The Sun Rising

This is a dramatic poem where the speaker and his lover are in bed together. The speaker personifies the sun, and is speaking to it throughout the poem. As the sunlight comes through the windows, the speaker tells the sun to leave them alone. He seems to feel that their life together is complete, and that the sun is being a nuisance. He then tells the sun that his lover is worth more than anything the sun can ever find outside their bedroom. It is a love poem of an unusual kind.In this poem, composed in the form of a dramatic monologue, the poet lover is angered at the Sun and calls it names for disturbing the time him and his lover are spendong together. . He addresses the Sun as â€Å"busy old fool†. He calls it unruly because, by peeping in to the bedroom through windows and curtains it disturbs the lovers. The poet-lover tells the Sun that lovers’ seasons do not run to its motions. He advises the Sun to go and do such routine and dull jobs like chiding late-schoolbo ys and apprentices, waking up court-huntsmen and peasants.The expression â€Å"country ants† is imagery. It refers to the peasants, drudging like ants. However, the poet and his lover are not like ‘them', they are superior to all that is going on around them and they should not be disturbed. They get up with the Sun and toil the whole day, till sunset. Love knows no season, no climates. It is not affected by time. In this section of the poem we come across personification like â€Å"busy old fool† and â€Å"saucy pedantic wretch† to show the annoyance the poet has at this intruder.The poet’s wit is apparent when he tells the Sun that he has no reason to think that his beams are â€Å"so reverend and strong†. The poet lover could eclipse and could the beams of the Sun with a wink. He does not do so because he does not wish to â€Å"loose her sight so long. † This indicates that the love between the poet and his lover is so obsessive, so strong and has such potency that he does not even want to lose sight of her for her second. The Sun travels all over the world in twenty four hours. The poet asks the Sun to go round the world, see all Kings, come back tomorrow and say ifDonne uses hyperbole to exaggerate the importance of himself and his lover, â€Å"in one bed lay†- he is insinuating that all important elements of the world are there in the their bed and in their room. They are everything. To Donne, this moment with his love means everything and he describes it as such. The same imagery continues in the concluding verse of the poem where â€Å"She’s all States, and all Princes I†. The poet’s mistress is all States. She is the world. The Sun can shine over only half of the world at one time. The lovers, on the contrary, are the world.It logically follows that the Sun is â€Å"half as happy as we†. When we come to this part of the poem we notice a shift in the mood of the poet. Th e Sun is no longer the â€Å"busy old fool† or the â€Å"saucy pedantic wretch† of the first verse or stanza. It is now an aged fellow in need of ease. The poet offers it the needed ease; the Sun’s duty now is warming the world. It warms only half of the world at a time. By shining on the lover’s bed it can shine over the whole world at a time. â€Å"Let the bed be the centre and the walls the sphere† of the Sun with this arrangement the aged Sun can do its duties with ease.At the beginning of the poem the poet asked the Sun to go away from there. Now he invites the Sun to go round their bed and shine on them. He does not want to lose his lovers sigh for even a second- shows how much he loves her. The poet addresses the sun as a person and rebukes the sun because it has wakened him and his lover from their sleep. He demands to know why lovers should obey time. He also shows his dominance over the sun, calling it a ‘saucy pedantic wretchâ€⠄¢ and tells the sun to bother other people instead such as late school boys or workers imploring or more time to sleep.He tells the sun to find the royal court people and farmers to let them start their day instead of controlling the lovers, because time does not exist in love and unlike season or climate or sun, love doesn’t change. Hours, days and months are just silly, useless measures. The poet challenges the sun about its strength, that the sun isn’t is high and mighty because he can make it disappear by winking, except he doesn’t want to lose sight of his lover. He teases the sun that his lover’s eyes are so beautiful and bright that it can blind the sun.He tells he sun to go to far away countries like India or stay because the entire world is with him in the bed. The sun can also find kings but he and his lover are so superior that even the kings will say the most important people are in his room, ‘all here in one bed lay’. The poet c laims that his lover is ‘all states’ and in fact the whole world itself and he is the ‘prince’ that rules it, nothing else exists other than them. They are the celebrity, and even other princes want to mimic them.He declares that honour and science are nothing compared to their love and that the sun is only half as happy as they are. He says the sun is old and so it should rest because its duty is to warm the world and since they are the world, the sun has completed its duty. Then, the poet cleverly turns the sun’s refusal to leave into a show of its generosity and by shining at them, it has centered itself upon the room of his love and so they are the sun, the center of the universe

