their transactions with the aim outlined in their vision a nd mission statements. With this in mind, I choose to propose a vision and mission for Skype. The firm’s proposed vision and mission statement is: To bring together cultures and businesses of the world and share the fun! The reason why I have chosen this particular vision and mission statement is because I have considered the fact that, Skype is not only a firm that uses innovative technology but also one that enables other businesses and individuals in general to communicate, transact and catch up. It enables people to learn a language, hold a meeting, celebrate a birthday, all while using text, video and voice, making it simple to share experiences, and ideas with people who matter the most (Fulmer & Bleak 2008). In this day and age where competitive business environment is present, the

Monday, October 14, 2019

History of forensic medicine Essay Example for Free

History of forensic medicine Essay The necessity of understanding the reasons why a loved one suddenly becomes missing, his/her whereabouts difficult to trace and the difficulty of establishing the probability of that person’s survival is one of the many realities of families today. Should threats actually pose on a person’s life or the missing member left traces of his/her whereabouts are stuffs that not only fill the minds of those who are after detective stories; these are matters that provide meaning and hope for those families and individuals with real, missing loved ones. The popularity of shows on television such as CSI and police crime stories in a weekly slot has virtually lined almost all of networks around the globe. Films and theaters make sure they profit and usually they do whenever they strike the old formula of suspense and crime. Embedded in these formats is the dependable work of forensic medicine and the people behind it. It is no wonder that many children and adolescents today list the job of a forensic specialist as one of their ambitions. Purpose of the Paper Forensic medicine is a distinct discipline dedicated to accomplish the ultimate which is to solve crimes and prevent, limit or reduce its occurrence with the application of a wide-ranging field of sciences in response to inquiries in relation to the legal set-up. It utilizes scientific methods and the application of pharmacology and other related schemes in the pursuit of justice. Basically derived from the time of the Romans when both the accused and the accuser are given their day in â€Å"court† to present their speeches to persuade the court of the issues of their cases; today, an intricate system of a combination of knowledge from different sectors is used to achieve the purposes of the legal system. It uses modern technology and the expertise of behavioral sciences in law enforcement. Myths have been built around notorious serial killers and rightly so, because many of those who perpetrate such heinous activities manage to cause people to tremble just by hearing stories about their â€Å"exploits. Many were astounded by such names or tags as â€Å"BTK† and others like him who tried to carve their names in history though rather infamously. More modern types in the likes of Ted Bundy for instance and the â€Å"happy face† killer still evoke fear as well amazement that such people do exist. What was more amazing though is that they had been caught and that the breakthrough of forensic medicine in the early years to its modern developments had made the capture more successful and a credit to the science. In the case of jack the Ripper, he was popularized in London many years ago, around 1880, when this man started to murder prostitutes in the East End portion of this metropolis. He was never caught and his identity remained clouded in mystery. But the details as to the methods of his killing (or ripping) and whether he reaped them or not (his victims) became known only when the developments that had brought forensic medicine to the forefront started to become available (Barbee, 2006). The paper is written to explain, enlighten where forensic medicine is today and where it started. With the view that many of high profiled cases were solved due to the advances in the field which includes computer and digital forensics, use of forensic analysis tools of all kinds i. e. , sampling techniques, and a host of other manners of gathering evidence, the author seeks to establish the history of forensic medicine in precis. Problem Statement The literature today is rich to provide an enthusiast and serious student of the field with sufficient information concerning the issue on how this particular discipline emerged. It therefore seeks to answer the following question: What is forensic medicine and what are the major developments that helped established its place in the legal system? Basing on that primary inquiry, the following are the paper’s sub-problem statements: o How is forensic medicine defined? o What are the developmental milestones significant in the understanding of the discipline? o What are the current medical and scientific breakthroughs that are being employed in the application of forensic medicine? o What are its successes in terms of accomplishments as solving such high profiled crimes as BTK and insights into the legendary Jack the Ripper? What are its failures and the deficiencies in the system that needs to be improved and addressed? Definition of Terms Forensic medicine is a distinct science that â€Å"involves the principles and techniques that identify evidence at a crime scene† (UKTV people, 2007). Crime scene investigation refers to the protocol that peopl e in the uniform employs whenever a crime occurs such as the incidence of murder that brings the trained to examine the scene of the crime. The intention is to find traces or clues that might lead to the solution of the crime (UKTV people, 2007). DNA which represents the chemical Deoxyribonucleic Acid, is the â€Å"chemical found in virtually every cell in the body and which carries genetic information from one generation to the next. When translated, this information determines our physical characteristics and directs all the chemical processes in the body† (UKTV people, 2007). Fingerprint evidence. â€Å"Fingerprint evidence rests on two basic principles: A persons friction ridge patterns the swirled skin on their fingertips never change and no two people have the same pattern of friction ridges. † (UKTV people, 2007). Ballistics.  The science of ballistics is often a highly important element in finding out who did the â€Å"killing. † It deals with the motion, behavior and effects of bullets. Theoretical Framework ~On criminality: Factors contributing to the incidence This refers to the body of knowledge that provides a basis to the current understanding of the different facets of the field. There are various scientific viewpoints where criminality is concerned and its reduction and prevention as goals. The author attempts to discuss various theoretical perspectives as knowledge base for the strength of its proposition. Sociologists, in an attempt to explain and point out the reasons behind delinquency, have concluded that there are connections between specific youth behaviors with the home environment, family background, the neighborhood, associations, and many other aspects that together, or separately affect the formative years of young people’s social environment. Delinquent children usually come from a background of difficult circumstances. Parental alcoholism, poverty, breakdown of family, abusive conditions in the home, death of parents during armed conflicts or drug overdose, and the HIV/AIDS scourge, and etc. re some of the various reasons that can leave children virtually orphaned. One or both parents may be physically present, but because of irresponsibility on their part (if even one of them is addicted to drugs or alcoholic), a child may grow developing certain ways and attitudes that are directly/indirectly caused by the parent/s addiction or drug-related behavior. In this case, true delinquency lies on the parents; and the children are, in a way, orphaned or unaccompanied, and without any means of subsistence which, in the first place, the parents’ fundamental responsibility to provide. Generally, and increasingly, these children are born and/or raised without a father. They are first in the line of those who are at greatest risk of falling into juvenile delinquency. Without noticing it as it is typical of any youth to be lacking in prudence, with newly embraced group, the gang, a corresponding subculture starts to assimilate them, and before long, they start to engage in activities of adult criminal groups. It is usually after being engaged in criminal activities for an extended period of time with its accompanying consequences (such as ending up in prison or rehabilitation institutions for drug addicts) that delinquents realize they are into a very dangerous zone. A large portion of all juvenile violations (between two-thirds and three-quarters) are perpetrated by youths who are members of certain gangs (Venkatesh, 1997). Unlike in school and their family, these have no strict rules to be followed except loyalty to the group. It gives young people esteem when they somehow feel they are the â€Å"rule† in themselves. This is the lure of gangs. It gives the promise of fulfillment to would be delinquents. Popularity, access to the powerful figures on the streets, freedom to express one’s self, as well as easy flow of money (if the gang is also involved in some illegal activities such as drug dealings, which is common in most gangs) are seemingly within grasp of anybody who just have the guts to dare (OJJDP, Mar. 2003).

