Peer Evaluation

BARS Instructions For Evaluator: ? Circle a score of 1 through 5 in each category based on the team member’s performance below. ? Average the scores provided by your team members by adding them together and dividing by 4 and place it in the space below. Evaluator’s Total: 20 Final Grade for BARS: __ Evaluation Ratings Scale Please indicate your views on each individual member by scoring them on the scale provided. We understand that some of the descriptions of the member may coincide with one another; but, from the descriptions listed below, we will put best possible number that best fits the efforts of the member.Contributing To Team Success: Actively participating as a member of a team to move the team toward the completion of goals. 1 = No Effort Given No effort was put into helping the team at all, let others volunteer their time and efforts No effort or ideas given Puts down other members ideas 2 = A Little More Than Nothing Completed one assignment give Gave just enough effort to slide by Gave 1 idea, while shutting down others ideas 3 = Needs Help †¢ Tasks assigned though some completed were usually left for other members to ick up †¢ Ignores team and organizational goals expected of them such as: completing tasks, researching, giving the ideas, and so forth. †¢ Does not give input in meetings; avoids sharing thoughts/input. Says just enough to get in and out as soon as possible. 4 = Meets Expectations Completes fair share of responsibilities by doing just the required amount of work instead of going above and beyond to help others and their tasks. Helps others perform tasks and reach goals only if it doesn’t inconvenience them.Subordinates own personal goals for the good of the team. 5 = High Performing Always comes ready with ideas and the initiative to get the job done for the group. Helps other achieve without expectation of recognition and does the work at hand without waiting on others to ask for help. Assists fe llow team members and takes on added responsibility without being asked. Communication: Clearly conveying and receiving information and ideas through a variety of outlets to group members. 1 = No Effort GivenDid not come prepared for discussions, never gave ideas, just sat there and gave no effort No participation in class was reached, whether in sending in question or answering them for the class assignments Did not inform members of their absence or being late to class 2 = A Little More Than Nothing Responded to at least 2 to 3 emails, text, or other forms of communication but was always late Gave at least 2 ideas during the entire course’s group meetings and gave at least two discussions points for projects Informed only one member of their absence or tardiness at least once. 3 = Needs ImprovementResponded to at least half of all emails, text, or other forms of communication but was usually late Gave 3 ideas during the entire course’s group meetings and at gave at l east 4 discussion points for projects. Informed all members of their absence or tardiness at least once 4 = Meets Expectations Responded to a majority of the emails, text, or other forms of communication in a descent time manner. Effort was put forth in communicating ideas for group meetings, gave at least 4 ideas during the entire course’s group meetings, and gave at least 4 discussions points for projects.Informed all members of their absence and tardiness 5 = High Performing Responded to every email, text, or other form of communication on time. Came prepared for every group discussion, gave others their chance to speak, gave at least 6 ideas during the entire course’s group meetings, and gave at least 6 discussion points as well. Informed all members of their absence and tardiness. Initiating Action: Taking prompt action to accomplish team assignments; taking action to achieve goals beyond what is required; being proactive. 1 = No Effort GivenNo action or effort in achieving a goal as a group was met. Always waited for others to step up and volunteer for work. If a project was given to them another member had to come behind and clean up their work or do the work 2 = A Little More Than Nothing Accomplished one task given to them Waits for others to tell he or she what to do All work given was appeared to be done right before class with minimal effort in citing, grammar, spelling, and so forth. 3 = Needs Improvement Does not take appropriate action to accomplish tasks.Completes 7 out of 10 assignments. Is not proactive; but reactive; avoids work. Fails to follow through on projects/processes. Always waits for others to review his or her work. 4 = Meets Expectations Takes appropriate action to accomplish tasks. Completes 9 out of 10 assignments Takes action when appropriate; does not wait for others to take action. This member is more of a pusher for the group instead of one that has to be pulled. Always completes projects in a timely manner to complete objectives and achieve goals for the team 5 = High PerformingAction is taken to achieve goals ahead of schedule; anxious to complete high-quality, professional work in a timely manner. Anticipates setting new goals as experience and knowledge increases. Encourages others to do their part in performing and helping the group achieve their goal of getting an A. Managing Work: Effectively managing one’s time and resources to ensure that work is completed efficiently; makes timely notice of not being in class/meeting or tardiness. 1 = No Effort Given Work was never turned in Never completed his or her own work but left it for other to do Without other group members they would be lost. = A Little More than Nothing Work came in late every time, that is if it made it Would complete half of the work given to him or her but another member would have to come behind their work and clean it up or redo the work for it to be expectable. Highly dependable on others. 3 = Needs Improv ement Work is not completed in a timely manner or completed Completed all the work given to them but other members had to help polish the work before it could be turned Depended on others after their share of work was completed in order to reach a polished project = Meets Expectations †¢ Work completed in a timely manner †¢ Completed all work given on time and without the need of others help †¢ Only depended on other members when other members were required to help complete the project. 5 = High Performing Work is always completed on time or ahead of schedule and needs no help from others, unless required Encourages others to do their part in performing and helping the group achieve their goal of getting an A.Only depended on other member when other members were required to help complete the project We understand the course credit is earned at each meeting. Meetings and preparation may be changed with majority agreement – if the change is possible for all parti es. Report changes to the instructor. Signed and Dated Team Members 1. _______________________________________ 2. _________________________________________ 3. ________________________________________ 4. __________________________________________