Workforce Planning

Group 2 Manage Workforce Planning Autism Victoria – Workforce Plan By James Watts, Jessica Lim, Luke Farrugia and Kair Aueil For Jan Kelly 06/04/2012 Table of Contents 1. The Necessity of Workforce Planning3 2. Overview of organisation3 2. 1. Autism Victoria’s services3 3. Strategy3 3. 1. Autism Victoria’s Vision3 3. 2. Autism Victoria’s Values3 3. 3. Autism Victoria’s Mission4 3. 4. Autism Victoria’s Strategic Priorities4 3. 5.SWOT Analysis4 4. External Factors4 4. 1. Global Factors5 4. 2. National and Regional Factors5 4. 3. Challenges5 5. Internal Environment6 5. 1. Business Planning Process6 5. 2. Internal Changes6 5. 3. Labour Issues6 5. 4. Organisational Structure6 6. Current Workforce Profile7 7. Future Workforce Profile7 8. Gap Analysis and Closing Strategies7 9. Conclusion and Recommendations8 10. References8 1. The Necessity of Workforce PlanningWorkforce planning is a comprehensive process that provides managers with a framework fo r making staffing decisions based on an organisation’s mission, strategic plan, budgetary resources and a set of desired workforce competencies. (Dessler, Griffiths & Lloyd-Walker 2007 pp78) Workforce planning allows managers to anticipate changes in the external and internal business environment and how they will impact their organisation’s workforce needs.It also provides a basis for managers to devise strategies to tackle said changes and generate the maximal amount of value for their dollar. As Autism Victoria is a non-profit organisation, it relies heavily upon government grants and funding. The limitations on this form of income make it imperative that Autism Victoria invests every penny wisely. And because the hiring and payment of workers is so costly, significant effort must be put into the workforce planning process in order to ensure that it isn’t costing the company more than it benefits it. . Overview of organisation Autism Victoria, trading as Amaz e, is a member-based not-for-profit organisation and is the peak body for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) in the state of Victoria. Their aim is to improve the quality of life for people affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders, their family and carers. They also provide a range of services to individuals and agencies with an interest in Autism Spectrum Disorders (including Asperger Syndrome and PDD-NOS). 3. 1. Autism Victoria’s services Autism Victoria offers the following services: free phone support for individuals and organisations affected by ASD * certified and customised training programs for professionals and businesses * information and education sessions for individuals and families including the Early Days workshops * autism accreditation for services, schools and practitioners * administration of the FaHCSIA â€Å"Helping Children with Autism† funding on behalf of government * information Services – Autism Library, Spectrum Magazine, eSpectrum newslett er, online resources, Fact Sheets and more 3.Strategy 4. 2. Autism Victoria’s Vision That all people affected by an ASD have the best quality of life outcomes possible 4. 3. Autism Victoria’s Values * Diversity * Co-operative spirit * Willingness to learn * Background in dealing with an ASD 4. 4. Autism Victoria’s Mission To provide the best quality range of information, advice and support to families and individuals and advocating for systemic change, the establishment of networks, links and communities and the provision of training and accreditation to the service support system. 4. 5.Autism Victoria’s Strategic Priorities Autism Victoria’s most recent Board of Directors meeting yielded 5 priorities for this quarter. They are: 1. To confirm and enhance the role of Autism Victoria as the Peak Body on Autism Spectrum Disorders in Victoria 2. To ensure Autism Victoria is a robust and functional organisation 3. To develop and adopt a number of divers e income streams to ensure the financial viability of the organisation 4. To provide comprehensive quality information and advice on all matters related to Autism Spectrum Disorders 5.To take direct action to improve the provision of service and standards to people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder 4. 6. SWOT Analysis 4. External Factors There are several external factors which currently have an influence on Autism Victoria’s workforce planning considerations. Some of these external factors have a positive influence; others, negative. In this section, several strata of external factors will be discussed. 5. 7. Global Factors As Autism Victoria is a state organisation, there aren’t many global factors currently affecting it. The most notable factors would be the new developments in ASD diagnosis and treatment.The American-developed DSM-X diagnostic tool will be replacing the current DSM-IV version, and this has the potential to cause a great deal of uncertainty in the di agnosis of ASDs. Autism Victoria predicts that 20% of would-be autistics would be failed to be diagnosed. This would lead to a large population of ASD symptom carriers being deemed unfit for access to quality knowledge and care. One potential global factor that could be beneficial for Autism Victoria involves a conference that is currently being held by them every two years. This conference is streamed into 9 regional centres in Victoria.With the advent of new media technology that is available today, they would have the opportunity to stream the conference live into surrounding nations, spreading knowledge and awareness much more effectively. Autism Victoria is constantly on the lookout for new research and technologies which have the potential to benefit their cause. This would greatly influence their workforce planning process, as technological knowledge and skills would be a crucial part of assessing an applicant’s suitability. The advent of this technology may even creat e new job positions. 5. 8. National and Regional FactorsA national factor which has the potential to affect Autism Victoria is the introduction of a new National Disability Insurance Scheme by the Victorian Coalition Government. It is still unknown whether this new process will have a positive or negative effect on Autism Victoria and their beneficiaries. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has released an Autism State Plan for Victoria, which is committed to supporting all children affected by an ASD. In conjunction with Autism Victoria, they have been promoting the spread and knowledge of ASDs through the Victorian school system.Autism Victoria is also constricted by the funds and resources they have at their disposal. Though the amount of funding they have received has increased greatly over the last few years, there is still room for growth, as there are still a large number of ASD sufferers in Victoria. 5. 9. Challenges There are several challenges that are currently being faced by Autism Victoria. In Australia today, 1 in 100 children is diagnosed with Autism. This places a large demand on the services and support Autism Victoria provides. Funding and manpower is a significant part of the fulfilment of these demands.Autism Victoria’s CEO organises a quarterly board meetings in order to discuss a wide range of matters. The current purpose of their next meeting, which is due to happen as of now is to develop a paper for the government underling what policies Autism Victoria believe should be changed or added. They also prepare papers on how much funding is needed. Recently Autism Victoria has been lobbing with education ministers to get the amount of experience teachers get with autistic people while studying to become teachers increased.There are currently no guidelines on how much time teaching students get hands on with Autistic children, with many universities offering no hands on time with Autistic children while studyin g teaching. This is something that the current CEO of Autism Victoria believes strongly in and is trying to get changed. 5. Internal Environment 6. 10. Business Planning Process Every year Autism Victoria holds their Annual Planning Day. This is a day where planning for the next year is done. The strategic plan is revised by the Board of Directors, and all managers are required to do SWOT analysis of their departments. . 11. Internal Changes As Autism Victoria as an organisation has had enormous growth within the past 3 years, during the increase in size of Autism Victoria’s operations they have had hire many new people to meet the demands of the organisation and the community. As a result, current offices have become cramped and there is no free office space within their current offices, due to this they are currently looking at moving to a new larger office. 6. 12. Labour Issues Autism Victoria’s only current problem with labour is an oversubscription.They recently e ncountered a problem in which 100 applicants applied for a new position that Autism Victoria had made available, this in turn created a problem of having to interview lots of applications. The CEO of Autism Victoria states that they only interviewed the people that where in the yes category because there where so many applicants it was not worth there time to interview the maybes as well. 6. 13. Organisational Structure At the head of the organisation structure of Autism Victoria is the current CEO Murray Dawson-Smith. Below him 5 work teams which are headed by respective managers. There are roughly 5 staff per work team.Autism Victoria’s Organisational Chart: 6. Current Workforce Profile The current workforce employed by Autism Victoria is more than adequate to perform the tasks and operations necessary at the organisation. Though the company is expanding and will be able to hire more employees, the supply of workers desirous to gain employment at Autism Victoria far exceeds the demand for employment by the organisation. This means that Autism Victoria has a great deal of control over both the internal and the external elements of hiring and promotion, and the luxury of choice when it comes to filling any position within the organization.The internal supply of workers, however, is largely tapped out. Though the workforce is highly qualified, experienced, and performs their tasks/fills their roles in a manner that meets or exceeds expectations, individuals at the organisation are also well-suited to and satisfied with their current positions, making internal promotion or lateral movements to fill vacancies and new positions undesirable and an ineffective and inefficient way to meet current workforce needs.External supply is also quite extensive, meaning Autism Victoria has many choices when it comes to filling current workforce needs. A high level of experience is not actually a requirement for considering employment, as extensive training is available for the right candidate. When seeking employees in the external workforce, then, personality, values, and ability to fit in with the other individuals at the organization are the key considerations. 7. Future Workforce ProfileThe most significant difference between the current and future workforce profiles at Autism Victoria is the planned expansion of the organisation, which will enable it to hire fifteen more individuals. As the organisation is devoted to providing autism assistance services, the new hires will need to be willing to work in this environment and to receive ongoing training and development towards providing individuals with autism and their families with always-improving services; however current knowledge or experience in the area is not really required.Even so, there are many applicants on file in the external workforce with experience, knowledge, and a strong desire to work at Autism Victoria, such that if the experience and knowledge considerations were to becom e more important in the future this would not present a problem to the organisation in the slightest. The desire to work for Autism Victoria in the wider external workforce is so strong, in fact, that the company should not have problems filling any open positions for some time, even with the company’s emphasis on ability to personally integrate with the other members of the organisation in a productive fashion.Such strong embedded cultures can be prohibitive to outsiders, but with a large pool to choose from this should not be an issue. In addition, former employees will and do apply for open positions. Even in the external workforce, then, there are potential employees known to be a good fit with the organization. The supply of available employees in the external workforce is more than enough to meet the organization’s needs. 8. Gap Analysis and Closing Strategies Autism Victoria is in a good state to fulfil their current strategic obligations.However, with the impen ding relocation on the horizon, they will need to focus on expanding their workforce capacity in order to cope with the coming staffing demands. This will not require a large increase in staff-seeking expenditure or effort, as Autism Victoria already has the exposure necessary to warrant oversubscription. Another area Autism Victoria should focus on is increasing the technological capabilities of its workforce. With the advent of new diagnostic and treatment tools, a workforce capable of utilising these developments stands to retain its usefulness far into the future.Autism Victoria can promote this focus by developing technological training programs for its staff. An increase in funding is imperative to secure the aforementioned developments. Thus, it necessary for Autism Victoria to continue to promote government funding at every available opportunity, as this provides a layer of buffering in the event that said developments fall through and contingency plans must be introduced. 9 . Conclusion and Recommendations Autism Victoria has had the good fortune of rapid expansion within the last 5 years, and has thus far been capable of adapting to the changing environment of the industry’s workforce.But in order to secure its place in the future and fill out its expanding business scope, Autism Victoria will have to take the following actions: * Increase its workforce by 15 staff in order to adequately expand into its new location * Develop a training program to education staff in the use of the DSM-V diagnostic tool * Secure a 50% increase in government funding through the lobbying of ministers It is reasonable to believe that through the use of these recommendations, Autism Victoria stands to perform exceedingly well in the industry in a period out to 2020. 0. References Dessler, G, Griffiths, J & Lloyd-Walker, B 2007 Human Resource Management, 3rd edn, Pearson Education, Australia Workforce Planning India shines Shalini Shukla 18 Apr 2012 In the last two decades, India has gone from being one of the least globalised economies in the world to one of the most dependent on international commerce. â€Å"Our markets are more open, we enjoy a wider range of consumer items than ever, and those who go abroad (far more than ever before) finance their travel expenses with foreign exchange,† says Shashi Tharoor, elected member of the Indian Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala and former Minister of State for External Affairs. Business process outsourcing has (also) tied large numbers of Indians to foreign work environments and business partners. † This year, India is poised to over take Japan as the third largest economy in the world, based on purchasing power parity. James Agarwal, consulting director and head – India, BTI Consultants, a part of Kelly Services, says that main growth drivers seem to be a variety of internal and external factors , including investment-friendly public policies and regulations. India has also successfully raised its aggregate savings rate to levels that would allow sustained high levels of domestic capital formation, in turn helping high growth,† says Agarwal. While India’s economy is one of the world’s most dynamic, corruption, sloppy standards, a lack of decent staff and too much red tape are common gripes amongst businesses. Prince Augustine, EVP – Human Capital at Mahindra & Mahindra, says there is much to be improved. â€Å"The potential of India has not been fully tapped in terms of its resources and people capability,† he says. There is ample scope for growth looking at the vast expanse of the country, its population and rich cultural heritage. † The country’s labour force is one to be reckoned with. It boasts the world’s largest labour pool, with 270 million entering the workforce over the next 20 years, says McKinsey & Company. It also has the world’s youngest workforce, with 70% of the population falling under the age of 35, according to the latest Indian Census. â€Å"By and large, people (in India) are hard-working, and management is participative, forward-looking and quite performance-oriented,† says Augustine.Agarwal agrees and says work culture in India requires one to be acclimatised to the behavioural as well as cultural variations of the country. â€Å"For instance, here, people consider their family when accepting job proposals, although Gen X is emulating the west gradually,† he says. â€Å"Also, workers in India have a strict work ethic; they do not mind even working on weekends if the demands are such, unlike most other countries where weekends are almost exclusively considered personal time. However, Agarwal added that Indian workers can be rather particular about certain festivals which cannot be ignored, such as Diwali. Gender equality While India has certainly done some things right on the business front to achieve double-digit economic growth, gender equality in the country still has a long way to go before it comes even close to levels of other economic giants. According to the Gender Sensitivity Benchmark for Asia 2011 report, India is the worst among six top Asian economies when it comes to the representation of women in the workplace at the junior- and middle-level positions.Indian multinational companies studied had the lowest number of women employed, at 24. 43% of the total workforce in India. Agarwal laments that despite the fact that recent times have witnessed a boost in the status of women, such discrimination still seems to exist. â€Å"Discrimination here relates to matters like pay, conditions pre- and post-employment, promotions and other opportunity matters,† he says. â€Å"For a developing country like India, gender equality is still a long way off, coupled with unprecedented efforts to grant women an equal status and the reby ensure her development. There is a silver lining though. In spite of all the challenges, India has shown and worked on progressive policies. Today, most of India’s companies are committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all. Employers are increasingly realising the value of trained human resource, especially women in India. Diversity hiring intent among leading companies has gone up by almost 500% since 2010, according to a study by the Chennai-based FLEXI Careers India, which sources only women executives. Some organisations are changing their HR policies to retain their valuable employees,† says Agarwal. â€Å"There are companies which are providing flexibility so that female employees at various life stages could benefit from these policies, like working from a different city, sabbatical from corporate life, and extended maternity leave. † A host of companies, like Godrej Industries, Pepsico, Genpact, Kraft, P&G, Deutsche Bank and others, have all stepped up their gender diversity hiring recently.Progressive companies such as Mahindra & Mahindra believe in equal opportunity and do not discriminate in any form. â€Å"Our philosophy is that the right person should be selected for the job. We have an evolutionary approach to diversity as the working population base needs to be aligned to ensure that there is a rich supply of employable workforce,† says Augustine. â€Å"In the manufacturing sector primarily in engineering, although the number of woman employees is limited, we have good representation. IBM is another company that’s been championing diversity in the workplace. Three or four times a year, a team from IBM goes on a recruitment drive with a difference – they screen and select only female employees. Conservative estimates suggest IBM has added well over 2,000 women in two years, with the proportion of female workers increasing from 24% of the workforce to 26%. â€Å"We keep trying to fin d new ways of hiring women,† Kalpana Veeraraghavan, diversity manager for India and South Asia at IBM tells The Economist. This is not just about filling a talent crunch. There is a strong correlation between success in the marketplace and having a diverse workforce. † Other examples include Genpact, where the overall ratio of men to women is 60:40; Kotak Mahindra Bank, where two out of 10 employees are women; and KPMG, which has increased its headcount for female employees by 75% as compared to its figures for 2010. Schneider Electric has also bumped up its percentage of women in the workforce from just 9% in 2009 to 20% in 2011. Money talksCompanies in India are cautious, but also confident of long-term performance this year. Organisations have emerged in a mature way post-downturn with a stronger compensation philosophy in place, designed around ‘pay for performance’ and a comprehensive view for long-term sustainability. According to the Hay Group Compens ation & Benefits Report 2011, the country witnessed an actual average salary increase of 11% in 2011 and is optimistic about seeing double-digit growth this year at an average of 12% across levels.Sridhar Ganesan, managing consultant and Rewards Practice Leader, Hay Group India, says, â€Å"in a short span of the last five years, the Indian employment market has witnessed a range of behaviours with employers on a hiring spree and also in rightsizing mode. The market is now stabilising and maturing to the next level of employer and employee relationships. † Graduate salaries are also picking up with monthly salaries touching Rs 40,000 (US$758) in industries including engineering, sales, marketing and even in support functions such as finance and HR.Salaries are going up at a good time as India experiences its highest inflation rates yet, with the annual inflation rate for the country accelerating to a 13-month high of 9. 78% in August 2011. For instance, Mahindra & Mahindra do es regular Mark-to-Market comparisons and appropriate changes are made in compensation based on market realities. â€Å"Employees are aligned to these realities,† says Augustine. Ganesan also observed that there is a constant reinforcement of pay for performance. Bonus figures have been continuously showing an increasing trend year-on-year, as organisations now believe in pay for performance with controlled merit increments. † More organisations have certainly designed variable pay to induce a performance-driven culture. The target bonus percentage ranges between 8% and 44% of base salary at junior management levels, 11–63% of base salary at middle management, and 15–75% of base salary at senior management levels. The Hay Group report found that around 79% of the organisations participating paid some form of bonus in the last 12 months.When it comes to bonuses, Diwali is the time when employees expect them in India. According to The Economic Times, Diwali bonuses range from 10% to over 200% of basic pay. Consumer durables companies and IT and business process outsourcing companies are the most generous, with the former giving out 20–250% of basic pay during the festive season and the latter shelling out 80–100% of basic wages as bonuses. Bonuses in the financial services sector range from more conservative figures of 16–50% while those in the automobile industry fluctuate between 10% and 25%.The retail sector can give out anywhere from 9% to 60% of basic pay in bonus pay-outs during the festive season. LG Electronics India is a case in point. The consumer durables company gives out a total of 200–700% of basic salaries to its 4,500 employees annually through six bonuses, including two half-yearly performance incentives in January and July, a Diwali bonus, a post-Diwali bonus, an LG birthday bonus in May and a retention bonus to employees who have completed two years of service at LG.The retention bonus is a maximum of 400% of an employee’s basic monthly salary and is paid in three instalments in every consecutive year. Talent development There is no doubt that India’s vast manpower pool has played a vital role in its economic success story. It is increasingly obvious that the success of Indian companies is not just based on superior access to raw materials or technology or patents, but also fundamentally upon human skills.The major challenge, though, seems to be the issue of upgrading skill sets of this human resource through training & development in the face of high attrition and competition, says Agarwal. â€Å"Indian companies are recognising their responsibilities to enhance the employee’s opportunity to develop skills and abilities for full performance within the position and for career advancement,† he says. The India that is going global is also a remarkably young country. â€Å"India’s youth population remains an under-utilised economic as set,† says Tharoor. Census figures show that nearly one-fifth of India belongs to the 15–24 year age group.Each year, the country will add around five million young adults in that age group – five million potentially productive workers providing India with the fuel it needs to drive productivity higher, powering its economy even further. The education system is working to create a steady stream of young talent. According to National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), each year over three million graduates and post-graduates are added to the Indian workforce. However, there is still room for improvement in terms of developing this talent. Today’s new graduates seem to be grossly lacking in all-round skills – something that’s expected, given their formal education,† says Agarwal. Augustine agrees, saying some big concerns include the employability of fresh graduates and how aligned these graduates are to business re ality. Still, many reforms are underway, from governance structure of higher education and decentralisation, to major investments in faculty development, for both private and public institutions. â€Å"A lot of effort is being put into expanding tertiary education, especially for low- and middle-income students,† says Agarwal.Corporates are also doing their business to improve the quality of education and hence increase the number of employable talent. For instance, Wipro works closely with the Indian school and college system through the Wipro Applying Thought in Schools (WATIS) programme. The strategy revolves around systemic education reform and transforming the current nature of schools and pedagogy, it works through building capacity of social sector organisations working in the space of education and directly with schools. The WATIS programme has engaged with over 2,000 schools and 30 social organisations across 17 states of India.Mission10X Learning Approach (MxLA) is another program by Wipro that focuses on improving the potential for employability of engineering graduates in India. It does this through direct engagement with engineering colleges and faculty capacity development. The program reaches out to over 300 colleges and has trained 10,000 engineering college faculty members. Aditya Birla Group offers Management Trainee Programmes through which the company recruits exceptional management graduates from the best business schools in the country.Siemens India’s one year training programme sees newly recruited management trainees undergo a rigorous five-week classroom training, six stints of three weeks each in Sales, Operations, Finance, HR and Corporate Strategy, and a 26-week project within a business unit or corporate function. The synergy between the public and private partnership with a strong focus on key HR programmes such as talent management and employee capability-building, coupled with attraction and retention will be pivot al as India continues its journey of rapid growth.Laws to keep in mind when doing business in India+  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to James Agarwal, consulting director and head – India, BTI Consultants, some important Labour Acts which are applicable for carrying out business in India are:+  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act+  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Employees’ State Insurance Act+  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Workmen’s Compensation Act+  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Maternity Benefit Act+  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Factories Act+  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Minimum Wages Act+  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Payment of Wages Act|JugaadA Hindi slang word, jugaad (pronounced ‘joo-gaardh’) translates to an improvisational style of innovation that’s driven by scarce resources – a case of ‘get it done, by hook or by crook’. Just as Guanxi describes the central idea in Chinese society, jugaad is almost a way of life in India. Most workers in India embody this intrinsic trait of jugaad in their day-to-day work, allowing them to creatively come up with products and services that are more economical both for the supplier and consumer, and maximises resources for a company and its stakeholders in as little time as possible. Resolutions for 2012The English daily, Mumbai Mirror, sums up some of the biggest workplace resolutions that people in all industries will try to keep in 2012:+  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Encourage leadership – This comes in handy as companies transition from closed to open source leadership formats this year+  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Monitor workplace gossip – Managing office gossip is important in keeping major conflicts at bay+  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strike a connect – Know the ‘why’ and then focus on the task, helping to avoid miscommunication, politicking, etc†¦|POISED TO: Cool, calm, collected or waiting at attention : as in poised to strike. purchasing power parity : aggregate:accumulated,  added,  amassed,  assembled,collected,  collective,  combined,  composite,corporate,  cumulative,  heaped,  mixed,  piled,total