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Public Sector Reform In Ghana Politics Essay

Public Sector Reform In Ghana Politics Essay Ghanas public sector serves as the largest employer of her labor force and also contributes significantly toward the countrys development. Contrarily, people generally tend to hold negative perceptions about the sector. However, in her bid to instill sanity and promote a good image of the system as well as ensure increased productivity of the sector, the Government of Ghana recently introduced several reforms within her public sector. This paper therefore explores the current public sector reform programs such as the wage reforms popularly dubbed Single Spine Salary structure (S-cube) that have been implemented in Ghana. The author however investigates whether or not these current reforms programs would be sustainable. INTRO DUCTI ON The catchphrase Public Sector Reforms has emerged over the past decades in both advanced and developing countries where governments have embarked upon sweeping reforms to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector. Efforts at reforming the public sector is more pronounced in Africa where the sector in many of its countries is seen as a mere watchman rather than serving as a facilitator for the private sector to drive the pace of growth and development. As Fatile et al (2010: 145) aptly put it All African countries are caught in the web of Public Sector Reforms. Ghana, a country in Sub-Saharan Africa has witnessed its share of these reforms and continues to experiment with new ones. Like many African countries, Ghanas attempt at reforming its public sector can be traced back to the 1980s when it underwent the World Banks Structural Adjustment Programs. From that time until now, successive governments have consistently implemented reforms in its Public Sector which has been full of mixed results. Amongst these include, Civil Service Improvement Program (CSPIP), Public Administration Restructuring and Decentralization and Implementation Committee (PARDIC), the Civil Service Reform (CSR) and Public Sector Reform Program (PSRP) of the now defunct Ministry of Public sector Reform (Holm- Graves, 2011). Quite recently, the public sector of Ghana came under intense criticisms from the public with many citing the sectors inability to meet the needs of its employees, corruption, poor delivery of services, and a host of other issues as the ills plaguing the sector. These issues alongside global pressures have made the Government of Ghana to introduce and implement new reform initiatives ranging from pay reforms to improvement in service delivery. This paper as part of a larger project aimed at investigating the new reform programs that have been implemented in Ghana and to contribute to the broader discussion of public management literature focuses on the on-going pay reform program popularly known as the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) that is being undertaken to replace the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) which proved to be marginally successful (Cooper-Enchia, 2008). Unlike the GUSS which is the first comprehensive pay policy implemented in Ghana, the SSSS tries to bring more order to the pay setting process by promoting adequate comparability of similar jobs across public sector services and institutions (Cavalcanti, 2009). This paper therefore attempts to examine the sustainability of the on-going SSSS in Ghana. Due consideration is also given to the prospects and challenges faced in the implementation of this new pay reform program. The rest of the paper is structured as follows. The next section looks at public sector reforms in Ghana by narrowing the discussion to pay reforms that have been implemented in the country to put the paper in perspective. Section three provides an overview of Ghanas Single Spine pay reform program. Here, the prospects and challenges facing the implementation of the on-going program have been discussed. The final section of the paper discusses the way forward for the current reform program in Ghana. PUBLIC SECTOR REFORMS IN GHANA: A HISTORICAL CONTEXT Historically, efforts at reforming the public sector in many countries have been diverse which can be largely attributed to the issues that occasion such initiatives. In Africa and other developing countries, public sector reforms have been heavily driven by worldwide decline in public finances and the need to get more for less (Caiden cited in Ayee, 2008: 2). These initiatives were promoted to improve the image of governments in the global arena and to mitigate the dead hand of bureaucracy. It is against this background that Ghanas public sector reform efforts have evolved. A closer look into past reform efforts in Ghana shows that initial attempts dates back to 1980s when many African countries implemented a wide range of reform programs with the support and supervision of the World Bank and other reform institutions (Owusu,2006). Ghana vigorously pursued these reforms with the aim of halting economic decline and stagnation to institutional reforms and poverty reduction. The Civil Service Reform Program implemented in 1987, a component of the series of the economic reform programs was the first reform program to be undertaken in the country. The implementation of the CSRP was aimed at reducing overstaffing and trimming redundant civil servants (Owusu, 2005). However, between 1994 and 2003, reform initiatives in Ghana took a new look with the establishment of the National Institutional Renewal Program (Owusu, 2003). Efforts at this stage were centered on improving the public sector through enhancing its efficiency. Recognizing