Managing Remote Employees

After four years with Outlook Marketing Services Inc, Jeff Rappaport, in January 2001,emailed his entire staff at Northbrook, 111, announcing Suzette sexton’s promotion.  It would have been too long a walk for Suzette, no wonder she opted to work from home. She was not at all disturbed as none of her colleague at the twenty-man business stopped by her office to congratulate her, rather the commendations came in great quantities in form of emails-she was embarrassed.Rappaport said â€Å"all her hard work was recognized and rewarded†.This in-turn affected him positively. He has been able to overcome the one of the most troublesome work any employer is likely to encounter in the workforce of today-he manage remote employees by simply keeping them excited and engaged with developing a firm. This is a sure task every leader must face for as long as the quest for success remains.The choice of working from home with computer and internet access has become a welcome lifestyle for employees. Increasingly small business owners accommodate this method of work for they tend to benefit a lot when their employees work from the comfort of their homes. The author of Managing Telework:† Strategies for managing the virtual workforce† Jack. M. Nilles (John Wiley and sons, 1998), said ‘productivity increases for most companies with remote workers’. Again, he said ‘the higher the salary, the more the productivity gain’Their some inner barriers in work –from-home relationship between the two parties- the employer and the employees. These business owners themselves are often the biggest barriers to a productive relationship. A telecommunicating and virtual office consultant, Gil Gordon, in Monmouth Junction, N.J, once said that ‘the hardest thing is learning to manage with your brain instead of your eyeballs’. The most important thing for employees to do is to have aims and meet them, not just work alone.The fo under of the twelve employee, Rye Brook, N.Y based Acappella software, David Bromberg, oversees his three programmers who works from home by measuring /checking their ability to complete jobs. Most experienced managers of remote workers have succeeded in making a change and thereby improved the pattern to imitate the existing ones.An online time clock added by Mike Birdsall and his wife Maureen to run their company ; Birdsall InteractiveInc,has helped them to checkmate the on   time the sixteen employees of Oakland,California,web design firm   if they are working from home. What he actually does is – punch in his hour just as if he is in his office.Lack of corresponding ways of measuring productivity in the office makes the employers frequent discovery on productivity for their remote employees futile. On the other hand smaller companies with the remote workers are often more productive for they seems more focused –managers frequently rely on wise looking ideas in giving out and measuring work progress. These are clues that are not evident as one works from the comfort of his or her home.The president of Manufacturing Consultant DKM Inc, Murat Sehidoglu, for instance, assigns projects regularly to his seventeen employees. Most of these employees seldom visit the office in Los Angeles. Sehidoglu admits that lack of face time makes him experience a continual difficulty in making such assignments. He does not even know if the employees understand the job whether they are really willing to continue in it.The ability to assign task to an employee and checkmate him or her progress, is what Gordon calls ‘Hallway Management’. Another way is by asking questions based on the field of job assigned to the employee involved as you come across him/ them at any spot throughout the day. This rather becomes difficult to do when the employee works from home. Employees and manager can be kept coordinated by electronic mailing system.Technology and smart management has tremendously helped in overcoming communication difficulties. To keep tabs on her seven workers scattered throughout the country Louise Guryan, The principal of Media Connection LLC in Seattle, uses the electronic mailing system (email). Sometimes she will deliberately plan an email, which every employee had to copy as they work with one another and at the same time maintaining the customers relation through direct-mail projects.By using regular conference calls Rappaport was able to stay in –touch with her remote employees. This is one vital role the telephone plays in managing remote employees. ‘We have weekly teleconference with everybody and while a project is going on, there are almost daily teleconferences between the people involved’ she says.Remote workers are often difficult to get on phone, not even a prompt email response. Managers new to work-at-home sometimes may have a wrong impression at this and may just conclude, they have go ne out for pleasure, whereas these remote workers may be doing something else or even trying to get a project done. So he certainly does not need any distractions!For an employee to be available during a particular hour, there must be a discussion in advance of agreeing to their working from the comfort of their homes, says Nilles.Top employees need not payphone bills for Birdsall always foot it. He believes he can always reach them during business hours for as long as their phones are on. This is discretion and management strategy. It is also worthy of note that nothing discourages clients like when they cannot reach someone. For this reason, Guryan established a single toll-free number that easily connects client with her employees.By screening and forwarding incoming business calls, firms can easily reach an employee’s home. Therefore, balance is required to get in touch with a work-from-home employee. A New York consultant, Caryn Furst, who manage remote workers by traini ng businesses said ‘you have to stay out of people’s way. I don’t respond to every messages going back and forth’. By email a fast progress observation might come in handy. For this Gordon said that for every circumstance, the right form of communication should be selected. On the other hand, dialoging the difficulties with a client might fail.Somebody working from home cannot be easily made angry. Though quarrels sometimes arises but one need to learn how to detect it from a distance.It is well agreed that an employee cannot do the work of an employer for he know virtually nothing about it. Take for instance an employee calling Bromberg to talk to an intending client about a project- He could not communicate well with the client. In communication with remote workers of today, it is either by phone or email for they are faster than the posted mail. Managers may find opposition if their emails are copied between two parties thereby making a rubbish of the m essages. This may cause a lot of unrest if one is not sensitive enough.Quarrels may arise between the remote workers and the office employees. the in-office employees should be addressed properly –letting them know why things are the way they are or it may arouse a high level of resentment. There should be a sensation to the fear among remote employees being sidelined.To this end Rappaport fights the problem and makes sure that his entire employees understood that teleworker are part and parcel of the company. Building on success while working with remote employees requires special training. Again, for this teleworkers not to get stranded later on, a comprehensive policy handbook should be given from inception by the company. By simply detailing what an employee should do, the avenue for confrontation will not occur.Rappaport did it and it worked for him. He ensured that by the 7th of each month, expenses reports are ready.  Every employer should endeavor to train their rem ote workers whenever any new technology is added to the company’s system. An example of such modern technology is the instant messaging (IM). The office friendliness that remote employees may lack could be increased by the use of IM, if properly introduced. Instant messaging provides an outlet for his programmers, says Bromberg. He also added that ‘it’s a source for our humor’.Even though remote workers chose to work from home sometimes they may feel isolated. to this recognition, Guryan encourages teleworkers to join organizations and socialize.  Employers like Furst and Rappaport deemed it necessary for clients to organize lunches and recreations after off-meetings so that office and remote workers can harmonize with one another-building a team spirit. Looking at the case of this employer called Sehidoglu, it was from the survey he had with the remote staff that gave him the eye-opener that he has not been communicating the vision of the company to his staff properly. He thus opted to spending a part of every eyeball-to-eyeball meeting to relate an up to date running of the business to his remote staff.According to Rappaport; ‘There should never be any surprises’. This is a description that best suit a successful relationship with remote employees.SummaryAs a remote employee one may hardly be recognized since one is not visibly seen in the office .Sometimes the dirty and difficult job may even be done by that unknown worker. Wise business owners had developed a way in getting these remote workers excited as they in turn work for the company’s growth. With the presence of computer and internet access, most employees have taken a new lifestyle working from home.Some companies benefits if their employee’s works from the comfort of their homes, especially the small business owner’s .They believe that productivity increases wit the remote workers.What mostly attracts them is the salary. According to N illes ‘the higher the salary, the more the productivity gain. In this challenge of managing remote employees, it can easily be seen that business owners are themselves the obstacle to a productive remote working relationship. Most of them believe in the presence of the workers around them and the activities in the company instead of results.It is how well not how far! Some of them use devices in checkmating the activities with and without the company’s premises- how their employees are faring, whether they are doing their job or not. Anyway, keeping an eye on an employee is not the only reasons managers like having them around. They may also need their idea as in the progress of work. These ideas are missing when an employee works from the comfort of his or her home.Sometimes employers could be very confused not seeing their employees around them what they often do is-assign projects to them.The introduction of email technology can help any smart management overcome the se difficulties .It helps in keeping the employer and employees connected. Telephone is another device that has helped a lot in connecting people. With this device a teleconference may be held between the people involved in a project so as to stay in touch –employer and the remote employees.To get a remote worker a discussion prior to the date and hour of schedule should be settled. No wonder most of the managers new to remote work will complain that remote workers are difficult people-you hardly get them when you need them. In fact, balance is needed to communicate with a remote worker. In communicating with a remote employee, one should not rely on only one method.Every employee should endeavor to train their remote staff as regards any new technology introduced in the company’s system. An example is the Instant Messaging (IM). With proper introduction of this IM, an employer may create a friendly relation that remote workers may lack. ‘It is a source for humor ’ says Bromberg.Every employer should try to carry their staff along, be it in-office or remote staff.BibliographyThese are excerpt from the article written by Sandlund C.Retrieved March 22,2007,From Google search database.Books Used. Managing Telework; ‘Strategies for Managing the virtual workforce’ by Jack M. Nilles (John Wiley & Sons; $34.95; 1998).‘An Organizational guide to telecommuting’ by George. M.Puskurich (American Society for Training & Development: $29.95; 1998).Website & Organisations.International Telework Association & council (http://www.telcoa.org/)-member organization in telework.These are excerpt from the article written by Chris Sandlund.Online Services Schedule online (http://www.scheduleonline.com/) is an online scheduling tool that can help coordinate meeting & event between in-office & remote staff.