WPP PLC Financial Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

WPP PLC Financial Report - Essay Example The comparison of these ratios shows that current asset has not been utilized well as compared to fixed assets. The stock turnover ratio indicates that WPP PLC has replaced its stock almost 62.4 times during the year. In other words, it can be said that the company generated $62.4 worth of sales for every $1 invested in stock. Debtor Day's Collection Period Debtors__ x 365 Cash Sales = 50 days Creditor Day's Payment Period Creditors x 365 Purchases = 125 days Difference between creditor and debtor days for 2004 is positive: Creditor days - Debtor days= 125 days - 50 days = 75 The firm takes considerably longer (75 days longer, on average) to pay its creditors than it does to obtain payment from its debtors, having a good sign for the business. 4- LIQUIDITY The ability of WPP PLC to 'pay its way' or to satisfy financial obligations without difficulty as and when they become due can be analyzed with the help of following ratios: Current Ratio Current Assets___ Current Liabilities = 0.87: 1 Acid Test (Or Quick) Ratio Current Assets- Stock Current Liabilities = 0.82: 1 Thus, the above ratios don't show a good position of the company in terms of its current assets and liabilities. It reveals that the company doesn't have enough liquid assets to pay off its short-term liabilities when they become due. 5- SOLVENCY To obtain an indication of the company's longer-term solvency and its degree of financial risk, following ratios would be used: Gearing (Or Leverage) Ratio Total Debt Capital x 100 Total Equity Capital = 33.28% Debt Ratio Total Debt Capital_________ x 100 Total Assets (Fixed + Current) = 11.66% It shows that total debt capital of the... The above ratios reveal that the company had 5.79% return on capital employed in 2004. The gross profit and net profit ratios show that the company had 95.12% gross profit on sales while 10.58% net profit on sales. This gap makes clear that the company is paying heavy operating costs, which is having a decreasing impact on its profitability. The above ratios show that WPP PLC generates value and sales for its business 1.7 times of total assets, 3 times of fixed assets 62.4 times of stock (shows efficiency of stock) and 15.9 times of cash. The comparison of these ratios shows that current asset has not been utilized well as compared to fixed assets. The stock turnover ratio indicates that WPP PLC has replaced its stock almost 62.4 times during the year. In other words, it can be said that the company generated $62.4 worth of sales for every $1 invested in stock. Thus, the above ratios don't show a good position of the company in terms of its current assets and liabilities. It reveals that the company doesn't have enough liquid assets to pay off its short-term liabilities when they become due. The above ratios indicate the future share valuation of WPP PLC in terms of its current market price and Earnings Per Share (EPS).