the failures of all the reforms that were implemented from 1987-2003, the erstwhile Kuffour administration took a giant step to establish a Ministry of Public Sector Reform in 2005 to ensure the development of home grown reform initiatives which oversaw the implementation of a number of reforms in the public sector until it was eventually replaced with the Public Sector Reform secretariat under the Mills regime. Having undergone several reform efforts, Public sector reformers in Ghana have realized that many of the problems associated with poor performance, lack of professionalism and corruption are directly related to low salary levels and ineffective pay administration (Cooper-Enchia, 2008), thus, the introduction of the Single Spine Pay Policy which forms the crux of the paper. However, any discussion of this new pay policy calls for a critical look into past wage and salary reform attempts. Past Public Sector Pay Reform Attempts in Ghana Over the years, governments in Ghana have introduced several pay reforms and reviews in order to bridge the disparity and inequity gaps in its pay administration systems (TUC bulletin). Prominent among these efforts are reviews under committees and commissions such as Mills-Odoi (1967); Issifu Ali Committee (1973); Azu Gabbe Commission (1979), the National Committee for Wage and Salary Rationalization (1983) and the Gyampoh Salary commission (1992) (Ibid). All these efforts notwithstanding, the problems that these reviews sought to address still lingered on since most of these committees and commissions which were set up remained adhoc and short-lived (source). Moreover, the recommendations that the committees and Commissions made on the existing pay system were never implemented by the government. For instance, the NDC government accepted the recommendations of the Gyampoh Commission in 1992 to consolidate allowances into basic salary but failed to implement them (Kiragu et al, 2003). These gives credence to the fact that political will is key in ensuring the implementation and success of reforms and buttress what Polidano (2001) says account for the why reforms in government fail. Having failed in its bid to achieve the objective of rectifying the imbalances in the pay administration system, there was the need to develop a more realistic and sustainable mechanism to reform the public services pay structure. Therefore, a more comprehensive approach to reforming the public sector pay inadequacies known as the Ghana Universal Salary Structure ( GUSS) was introduced in 1997 to forestall the problems inherent in the existing pay structure. The GUSS, a 22 level salary structure was put across to be implemented in all public sector institutions in Ghana. However, the aim of universality underlying the implementation of the pay policy could not be achieved since some sections of the public service institutions were made to opt out of the policy without any sanctions melted out to them. Moreover, the central body which oversaw the implementation of the GUSS did not have any legal mandate that established its legality to implement the policy and were also not adequately resourced (Government of Ghana, 2009). THE SINGLE SPINE PAY POLICY Overview The Single Spine Pay Policy is a new comprehensive pay reform program introduced to replace the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS). It is anticipated that the Single Spine Pay Policy will be able to restore equity and transparency in Ghanas public service remuneration structure (Government of Ghana, 2009). The Policy is designed to cover all the public sector employees specified under Article 190 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. Those in these category include the civil service, the Judicial service, the Audit service, the Education service, the Prisons service, the Parliamentary service, the Police service, the Immigration service, and the legal service. Others include workers of the constitution and all other public services as Parliament of Ghana may by law prescribe to part of the policy. However, the policy excludes all public employees specified under Article 71 of the 1992 constitution of Ghana. The officials who fall under this classification include the speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice and other justices of the superior court of Judicature, the Auditor- General, the chairman and Deputy Chairmen of the Electoral Commission, the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice and his deputies and the District Assemblies Common Fund Administrator; and the Chairman and Vice- Chairman and other members of the National Council for Higher Education, the Public services commission, the National Media Commission, the Lands Commission and the National Commission for Civic Education (Constitution of Republic of Ghana, 1992; Ankomah, 2010) The SSSS places public sector employees on a 25-level unified salary structure as compared to the 22-level salary structure under the GUSS. Moreover, since the SSSS attempts to put all public sector employees on a common structure, it utilizes the so called base pay (Cavalcanti, 2009) which is the minimum pay on the structure (Ankomah, 2010). Aside the common base pay, there are other remunerations such the Market Premiums as to induce certain category of professionals which is over and above the common base pay. Other commissions and allowances are also expected to be made specifically to certain group of public sector employees (Cavalcanti, 2010) It is worth mentioning that, the first time in Ghanas pay reform history, there have been an establishment of a Fair wages and salaries commission (FWSC) legally mandated by an Act of parliament (Act, 737, 2007) to oversee to the implementation of this pay reform policy (Ankomah, 2010; Cooper-Enchia, 2009; Government of Ghana, 2009). Rationale for Ghanas New Pay Policy There have been serious debates concerning Ghanas public sector pay over a long period of time. Issues that have been at the center stage of such debates concerns how to manage the pay disparities within the public sector and the rising cost of the public sector wage bill. For instance, although public sector salaries in Ghana constitute a major proportion of the government expenditure, it still remains very low and uncompetitive thus making the attraction and retainment of technical and managerial talents difficult (Ankomah, 2010). In addition, pay disparities continues to widen among public sector workers. It is against this backdrop that the Government has introduced this new pay policy. Hence, the Single Spine Pay Policy seeks to address the following key issues; Pay disparities that have emerged within the public services Rising cost of the public sector wage bill Large number of public sector pay negotiations Linkage of pay to productivity ( Government of Ghana, 2009) Aim and Objectives of the SSSS The overarching aim of the Single Spine pay policy is to ensure equity, fairness and transparency in the public service pay administration. Specifically, the objectives of the policy are to; Place all the public sector employees one vertical structure Ensure that jobs within the same job value range are paid within the same pay range (i.e equal pay for work of equal work ) Allow Government the ability to manage the wage bill more efficiently Ensure compliance and ease of monitoring the pay structures of self-accounting institutions Minimize industrial-relation tensions related to low pay and distortions across the public services; and Link pay to productivity ( Government of Ghana, 2009) Ghanas SSSS Implementation The implementation of Ghanas Single Spine Pay Policy commenced in July 2010 with the Police service being the first public sector institution to be migrated onto the new pay structure. The full scale implementation is scheduled to be undertaken within a five year period. Currently, all government employees specified under Article 190 of the 1992 Constitution of Republic of Ghana have been moved onto the structure. The stages that were followed in implementing the policy are listed below; Job analysis and evaluation Design of a grading structure based on the results of the job evaluation Placement of jobs on the grading structure Determination of the base pay and relativity through negotiations Design of the SSSS Placement if the individual jobholders on the SSSS Standardization of the allowances Negotiation of other conditions of service between Fair wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and Unions/ Associations in the nine service classification Development of public sector-wide performance system Monitoring and ensuring compliance (Ankomah, 2010;Government of Ghana, 2009 ) Emerging Challenges The implementation of the single Spine pay reform in Ghana like its predecessor policies have faced several challenges. Amongst the key challenges the policy has been beset with include the following; First, the migration of public sector workers onto the SSSS have been met with mixed results. While, the Police Service who were the first institution to be moved onto the new pay policy have hailed the policy as a good approach to ensure substantial increase in the salaries of all Ghanaian workers. Other Public sector workers share lukewarm attitudes toward the new pay policy. For instance, the health sector workers have consistently raised issues about internal relativity distortions and lack of transparency in the Job placement. They contend that the re-evaluation that was done prior to the placement of workers onto the SSSS was a total flaw (Ankomah, 2010). These same issues have also been advanced by other workers including Ghana Prison Service Staff, Civil Service and Local Government staff (Ibid) Another major challenge confronting the SSSS implementation has to do the payment of market premiums to certain categories of workers such as doctors, nurses, etc who are said to possess special skills set that are in short supply. It is argued that the absence of such professionals could throw the country into chaos (Abbey cited in Ankomah, 2010) A third critical issue that has been raised by the labor unions and associations particularly Civil and Local Government Service Association of Ghana as far as the implementation of the SSSS has to do with collective bargaining arrangements. Under the SSSS, there is only one umbrella negotiation committee, that is, the Public Services Joint Negotiation Committee that can negotiate Public Salary which comprises Fair Wages and Salaries Commission on one hand and organized labor / associations on the other hand Ankomah (2010). This threatens workers right as stipulated in the Labor Act, 2003 to collectively bargain and renders them powerless to fight for future improvements in their salaries and conditions of service. Poor management systems on human resources in Public institutions in Ghana have also been cited as a major challenge facing the implementation of the SSSS. According to Ankomah (2010), the current policy will require a thorough and complete assessment and review, which would demand a lot of competences and skills. Unfortunately, the human resource departments and units do not have the capacity to adequately manage this change. Moreover, the data base and Monitoring and Evaluation systems in the public institutions are not enough to cope with this new policy. WAY FORWARD CONCLUSION