Superfund Program

Superfund Program Peggy Toler E. Hansen/EVS1001-31 March 31, 2011 Peggy Toler 2 Superfund Program I did not know what a Superfund program was until I looked it up and then I found out that it is an act that is the cornerstone legislation that provides the mechanism and funding for the cleanup of potentially dangerous hazardous-waste sites and the protection of ground water and human health. When you live near a superfund site, you and your family are at risk of developing a disease from the exposure of the different pollutants in these sites and may experience a loss of value of your property.The EPA says that there are steps that we can take to fight back. They have also said that they have set up a â€Å"Post Construction† strategy to ensure that Superfund response actions provide for the long-term protection of human health and the environment. The Construction Completion activities also involve optimizing remedies to increase effectiveness and /or to reduce cost without sa crificing long-term protection. There is still a health hazard for those who live close to a Superfund site.The site that I have found in my state was the Chemtronic, Inc. in Swannanoa, NC. It is about 1,027 acres and only about 20 acres in total are contaminated with these pollutants. This property has had several owners and operators and it was first developed as an industrial site in 1952. After first opening the first products that were manufactured on this site were explosives, incapacitating agents, and chemical intermediates. There are about 23 individual on-site disposal areas that were identified during the investigation activities on this site.During 1971, the disposal practices were not well defined. Solid waste materials and possibly solvents were reportedly incinerated in pits dug in the burning ground these pits are known as the Acid Pit Peggy Toler 3 area. There are the chemical wastes that were also disposed of in the trenches located in the Acid Pit Area. All of the activities at this site ended in 1994, and no new activities are occurring on this site. There is no on-site ground water and surface water being used in any way for anything.This site is bordered up on the North and West sides by woodlands and primarily national forests. There are several industrial facilities to the immediate South of this site. In the contaminants contained in these on-site disposal areas there are volatile organic compounds which include (1,2-dichloroethane, trans-1,2-dichloroethane, trichloroethane, and tetrachloroethane), semi-volatile organic compounds which include benzophenone, benzylic acid, and explosives, and then there are the metals like chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc.The contaminants that are detected in the ground water include benzene, chloroform, 1,2-dichloroethane, trans-1,2-dichloroethane, trichloroethane, benzophenone, benzylic acid, picric acid, explosives, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc. The site cleanup plans were issued i n 1988. The major cleanup elements for this site include the installation of a ground water extraction and treatment system down gradient of the disposal areas in both the front valley and the back valley which is known as the Gregg Valley, capping and fixation/stabilization for contaminated soil in the disposal areas.These capped areas are fence with a chain-link fence and marked. Then they have a monitoring program to be established for the surface water. The ROD has issued an amend for this site in 1989, that specified the deletion of the requirement to solidify soil in Disposal Area (DA-23) as a result of an error in the remedial investigation data which was carried over into the initial ROD. Peggy Toler 4 With the cleanup progress with the capping and stabilization/solidification or the contaminated soil in the disposal area began in 1991, and was completed in 1993. They have placed multi-layer caps in the following areas DA-6, DA-7/8, DA-9, DA-10/11, DA-23 and in the Acid Pit Area. They have also installed a gas venting system at the Acid Pit Area. The Rod of 1988, addressed only those disposal areas that were deemed CERCLA related. The other disposal areas on the property were considered Resource Conservation and Recovery Act also known as (RCRA) areas as prior to 1994.The potentially responsible parties (PRPs) for the site undertook corrective actions to improve the operation of both the extraction systems and treatment systems in both valleys. The corrections that have taken place have significantly reduced the down time to these systems experienced in the past. There have been two reviews that have been developed for the site in 2002 and 2007. The review that was done in 2007, they found that the site was protective of the human health and the environment in the short-term.The NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources requested that the EPA consolidate oversight of all site environmental remediation activities under the EPA’s superfun d authority and relinquished the state’s RCRA oversight responsibilities for the site to the EPA’s Superfund program in March 2007. Recently the PRPs submitted the draft RI/FS Work Plan based on the Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) and accompanying statement of work. These cleanup activities have been undertaken by the PRPs with EPA’s oversight. Peggy Toler 5 There are three viable PRPs for the site that has been identified by EPA and they are Chemtronic, Inc. Northrop Grumman System Corporation, and CAN Holding, Inc. In 2008 the AOC signed by the PRPs and the EPA will address the cleanup for the former RCRA areas at the site that will now be addressed under CERCLA. The EPA has conducted a range of activities for the community to get involved at the Chemtronic site to solicit the community input and to ensure that the public remains informed about any of the site activities throughout the site cleanup process. These outreach activities include public notice s, interviews and public meeting on these cleanup activities and updates.In the future they are monitoring the ground water at the site, they say that the field work for the revised RI/FS should begin in the summer of 2009, and the next FYR for these sites is expected in 2012. As you will find out the more we try to cleanup areas like this, we have other pollutants in the world. There are things that we can do to help with these pollutants like cleaning everything that we can and stop putting things into the ground.References * Boorse, D. F. & Wright, R. T. (2011) Environmental Science (11 Edition) * www. epa. gov/region4/waste/nplnc/chemtrnc. htm

My First Child

I walked through the doors of Moses Taylor hospital, In Scranton, Pennsylvania. I was feeling apprehensive and uneasy, as I found myself at the nurses' station of labor and delivery. Once I was finished with registration, I followed a nurse into the dusty rose and moss green room, where I would be staying until the much anticipated arrival of my child. I tried to keep myself occupied by watching television, reading, and doing crossword puzzles, but nothing could have kept me from feeling the excruciating pain of labor.The eagerness to have this all over and done with, was definitely not helping with the anxiety I was feeling during that process. After 22 grueling and strenuous hours of being stuck In a bed, and three different shifts of nurses, I finally met my daughter. Friday morning, at 4:mama, the sky was dark and cloudy, and the moment I had been anxiously awaiting for nine and a half long months, was here at last. Everyone in the room got very quiet as my child entered the wor ld. I was very confused as to why I had not heard any sounds coming from her and it began to worry me. The moment I heard her cry, I new everything was going to be okay. Oh! She Is absolutely breath-taking,† I exclaimed as Dry. Reedy placed the Innocent child on my chest. Just as I said that, a tiny hand reached up and touched my face. I braced myself against the back of the bed; I could hardly contain my excitement as I held my daughter in my arms for the very first time. I could smell the sweet, inviting aroma and feel the velvety softness of her skin. Nothing in life had prepared me for the overwhelming love I felt at that moment. I looked over at my child's father; while fighting back the Inevitable tears of Joy that ere making their way Into my eyes, and I stated. Frank, look at how perfect she SSL Look at her tiny little nose. † I can still remember the first time I set eyes on her. She was naked, and glistening with the slimy waters of birth. As the nurse removed her from my arms, to clean and weigh her, I could not take my eyes off my little miracle. The instant I saw her, I knew the name we had chosen would fit her beautifully. The nurse, wearing arctic white Nikkei sneakers and soft pink scrubs with a cute little Winnie the Pooh pattern on them, handed my daughter back to me. She was wrapped In an Ivory blanket, with baby blue and cherry red Infant foot prints on It.Nurse Lori began filling out my child's vital statistics, â€Å"She is seven pounds and fifteen ounces and 20 inches long. Have you decided on a name for her yet? † â€Å"Aubrey. † I answered. â€Å"Aubrey Grace. † Lori commented, â€Å"What a great name for such a beautiful child. Congratulations! † â€Å"Thank you,† I replied. The next few hours were filled with visitors coming to welcome Aubrey Into the world. Aubrey met her aunts, uncles, grandparents, and Godparents all in the course of a day. Aubrey started getting over-whelmed with all of the commotion around her. WA! † cried Aubrey, as she let out this tiny little cry. I tried to console her as best as I could, and eventually found that she was hungry. I quickly grabbed the bottle of Gerber formula for her. As I held my tiny bundle of Joy in my arms, I could see a lonesome tear run down my mother's cheek. When I knew exactly why my mother was crying. They were not tears filled with sadness, but were tears of Joy. My mother helped me through so much in my life, and I never understood the love she had for me until I finally had a child of my own.

Common Law and Equity

The Development of Common Law and Equity Common Law has been functioning in England since the 1250’s, two centuries after William the Conqueror defeated Earl Harold Godwinson in the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and became King. It was then in 1066 that Law began to be standardised. There were, however, problems with the Common Law system and people were becoming dissatisfied with the remedies distributed by the Court. As a result, the Court of Chancery was established and could provide whatever remedy best suited the case.This type of justice became known as equity. When William the Conqueror gained the English throne in 1066, he constituted the Curia Regis, an instrument he used to govern the country and a court for deciding disputes. Representatives from the Regis were sent out to the different localities of the country to check local administration and were ordered to make judgement of the effectiveness of the custom laws functioning in their designated locality and report ba ck to the King in Westminster.When the representatives were summoned back, they were able to discuss the various customs of each locality and were able to form, through rejecting unreasonable laws and accepting those that appeared to be rational, a consistent body of rules. During the process of sifting, the principle of ‘stare decisis’ was created, which translates to ‘let the decision stand’. Whenever a new problem of law was to be decided, the decision formed a rule and it was mandatory that the rule was followed in all similar cases. By 1250, a common law had been established, that ruled the whole country.However problems soon arose regarding the remedies distributed by the Common Law Court and people soon became dissatisfied with the system. One of the first complaints was concerned with the writ system. In the common law courts, civil actions had to be started by a writ. Early on, new writs were created to suit new circumstances, however this stopped in the thirteenth century. Litigants had to fit their circumstances to one of the available types of writ. If the case did not fall into the existing writ, the case could not be taken to court.Many people found their cases to be rejected for the reason that there was no writ to satisfy their case and so they were not given justice. A second complaint was related to the remedy of damages. What the court did not realise was that money was not always an adequate solution to every problem. A final problem that arose with the system was that it was inflexible. The principle of ‘stare decisis’ meant that when a decision was given in a case of a certain kind, the same legal principle had to be followed in subsequent cases, no matter what the situation of the claimant.As a result, people started to petition the king who was thought of as the ‘fountain of justice’. After a while, the king passed on these petitions to the Chancellor who was usually a member of the cl ergy and was thought of as ‘the keeper of the king’s conscience’. Before long, litigants began to petition the Chancellor himself and by 1474 the Chancellor had begun to make decisions on the cases on his own authority rather than as a substitute for the king. This was the beginning of the court of Chancery.In the court of Chancery, litigants appeared before the Chancellor and he would deliver a verdict on the presented case based on his own moral view of the situation. Unlike the Common Law court, the court of Chancery could provide whatever remedy best suited the case and this type of justice became known as equity. Before equitable rules could be applied, equity devised maxims, developed to certify that the verdicts made were morally fair, which had to be contemplated prior to a final court decision.One of these maxims, â€Å"He who comes to equity must come with clean hands†, states that claimants who have in some way been in the wrong in the past will not be granted an equitable remedy. An example illustrating this maxim would be the D+C Builders v Rees (1966) case, were the Rees was denied an equitable estoppel as they had taken unfair advantage of the builder’s financial difficulties and therefore had not â€Å"come with clean hands†. A second maxim, â€Å"He who seeks equity, must do equity†, articulates that anyone who seeks equitable relief must be prepared to act fairly towards their opponent.In the Chappel v Times Newspapers ltd (1975) case, newspaper employees applied for an injunction to prevent their employers from carrying out the threat of sacking them unless they stopped their strike action. The court said that in order for them to be awarded the remedy, the strikers should withdraw their strike action if the injunction was granted. The employees refused and so the injunction was not granted. Another maxim is â€Å"Delay defeats equity†. This maxim states that where a claimant takes an un reasonably long time to bring an action, equitable remedies will not be available.This is exemplified in the Leaf v International Galleries (1950) case where the claimant, Leaf, had bought a painting for a considerable amount of money however he found, five years later, that it was not the genuine constable he thought it was. When he claimed the equitable remedy of rescission, it was refused as the delay had been too long. In response to the complaints regarding the remedies offered by the common law courts, equity increased the number of remedies available to the wronged party.Instead of just being given then remedy of damages, claimants could now be granted an injunction, which is an order given to defendants to do or not do something, specific performance, which compels a part to fulfil a previous agreement, a rescission, which restores parties of a contract to the position they were in before the contract was signed and rectification, which is an order that alters the words of a document which does not express the true intentions of the parties to it.These remedies offered by the court of chancery are discretionary. A claimant who wins a common law court case is given the remedy of damages as of right, however the courts may choose whether or not to award an equitable remedy. Equitable remedies are therefore not given as of right. Due to the improvements made by equity regarding remedies, the court of chancery became very popular and caused some resentment amongst the common law courts.The lawyers of the common law courts argued that the quality of the decisions made in the court of chancery varied with the length of the chancellor’s foot, meaning that the outcome of each case depended on the qualities of the individual chancellor. The tension between the two courts grew to an all-time high in the Earl of Oxford’s case (1615), where a judgment of Chief Justice Coke was allegedly obtained by fraud. The Lord Chancellor issued a common injunctio n of the Chancery prohibiting the enforcement of the common law order.The two courts became locked in a stalemate, and the matter was eventually referred to the Attorney General. The Attorney General upheld the use of the common injunction and concluded that in the event of any conflict between the common law and equity, equity would prevail. Equity’s primacy in England was later enshrined in the Judicature Acts (1873-75), which provided that equity and common law could both be operated in the same court and there would no longer be different procedures for requesting remedies from equity and the common law.To conclude, it was William the Conqueror who came up with the initial idea of establishing a common law and after two centuries of sifting through the custom laws of the numerous localities of the country, a common law had been established that ruled the whole of the country. However problems in the common law system soon arose regarding the writ system, the inflexibility of the system, and the remedy of damages. The court of chancery was established and it is here that equity functioned.Equity brought in new equitable remedies such as injunctions, specific performance, rescissions, and rectifications however before these remedies could be granted, the case being presented had to conform to the equitable maxims which were developed to certify that the verdicts made were morally fair. The court of chancery became very popular and caused some resentment amongst the common law courts, whose lawyers argued that the quality of the decisions made in the court of chancery varied with the length of the Chancellors foot.As a result of the Earl of Oxford case, whenever there is conflict between the common law courts and equity, equity will prevail, which allows for the further development of equity today. The Judicature Acts of the 1870’s provided that equity and common law could both be operated in the same court and there would no longer be different procedures for requesting remedies from equity and the common law. In short terms, if it was not for common law and the faults found in its system, equity would cease to exist.