The Impact of Value in Customer Relationship Management on Dissertation

The Impact of Value in Customer Relationship Management on Consultation Management Industries in Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example The Private Sector and the Use of Consulting Services 13 2.4. Why Consultants? 16 2.5. Customer Satisfaction 18 2.6. Service Quality 19 2.6.1. Perceived Functional Value 23 2.6.2. Perceived Technical Value 25 2.6.3. Monetary Value 25 2.6.4. Emotional Value 25 2.6.5. Perceived Outcome Quality 26 2.7. Empirical Studies on Consulting Services 27 2.8. Conclusion 30 3. Methodology 3.1. Introduction 31 3.2. Research Approach 31 3.3. Research Methodology 32 3.4. Research Design 32 3.5 Respondents and Sampling Plan 34 3.6. Data Collection Procedures 34 3.7. Instrument 35 3.8. Validity and Reliability 37 3.9. Ethical Considerations 38 3.10. Method of Data Analysis 38 3.11. Methodological Limitations 39 3.12. Conclusion 39 4. Findings and Data Analysis 4.1. Introduction 40 4.2. Results 40 4.3. Discussion 65 5. Conclusions and Recommendations 5.1. Conclusions 75 5.2. Recommendations 77 Reflections 80 References 82 Appendices 89 List of Tables and Figures Figure 1. Determinants of customer satis faction 23 Results Table 1. Descriptive statistics: Outcomes of management consultancy services. 41 Table 2. Descriptive statistics: Evaluations of the quality of management consultancy services. 43 Table 3. Spearman’s rank order correlation coefficient: Company’s competitive stance vs. satisfaction and attitudes with the use of management consultancy services. 44 Table 4. Spearman’s rank order correlation coefficient: Company’s competitive stance vs. ... Frequency and percentage distribution: First engagement of management consultant services. 47 Table 8. Descriptive statistics: Attribution of outcomes because of management consultancy services. 48 Table 9. Spearman’s rank order correlation coefficient: Company’s frequency of use and experience with management consultancy services vs. satisfaction and attitudes with the use of such services. 49 Table 10. Descriptive statistics: Functional value of management consultancy services. 51 Table 11. Descriptive statistics: Emotional value of management consultancy services. 52 Table 12. Descriptive statistics: Monetary value of management consultancy services. 55 Table 13. Coefficient of determination: Value structure vs. satisfaction with current management consultant. 56 Table 14. One-way ANOVA: Value structure vs. satisfaction with current management consultant. 57 Table 15. Beta coefficients: Value structure vs. satisfaction with5 current management consultant. 58 Table 16 . Coefficient of determination: Value structure vs. outcomes of management consultancy services. 60 Table 17. One-way ANOVA: Value structure vs. outcomes of management consultancy services. 60 Table 18. Beta Coefficients: Value structure vs. outcomes of management consultancy services. 61 Table 19. Coefficient of determination: Value structure vs. evaluations of the quality of management consultancy services. 61 Table 20. One-way ANOVA: Value structure vs. evaluations of the quality of management consultancy services. 62 Table 21. Beta Coefficients: Value structure vs. evaluations of the quality of management consultancy services. 62 Acknowledgements Executive Summary The study aimed to investigate the effect of Value Creation in CRM on local management consultancy industry for finding

Adult Lifelong Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Adult Lifelong Learning - Essay Example The stages can serve the adult educators by finding out the vital link between their development and how useful it will be for them in the long-range scheme of things. It will tell them exactly how their nuances would be handled and what needs to be discerned as far as the future domains are concerned. The adult educators have a good enough idea as to how their success graph would be measured and what they need to learn over a period of time. It will them exactly where they are lacking and what they need to adapt with the passage of time. 3. If you were to take a course, in which stage from above would you be? How would it influence your choice? If I was allowed to choose a course from the different development stages, I will go for early adulthood as this is the age that I am looking forward to having currently. It will tell me exactly how the transition within my life will come about and what I must adopt in order to move forward with the different undertakings of my own life. Exer cise 2: Based on the following document, titled Focus on Basics, define Informational vs. Transformational Teaching. In your journal, comment on which one applies to your own teaching philosophy and why? Informational teaching is comprised of providing information towards the educators’ domains whereby he reads the instructions beforehand and then goes about implementing the same. The aspect of transformational teaching is a bit different where the transformation takes place on a natural level. There is the acquisition of skill with proper knowledge not being present; however, the knowledge and information are gained with the passage of time through actual learning regimes that are employed. Informational teaching makes use of the proper guidelines which are already in place and that need to be studied out loud in order to reap success for the educators.

Article Review on General Moters Debacle Research Paper

Article Review on General Moters Debacle - Research Paper Example General Motors had to call back approximately 1.6 million cars in order to fix their switches which were causing sudden shut down in cars while in motion. The faulty ignition switches are reported to be linked with dangerous driving situations which resulted in 31 crashes and 13 victims in America since 2004 (Young, 2014). As more and more details are revealing about the faults identified in ignition switches it has become clear that the management of General Motors acted extremely irresponsible. On the other hand analysts have also indicated that the corporate bureaucracy of General Motors is significantly slow in responding to the customers’ safety and security issues (Young, 2014). This actually leads to the non-consideration of business ethics and morals while ignoring the fundamental needs of customers. For instance, in the book ‘Business Essentials’ Ebert and Griffin have stated that it is the prime responsibility of corporation to abide by the law and ethics which basically requires them to develop quality products. Moreover, the management must be able to positively contribute to the society (Ebert, 2014). However, if we see the role of General Motor’s management then it is clearly reflected that they did not act ethically which also compromising the greater social c oncerns and corporate social responsibilities of the organization. The CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra said that she came to know about the problem of ignition switches in January. On the other side Robert Lutz who is the global product development’s Vice Chair denied to have any information about ignition switch issues until recently (Young, 2014). When CEO was asked about why she wasn’t informed about the ignition switch faults then she responded that her being unaware of the incident should not be shocking for the prosecutors because General Motors has approximately 219,000 employees (Muller, 2014). The organization is involved in very complex business operations

Advertising is Manipulative Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Advertising is Manipulative - Research Paper Example People fail to realize that they are being exploited and led down the garden path, the cream has been selling like a hot cake for the last several years and it is mainly because of manipulative advertisement, they recruit models who are beautiful and convince people that an average looking person can also look like a model, this is highly unacceptable but it is successful because people have fallen for it in the past and will continue to fall for this in the future too. This is a classic example of manipulative advertisement, people are being manipulated into buying products that are of no use to them and will probably do more bad than good to them. This paper will shed more light upon the same and how advertisers are exploiting the naivety of the people and how they are misguiding the people into buying products that are absolutely of no use to them. The advertisers spend a lot of money on advertisements and the only way of recouping money is by manipulation and by selling products that never do even half as much work as they claim to do in the advertisements. Fair and lovely is not the only example, there are many more products that are being sold on a daily basis by misguiding the people. In today’s cut throat competition companies often use aggressive advertising to push their products in the market. The essay will discuss ways and techniques in which advertising is used as a medium to push products thereby making it manipulative in most cases. With the advent of new products and technology, consumers are becoming sensitive towards their needs and businesses across the globe are finding newer ways to increase their turnover.