Saturday, October 12, 2019

The Wasp Factory Essay -- essays research papers

â€Å"A Gothic horror story of quite exceptional quality...macabre, bizarre and...quite impossible to put down.† The above quote is the response of the Financial Times to the best-selling novel, â€Å"The Wasp Factory†, and in my opinion, truer words were never spoken. I myself had to force the book out of my hands in the early hours of the morning on several occasions. This clearly says something about the sheer power of Iain Bank’s debut novel. Whether you love it or hate it, once you have read the first page you are instantly struck by it’s brilliance. Throughout this essay, I intend to explore the mind and characteristics of the main character, Frank Cauldhame. Throughout the story, Frank’s character is brought out through his experiences, of which the most important are possibly the three murders he commits. I am not going to explore how he commits these terrible crimes, but rather why. Frank’s first victim is his cousin Blyth. He kills Blyth for a relatively simple reason, revenge. Blyth killed Frank and his brother Eric’s rabbits using a makeshift flame-thrower, which Eric had built himself. Eric is completely destroyed by this. So, a year later, Frank decides to settle the score with his cousin. Blyth had an artificial leg, and this was what gave Frank the chance to get even. One day, Frank and Eric, their younger brother Paul ( who is later killed ) and Blyth are lying in the sand. Frank goes for a walk to the Bunker and inside the dark, cold concrete pillbox , he finds an adder. He decides what he is going to do almost instantly. He catches the snake and bundles it into an old tin can. He then returns to the place where he left his cousin and brothers, and puts the snake into the artificial leg. Blyth’s death is slow and painful, and to Frank, this seems very appropriate. The way he sees it, Blyth deserves to die feeling similar agony to th at which his rabbits must have felt, and Frank feels no remorse. He tells Eric that he â€Å"thought it was a judgement from God that Blyth had first lost his leg and then had the replacement become the instrument of his downfall.† Frank then proceeds to name the area where Blyth was killed as â€Å"The Snake Park† This statement is an early indicator of an essential feature of Frank’s character, and that is his belief in symbolism and destiny. We find another example of this when we analyse the death of Frank’s younger brother,... ...ncredible atmosphere around you as a reader. You feel as if you are right beside Frank throughout his incredible adventures, and this is a very important part of a story about a young mans life and experiences. It is not enough to simply read â€Å"The Wasp Factory,† you have to feel it and be a part of it. It is more than just a novel, it is a journey through the mind of an obsessive sixteen year old boy, where you learn to look at the world in a different light. This experience is especially profound for a Scottish reader because of the incredible perceptive use of dialect and setting. I will conclude with a powerful quote from the novel: â€Å"All our lives are symbols. Everything we do is part of a pattern we have at least some say in. The strong make their own patterns and influence other people’s, the weak have their courses mapped out for them. The weak and the unlucky, and the stupid. The Wasp Factory is part of the pattern because it is part of life and-even more so-part of death. Like life it is complicated, so all the components are there† I hope that this has provided you with a final insight into the twistedly genius mind that belongs to Frank Cauldhame, and also, Iain Banks.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Comparison of Hobbes and Al-Farabi