Lululemon

Luncheon is poised and well positioned to move to another level in the luxury sports apparel marketplace. While our challenges over the last 18 months have been Impacting, we have maintained profitability and have not lost significant market share. In response, our leadership team conducted environmental and organizational scans over the last 30 days. From these scans, we have identified some future strategic opportunities and challenges that when addressed, will set us up to become the #1 sports luxury apparel brand in the world.We will continue our innovation by Introducing new products lines; there is a great opportunity for us to expand Into a children's line. Another opportunity for Luncheon Is to Investigate new channel strategies In diversification of sales revenues. In tandem with these opportunities, we urgently need to address several threats inclusive of diversifying our supply chain and improving public relations to resonate our core values and brand.Our environmental sca n included a macro trends report, examination of our industry/ competition, and a comprehensive review of our stakeholders' needs and expectations. Significant macro trends worth noting Include: sustained popularity of yoga fitness for the near term, continued growth in online sales, and sustained usage of social media (with women representing a disproportionately large amount of users engaging our brand). Due to the use of petroleum and cotton products, material and labor costs for Luncheon can sometimes be unpredictable based on fluctuations in these commodity markets.Our Industry analysis Indicates that the sports apparel brand Is a $106 billion dollar Industry with the two biggest players only owning 14 recent of the market share, [See Financial Analysis Slide]. We are the top ranked premium sports apparel organization and the 5th highest ranking organization overall. Our suppliers are more than suppliers; they are partners, [See Industry/ Competitive Analysis Slide]. Our collab orative relationship with our suppliers helps us create some of the most innovative products in the market.Supplier issues with materials and manufacturing have posed an ongoing issue due to various recalls creating a drop In company stock price, which In turn, has raised concerns with dockworkers, [See stakeholder Analysis slide]. These problems have caused Luncheon to face intense scrutiny in the market and media, which eventually resulted in negative Public Relations related issues. The inability for the Public Relations department to thwart such incidents has impacted the overall product brand within the market place.With that said, the financial health of the company Is good. Net revenue for the fiscal year 2013 Increased 16% to $1. 6 billion from $1. 4 billion In fiscal 2012. The company ended with $698,649,000 cash on hand, enough to fund its operating activities. Our operational support reveals Luncheon customer satisfaction remains high despite recent and ongoing manufactur ing issues, [See Stakeholder Analysis Slide]. We possess a loyal customer base and have recently moved all of our stores from the franchise model to being ran internally to maximize on our culture.From this environmental scan, we were able to conduct a comprehensive and In-depth Internal analysis to determine how well prepared we included an operational health report, a financial report, and a review of our culture. The current organization is structured so that there is an opportunity for open immunization throughout the business, while wellness programs create high employee satisfaction. Since our inception, our culture has been about creating components for people to live long, healthy, and fun lives.This culture permeates through our employees, our in-store experience, and of course our customer base. We believe in support of the communities in which we are a part by creating various festivals, retreats and continually focusing on sustainability. Overall, our internal report sho ws we are poised for growth and have the tools to take advantage of our opportunities while meeting our challenges head on. Luncheon is the leader in luxury sports apparel. In order for us to stay the premier luxury sports apparel provider, we have to make sure we keep our core competencies aligned.Our core competencies are defined as follows: 1 . Developing innovative luxury designs, 2. Grass roots marketing, 3. Creating a motivated workforce, 4. Creating a second to none positive customer experience. Our four recommendations outlined in the beginning of the memo align perfectly with these core competencies, and our reports show we have the ability to achieve success in each area. Developing new product lines, especially focusing on a line for the youth, will assure we stay diversified.In developing these lines we can start to diversify our suppliers by finding other markets in which to partner. Currently our depth in suppliers is large, however, the diversity is nominal. Our suppl iers are primarily concentrated in one region, Asia-Pacific, leaving us susceptible to natural disasters, border wars, and other issues that can affect production, [See Stakeholder Analysis Slide]. Creating additional channels of sales will work to enhance our second to none customer experience.Working with luxury hotels and other recognizable high end partners known for great customer service will also help with our grass roots marketing along with increasing our positive public relations presence. Also, by controlling our public relations and placing an increased emphasis on it, we will be able to better position our image and brand for lasting resonance in the marketplace. We are excited for Luncheon and look forward to partnering with you on implementing these four strategic objectives that will propel our great organization to another level.

Environment Impact Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Environment Impact Report - Essay Example Thus, the consumption habits and lifestyle of the modern consumers are leading to a waste problem, all over the world, particularly in areas where there is heightened population. Although, authorities will normally allocate local garbage dumps and small-scale as well as large-scale waste dumping sites or landfill sites for dumping and collection of wastes, the ever growing quantity of wastes is pushing these facilities over their limits. With the existing facilities unable to accommodate the inflowing wastes, new sites are being developed. The problem with these just dumping sites is that, because of untidy, unhygienic and even infected nature of the wastes, it could have negative impact on ecosystems as well as living conditions of the people. Thus, with shortage of dumping sites and its negative effects, authorities are looking at options, which can dispose the wastes easily and can also recycle the wastes for electricity generation. Waste management process involves the collection of the wastes, transportation of it, processing of it and finally disposing it one form or other. This Waste management process differs from developed countries to non-developed countries, from urban areas to rural areas. With the urban areas in developed countries generating high quality of wastes, particular waster management processes has to be established there. These processes apart from disposing wastes will have the ability to produce other energy sources particularly electricity and steam power. In that direction, a development consortium has plans wishes to construct and maintain an Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in the south east of Sheffield. To be located in an area of derelict land at Holbrook, this ERF facility can dispose of sizable municipal wastes of the surrounding areas, and at the same time, generate sizable electricity, which can be used to run the facility, excess of which can also be given to the public electricity grid. In EPF facility, the processing of the waste and the eventual electricity generation can be carried through a multitude of processes. In that direction, the local authorities have concluded that the wastes can be processed through a mix of processes including materials recycling, composting, energy recovery and anaerobic digestion. The proposal is to establish two-stream ERF having a capacity to process 28 tonnes of household and other municipal wastes per hour. Apart from this ERF facility and other facilities for administration and maintenance of this ERP facility, there will also be steam turbine generator that will only generate the electrical power for use in the plant and to export the remaining to the public supply grid. Among the administrative buildings, there will be an education building which will have good educational resources to teach and equip the employees, as well as the facilities to conduct research by the external visitors, engineers and other technical persons. So, the scope of this project does no t get limited to a particular area in Sheffield, but also extends to a wider area, benefiting many other individuals as well. In addition, there are plans to landscape the surrounding areas with trees and plants, so any carbon dioxide emissions from the facility can be absorbed by those trees itself. This way, the carbon imprint of the ERF facility in the Sheffield area will be

Testing Money Demand Equation, Econometrics Assignment, SAS Speech or Presentation