Case study of Jack Welch at General Electric Essay

Case study of Jack Welch at General Electric - Essay Example According to this definition, Welch partly fulfilled the corporate social responsibility. In the Welch era, the General Electric Company fulfilled numerous responsibilities to the society. For instance, the company fulfilled its economic responsibilities by paying taxes worth 5.7 billion US dollars in 2000, and enriching shareholders and pension funds to its employees. In addition, the company enriched its managers, transforming them into multimillionaires. Additionally, the company was involved in sponsorships in 2000 where it established a charitable institution, the GE fund, which completed 40 million US dollars in donations to educational institutions and non-profit organizations in United States. However, General Electric Company under the Welch era can be criticized for its lack of corporate social responsibility. Welch’s leadership was not appeasing to everyone for numerous reasons. He was regarded as a ruthless employment cutter where he laid off a mass of employees during his tenure. Needless to say, he also emphasized on globalization where he transferred labor to low wage countries. This created unemployment within the society and loss of labor within United States. The defective evaluation system and the pollution in the Hudson Rivers also constituted a lack of corporate responsibility to the society. Though no company ever achieves this paragon, General Electric Company should have endeavored to attain it. In order to achieve this, the Welch should have devised a fair evaluation system that would reduce the rate of layoffs in the company and motivate its employees, and device other environment friendly disposal methods that would reduce pollution to the society. The General Electric Company under Welch illustrates a constricted standpoint of corporate social responsibility nearly similar to friedman’s perspective that the only corporate social

Small Business Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Small Business Management - Case Study Example During their initial stages, the economic conditions were not very supportive for a start up, as the economy was going through a recessionary period; thus, they could only manage to start off with $25,000 but within first six months, they were able to launch their first anti-virus program. This was a major success and also due to this, they could get funding from 'Korea Technology Credit Guarantee Fund' for the amount of $33,500 and this had become their seed money. The anti virus market in Korea grew from 4 billion in 1998, to 26 billion in 2002, and the firm grew with it. Of late, the firm has broaden its product line by adding in data recovery with announcement of 'DataMedic Solution'. Problems and challenges are a part of routine business activities but analyzing them is the only source that leads to an appropriate solution with long term viability. This section utilizes some tools and techniques for analyzing the problems, so that appropriate solutions can be proposed: SWOT is one of the widely used tools for analyzing the internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) factors prevailing in the industry under consideration. Thus, SWOT is very helpful in determining the environmental situation, matching the internal and external variables. Following is the SWOT analysis of the firm based on the learning from various sources: 1. Strengths The firm has great potential in terms of the research and development skills The initiators and the owners are five professional programmers Since the owners are directly involved in the work, it gives the firm a cutting edge over the competitors The learning curve is a quicker one since the ownership belongs to professionals rather than the businessmen Most of the anti-viruses developed are primarily windows based, and windows being a widely used operating system is definitely an advantage Financial stability is another important strength for the firm 2. Weaknesses One of the major weaknesses of the firm is its weak brand image; since it lacks professional marketers, it hasn't been able to develop its image as such The firm has a fairly narrow and focused product line, and customers prefer one window solution for all problems The recently done diversification was also unrelated (data recovery solutions) It can be seen that there is lack of vision about where the firm wants to be in the next five or ten years 3. Opportunities The growing market of anti viruses is a big time opportunity for the firm Reduced customer loyalty is also an opportunity because with customers switching all the time, the firm can easily hunt for the share of the pie of other anti virus software makers 4. Threats Reduced customer loyalty is a threat in itself as well as customers are not loyal to any single firm Increasing competition is another major influence particularly with competition coming from foreign products The life cycle of these products has reduced drastically and needs regular updates and newer versions The market is rapidly moving towards maturity which means that firms need to be innovative and proactive in terms of launching the latest

Illustrate ways in which you find that the law satisfies, and fails to Essay

Illustrate ways in which you find that the law satisfies, and fails to satisfy, the ethical principle of justice - Essay Example In most instances, the winners of the cases administered through law may view themselves as the recipients of justice while the losers deem themselves as victims of justice denied. When people feel they have been wronged or offended, there are four types of justice that they can pursue to attain reparation. The four categories of justice are: distributive, restorative, procedural, and retributive justice. The application of law to decide cases acts as a double edge sword where the concept of justice is denied or satisfied. The cases Eldridge v. British Columbia (Attorney General) and Auton (guardian ad litem) v. British Columbia (Attorney General) provide instances where the law satisfies the concept of justice (SCC). The case Chaoulli v. Quebec (Attorney General) evokes a situation where the law appears to fail and succeed in justifying the concept of justice (SCC). Based on these cases, law can either serve to satisfy the concept of justice or fail to deliver same. Individuals may use four categories of law to seek justice. Through distributive, restorative, procedural, and retributive justice people may achieve reparation. Distributive justice bases its roots on the principle of equality and social order. It seeks equality in terms of what people receive from attention to goods and/or services. It provides an avenue for people to seek their fair share of what they believe they deserve. Restorative justice aims at putting things in the way they were before a wrong happened. Restorative justice provides a means for the offended party to seek some form of restitution from the offender. Restorative justice also is referred to as corrective justice where the emphasis is on apology and some form of restitution to correct any damage incurred by the betrayed party. Procedural justice bases its logic on fairness and the concept of fair play. This form of justice looks at showing people that a fair process is used in determining resource allocation. If people find an imbalance in the resources they receive, compared to others, while believing that a fair process was used, they can accept the results of the process. Retributive justice provides an avenue for the offended to seek some sort of revenge on the person who committed a wrong. Retributive justice seeks to see that the offender suffers in a similar way as the person who was offended. In most instances where parties seek justice, the first avenues that they pursue are through distributive and procedural justice. If both distributive and procedural justice fails to satisfy their view of justice, they likely aim at seeking same through retributive or restorative justice. The essential aspect in respect of all these types of justice is for the offended party to attain fairness and equality through the administration of law basing on them. Legislation is used to deliver justice by providing equal rights to all persons involved in a case without discrimination. Law helps to achieve equality thr ough distributive justice where social institutions are to ensure that burdens and benefits become distributed among members of society in a fair and just manner. The law helps to satisfy justice by ensuring that all social institutions distribute benefits and burdens evenly and fairly among their people without any form of discrimination. In the case Eldridge v. British Columbia (Attorney General), the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled in favor of the

Institutions of Globalisation Essay Example for Free

Institutions of Globalisation Essay Firstly, the Institutions of Globalisation must be reformed. Unintentionally, globalisation has come to be governed by several key institutions. Best known are the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. If globalisation is to work for everyone, these institutions must be reformed. They must be made to look after all of the worlds countries, not just those they represent. Secondly, there must be an ending to northern double standards. Developed countries preach free trade, but often fail to practice it. Recently, France, one of the key members in the Doha talks, stubbornly refused to open up its markets and allow in Agricultural imports particularly the cheaply produced goods from the Third World. Generally, the EU taxes Third World exports and dumps its subsidised products in developing country markets, destroying local livelihood. When new WTO rules are drawn up, they usually reflect the balance of power within the organisation, therefore benefiting the richer countries. Certain kinds of subsidies are often permitted in the North but banned in the South. Rich countries must help poor countries by promoting economic growth that is equitable and environmentally sustainable; they must help developing countries build effective government systems and promote health and education for their people; and must use new technology to share skills and knowledge with developing countries. Rich countries can work with developing countries to put in place policies that will attract private financial flows and minimise the risk of capital flight. They can fight to strengthen the global financial system, encourage international co-operation on investment, competition and tax that promotes the interests of developing countries, support an open and rules-based international trading system, and work to promote equitable trade rules and an effective voice for developing countries. A vital step is to support continuing reductions in barriers to trade, both in developed and developing countries, and work to improve the capacity of developing countries to take advantage of new trade opportunities. By strengthening developing countries capacity to participate in international negotiations, lesser-developed and emerging economies will have the chance to reap the full benefits of globalisation. Unfair trade sanctions were one of the drivers for the establishment of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), now known as the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Debt relief would be a major factor which could reduce marginalisation. Poor countries are currently paying million of dollars back to rich countries millions which they cannot afford. Debt relief can take the form of cancellation, rescheduling, refinancing or re-organisation of debt. The Debt Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries is a well-known current example. Through Jubilee 2000, many non-government organisations (NGOs) from around the world campaigned for one-off cancellation of the unpayable debts of the worlds poorest countries by the end of 2000. There are particular responsibilities placed on developed countries. It would be pointless to pour millions of pounds worth of trade and aid into poor countries only to then impose trade sanctions and unfair subsidies. All policies, of developing countries, developed countries, international institutions and society, must be consistent with a commitment to sustainable development and reducing poverty. Poor countries need to be given the chance to be heard. Open and effective global institutions are needed where they can fight for their interests on a more equal level. The UK government is committed to help eliminate world poverty, and to co-operate with other governments and international institutions as part of a broader international effort. Three years ago the government published its first White Paper on International Development Targets3, which focused on the reduction of abject poverty4 in the world. The targets, which include a reduction by 50% in the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015, and progress towards gender equality and empowerment of women by 20055, are supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the EU, and the OECD, as well as many heads of states. Although the targets are challenging, leaders believe that if the correct national and international policies are implemented, the targets will be achieved. It is pointed out, however, that progress is dependent on national governments in all countries strengthening commitment to reduce poverty to ensure that all countries benefit and that some are not missed out. The UK government believes that the benefits of globalisation for poor countries substantially outweigh the costs, especially in the longer term. The rapid integration of the global economy, combined with advances in technology, is creating unprecedented global prosperity, which has helped to life millions out of poverty. With the correct policies put into place, many millions more stand to benefit in the years ahead. CONCLUSION We have seen that poor countries that are able to increase their participation in the global economy have higher growth rates, faster poverty reduction, and more rapid increases in education. It is vital that poor countries are able to integrate into the world economy in ways that reduce, not increase, inequality and poverty. Reform of global institutions have a key part to play in this. However, the first and perhaps most important step for globalisation to benefit all in the future is for rich countries to open their protected markets to the poor, which should help to reduce world poverty and inequality. Poor countries with around 3 billion people have broken into the global market for manufactured goods and services. Whereas 20 years ago most exports from developing countries were primary commodities, now manufactured goods and services dominate. This successful integration has generally supported poverty reduction. Examples can be found in China, India, Bangladesh and Vietnam. The new globalisers have experienced large-scale poverty reduction; during the 1990s the number of their people who were poor declined by 120 million. Integration would not have been feasible without a wide range of domestic reforms covering governance, the investment climate, and social service provision. But it also required international action, which provided access to foreign markets, technology and aid. One of the most disturbing global trends of the past 2 decades is that countries with around 2 billion people are in danger of becoming marginal to the world economy. Incomes in these countries have been falling, poverty has been rising, and they participate less in trade today than they did 20 years ago. It is easy to see that globalisation is not a force that can be ignored. It is all around us, in every aspect of our lives. Within countries, globalisation has not, on average, affected inequality. The rapid growth in the new globalisers can be a political opportunity for redistribution policies that favour the poor. Promoting education, particularly for poor people, is equalising, improves health standards and enhances the productivity growth that is the main engine of poverty reduction. There will, however, without a doubt, be winners and losers in each society. Good social protection policies can be a key factor in helping people prosper in this more dynamic environment. It appears that the solution to the problems, that especially countries such as China and Africa seem to be facing, is not the halting of the globalisation process, but the opposite. The expansion of free trade to include the developing countries in Africa and China and elsewhere It appears that these countries are not poor because of globalisation, but in large part because this globalisation has passed them by. The road ahead seems not to lie in the reduction, or remodelling of globalisation but the expansion thereof, and expansion to include the areas in the world which globalisation has so far been passing by. The 49 least developed countries account for nearly 11% of the worlds population, but only 0. 4% of the worlds exports and that small percentage has been falling. Wage levels differ between countries according to the levels of education and productivity. The experience in countries like Korea is that as countries develop, their wage levels rise and the focus of their industry shifts from labour intensive to more capital and knowledge intensive industries. Globalisation creates unprecedented new opportunities and risks. If the poorest countries can be drawn into the global economy and get increasing access to modern knowledge and technology, it could lead to a rapid reduction in global poverty as well as bringing new trade and investment opportunities for all. But if this is not done, the poorest countries will become more marginalised, and suffering and division will grow. In order to make globalisation work for the poor we need not just strong and vibrant private sectors, but also effective governments and strong and reformed international institutions. Governments and institutions need to work collectively to tackle the problems of conflict and corruption, boost investment in education and health, spread the benefits of technology and research, strengthen the international financial system, reduce barriers to trade, tackle environmental problems and make development assistance more effective. It is clear that openness is a necessary but not sufficient condition for prosperity. No developed country is closed. The poor countries that have been most successful in closing the gap are those which have opened up their economies to world markets in order to build strong export sectors and attract inward investment. However, the majority believes that the future of Globalisation is bright. Even September was a remarkable positive month, especially in the US. The country has recently signed new agreements with Jordan and Vietnam; and negotiations to bring China into the World Trade Organisation look close to a deal. The new trade rounds at Doha promise to deliver liberalisation of agricultural markets, allowing less developed countries the chance to gain a share of these markets and profit accordingly. A breakthrough at Doha just as the world economy appears to be entering its worst slowdown in a generation could be a hugely symbolic victory for those proposing further trade liberalisation. Globalisation in the future is inevitable. However, it is agreed on all accounts that in order for it to benefit as many people as possible, changes must be made. Those institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, as well as individual governments, must all make vital changes in order to better prospects for everyone in the future. To conclude, global economic integration has supported poverty reduction and should not be reversed. But the world economy could be and should be much more inclusive. The growth of global markets must not continue to bypass 2 billion people. The rich countries can do a lot, both through aid and trade policies, to help the currently marginalised countries onto the path of integration that has already proved to effective for the new globalisers. BIBLIOGRAPHY CAFOD Briefing  www.globalisationguide.org