Reading Response 4 Sarah Zou Sep. 23. 2012 LBST 1B11 Comparison of Hobbes and Al-Farabi Human nature was one of the most controversial topics now and then. In two of the world’s greatest philosophers’ essay, they discussed their own perception of human nature. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), England’s political philosopher, who discussed his view on the degeneration of human nature in his book, Leviathan, which depicted the natural state of humanity as nasty and brutish.His point of view came across many similarities as Al- Farabi (870- 950 CE) an Arab Scientist and philosopher during the Golden Age of Islam. With a group of philosopher, Al- Farabi created synthesis on Aristotelian thought and Muslin theology. His subject of interests varies from music to sociological and political issues. In his, On the Perfect State, he compared political state as a body, which the most important part of heart was the ruler. From both Hobbes and Al-Farabis’ perspective they b oth argued, in order to maintain a civil society, a form of ruling system was more than necessary.Hobbes suggested that the nature of men were equal, because everyone has different strengths that others may not posses. Al-Farabi supported this point by saying that human is not naturally perfect, they needed to be provided, and contribute to the needs of society with their strength in order to achieve perfection. And because of this equality, Hobbes stated, men needed to compete against each other or became enemies to achieve their goals. Therefore no one can be trusted because their interests might conflict and become enemies.So it was unclear that how powerful one must become to be always secured. However this theory contradicts with Al-Farabi’s statement of people in societies must co-operate and come together to supply each other. Another point Hobbes declared regarding human nature was: everyone desired to be valued, but when they were not, they damage others to get more value. Thus it was significant to sustain a form of constrain to prevent the destruction, and sustain justice in the society. Similar statement by Al-Farabi also supported Hobbes’ idea.When part of the system is out of order, the ruler or the heart of the system must remove the disorder. Consequently both essay emphasized: Even though a law system might limit certain people’s freedom, only when there was law, justice could be remained. Hobbes’ idea of peace means not only without conflict but a reliable structure to prevent conflict. By freeing men’s nature, there were no forms of government to restrain or assurance, so war appears. During a time of war, man’s security could only be coming from one’s own strength.There were neither society nor culture, only fear and danger of violent death in war. Human nature will do what they desire until they know of a law that will stop them. Only when there is law there is justice. Although Al-Farabiâ⠂¬â„¢s interpretation of a perfect society could agree to Hobbes’ law system, his idea on the qualities of a ruler differs from Hobbes’ perception of human nature. Al-Farabi described an ideal ruler had to be naturally born with leadership skills, and in the process of leading, decisions made the rulers were often relying heavily on their nature and virtue.However, Hobbes thought, virtue is not ability that inherited by man, or given by nature, with no exception to the rulers, because the rulers were human themselves, their desire were no different than others. Therefore, to maintain a civilized, justice and organized society could not only rely on the virtue of human nature, but also through a system of law to constrain some desires of people, even the leaders, to achieve an overall freedom and security for the majority.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