Testing Money Demand Equation, Econometrics Assignment, SAS - Speech or Presentation Example To interpret whether variations in dependent variable, (mt – pt) is explained or not, explanatory powers of each of the two independent variables have to be considered. If the Student’s-statistics of the respective estimated coefficients are found to be greater than the tabulated value at the given degrees of freedom, the corresponding variable is considered to be significantly explaining variations in the model and vice-versa. At 107 degrees of freedom, tabulated t-statistic is 1.99, which is lower than the estimated values in either case. Hence, each one of the two variables is found to be significantly explaining variations in the dependent variable so that variation in the model is perfectly explained. Money demand in excess of the general price level is found to be highly dependent on income and rate of interest in context of the US economy. The dependence is found to be in line with that of theory which says that demand for money is directly related to income but inversely related to the rate of interest. Moreover, the rate of interest in the nation is also gradually falling over time, revealing that the money demand in the nation is rising actually. A rise in money demand is actually a positive sign for economies which had been engulfed in a recession, since that implies a rise in aggregate demand and thus rise in national income. Hence it could be said that the US economy is actually at the verge of experiencing boom. In fact, a rising income will attract investors from all over the world thus ensure the nation a consistent period of boom. Since the number of observations is the same as that in the previous case, the degrees of freedom are equal to 107. So, using the rule mentioned above it can be said that both the intercept and time factor can explain variations in the dependent variable significantly. The model being estimated shows

IT in US healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

IT in US healthcare - Essay Example A potential answer to this question is the slow pace of adoption of IT in the healthcare industry. In the last few decades, the benefits of IT in the manufacturing and service industries have been well demonstrated. These benefits can just as easily be implemented in the healthcare area. For example, much of current record keeping is paper based, disorganized, and often illegible. Thus, records can be easily lost or scattered, and are poorly linked together. This disorganization can cause up to 80% of errors in healthcare administration. Clearly, the information needs to be organized architecturally according to a designed framework while keeping in mind the privacy of health records. Automation and streamlining of information storage would enable the seamless flow of information and would contribute to overall cost reduction. Cost containment is one of the key drivers of this kind of change, particularly in light of the growing elderly population combined with a shortage of physicia ns and nurses. The rising proportion of healthcare costs with respect to the gross domestic product (GDP) is an important indicator of the significance of this issue. In 1960, healthcare costs amounted to 7.2% of the GDP. By 2005 they have escalated to 16% of GDP and are predicted to continue to grow to 20% by 2015. The increase in the average human lifespan has been made possible by the advancement in medical science and technologies. Despite the high cost, the availability of healthcare in America is dismal compared to other developed nations where the average healthcare cost is typically around 8% of the GDP [13]. Today, forty-four million Americans cannot afford health insurance because health-care costs have risen four times faster than wages [14]. Many hospitals and vital health care services are out of reach for needy Americans. The United States will spend 10 trillion dollars in health-care in next 10 years, which will have a significant negative impact on the economy. Worse, government programs such as Medicare do not cover the hospital costs. These unpaid expenses add to the cost private insurance for individuals and employers. To be sure, the cost of health-care must be addressed on a top priority. The inherent efficiency of the system is perhaps the leading culprit in producing these consequences. Condition of Current Practices is Critical Utilization of information technology in the healthcare industry has been minimal, and its adoption slow. Although health insurance is among the leading industries, 90% of the transactions within this $30 billion industry are performed by phone, fax or mail. Fewer than 5% of prescriptions from U.S. physicians are managed electronically. Most healthcare organizations spend only 1% to 4 % of their revenues on IT. This is half the amount that organizations in other leading industries spend on their IT infrastructures [3]. Clearly, more effort must be directed toward facilitating the implementation of IT in the healthcare field by addressing the barriers to its adoption. Some hospitals have already started to capitalize on this opportunity by using electronic medical record keeping technologies, and hospital information systems (HISs). For example, Kaiser Permanante allows its users to book and cancel appointments on-line. Such initiatives must be expanded in order to fully realize the benefits of IT for reducing the cost of healthcare. Indeed, they hold great promise for making

Should nurses (CRNAs) be able to administer anesthesia without doctor Essay

Should nurses (CRNAs) be able to administer anesthesia without doctor supervision - Essay Example ving gone through four year training and earned a degree in nursing, taken another two years in clinical training and worked in the field more than a decade, Clifford on his own was still not set to handle the unexpected dire situation. The training he underwent as a nurse had only equipped him with the skill to administer medicine, work the equipment, and ensure the smooth working of the procedural anesthesia delivery. In the recent past there has been a growing call for nurses (CRNAs) to be allowed to administer anesthesia without doctor supervision. This new development emanates from the 2001 changes made on regulations governing Medicare and Medicaid that allowed states to opt out of the requirement that CRNA be supervised. According to supporters of the move, the removal of the existing requirement works to increase access to health care, particularly for the people in the rural areas. Today, states such as Colorado have already embraced this new idea. This work argues out the p oint that it may be dangerous to allow CRNAs to administer anesthesia without the supervision of doctors. First, compared to physician anesthesiologists, a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) training is limited especially when it comes to understanding medical response, medical diagnosis, and the ultra-complex operation of human body system. As in the case of Clifford, many nurses are likely to tense when faced with situation where such systems are under the influence of a drug induced coma, thus endangering the patient’s life (Kahana, 381-383). Supervisory doctors or physician anesthesiologists typically depict higher knowledge when compared to that acquired by CRNAs. This training places them in a better position to make on-the spot medical decisions frequently required when handling adverse situations in the operating room. The decisions include those made in the whole perioperative experience to even those depicted in the life-threatening circumstances. This is not

The Role of Black Holes in the centers of Galaxies Essay

The Role of Black Holes in the centers of Galaxies - Essay Example In the Milky Way, the supermassive black hole is known as Sagitarrius A*, which is read as â€Å"A-star† (Naeye & Gutro, 2008). Sagitarrius A* is known to be â€Å"27,000 light years from the Earth [and] is four million times bigger than the Sun† (Ghosh, 2012). However, NASA reports Sagitarrius A* to be 26,000 light years away from the Earth, and not 27,000 (â€Å"A Mystery,† 2002). In fact, the existence of black holes has long been theorized by British astronomer Sir Martin Rees in 1974 and, according to him, â€Å"Supermassive black holes [or] ones with a million or even a billion solar masses might exist within the centers of some galaxies† (â€Å"A Mystery,† 2002). According to Durham University astrophysicist Ian Small, â€Å"The black holes [that we studied] are seen precisely at the point where they can have the most influence on the properties of the galaxies they reside in† (qtd. In Lovgren, 2005). This means that if the supermassiv e black holes are located at other points in the galaxy except the center, then it cannot exert equal influence on all parts of the galaxy. In short, for it to exert an almost equal gravitational force on every part of the galaxy, then it has to be at its center. The same principle works if the supermassive black hole is to release energy towards every part of the galaxy it is in, but this release of energy is merely hypothetical. According to Professor Richard Genzel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, â€Å"The center of the galaxy was a â€Å"unique laboratory for the study of the strong gravity, stellar dynamics and star formation with a level of detail ‘never possible beyond our galaxy’† (qtd. in â€Å"Black hole,† 2008). This means that there must be one good reason for the supermassive black hole to eventually reside in the galactic center other than position. Genzel’s hypothesis is therefore the possibility that the ph ysics of the center of the galaxy is unusually different from the rest of its parts. Perhaps then there is a much stronger gravitational attraction as well as different principles of stellar dynamics and star formation towards the galactic center. Furthermore, according to Cain, the center of the galaxy, where the supermassive black holes reside, serves as the place where â€Å"every galaxy serves to focus and concentrate material as the galaxy was first forming† and it is also possible that this is the same exact point â€Å"where the black hole formed first, and collected the rest of the galaxy around it† (Cain, 2008). The aforementioned statement means that the possible origin of the galaxy may in fact be the exact point where the supermassive black hole is located and perhaps the galaxy still continues to grow from that central point. The implication of this theory is that, if it is true, then much constructive material is located in the black hole and that the gal axy is in fact never growing old and its parts constantly being replaced by these materials from the black hole. Another observation of Lovgren (2005) is that, according to scientists, â€Å"pairs of galaxies – and their black holes often merge together [thus producing] tidal forces [that] drive a lot of gas toward the center of the

Reflection of Stock Market Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reflection of Stock Market Project - Essay Example Mostly in the stock market, human psychology gets reflected by either greed or fear. During the period when the share prices of the MSFT was considerably decreasing, fear lead me to sell the shares immediately the prices reached the original price. The Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp shares prices decreased, but for the past four days the prices have exceed the $47 price margin I had anticipated selling the shares. Greed to profit from the increasing prices led more people to buy these shares by the close of the stock market on 10th December 2014(Graham 189-98). I sold least Apple Inc. shares because the company intends to launch its new iPhone models in 2015. The entry of the new iPhones will increase the earnings of the company considerably, and the shares will as well increase. Therefore, in anticipation of the increase, I will keep the shares and sell them when the new iPhones premiers in the market. From the experience in the stock market, I learned to rely mostly on the more scientific and economic factors. Human psychology slightly affects the stock as compared to the scientifically and economically conscious factors (Graham

National culture and commitment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

National culture and commitment - Essay Example The cultural dimension of individualism versus collectivism will be discussed in detail and the implications for the organisation will be presented. Finally, the Saudi culture will be described, with particular attention being paid to the Islamic and Bedouin traditions underpinning Saudi culture, and their impact on organisational management. Over decades of scholarly explorations, the topic of national culture has remained a much favoured topic, with diverse views on national culture being proposed. The increase in cross cultural interactions, brought about by globalisation, has further contributed to the need for deeper understanding of the theoretical background and concepts of national culture and its influence on employee and organisational behaviour (Kalliny, Cruthirds, & Minor, 2006; Klein, Waxin, & Radnell, 2009). The characteristics of different cultures have been studied by different scholars, and various dimensions of national cultures have been used to measure and define various cultures (Hofstede, 1998; House et. al, 2004; Mallehi 2007; Pothukitchi et.al, 2002; Schein, 1998; Tayeb, 2005; Trompenaars & Hamden-Turner, 2000). The foundation for culture is the shared set of values and collective beliefs which in turn shape behaviour (Morgan, 1986). Research has indicated that such things as cognitive frameworks, learned behavioural norms, shared meanings and perceptions, ethical codes, stories, heroes, symbols, and rituals all serve to shape our sense of culture and thus our behaviours (Alvesson, 2002; Brown, 1995; Kreitner & Kinicki, 1998). Because of this shared foundation, people of the same national culture are likely to behave in a similar manner and to share similar attitudes and perceptions (Hofstede, 2001). According to Francesco and Gold (1998), culture is the â€Å"most useful tool in identifying and explaining differences in how people behave†. Culture is not static, but rather is constantly changing and evolving.