LVMH’s company Essay Example for Free

LVMH’s company Essay Strengths LVMH has a strong brand positioning meaning that the company strongly placed itself as a leader in the luxury sector. The company offers more than 60 brands of high value perception and identity to their customers. Due to high customer loyalty, image of their brands and value perception those brands are less affected by economic cycles. Most evidently, LVMH expressed resilience against the economic conditions specifically in 2009 and 2008. This is an indicator that the strength of their brands enables their revenues to sustain growth even through touch economic situations. This is due to their huge customer base across the globe accompanied by their loyalty; thus, making their penetration to new markets with quick. The associations of LVMH with celebrities and major events have enabled them to enhance their luxury positioning. For example, Charlize Theron represents the J’adore perfume by Dior, while Moet Chandon positioned their communications platform to events like the Oscars and the Golden Globe. Those marketing strategies were aimed in order to increase their brand visibility and recall. Moreover, their customers are targeted successfully through enhancing their brands images. All in all, those associations would eventually augment the luxury and its value that LVMH aims at building. Weaknesses A shortcoming in LVMH’s company is their limited presence in the retail division. This means that the company is highly dependant on sales to retailers. This in turn has caused the company’s luxury goods vulnerable to destocking by their retailers in order to avoid losses. Most evidently, the wines, jewelry, and watches departments were highly affected negatively by the retailers destocking. Therefore, this has made LVMH’s revenues in danger of destocking made by retailers. There is also a weakness evident in the conflict of interest within the company, where LVMH would be categorized into two major segments: fashion vs. liquor markets. However, the company’s broad acquisition of the art  auction market Pury Luxemborg has been questioned due to some criticism that it adds more burden to LVMH. This is yet another criteria to the conflict of interest believed to be internally dealt within the company. Opportunities The luxury market is believed to be a growing market in the emerging economies. The growing high net worth individuals (HNWI) in a lot of countries across the globe is an indicator that the sales of luxury products are estimated to increase. In effect, LVMH has been focusing in increasing their investment in emerging countries, such as the Middle East, in their hopes that higher growth rates will be evident. Moreover, LVMH was able to assess the trends in those markets specifically in Asia’s market in order to succesfully penetrate them. Hence, the growth of the HNWI’s wealth accompanied by the structure of investments to reach to a broader customer base would intensify and diversify LVMH’s revenue flow. LVMH owes a great deal of their market share to their products on women’s accessories. This would include their brands in handbags, jewelry, and watches amongst many others. Although the fashion accessories has seen a downfall during 2009; nevertheless, it is hinting that it is uprising to a recovery into growth since 2010. Most notably, women handbags were the most notable in the accessories market growth inversely reacting to the market’s decrease during the same time. Those leather goods have been a great indicator in both the men and women’s categories in the market share that there is a high growth of sales and revenue. Even if key markets have been experiencing low growth due to the economic collapse and recovery, the accessories market proves as an opportunity to LVMH for growth. Selective retailing provides an opportunity to LVMH in one of the most growing markets in the world: China. Even though selective retailing has seen a decline in growth due to restrictions in spending due to less amount of travelers; however, China tourism is predicted to show a robust expansion. The economic liberalization; as well as, the constant development and transformation in China boosted their tourism industry. Some indicators  have been predicting that China would be a leading tourism destination by 2020. Therefore, LVMH has been focused on launching its selective retailing in China in order to take an advantageous stance from this growing tourism in terms of revenue.