The Wadia vs Wadia

10 corporate battles to remember Wadia vs Wadia and Goenka Nusli Wadia (left) has been called a corporate samurai. His battles with Dhirubhai Ambani and Rajan Pillai are legendary. His first corporate brawl was a curious case, given who one of his opponents was: his own father. Neville Wadia had decided, in 1971, to sell Bombay Dyeing Ltd to take-over tycoon R. P. Goenka (right). A young Nusli Wadia refused to accept the deal. He had his back to the wall, yet fought back fiercely by getting the rest of the family, the unions and even J. R. D.Tata to thwart the deal, showing early signs of a rare ability to lobby and win allies in a tough battle. This is one of the few instances when Goenka lost a takeover battle. HP Nanda vs Swraj Paul In the early 1980s, with the tacit support of the then Congress government, Swraj Paul (right), a non-resident Indian, launched an aggressive takeover bid for Escorts Ltd. The latter’s promoter H. P. Nanda (left) put up a fight, but faced a back lash from the government that asked financial institutions with a stake in Escorts to support Paul, and launched a series of tax investigations.Nanda hung on, and in 1984, the courts ruled in his favour. ITC vs BAT In 1996, British American Tobacco Industries Plc (BAT), the single largest shareholder in ITC Ltd, and led by Martin Broughton (right), made a play for control of the Indian company. But ITC, under K. L. Chugh (left), was able to convince the Indian government the fight was between a strong, well-managed and board-run Indian company and a predatory multinational. Government-owned institutions with a stake in ITC helped avert the threat. The Birlas vs Lodha Priyamvada Birla(left), widow of M.P. Birla, died childless in July 2004, leaving all her assets, valued at Rs3,000-5,000 crore, to Rajendra Singh Lodha (right), the MP Birla group’s auditor. When the Birla family came to know about her will, they opposed it, saying she could not have left her assets to an outsid er. The Birlas claimed in court that Priyamvada Birla and her husband had earlier written an irrevocable â€Å"mutual will† in which they said all their assets would go to charity. Various cases are being fought between the Birlas and Harsh Vardhan Lodha, R.S. Lodha’s son, who is now MP Birla group chairman. R. S. Lodha died in October 2008 after a cardiac arrest at B. K. Birla’s flat in London. Harsh Vardhan Lodha has yet not secured probate of Priyamvada Birla’s will, but heads the group with the support of directors of holding companies that own controlling stakes in MP Birla group firms. Nusli Wadia vs Dhirubhai Ambani PTA and DMT are innocuous abbreviations for two chemicals used to produce polyester. Together they reacted to create a national explosion in the 1980s.Reliance Industries Ltd run by Dhirubhai Ambani (right) and Bombay Dyeing Ltd led by Nusli Wadia (left) were stiff competitors in the polyester market, with the former using PTA and the l atter DMT as the main input. Those were the days when the government had a say in technology choices, so what ensued was a bitter lobbying war that eventually led to a political crisis for the Rajiv Gandhi government in New Delhi and a murder investigation in Mumbai. Vijay Mallya vs Manu Chhabria Photo: India Today Vijay Mallya’s corporate spat with the late NRI raider Manu Chhabria (right) was an epic one, lasting nearly 20 years.It all began in 1984, when a then unknown Chhabria made a hostile bid for liquor major Shaw Wallace and Co. (SWC). Mallya (left) claimed the bid was actually made jointly by an offshore firm in which he was a partner, while Chhabria disputed that and eventually gained ownership of SWC. A legal battle raged for years in Hong Kong, during which Mallya also partnered Chhabria’s estranged brother, Kishore, and kept up the pressure for getting what he believed rightly belonged to him.It wasn’t until March 2005 that the battle came to an end with Mallya finally acquiring a controlling interest in SWC from the Chhabria family, three years after Manu Chhabria died at 56. Ratan Tata vs The Tata satraps In 1991, Ratan Tata (left) inherited a business group that was run by a confederation of ageing satraps under the benign control of J. R. D. Tata. The Tata scion wanted tighter control over the companies in the sprawling empire, and that led to a showdown with the likes of Russi Mody (right), Darbari Seth and Ajit Kerkar, all men of considerable achievement but resistant to change.The younger Tata did not have a very successful track record till then but he eventually took control and transformed the Tata group, making it the ambitiously global and relentlessly innovative group that it is today. Wadia vs Rajan Pillai Photo: India Today Nusli Wadia’s battle to acquire Britannia Industries Ltd made the headlines in the late 1980s, when he first tried to buy biscuit maker Britannia, then owned by US giant RJR Nabisco In c. Wadia (left) first met the Nabisco brass through a friend, NRI cashew trader K.Rajan Pillai (right), in the late 1980s. But Nabisco changed its mind about selling to Wadia and appointed Pillai chairman of Britannia. This turned the two one-time friends into foes. Soon Pillai acquired Britannia and partnered with French food company, Danone SA. Then the French company fell out with Pillai, accusing him of fraud, and instead tied up with Wadia. After a bitter boardroom battle, Pillai was ousted and Wadia eventually took over Britannia in the early 1990s. Pillai later died in custody in an Indian jail.L&T vs RIL In the late 1980s, Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) chairman N. M. Desai, discovering that Manu Chhabria (right) had acquired a stake in the firm, presumably to launch a hostile bid, got Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) Dhiru-bhai Ambani (left) to buy a larger stake and come in as a white knight. Ambani had designs of his own and became chairman with the support of the Cong ress government that asked financial institutions with stakes in L&T to back him. RIL’s plan was thwarted when the Congress lost power in 1989.RIL sold its stake in the early 2000s to the Aditya Birla group, triggering another takeover battle that ended with L&T selling its cement business to the group. Bajaj vs Bajaj In 2001, Kushagra Bajaj convinced his father Shishir Bajaj (left) to ask the Bajaj clan to transfer to them the two companies they managed, a sugar producer and a consumer products maker. The Bajajs, Shishir’s brother Rahul (right) as well as cousins Madhur, Shekhar and Niraj, initially demurred. They eventually agreed, but not before dirty linen had been washed in public.