Mental Health assignment SELF Collage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mental Health assignment SELF Collage - Essay Example This premise stems from what people say about me but also something is sure of about myself. Responsibility is precisely noted in the standard that I bring my children up, to become good and reliable children both at home and school. According to Balchin (2003) a young person’s dream becomes a vision in the future. For me, I wanted and desired to be a doctor, but my husband could not allow me to become one, instead I became an engineer. I have worked in the military company for 15 years and become loved and respected by all of the co-workers. When I went to U.S.A, I got a college where I pursued RN program but this did not work for me. I have also pursued a course in business and administration. I attained AA AS degree with honors. After some couple of years, I went back to school where am currently pursuing a nursing course. I am proud of my age of 50 years, having attained high education and that I can communicate with my third language. After my divorce, I decided to continue with studies due to end in 26th June. Although I did not pursue medicine I always do charity in areas that please me. My greatest weakness is that I cannot say no to anyone. To my children the lesson is the same. Among the most important things to me family is one. I have two wonderful children, one daughter named Meline and a son named Vahe. Coincidentally, they are pursuing the same course (law). They are very sharp in school, kind, obedient, reliable, and helpful. I always provide everything my children need without expecting anything in return to ensure that they become successful in life and happy of it. I always thank God for the two angels he gave to me. According to Wong, Hockenberry, & Wilson (2011) family should be the core origin of a man’s strength and motivation. My children are my motivation, they are my life and I accord them much love. Consistent love

Report to your line manager Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Report to your line manager - Essay Example To begin with, training can involve the case-study methods whereby employees solve hypothetical scenarios. In addition, trainees can participate in role-playing. Besides, training can involve self-instruction methods. These training methodologies are beneficial in terms of customization, feedback, and self-discipline. Introduction Training and development entails the continuing efforts of entities to improve the delivery of employees. In the modern organization environment, these activities entail a broad range of elements such as regular instruction giving and continuing professional development. As a formal business function, it is vital for an organization to develop highly effective training programs. There are notable objectives in this research. To begin with, it is essential to determine whether all training programs are beneficial to the trainee. In addition, it is vital to establish whether training can be directed towards individual needs. Lastly, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of training programs that occur according to individual needs of employees. Main body Responsibility for choosing the training method In assessing the authority that is responsible for choosing the training method, it is crucial to examine this issue in terms of on-job training and off-job training. On-job training occurs while the employee is carrying out one’s duties. On-job training mostly relates to the job. In this sense, an employee gains the skills while carrying out one’s regular assignments (Nicholson, P. 2005, 133). The employees, therefore, receive training in the real-work environment. In the end, employees gain experience by dealing with specific tasks and facing challenges that come with such duties. This means that supervisors are the key players in choosing the right kinds of training methods. The supervisor, in this perspective, is the immediate senior employee to the trainee. The supervisor is an employee in the same department who possesses a higher experience and skills that are necessary for passing down onto the junior employee. This suggests that the supervisor is highly likely to have passed through the same experience and faced similar challenges (Kerzner, H. 2013, 90). These supervisors are responsible for the choice of training method because of notable reasons. To begin with, these individuals possess knowledge of the organization’s policy on training. This is because they had the same experience. A supervisor will tend to hand down the skills and anecdotes that one received from an earlier training. In this view, the supervisor becomes a tool of bequeathing the company’s policy onto the new employees. In addition, the supervisor understands the clients’ requirement. In this sense, the supervisor chooses a training method that suits the needs of the clients. In addition, the supervisor chooses a training method that suits one’s experience in terms of challenges. This means that the supervisor offers training that addresses the daily demands of the job. The daily demands are the duties that an employee should perform on regular basis. In turn, the supervisor offers the real-time skills in carrying out given duties. The supervisors are aware of the special skills that are effective in efficiently handling duties. In addition, the organization is responsible for choosing the training method. The organization, in this

Leadership and management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leadership and management - Essay Example According to Waite, leadership â€Å"covers a complex set of circumstances that include the psyche of the period, the economic situation, and the structure of a culture. In other words, leadership transcends all boundaries† (1). However, not all individuals have the attributes of becoming capable leaders. Influence is the primary concept involved in leadership. It is a human invention process that is compared with successful business control, with powerful, influential and charismatic leaders, and Chief Executive Officers. Daft defines leadership as a relationship between followers and leaders that is based on influence in order to achieve actual changes and results based on their common objectives (4). Daft defines management as â€Å"the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling organizational resources† (14). The efforts in management involve members of an organization focused on a particular goal. Management is therefore a group of people responsible for directing the workforce and ensuring that the organization meets its goals and objectives. Management is the act of getting work done through people. Management has various functions which include, planning, organizing, staffing, motivating, and controlling. Planning involves setting organizational objectives and outlining plans to achieve the objectives, organizing involves classifying and allocating tasks, and supplying necessary power to perform tasks. Staffing includes recruiting relevant and qualified individuals for various positions, motivating involves inspiring people to make great efforts in attaining organizational goals, while controlling involves seeing to it that organizational goals are achieved. Although leaders are sometimes managers and managers have to be leaders, leadership and management are different in a number of ways. While management concentrates on achievement of results through effective acquisition, arrangement, implementation, and regulation of all resources such as money, facilities and people, leadership â€Å"focuses on the most important resource, people. It is the process of developing and communicating a vision for the future, motivating people and gaining their commitment and engagement† (Armstrong and Stephens 5). Management is focused on managing complex issues pertaining planning and budgeting with an aim of producing results, while leadership focuses on producing change by developing a vision that will last for the future, along with strategies that bring about the changes needed. Management involves itself with the development of the capacity to achieve pl ans by creating an organizational structure and developing human system, while leadership organizes people by communicating the new created direction, and the creation of collaboration that understands the vision and is committed to achievement. Management ensures that plans are undertaken through controlling and problem solving, while leadership uses motivation to energize people, leadership tries to satisfy basic human needs through achievement (Armstrong and Stephens 6). Management is the most important human activity; because it’s the basic task of managers at all levels in all business and institutions. A leader has the ability to influence people, while a manager may not. Leaders have three major roles; defining a task, where they ensure to make it clear what they expect a group to do, achieving a task, where they ensure that the group`s purpose and goals are achieved, and maintaining effective relationships. They ensure that a good relationship is built between themsel ves and group members, and among the group

Advocacy in action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Advocacy in action - Essay Example Cases that occur are for instance nurse on nurse conflict, incivility in nursing, horizontal conflict as well as lateral conflict (Hover, 2010). A majority of nurses are scared of speaking out when they see incivility being conducted to other nurses or they do not know what is and is not the tolerated behavior (Harris, 2012). The question is why do such caring experts allow such behaviors to exist? How can nurses stop horizontal conflict and welcome those entering the nursing career with open arms and caring hearts? This paper will discuss horizontal violence and incivility in nursing. It will also examine some key ways of addressing such hurtful and non-caring behaviors to the hospital administration and its stakeholders in the form of a letter. Horizontal violence refers to an aggressive or hostile behavior by group members or an individual towards another individual or persons of another despised group. Critics refer to this as inter-group rivalry or violence. It is endemic among the health care environ, and it is a destructive and unacceptable phenomenon (Hover, 2010). All nurses are urged to work together to tackle issues of oppression and eliminate any unhealthy actions from the workplace. Horizontal violence may be conscious or unconscious behavior. The conflict normally causes emotional, psychological and spiritual damages. It can also have devastating and enduring effects on the recipient nurse or nurses. It may be covert or overt (Harris, 2012). It is mainly non physical, but at times nurses take it to the extent of hitting, shoving or throwing objects. Horizontal violence originates from an internalized low self esteem or self-hatred as a result of being part of an exploited group (Longo, 2008). Horizontal violence is the inappropriate manner that oppressed nurses use to release tension or stress when they cannot address or solve issues with the oppressor. In a majority of nursing institutions, a dominator model of social organization facilitates wor kplace hierarchy. This limits practice and autonomy of various groups of nurses and, therefore; it functions as an oppressive force. Nurses are grouped into oppressive structures and unequal power relations in the workplace system (Hover, 2010). Some groups of nurses such as supervisors within each particular station automatically adopt inflated attitudes and feelings of superiority. Some groups, such as new nurses, automatically adopt submissive feelings and attitudes and, therefore, they seem to be helpless within the health center (Harris, 2012). The internal conflict, caused by conforming to structural demands, leads to the buildup of low self esteem and self-hatred of certain groups of nurses that eventually causes horizontal violence (Hover, 2010). Horizontal violence refers to a symptom of the dynamics involving oppression and a feeling of powerlessness (Hughes, 2005). These factors are common in health care just as water is common to fish. They shape, mould, as well as dicta te, the behavior of nurses within the workplace culture. Horizontal violence is an example of harassment to those who are from different status quo (Hughes, 2005). Horizontal violence among nurses is as a result of history and politics of the western civilization and practices and ideology associated with the stereotyping and socialization classes of people in western culture, especially females. It is a cultural and system issue, a symptom of a spiritually, psychologically and emotionally toxic and oppressive environment. Even though, individual pathology flourishes in an environment that supports and condones aggressive behavior,