Love Madness Phaedrus

Love Madness Phaedrus Love is Madness When analyzing the passage 244B of the Phaedrus, one can begin to see how love is madness but madness is not inherently evil because it can bring about good things. What is love exactly? What exactly is madness? How do we define them? Why do we call a person mad? These are questions to which answers can be sought through desperate search of Phaedrus. The Phaedrus is a historical dialogue between the two characters, Socrates and Phaedrus, about love. In this dialogue three distinctive speeches were given. The first speech was a speech presented by Phaedrus; the original speaker was a man named Lysias. He claimed that a man in love suffers from a kind of madness and you should not give yourself to one who is in love. The second and third speeches were spoken by Socrates as a sort of challenge given by Phaedrus. Phaedrus believed that Lysias speech was the best hed ever heard and that no man could recite a better argument. Socrates took the challenge and spoke the truth about love from his own perspective. The state of love is defined differently by different people and is often defined by platitudes. Love is a feeling of closeness to some people to others its a feeling of being there for a lover. For some, true love is where you would be willing to put your life on the line for another. Lets say that your true love falls off a bridge and he or she cant swim. Would you think twice about jumping in? Now lets suppose that you cant swim either the moment of choice between life and death would you still jump off that bridge? Would you risk your own life for your true love? Love has different connotations for other people you can only define what you think love is because the form of love is not clear for our understanding. Love is a desire for the beautiful things in life. There is no reason to love it is a madness you are responsible for who you fall in love with. Love is nurtured it doesnt exist at first sight it is grown from friendship. You can only prevent falling in love if you perceive the signs and avoid the love before it develops. Socrates describes love as an irrational desire that over comes the tendency toward right (238 B). Love usually just hits you and there is no one reason as to why you love that person its that persons smell , behavior, actions, the way they think, its a lot of things put together that cause a chemical reaction called love. Love doesnt exist without all the little day to day stuff. You cant expect something like it to appear over night either. Love doesnt exist until you forget who you are and concentrate on who you love. Love is not reasonable or logical. Not having a reason makes love a madness because as madness is lack of reason. It is a rash thoughtless beha vior. Socrates takes off from Lysias argument and says: It is not true this story that urges the beloved to accept the non-lover when he might have the lover, on the grounds that the former is sane, and the latter mad. It might be so if madness were straightforwardly an evil; but in fact the greatest of goods come to us through madness that is given though divine dispensation. For prophesy is a madness, and the prophetess at Delphi and the priestesses at Dodona when out of their senses have conferred great benefits on Greece (Phaedrus, 244 b) Madness is not just a state of mind or a psychiatric disorder; madness is lack of reason or a loss of control. Socrates distinguishes a few kinds of madness in the world, the divine and the common kinds. The divine kind of madness takes the reason away from the man and puts it in the hands of the gods. This Socrates says is one of the greatest benefits because it is mans inspiration. Art is one of the greatest examples of divine madness, another is prophesy. The best works of art were often created by pushing though madness and creating something out of chaos. Madness is not something you can help, its not about whether youre good or evil, and its what actions you take and your ability to make rational decisions. It varies from person to person. Mad people are not limited by anything because they do not have to follow the same rules; others expect them to be different. If all madness was evil then nothing would be new because it takes someone to think out of the box to create something original. Origin is the foundation of all things. Origin is only created by something that has existed before it so it makes sense that creation would be a naturally divine. People throughout history have been given this divine madness and out of it they have created wonderful things. One day someone might come up with the cure for cancer out of a short period of madness. All humans have some insanity inside us its just the matter of degrees. Lysias does not note the degrees of insanity instead he sums all insanity as evil. The human condition tends to lean toward what feels right and thus it takes no thought to the feelings of someone who is irrational. In the movie a beautiful mind, the character Nash made an important discovery that love can triumph over insanity (2001). What truly is logic? Who decides reason? My quest has taken me to the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional, and back. I have made the most important discovery of my career the most important discovery of my life. It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reason can be found. A Beautiful Mind takes the worlds perspective of madness and turns it upside down. John Forbes Nash was a mathematician who suffered from schizophrenia even through his madness his logical mind still worked. Sometimes because of his madness rather than in spite of it he developed solutions to common everyday problems. Nash is the kind of person who might find the cure for cancer even through the madness he was still able to give insight into things that a person without his mental illness would never be able to even understand much less solve. His madness did not mean that the logic was incorrect it just gave him edge that general public wouldnt have been able to figure out the general public had no trigger. In 1995 John Forbes Nash rationally conquered his schizophrenia but in doing so he faced a great price. The conquering of this illness caused him to lose part of his logical ability. In his autobiography, Nash said: So at the present time I seem to be thinking rationally again in the style that is characteristic of scientists. However this is not entirely a matter of joy as if someone returned from physical disability to good physical health. One aspect of this is that rationality of thought imposes a limit on a persons concept of his relation to the cosmos. This clearly shows that he believed in the new limitation. His reasoning and his wisdom were taken away when he was given a worldly sense and judgment. The ancient inventers of names did not consider madness (mania) a disgrace or reproach; otherwise they would not have woven into the noblest of arts, that which by which the future is foretold (Phaedrus, 244C). This analysis is important to the overall theme of the Phaedrus because it distinguishes both the aspects of love. Lysias may have had a good point but he only understood half of the true aspects of love and madness. He believed that one should do their best to steer clear of passion because passion leads to regret and the neglecting of personal lives. A friend would be the safer choice of the two because a friend does not fall into madness. He never withholds anything of his friend and doesnt fear telling him the truth to the face. Socrates believed that there was more to love then just madness and the negative aspects of love. Madness and love are still very confusing topics today especially with the recent war. The condition of being in love takes you out of your own reasoning and concentrates only on what the other is thinking and feeling. Love isnt something that is only between two people. Love is a madness of the heartand it takes no sides. True madness is found in all other types of love: it is in the love of money, for instance. It is also in the love of war as we see throughout history; human kind has always been at war. From ancient time to the wars of today, man has fought wars to prove his love, but his lack of reason causes him to kill the other man. It is this extreme love that causes Lysias to dismiss love as he does. All in all, madness, while perceived to be a bad thing in general, is not always necessarily so. Without madness, there could be no inspiration, no art, no beauty, love or humanity. Madness is love and love only comes out of madness. Works Cited Page John Nash (1995) Autobiography From Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 1994, Editor Tore Frà ¤ngsmyr, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1995 madness. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008.Merriam-Webster Online. 8 October 2008http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/madness Much Madness Is Divinest Sense: Wisdom in Memoirs of Soul-Suffering. By: McEntyre, Marilyn Chandler, Christian Century, 00095281, 9/23/2008, Vol. 125, Issue 19

Apartheid, Globalization, and South Africa Essay -- Outsourcing, Offsho

Introduction In 1991 President Frederik Willem de Klerk of South Africa succumbed to the pressures of international economic sanctions, officially repealed the apartheid laws and called for the drafting of a new constitution. Just three years later, Nelson Mandela became the President of South Africa in the country’s first multi-racial election. Apartheid’s end may never have come, however, were it not for the improved efficiency of communication between states, the increased economic interdependency between those states, and the emergence of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) that make national borders all but invisible and chip away at Westphalian sovereignty. The existence of such factors allowed for International Organizations (IOs) such as the United Nations to call state governments’ attention to the crimes against humanity committed in South Africa each day, and it allowed those governments to act effectively. Yet the Black, Coloured, and Asian pe ople of South Africa are not singing globalization’s praises. In point of fact, historically globalization has done far more harm than good to the natives of South Africa. Globalization is by no means a fundamentally new phenomena but rather a thickening of preexisting networks of interdependence. (Keohane and Nye 2000). After the industrial revolution in Europe and the surge in international trade in the mid 1800s globalization soon took hold of South Africa. The discovery of diamonds in the territory in approximately 1900 increased the land’s value significantly as it could be exploited by the colonists to generate substantial monetary gains. Following the Boer War with English invaders thirsty to share in the profits of the mineral rich land, the ... ...tiglitz suggests, the supranationals need to remove conditionality from their loan agreements and pay closer attention to the domestic needs of the countries they aim to help. Superpowers like the United States need to practice what they preach, and stop protecting their own markets while plundering others. (Stiglitz, 2001) Only this fused effort of dedication and hard work by the ANC with increased aid from IOs based on less one-sided terms will pave the way to sustainable equality in South Africa. The plateauing environmental degradation is an example of this process. In this case, South Africa observed a shift from sharp degradation to the â€Å"sustainable development† they sought. Sovereignty has been all but lost in South Africa in the past decade, and its people and land suffered. Its gradual restoration will pave the way to recovery and eventual prosperity. Apartheid, Globalization, and South Africa Essay -- Outsourcing, Offsho Introduction In 1991 President Frederik Willem de Klerk of South Africa succumbed to the pressures of international economic sanctions, officially repealed the apartheid laws and called for the drafting of a new constitution. Just three years later, Nelson Mandela became the President of South Africa in the country’s first multi-racial election. Apartheid’s end may never have come, however, were it not for the improved efficiency of communication between states, the increased economic interdependency between those states, and the emergence of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) that make national borders all but invisible and chip away at Westphalian sovereignty. The existence of such factors allowed for International Organizations (IOs) such as the United Nations to call state governments’ attention to the crimes against humanity committed in South Africa each day, and it allowed those governments to act effectively. Yet the Black, Coloured, and Asian pe ople of South Africa are not singing globalization’s praises. In point of fact, historically globalization has done far more harm than good to the natives of South Africa. Globalization is by no means a fundamentally new phenomena but rather a thickening of preexisting networks of interdependence. (Keohane and Nye 2000). After the industrial revolution in Europe and the surge in international trade in the mid 1800s globalization soon took hold of South Africa. The discovery of diamonds in the territory in approximately 1900 increased the land’s value significantly as it could be exploited by the colonists to generate substantial monetary gains. Following the Boer War with English invaders thirsty to share in the profits of the mineral rich land, the ... ...tiglitz suggests, the supranationals need to remove conditionality from their loan agreements and pay closer attention to the domestic needs of the countries they aim to help. Superpowers like the United States need to practice what they preach, and stop protecting their own markets while plundering others. (Stiglitz, 2001) Only this fused effort of dedication and hard work by the ANC with increased aid from IOs based on less one-sided terms will pave the way to sustainable equality in South Africa. The plateauing environmental degradation is an example of this process. In this case, South Africa observed a shift from sharp degradation to the â€Å"sustainable development† they sought. Sovereignty has been all but lost in South Africa in the past decade, and its people and land suffered. Its gradual restoration will pave the way to recovery and eventual prosperity.