Market Equilibrating Process Paper

Market Equilibrating Process Paper Economics helps to understand how our efforts to produce goods and the products themselves are related, including the monetary aspects. On the national level this is macroeconomics and on a more personal level it is microeconomics. According to McConnell, Brue and Flynn â€Å"The market system permits consumers, resource suppliers, and businesses to pursue and further their self-interest. In competitive markets, prices adjust to the equilibrium level at which quantity demanded equals quantity supplied.The equilibrium price and quantity are those indicated by the intersection of the supply and demand curves for any product or resource. An increase in demand increases equilibrium price and quantity; a decrease in demand decreases equilibrium price and quantity. An increase in supply reduces equilibrium price but increases equilibrium quantity; a decrease in supply increases equilibrium price but reduces equilibrium quantity. † Microeconomics an d Macroeconomics According to Investopedia â€Å"The field of economics is broken down into two distinct areas of study: microeconomics and macroeconomics.Microeconomics looks at the smaller picture and focuses more on basic theories of supply and demand and how individual businesses decide how much of something to produce and how much to charge for it. People who have any desire to start their own business or who want to learn the rationale behind the pricing of particular products and services would be more interested in this area. Macroeconomics, on the other hand, looks at the big picture (hence â€Å"macro†). It focuses on the national economy as a whole and provides a basic knowledge of how things work in the business world. Personal Economics According to www. bls. gov â€Å"Accountants and auditors help to ensure that firms are run efficiently, public records kept accurately, and taxes paid properly and on time. They analyze and communicate financial information for various entities such as companies, individual clients, and Federal, State, and local governments.Beyond carrying out the fundamental tasks of the occupation—providing information to clients by preparing, analyzing, and verifying financial documents—many accountants also offer budget analysis, inancial and investment planning, information technology consulting, and limited legal services. † I like my career, I am Accountant and I have been married for 7 years with 2 kids, I see how economics impact commerce; from small businesses, like mini markets or restaurants, to big businesses like Wal-mart or Target, each price variation reflects in a home having less acquisition power of products or services, this is the main reason why studying economics is very important and useful to companies and to myself.According to McConnell, Brue and Flynn â€Å"When price changes, total revenue will change in the opposite direction if demand is price-elastic, in the same direct ion if demand is price-inelastic, and not at all if demand is unit-elastic. Price elasticity of demand is greater (a) the larger the number of substitutes available, (b) the higher the price of a product relative to one’s budget; (c) the greater the extent to which the product is a luxury; and (d) the longer the time period involved. Summary Economics is useful tool for companies and people because we can understand our acquisition power in the market and the companies can make decisions about their future.References: McConnell, Brue and Flynn (2009). Economics: Problems and Policies (18th ed. ). McGraw-Hill http://www. investopedia. com/terms/m/microeconomics. asp, Retrieved April12, 2010. http://www. bls. gov, Retrieved April11, 2010.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

How does the military lifestyle affect the social development and Research Paper

How does the military lifestyle affect the social development and academic motivation of adolescents in high school raised in military families during a time of war - Research Paper Example orted on their nature of adapting new places or rather new environment, control exertions, and how fast they adjust to new environment through institutionalized report toward oneself measures. For the ones who were deaf, there was a questionnaire with the same questions as those asked verbally.The results shows that adolescents living in military families reported hoisted levels of behavior issues as indicated by settled clinical standards. Be that as it may, ponder findings likewise show that control endeavors and maternal help act as critical defensive elements against the improvement of behavior issues and enthusiastic symptoms, whereas to abstain from adapting is related to more prominent enthusiastic symptoms (Marting, et al. 2000). It also shows that, those who are affected directly during the times of war are depressed and they are performing poorly in school. Descriptive statistics are utilized to portray the fundamental gimmicks of the data in a study. They give straightforward rundowns about the specimen and the measures. Together with straightforward graphics investigation, they structure the premise of essentially every quantitative examination of data. They are typically extracted from inferential statistic. It is the idea of one number that summarizes the whole measurement. Taking the gender and age as our demographic variable of the adolescents, let X denote the number of boys who were in the sample of adolescents and Y denote the number of girls in that sample. X +Y equals to the whole sample which was taken randomly as per the rules of random sampling. In central tendency, the median is the number that is at the middle of all the measurements or rather is the number at which half the measurement are exceeding that number and the other half are less than that number. The sample has to be arranged in ascending or descending order, then the number at the middle is the median. The descriptive statistics brings out the behavior of the variables