Deep Ecology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Deep Ecology - Essay Example Deep ecology is a belief, while religion is defined as beliefs that are concerned with nature, purpose and the cause of the universe. As a religion, its dominant tenet of spirituality is that human species are part of the earth and not a separate entity. This paper will argue out that deep ecology is a religion. The main principle of deep ecology is a belief, just like humanity, that the environment which is living has an equal right to blossom and live. It is said to be deep due to its persistence questioning on â€Å"how† and â€Å"why† and as a result, it is based on philosophical questions which are fundamental on the effects of human beings life as a part of the ecosphere, rather than dealing with the minor view of ecology as a biological science branch. In addition it focuses to stem anthropocentric environmentalism that is based on environmental conservation with an aim of exploiting human objectives which buffers the philosophy of deep ecology. It seeks more vie w of the world that we leave in a holistic way, and further, seeks an application of life understanding that separates the functioning of the ecosystem parts as a whole. In addition, it seeks to eliminate the issue of supremacy in religion life, of which it is impossible to give concrete evidence that eliminates the existence of God. The happenings in the world alone can tell that there is a supreme power that is in control of the living and the non living. Policies of ecologically take into account only the concerns on pollution and resources depletion. It is relevant to note that there is deeper issues which are involved with the principles of diversity, autonomy, complexity and decentralization in deep ecological movement. The act of referencing human beings in the environment is a favor to the rationale total field image. Organisms have an intrinsic relationship. As a result of this, it dissolves concepts of the human-in-environment. In addition, the ecological field worker has a deep seated respect or the veneration for the kinds and forms of life. Human beings acquire an understanding from within. This kind of understanding is also reserved for other human as well as for narrow sections of life forms. The intrinsic relationship that is within organism in the environment is as a result of the common ground of creation that everything originates from. The world did not just come to exist, but God who is supreme brought this up, and beings cannot be the most relevant to the environment on their own. In addition, the equal right of individuals to live and flourish is clearly intuitive and value of axiom. Furthermore, its restriction to life of human is anthropocentrism with effects which are detrimental on human life quality. The quality pleasure depends on the satisfaction that is received from a correlation which is close with other life forms. The attempt of giving dump ears to our dependency and the establishment of other roles which are master levels a contribution to human alienation. The egalitarianism of ecology claims that the reinterpretation of future research variables on human population levels and loss of life is equally not taken seriously. This is because it is beyond human understanding; the life of human is unclear on how it came to be. It is therefore obvious that we are taken care of by a supreme being who gave breath to the souls on earth and at any time the ability to breathe is

Electronics Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Electronics - Coursework Example The gain of an amplifier is usually given in decibels or its unit less if the input and output variables are the same (all current, voltage or power. The power gain of an amplifier depends on the sources and load resistances used and its voltage gain. The amplifier should be linear in most cases hence its gain should be constant. Electronic amplifiers find their applications in Radios, Television Transmitters, Receivers, and high-fidelity stereo equipments, Microcomputers, and other electronic digital equipments. The 1Mï â€" and 10kï â€" potentiometer/decade boxes were used to set VCE and VBE to the values shown in table 1 to give the input characteristics of the BJT. The voltages across RB were measured and recorded for all measurements of VCE and VBE. The 10kï â€" potentiometer/decade box was s3et to its maximum value so that the output characteristics could be determined. The 1Mï â€" potentiometer/decade box was adjusted to set Ib to 10ï  ­A, and the desired values of RB were calculated using the measured values of RB. the value of 10kï â€" potentiometer/decade box was adjusted for all values of VCE in table 2 of the results analysis while Ib was kept constant. The voltage across the 100ï â€" resistor was measured and recorded for each combination of VCE and IB. In common emitter configuration, the input is connected between the base and the emitter while the output is taken between collector and emitter. The emitter is the common terminal as shown in the above figure. Emitt er base voltage is the input voltage, base current flows in the circuit and then the in the output resister, hence there will be high power and voltage gains and its output and input voltage ratio is moderate hence this configuration is commonly used. Increasing the supply voltage causes the base current to be lower for a given value of base-emitter voltage; this implies that higher values of supply voltage leads to greater collector-base junction reverse bias, hence greater depletion region

Schools Killing Creativity Essay Example for Free

Schools Killing Creativity Essay In this â€Å"TED talk† segment by Ken Robinson, an English born professor explains why the educational system in the U.S. is remaining stagnant and unfulfilling to students needs. Robinson begins his arguments by stating, â€Å"The educational system of the United States has been accompanied by the same curriculum for the past 125 years†. Schools are unknowingly turning creative minds into memorizing machines to meet the criteria of acceptance for colleges across the nation. The educational system has labeled failure as inexcusable; in return generations of children become afraid to take a risk. Robinson implies, â€Å"Failure is essential to success, when a student looks at failure as no option, they neglect their ability to grow and think for themselves†. In many parts of the nation, high school dropouts exceed the number of graduates by a 60% margin. Robinson also states that, â€Å"the current educational system is robbing students of the creative minds we are all born with†. Research proves your brain’s imaginative and creative lobes are most active during childhood years. Replacing this creativity with standardization, results in a disengaged classroom. Standardized testing produces a false evaluation of a child’s capabilities, only basing statistics on the core subjects of math, science, and literacy. The average high school dropout rate in the United States remains a staggering 60% in the majority population. Within minority populations as much of 80% of students will fail to obtain a high school diploma. Unaccounted for in these statistics are students who are disengaged in the classroom, and will get nothing out of it. America stands as a global leader in money spent on education, yet we are displacing this investment of would-be graduates within our economy, to even more money spent on repairing the result of a dropout generation. An estimated one trillion dollars of revenue within our economy could be salvaged if we could take the nationwide 60% and reduce this number to 30%. Professor Robinson touches on the fact that we as humans are instinctively creative. Creativity is essential for a child to achieve something that is  new, distinct, and imaginative. Education professionals are being forced to follow specific guidelines of standard testing, resulting in a conclusion of what a child is capable of conforming to. Without a broad spectrum of testing we are limiting the student to his or her adaptability rather than what they naturally excel at. Good teaching habits, such as engaging students to think for themselves and motivating them to be creative, are being jeopardized by core curriculum. Robinson refers to education as a result of learning. Educating the students on how to learn, creates any environment the student is capable of thriving in. The system is lacking a variety of studies that engage creativity. Subjects such as the arts, humanities, social sciences and even things such as dance are not being recognized as crucial to a well rounded educ ation. Studies show overall test scores are substantially lower in schools that lack a variety of exploratory classes. Robinson argues, â€Å"to fully understand math science and literacy, one must explore a diverse culture of learning. Without a variety of knowledge and creativity the information taught in these core classes becomes meaningless†. The subjects focused on by standard testing cannot be accurately measured as a generalization of a child’s capabilities. He tells a story of girl who couldn’t focus in school. She was unable to sit still long enough to do any work she was being assigned. This behavior resulted in her being clinically classified as suffering from ADHD. While doing homework alone one afternoon, her parents examined her behavior unknowingly to her. After just minutes of sitting at her desk she would get up and begin to move around in a dancing fashion. Her parents then realized that there was nothing wrong with her at all, she was meant to be a d ancer. She went on to have one of the most successful dance careers of her generation. Robinson reinforces this story with the notion that all of us are created differently with unique talents; here stands the flaw of standardization. In all of the world’s greatest educational systems, there are similarities within the education culture that America has lacked. In these countries educators are being held to a higher standard and looked at as an investment. Here in the United States teachers are often looked at as a transportation of information. Throughout countries that thrive in education, it is realized that students are only as good as the teachers. Teaching curriculum is acknowledged at the school level where learning is actually taking place; in  comparison to state and government regulated districts, which are essentially disengaged with what is going on inside the classroom here in the US. Without the pressure to meet the demands of a set curriculum, students are able to become engaged in interests and talents individually. Throughout the entire lecture, Robinson invokes the point that Americas educational system is in need of reform. Our system of testing should accompany an overall goal of learning and not be held as primary evidence of a student’s potential. There are many variables that accompany a student’s capabilities besides what is being focused on as a means of evaluation. The standard testing should be held as partial review of capabilities, not as an entirety. Subjects that individual stud ents find spark their interests are being deemed unimportant, leaving the student to feel as though they are incapable of success. Courses that students find passion in will create a sense of curiosity in learning. When the light of curiosity becomes a student’s motivation is when true self learning takes place. The tragedy is that more than 60% of Americans drop out of high school feeling that they are unable to meet the requirements of life. Robinson makes clear of the fact, â€Å"Not any-one human is built the same; we are a world full of individuals†. School systems should give students the tools necessary to find what they are best at and pursue those areas they excel in. The lecture is ended by a request that we start changing the way we approach education. Begin to put learning before standards; with this movement we can tap into brilliant minds that otherwise would be ignored. Once this movement has begun we can in turn, start a revolution. Works Cited Robinson, Ken. Ted Talks.Ken Robinson: How to Escape Educations Death Valley.YouTube. YouTube, 10 May 2013. Web. 17 Sept. 2013. Robinson, Ken. Ted Talks. Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity? YouTube. YouTube, 06 Jan. 2007. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.

Middle schools Essay Example for Free

Middle schools Essay There are some types of conditioning that are employed in middle schools and high school settings. Take for example when the teachers enter the classroom, students are â€Å"conditioned† to react in certain ways. Thus, this depends on what they are used to and how teachers will treat such type of behaviors. The initial reaction of the students is referred to as the ‘baseline behavior’ (Honolulu Zoo Organization, 2009). Before any type of conditioning is applied, this behavior should be observed and recorded. In a classical conditioning, there is a large dependence on the association of a stimulus to a response and has involuntary reactions (Comparison of Classical and Operant Conditioning, 2009). In a classroom setting, classical conditioning can also be applied. Say, students love their music class and that they love to sing. Thus, before each music class, the teacher would play a song. Thus, when the students hear the music, they may start to sing or hum to the tune of the music. This increases their awareness that music class will be next. Then, shaping is applied where a series of actions are equated to a series of reactions. This defines the difference between the baseline and terminal behavior. For an operant conditioning, the most notable feature is the ‘reinforcement’ and that the reactions are voluntary (Comparison of Classical and Operant Conditioning, 2009). Say when one teacher enters the classroom, the students to stand up and greet by applause. This may be construed by the teacher as the good behavior and, thus, the teacher may give a reward for each student when the students stand and applaud. Say, the reward is a candy bar, which now serves as the positive reinforcement. Consequently, without the â€Å"stand and applaud response,† the candy bar is withheld and students are forced to stand, thus a negative reinforcement. When this is done in an every â€Å"stand and applaud reaction† response basis, thus, continuous reinforcement is applied. Within the shaping, reinforcements may vary. The reinforcement may be done in random, meaning candy bar is not given every time the stand and applaud reaction is done by student, which is called variable reinforcement. If in case the teacher gives more candy bars for a louder applause, then this is now referred to as the selective reinforcement with the aim of increasing performance. Another schedule of reinforcement is the bonus wherein the students may receive more candy bars than the usual as a surprise. The terminal behavior is the behavior after the ‘shaping’ is applied. In this example, the students’ action of standing and applauding every time the same teacher enters the classroom is the terminal behavior after the shaping including the reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is if students fail to stand and applaud or if they just sit instead of stand, the candy bar is then withheld, thus, the students will go back to the stand and applaud response for the candy bar. Negative reinforcement then pushes that the students do something for their benefit. Punishment, on the other hand, is when the students stand and applaud and then they are all sent to the principal’s office, which weakens the ‘enthusiasm’ for stand and applause behavior. Then, if the candy bar is removed after the ‘stand and applaud reaction’, thus, the reaction is no longer encouraged and this is then called the extinction. Reward is a very powerful tool for students and the proper use of it should be understood before it is utilized by the members of the academe. In the same manner, rewards can make or break students’ habits and behavior. This could be dangerous since there is a tendency of students lacking the initiative to work without the reward. This may keep students from doing their best since there is no visible gain for better performance in school. On the other hand, this may also be very helpful in stirring movements for students towards positive actions and better performance. This may be an extra boost on their determination to achieve more in their activities. Reference: Comparison of Classical and Operant Conditioning. (2009). The McGraw-Hill Companies. Retrieved March 26, 2009 from http://www. dushkin. com/connectext/psy/ch06/compare. mhtml Honolulu Zoo Organization. (2009). Operant Conditioning Terms. Retrieved March 26, 2009 from http://www. honoluluzoo. org/enrichment_operant_cond_terms. htm