Job Study on the Australian Air Force :: essays research papers

JOB STUDY Training and Advancement 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Are there any educational or other qualifications your employer would expect for the job you are doing? Following appointment as an Officer in the Air Force, you'll undergo an Initial Officer Course (IOC) at the Officer Training School, RAAF Base Williams (Point Cook) 20 km south west of Melbourne, Victoria. This course aims to teach you the leadership skills needed to become an Air Force Officer. The course is a combination of theory and practical training. While leadership forms the core of your training, the major elements of the course are designed to introduce you to military life, Air Force values and attitudes, personal development, organisational management, communication skills, general and specific military skills, security, drill and Air Force operations studies. Not only will you be taught Air Force specific subjects, but you'll also take part in a wide variety of subjects such as ground defence training, where you'll be taught weapons handling, field craft, communications, defences, patrolling, various types of warfare and the Rules of Engagement. A reasonable level of fitness is required for entry, however any active person who spends some of their time exercising or playing competitive sport should not have difficulty meeting the standards. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Would you have to do a special course of study? An Australian Defence Force Careers Adviser says that officer applicants must demonstrate excellent leadership, management, organisational and communication skills, and be highly disciplined and fit. Everyone who completes officer training is guaranteed a job in the RAAF. Due to the high level of training that is involved, a minimum service period of 6 to 12 years is required. During training, ADFA first year cadets earn about $16,000, which increases to $25,000 in the fourth year. Once fully qualified, salaries range from $40,270 up to $63,249. Airforce pilots and navigators are entitled to a flying allowance, which is based on years of qualified flying service and is added to the base salary. The starting salary for direct entry officer cadets (non degree qualified) is $23,692 and $25,185 for qualified officers. Options For Potential Officers There are two pathways you can take to become an officer in the RAAF. You can go into the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) as a University level entrant, but you must have completed Year 12 and be between the age of 17 and 26. Not only are you paid to study at ADFA, but also you are immediately employed as an officer in the RAAF.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy :: Biology Cattle Disease Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a relatively new disease found primarily in cattle. This disease of the bovine breed was first seen in the United Kingdom in November 1986 by histopathological examination of affected brains (Kimberlin, 1993) . From the first discovery in 1986 to 1990 this disease developed into a large-scale epidemic in most of the United Kingdom, with very serious economic consequences (Moore, 1996). BSE primarily occurs in adult cattle of both male and female genders. The most common age at which cows may be affected is between the ages of four and five (Blowey, 1991). Due to the fact that BSE is a neurological disease, it is characterized by many distinct symptoms: changes in mental state 'mad-cow', abnormalities of posture, movement, and sensation (Hunter, 1993). The duration of the clinical disease varies with each case, but most commonly lasts for several weeks. BSE continues to progress and is usually considered fatal (Blowey, 1991).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After extensive research, the pathology of BSE was finally determined. Microscopic lesions in the central nervous system that consist of a bilaterally symmetrical, non-inflammatory vacuolation of neuronal perikarya and grey-matter neuropil was the scientists' overall conclusion (Stadthalle, 1993). These lesions are consistent with the diseases of the more common scrapie family. Without further investigation, the conclusion was made that BSE was a new member of the scrapie family (Westgarth, 1994).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Transmission of BSE is rather common throughout the cattle industry. After the incubation period of one to two years, experimental transmission was found possible by the injection of brain homogenates from clinical cases (Swanson, 1990). This only confirmed that BSE is caused by a scrapie-like infectious agent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How does the transmission become so readily available among the entire United Kingdom feedlot population? Studies showed that the mode of infection was meat and bone meal that had been incorporated into concentrated feedstuffs as a protein-rich supplement (Glausiusz, 1996). It is thought that the outbreak was started by a scrapie infection of cattle, but the subsequent course of the epidemic was driven by the recycling of infected cattle material within the cattle population (Lyall, 1996). Although the average rate of infection is very low, the reason why this led to such a large number of BSE cases is that much of the United Kingdom dairy cattle population was exposed for many, continuous years (Kimberlin, 1993).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To help control the outbreak, the British government in 1988 introduced a ban on the feeding of ruminant protein to other ruminant animals (Lacey, 1995). Such knowledge for the pathogenesis of the BSE disease shows precisely the actions that must be taken in order to control and minimize the risk of

Evaluation of a set of three health-related websites

In this paper, we evaluate a set of three medical related websites namely www.nln.org for the National league of Nursing, www.nursingworld.org for the American Nursing Association, www.ama-assn.org for the American Medical Association and the https://www.ncsbn.org/ for the National Council for State boards in Nursing. We also evaluate an Archives resource site namely http://thomas.loc.gov or the Thomas, the website of the Library of Congress of the United States of America.Prior to presenting the evaluation we briefly describe each website: the purpose of these sites and their current set-up. We then go into the evaluation proper where we analyze the overall content, style and functionality of each site. In the overall content of the websites the quality of the information being presented and the comprehensiveness of the information is assessed. Moreover, how current the information located in the websites and where they were derived or from what authority this information was derive d is also assessed. Lastly, in evaluating the style and functionality of the sites we take into consideration the layout or the manner content is presented within the sites, ease in navigating the sites, its compatibility with respect to various browsers, information space with respect to advertising pages, and the speed upon which it is accessed through the internet.The first of the sites to be evaluated is www.nursingworld.org, the official website of the American Nursing Association (ANA). Briefly, ‘ANA is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.9 million registered nurses (RNs) (About the American Nurses association, http://www.nursingworld.org/about/)’ that advances nursing through imbibing high standards, promoting the economic welfare in their workplace and by proactively lobbying governmental agencies on issues affecting them.For the overall content, the website contains comprehensive and relevant information supportive of the purpose of ANA mentioned previously. The site has sections on information and services, newsroom and nursing issues/programs that sustain continuous support for promoting high standards in the nursing practice. It also has a section for showing their advocacies and initiatives for nurses’ general welfare, with sub-sections directing users to view publications relevant to nurses in the United States. As for the currency of the documents, the documents are up to date with uploaded documents as latest as January 11, 2007 (‘Press releases from the American Nurses Association†, http://www.nursingworld.org/pressrel/). As for the authority of the documents published, the documents that are published have their corresponding sources accompanying them. All these information are presented in a notably clear and concise fashion.For the style and functionality of the website, the overall layout is easily understandable. The site can be easily navigated and the information is clearly sorted out for easy access, even though the site carries a lot of information it is surprisingly accessible. On the other hand, the address of the site (www.nursingworld.org) is a bit misleading if you were to guess what would be the site of ANA and a name as www.ana.org or www.americannursingassociation.org may have been the better URL. The use of images instead of flash movies may have the decreased the site’s overall aesthetic impact to the user but without the use of flash movies, the site can then be easily accessible from any computer with varying internet speed with information prompting fast. Lastly for the evaluation of the www.nursingworld.org, the information relative to the advertisements, they are separated clearly in order to reduce the clutter and make browsing easier.The second site is www.ama-assn.org or the American Medical Association (AMA). AMA ‘helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important profes sional and public health issues’ (‘The AMA mission’, http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1815.html). Although it is similar to the initiatives and programs of ANA, AMA has a wider market as it focuses on the entire medical profession.For the overall content of the site, it has similarities as that of the ANA site, with additions of ‘professional resources section’ for medical practitioners and ‘med school & residency site‘ for medical students. Most of the information is up to date except for the annual report is only has the 2005 annual report. In addition, the site’s information is taken from credible sources, which are also accessible in the site.  As for the overall layout of the site, the vast information is batched together in a clear and easily understandable manner such that users can browse through the site easily. The site utilizes flash movies that make the site more appealing and further imbibes to the users the vision and mission of AMA. Apart from what was mentioned above, there are however no significant or innovative means of presenting data seen from the ANA and the AMA site.The third website is www.nln.org which is the site for the National League for Nursing (NLN). The purpose of NLN is similar to that of ANA but is slightly varied. According to its purpose (http://www.nln.org/aboutnln/ourmission.htm), the NLN ‘advances excellence in nursing education that prepares the nursing workforce to meet the needs of diverse populations in an ever-changing healthcare environment.’ This purpose is done through achieving the goals of Nursing education, Faculty development, Research in Nursing Education, Data collection, assessment and evaluation and Public Policy.For the overall content of the site, information pertinent to the goals mentioned above is clearly visible. Users who wish to participate in achieving one of the goals or for anyone who would just want to browse through the site can easily go to a specific heading and see its related sections. In terms of the currency of the documents, most of the documents are up to date however there are some documents such as the calendar of activities of NLN, which are still in need of updating (the calendar is still 2006).As for the overall layout, the site has a asymmetric design, departing from the modular and common website design that sets it apart from the rest of the websites being evaluated although the site uses only simple graphics to present its content. The site can easily be navigated, with information clearly divided and grouped together into concise headings that make it easier to browse through. Lastly, uploading time for the site is suitable for users with varying Internet bandwidths due to its low-memory web design, thus information no matter the manner of Internet access can easily acquire information.Another site evaluated is https://www.ncsbn.org/, the site for the National Council for State B oards for Nursing (NCSBN). The NCSBN is a United States-state wide organization aiming to promote and advance regulatory excellence in Nursing for public protection (‘Mission and Values,’ https://www.ncsbn.org/182.htm).For the overall content of the site, it has comprehensive content mostly pertaining to the nursing profession and for the regulatory nursing boards, each other that implies that their site presents specific, relevant and concise information that complement each other. The documents are well cited with authorities in the field clearly stated accompanying any research or paper they did for NCSBN. Overall the site is up to date, with sections for instance the calendar of activities that go as far presenting dates of activities for this year in advance, which is good for most people. However there are sections in the site that still need to be updated, sections such as the News releases and the annual report.As for the style and functionality, the site is mor e â€Å"cleaner† than the others in terms of the layout. The information is presented in such a way that even though there is a lot of information presented, the website is still able to present it in a simple manner that would not make the user â€Å"disoriented.† The site can be easily navigated with all the information easily accessible. The site however goes back to the symmetric design unlike the site of NLN. The site utilizes simple flash presentations in their homepage that gives an additional aesthetic impact to the user.Lastly, we evaluate http://thomas.loc.gov/, the site for the Library of Congress of the United States of America. According to the section describing the site (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/abt_thom.html), ‘THOMAS was launched in January of 1995, at the inception of the 104th Congress. The leadership of the 104th Congress directed the Library of Congress to make federal legislative information freely available to the public.’ Currentl y is being maintained by the Library of Congress.For the overall content of the site, its presents a multitude of information as concise as possible yet the site still appears to be heavily cluttered with information. However as compared to the other sites and the content they hold, Thomas is appreciably easy to understand-simple as it possibly can. In terms of the authority, the information presented by the Thomas is undoubtedly accurate and comes from directly from the source that is Congress. In addition, the documents stored in the site are the most current in the field, with daily updates coming directly from Congress. Links are also presented in the site that are relevant to users who wish to browse other relevant legislation.In terms of style and functionality, the Thomas has a simple layout and aesthetic appearance as compared to the other sites. The main page is a bit cluttered so there is a possibility that first time users might get lost with regards to the immense inform ation being presented and the one the user wishes to find. However the site boasts of a search engine for their database that is incredibly useful for users and researchers that would want to find the necessary information which adds up to the overall functionality of the website. Lastly, due to its simple web design, the site can be easily accessed with any Internet bandwidth at any location at any time.References:1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The American Nursing Association. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.nursingworld.org2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The American Medical Association. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.ama-assn.org3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Thomas, Library of Congress. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.thomas.loc.gov4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The National League for Nursing. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.nln.org5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The National Council of State boards of Nursing. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.ncsbn.org