Social Work Domestic Violence

Social Work Domestic Violence Domestic violence: a brief critical analysis of impact and interventions built on a definitional, historical, and theoretical foundation. Introduction The introductory quotation by Desdemona expresses her fear of Othello’s rage (Shakespeare, 1604, cited in Meyersfeld, 2003) at the same time eloquently conveying the terror implicit in domestic violence and demonstrating that domestic violence is not a new phenomenon. Neither is domestic violence a rare occurrence. According to the British government, domestic violence affects millions of lives. The following statistics are quoted from the official government website (CrimeReduction.gov.uk, Domestic violence mini-site, 2005): one in four women and one in six men will be victims of domestic violence in their lifetime with women at greater risk of repeat victimisation and serious injury; 89 percent of those suffering four or more incidents are women; one incident of domestic violence is reported to the police every minute; on average, two women a week are killed by a current or former male partner; and domestic violence accounts for 16 percent of all violent crime. This essay will demonstrate that the issue of domestic violence is a complex one, much more complex than the term itself might convey. Indeed, domestic violence is complex in terms of its very definition, complex in terms of its theoretical explanations, complex in terms of gender relevance, complex in terms of its effects, and complex in terms of interventions to prevent and deal with its occurrence. The essay begins with a presentation and critique of various definitions for domestic violence, an exploration of the historical evolution of domestic violence as a societal concern, and a discussion and critique of theoretical explanations for domestic violence including consideration of the relevance of gender. This foundation will be used as a basis for exploring the impact of domestic violence upon its direct and indirect victims and the value and efficacy of the current resources, initiatives, and support networks used in combating domestic violence and assisting its victims. Final ly, concluding remarks will be presented. A Critique on Definitions of Domestic Violence Finding a generally-accepted definition for domestic violence proved to be an elusive endeavor. This may be because there is no consensus definition of the term (Laurence and Spalter-Roth, 1996; Contemporary Womens Issues Database, May 1996; Contemporary Womens Issues Database, July 1996). Each writer seems to define the term to fit his or her topic or agenda. For instance, Chez (1994, cited   in Gibson-Howell, 1996), in focusing on female victims of domestic violence, defines the term as â€Å"the repeated subjection of a woman to forceful physical, social, and psychological behavior to coerce her without regard to her rights.† Some definitions are basic and general: â€Å"a pattern of regularly occurring abuse and violence, or the threat of violence, in an intimate (though not necessarily cohabitating) relationship† (Gibson-Howell, 1996, citing Loring and Smith, 1994). Other definitions are comprehensive and specific (Manor, 1996; Neufield, 1996; Asian Pages, 1998; Josiah, 1998; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1999; Danis, 2003; Verkaik, 2003). The more comprehensive definitions, although phrased differently, typically possess the following common elements: a pattern of abusive behavior (as contrasted to a single event); the abusive behavior involves control, coercion, and/or power; the abusive behavior may be physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, and/or financial; and the victim of the abusive behavior is a cohabitating or non-cohabitating intimate partner or spouse. The British government has adopted one of the more expansive descriptions of domestic violence, one that includes all of the foregoing elements: â€Å"Any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality. Beyond the basic definition, the government furnishes further description of domestic violence as â€Å"a pattern of abusive and controlling behaviour† by which the abuser attempts to gain power over the victim. The government contends that domestic violence crosses age, gender, racial, sexuality, wealth, and geographical lines. (CrimeReduction.gov.uk, Domestic violence mini-site, 2005) Interestingly, the definition offered by the government expands the description to include other â€Å"family members† in addition to â€Å"intimate partners.† Historical Evolution of the Recognition of Domestic Violence as a Societal Concern The issue of domestic violence, particularly violence against female spouses, was a topic of societal concern dating from the first marriage law instituted by Romulus in 75 B.C. But the concern was not in preventing domestic violence; to the contrary; the concern was in support of â€Å"wife beating†Ã¢â‚¬â€legally and institutionally—a condition that existed through the early twentieth century. (Danis, 2003, citing Dobash and Dobash, 1979). English common law, until the late nineteenth century, â€Å"structured marriage to give a husband superiority over his wife in most aspects of the relationship.† This â€Å"sanctioned superiority† gave the husband the right to â€Å"command his wife’s obedience, and subject her to corporal punishment or ‘chastisement’ if she defied his authority.† (Tuerkheimer, 2004, citing Siegel, 1996) The beginning of the twentieth century witnessed the dismantling of laws specifically condoning control and violence; however, the laws were not replaced by codes that protected victims from abuse. Instead, â€Å"marital privacy† became the standard. Essentially, abuse was considered to be a family problem, not one in which society had an interest. (Turekheimer, 2004) Not until the feminist movement of the late 1960s and 1970s was public interest in domestic violence piqued (Danis, 2003, citing Schechter, 1982). With little public or private funding, feminist activists set up shelters for female victims of domestic violence. They also pressed for laws to punish offenders and promoted training of social workers and other professions to recognize domestic violence and treat its victims. (Contemporary Women’s Issues Database, May 1996). From these humble beginnings, over the last thirty-plus years, public awareness has been enhanced dramatically, increasing amounts of public and private funding have been allocated for shelters, domestic violence laws have been strengthened, and social workers and other professionals (e.g. school personnel, healthcare professionals, police officers) have been trained to recognize signs of, and provide treatment to those affected by, domestic violence. Today, in the early years of the new millennium, the way in which society views domestic violence is continuing to evolve. Physical abuse of wives was the initial focus of intervention initiatives. Drawing on research presented earlier, sexual, emotional, psychological, and financial abuse have been added to physical abuse as types of domestic violence. And, many definitions of victims of domestic violence now include, in addition to wives, husbands and domestic partners of the same or different sex. Increasingly, too, children in the domestic arrangement are being included as victims of domestic violence. Theoretical Explanations for Domestic Violence and the Relevance of Gender Just as there is a lack of consensus on a single definition for domestic violence, â€Å"there is no single recognized causal theory for domestic violence.† In the absence of a single theory, at least four theories are used to explain why domestic violence occurs: social exchange/deterrence, social learning, feminist, and the ecological framework. (Danis, 2003) These theories, with their relevance to domestic violence, will be presented and critiqued in this section. A discussion of the relevance of gender in domestic violence will close out the section. Under the social exchange theory, human interaction is driven by pursuing rewards and avoiding punishments and costs. (Danis, 2003, citing Blau, 1964). Gelles and Cornell (1985, 1990, cited in Danis, 2003) contend that domestic violence occurs when costs do not outweigh rewards. Costs in this context include the potential for defensive physical action by the victim, potential of being arrested and imprisoned, loss of personal status, and dissolution of the domestic arrangement. The social learning theory suggests that people learn to be violent by being immediately rewarded or punished after they commit violent behavior, through what is called reinforcement, and by watching the experiences of others, called modeling (Danis, 2003, citing Bandura, 1973). According to some experts, there is a correlation between people who witness abusive behavior in their earlier lives and those who commit domestic violence later. (Danis, 2003, citing O’Leary, 1987). According to feminist theory, domestic violence emanates from a â€Å"patriarchal† school system which assigns men the responsibility for controlling and managing female partners (Danis, 2003, citing Dobash and Dobash, 1979; Yllo, 1993). Under this theory, domestic violence is attributed to a flaw in societal structure rather than to any specific individual male pathology. Finally, the ecological framework theory, in contending that no single theory can be used in explaining or predicting domestic violence, proposes risk factors for domestic violence and interventions to address it at three levels—the micro level (e.g. batterer programs), the meso level (e.g. police and the courts), and the macro level (e.g. a coordinated community approach). (Danis, 2003, citing Crowell and Burgess, 1996; Chalk and King, 1998). Each of these four theories offers valuable insight into domestic violence. For instance, the social exchange theory offers a basis for law enforcement and prosecution of offenders; the social learning theory helps to explain why children who witness abuse sometimes grow up to be abusers themselves thereby providing rationale for corrective interventions to â€Å"unlearn† abusive behavior; and the feminist theory supports interventions targeted at helping batterers to reform and helping to empower victims. But none of these theories seems to provide a comprehensive foundation on which a comprehensive approach for dealing with the many causal and outcome dimensions of domestic violence can be built. The more integrated ecological framework theory, however, seems to furnish the needed basis for such a comprehensive approach. Now attention will turn to the topic of the relevance of gender in domestic violence. Historically, as mentioned earlier, wives were considered to be the only victims of domestic violence. Today, husbands as well as same- or different-sex non-married partners are considered to be victims as well (Cruz, 2003).   Although the statistics vary significantly (Leo, 1994), some indicating that the same number of men as women are victims of domestic violence (Leo, 1994; Simerman, 2002), most experts agree than women are most often the victims and, when they are victimized, the damage is usually more serious. The indication that women are most often victims has now gained official recognition. The British government contends that, although domestic violence is not restricted to a specific gender, â€Å"it consists mainly of violence by men against women.† (CrimeReduction.gov.uk, Domestic violence mini-site, 2005) The Potential Impact of Domestic Violence on Females, Mothers, and Children According to the Contemporary Women’s Issues Database (January 1996), â€Å"the most common victims (of domestic violence) are women and children.† With the acknowledgement that domestic violence affects men as well as women, the focus of the discussion in this section will be on the potential impact of domestic violence on females, generally, and on females in their role as mothers as well as on their children. Domestic violence against women can result in serious physical injuries, psychological trauma, and mental strain (Wha-soon, 1994). According to Wha-soon, physical injuries include â€Å"severe headaches, bruises, bone fractures, loss of eyesight, nervous paralysis, insomnia and indigestion,† and psychological trauma can include â€Å"anxiety, a sense of powerlessness, and a loss of self-respect and self-confidence.† Psychological effects can lead to suicide in some cases. Winkvist (2001) echoes these psychological effects and adds that battered women are also more likely to experience sexual and reproductive health disorders. Effects are not restricted to those that are physical and psychological in nature, however. Women can be financially impacted as well. Brown and Kenneym (1996) contend that women, in an effort to flee their attackers, may â€Å"give up financial security and their homes† in favor of safety. Mothers may experience additional negative effects from domestic violence. Starr (2001) contends that domestic violence against mothers â€Å"is associated with harmful implications for mental health and parenting, as well as for the offspring.† According to Starr, mothers who are in an environment of domestic violence suffer worse outcomes for themselves and for their children. Isaac (1997) suggests that abuse of mothers and children are linked, stating that from thirty to almost sixty percent of mothers reported for child abuse were themselves abused. Hewitt (2002) claims that ninety percent of occurrences of domestic violence are witnessed either directly or indirectly by children. Children can be affected in at least two ways by domestic violence. According to the British government, they can be traumatized by violence they witness against others in the relationship even when they are not the specific targets of the violence (CrimeReduction.gov.uk, Domestic violence mini-site, 2005). According to Hewitt (2002), children suffer low self-esteem, isolation, trauma, and homelessness that they may not manifest until later in life. They may also suffer from maladies such as worry, sadness, focus and concentration difficulties, forgetfulness, headaches and stomachaches, lying, and â€Å"poor impulse control,† according to Salisbury and Wichmann (2004). Importantly, there is also a strong correlation between domestic violence and child abuse, a point which reinforces Isaac’s position mentioned earlier (CrimeReduction.gov.uk, Domestic violence mini-site, 2005). Edleson (1999, cited in Spath, 2003) takes the same position in stating that â€Å"numerous research studies over the last several decades have reported a connection between domestic violence and child maltreatment within families.† And, finally, as mentioned earlier, the social learning theory would suggest that children who witness violence learn that violence is an acceptable way to settle disputes. Supporting this, Wha-soon (1994) writes that the â€Å"learning of violence causes a cycle of violence.† An Assessment of the Value and Efficacy of Domestic Violence Interventions Methods for dealing with domestic violence generally fall into three categories: prevention, protection, and justice (M2 Presswire, 1998). As the terms imply, prevention attempts to avert incidences of domestic violence through methods such as education and counseling; protection involves attempts to prevent further injury through methods such as removing victims from the situation and ordering offenders to stay away from their victims; and justice involves retribution against domestic violence offenders. The value and efficacy of prevention, protection, and justice methods used in dealing with domestic violence are difficult to measure. A reason for this was mentioned earlier: the lack of a consensus definition for domestic violence itself. (Contemporary Women’s Issues Database, May 1996). Nevertheless, there has been some attempt at measuring performance anecdotally. According to the Contemporary Women’s Issues Database (April 1993): â€Å"Currently, the two most common forms of social intervention are mechanisms that help her to leave (such as emergency shelters) and having him arrested†¦(but) neither of these interventions is ideal.† And, police and judicial interventions do not seem to fair much better as illustrated by the case of Samuel Gutierrez who killed his domestic partner, Kelly Gonzalez, in Chicago, Illinois in the United States after multiple beatings, arrests, and various court interventions (Hanna, 1998). That domestic violence still exists as such a serious social problem is probably the best evidence that current methods for preventing it, protecting its victims, and exacting justice on offenders are not working especially well. Perhaps the future will be brighter. Newer perspectives, such as that offered by the ecological framework theory, offer some hope. It seems that taking a comprehensive, integrated approach could potentially be substantially more effective as the various public and private components work together in a cooperative, synergistic arrangement with one goal—the welfare of the potential or actual victim. One expert even suggests that this combined public-private approach could be enhanced further by adding a third component—the family (nuclear family, extended family, intimate family, close relationships)—to the formal, integrated support arrangement (Kelly, 2004). Conclusion Public and private organizations continue to increase their attention to domestic violence. In the United Kindgom, The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 furnishes greater authority to police and the courts in dealing with cases of domestic violence and in providing protection to victims. Aditionally, the British government’s recently issued national domestic violence action plan sets forth ambitious goals (CrimeReduction.gov.uk, Domestic Violence, 2005) quoted as follows: reduce the prevalence of domestic violence; increase the rate that domestic violence is reported; increase the rate of domestic violence offences that are brought to justice; ensure victims of domestic violence are adequately protected and supported nationwide; and reduce the number of domestic violence related homicides. Returning to the introductory quotation, had Shakespeare’s Desdemona been alive today, perhaps she would have some hope that she would not forever be in such great fear of Othello’s rage. References Asian Pages (1998) What is domestic violence? November 14, 1998. Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A social learning analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Cited in Danis, Fran S. (2003) The criminalization of domestic violence: What social workers need to know. Social Work, April 1, 2003. Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York: John Wiley Sons. Danis, Fran S. (2003) The criminalization of domestic violence: What social workers need to know. Social Work, April 1, 2003. Brown, Karen R. and Kenneym, Catherine T. (1996) Report from the front lines: The impact of violence on poor women [Part 1 of 5]. Contemporary Womens Issues Database, January 1, 1996. Chalk, R., King, A. (1998). (Eds.). Violence in families: Assessing prevention and treatment programs. Washington, DC: National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences. Cited in Danis, Fran S. (2003) The criminalization of domestic violence: What social workers need to know. Social Work, April 1, 2003. Chez, N (1994) Helping the victim of domestic violence. American Nursing 1994;94(7):32-37. Cited in Cited in Gibson-Howell, Joan C. (1996) Domestic violence identification and referral. Journal of Dental Hygiene, March 1, 1996. 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Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Cited in Danis, Fran S. (2003) The criminalization of domestic violence: What social workers need to know. Social Work, April 1, 2003. Cruz, J. Michael (2003) Why doesnt he just leave? Gay male domestic violence and the reasons victims stay. The Journal of Mens Studies, March 22, 2003. Danis, Fran S. (2003) The criminalization of domestic violence: What social workers need to know. Social Work, April 1, 2003. Dobash, R. E., and Dobash, R. (1979). Violence against wives: A case against the patriarchy. New York: Free Press. Cited in Danis, Fran S. (2003) The criminalization of domestic violence: What social workers need to know. Social Work, April 1, 2003. Edleson, J. L. (1999). The overlap between child maltreatment and woman battering. Violence Against Women, 5(2), 134-154. Cited in Spath, Robin (2003) Child protection professionals identifying domestic violence indicators: implications for social work education. 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(1997) Response to battered mothers in the pediatric emergency department: a call for an interdisciplinary approach to family violence. Pediatrics, February 1, 1997. Josiah, Ivy (1998) Education through radio. Contemporary Womens Issues Database, January 2, 1998. Kelly, Kristin A. (2004) Working together to stop domestic violence: state-community partnerships and the changing meaning of public and private. Journal of Sociology Social Welfare, March 1, 2004. Laurence, Louise and Spalter-Roth, Roberta (1996) Research-in-brief: Measuring the costs of domestic violence against women [Part 1 of 2] Contemporary Womens Issues Database, January 1, 1996. Leo, John (1994) Is it a war against women? U.S. News World Report, July 11, 1994. Loring, M. T. and Smith, R. W. (1994) Health care barriers and interventions for battered women. Public HealthReports 1994;109(3):322-329. Cited in Gibson-Howell, Joan C. (1996) Domestic violence identification and referral. 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Salisbury, Sarah and Wichmann, Lee Anne (2004), Seen or unseen, domestic violence traumatizes children. The Register-Guard, August 29, 2004. Schechter, S. (1982) Women and male violence: The visions and struggles of the battered womens movement. Boston: South End Press. Cited in Danis, Fran S. (2003) The criminalization of domestic violence: What social workers need to know. Social Work, April 1, 2003. Seattle Post-Intelligencer (1999) Domestic violence: Give us statistics we can work with. July 16, 1999. Shakespeare, William (1604), Othello act 5. sc. 2. Edited by Sanders, Norman. Cambridge University Press, 1984. Cited in Meyersfeld, Bonita C. (2003) Reconceptualizing domestic violence in international law. Albany Law Review, December 22, 2003. Siegel, Reva B. (1996), The rule of love: Wife beating as prerogative and privacy, 105 YALE L.J. 2117. Tuerkheimer, Deborah (2004), Recognizing and remedying the harm of battering: A call to criminalize domestic violence. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, June 22, 2004. Simerman, John (2002) Men, too, fall victim to abuse in big numbers. Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, November 25, 2002. Spath, Robin (2003) Child protection professionals identifying domestic violence indicators: implications for social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, September 22, 2003. Starr, Raymond H., Jr. (2001) Type and timing of mothers victimization: effects on mother and children. Pediatrics, April 1, 2001. Tuerkheimer, Deborah (2004), Recognizing and remedying the harm of battering: A call to criminalize domestic violence. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, June 22, 2004. Verkaik, Robert (2003) One man in six `a victim of domestic violence. The Independent, September 24, 2003. Wha-soon, Byun (1994) A study on the prevention of and countermeasures against domestic violence [Part 1 of 2]. Contemporary Womens Issues Database, January 1, 1994. Winkvist, Anna (2001) Researching domestic violence against women: Methodological and ethical considerations. Studies in Family Planning, March 1, 2001. Yllo, K. A. (1993). Through a feminist lens: Gender, power, and violence. In R. J. Gelles D. R. Loseke (Eds.), Current controversies on family violence (pp. 47-62). Newbury Park, GA: Sage Publications. Cited in Danis, Fran S. (2003) The criminalization of domestic violence: What social workers need to know. Social Work, April 1, 2003.