Cowen Case Study Essay

1 Introduction SG Cowen, located in the United States, is an industrial company established in July 1988. Orientated in the financial sector, SG Cowen constituted a hiring approach containing diverse steps with methods, approaches and decision criteria. To asses the job applicants and to make a decision about the most eligible candidates, we have created a standardized construct to quantify the criteria. 2 The recruiting process The recruiting procedure starts with an on-campus recruiting program by arranging team captains to these core business schools. Thereby students get the opportunity to know SG Cowen. To ensure that thoroughly, they assign one member who is the first contact person for interested students. SG Cowen certrainly tries to attract other students from noncore schools by accepting their resumes. Another resource to recruit new candidates is pre-existing, experienced analysts who get promoted without attending the university. Afterwards there is a process that supports the decision making approach of SG Cowen by going through the following steps: Informational interviews, On Campus round, and Super Saturday. 2.1 Informational interviews Chip Rae, the director of recruiting at SG Cowen is convinced that an ambitious student, compared to others, will emphasize his interest in the company to determine the attitude of a student. That’s the reason why SG  Cowen invites students to visit the workplace, to experience the entrepreneurial culture and to get a basic overview of the company and its atmosphere. This process is not evaluative but it’s a chance to create an initial perception about a potential candidate. Conversely, students get the opportunity to show themselves, to leave a positive impression and to be prepared for the feasible first round. Therefore this step is important to find out how serious or not a candidate is. 3 On-campus round The second step is the on-campus round which enables SG Cowen to learn a candidate’s requried set of skills and determine its surplus value to the company. For the final validation, various candidates participate in the on campus round. Rae estimates that experienced senior associates who have a profound knowledge of the necessary requirements needed for the jobs, should be integrated in the final interviews. They are able to appraise the candidate’s skills and requirements in an appropriate way. In addition Ray believes that success doesn’t come from defined methodologies, rather it’s more important to love the job and the challenge, so SG Cowen promotes longer working horurs and less outside distractions. 2.3 Super Saturday After a shortlist is created from the on-campus round, 30 candidates receive callbacks for the final interviews. Each of them gets five half an hour interviews with senior employees of SG Cowen with a list of goals needed. Gregg Schoenberg, team captain at Johnson School of Business at Cornell believes that selecting criteria about the right candidate should be the candidate’s personality, less what he has done. So it makes sense to look at candidate’s former job performance. The candidate’s attitude towards the company is important for the interviewer as well as for the company regarding the banking sectory, which discloses great turnovers. Kim  Fennebresque (CEO of SG Cowen) says that an employee should like the job he or she does. Concentraiting on technology and emerging markets, the potential associates of SG Cowen should have advanced knowledge in finance area and the ability to execute that. The job also demands high teamwork abilities, multiplicity, responsibility and flexibility. Therefore interpersonal skills are unalterable. Before this recruitment process begins, the company should determine the potential business schools to plan the presentation area on campus and also the positions that must be occupied. At long last, the company should know the time schedule and the amount of interviewers needed. SG Cowen has three different kinds of talent pools to find candidates that fit best in their company. The following chapter reviews and evaluates their recruitment process and describes the different types and sources of candidates they have. Candidates have the possibility either to complete three years at the firm as analysts or take part in the companies’ summer internships to be offered a vacancy. Candidates, who are promoted as analysts have for the most part no education from business schools. This source of internal recruiting offers the possibility to use internal job postings or just communicate the vacancy, instead of paying for on-campus presentations, recruiting events or advertising – therefore it is cheaper to promote people who are already familiar with the company and have already shown that they properly fit in it. The alternative is external recruiting, which focuses on the hiring of candidates from business schools. SG Cowen has multiple different core schools to which they have direct contact and offers them the possibility to communicate and provide possible hires with all the information they need, through company presentations or participating in the on-campus recruiting programs. The possibility to additionally take part in informational reviews is a good way for students to show their enthusiasm and how serious they are to get the job. At every school that SG Cowen recruits at on-campus, a team captain is assigned to provide students with a constant and familiar point of contact. The fact that these team captains are banking professionals and not human resource professionals makes them able to provide students with the information they are really looking for, but on the other hand they may be mainly looking for skills instead of personality and personal background of applicants. SG Cowen also accepts applications of candidates from non-core schools, but these candidates have a disadvantage in showing their interest and gathering information about the job. Schoenberg, who was not attending a core school described this as unfair, but describes them as great hires because they need to show more initiative, be more focused and invest more effort. All in all, the se internal and external resources provide SG Cowen with a good and wide pool of possible candidates, however there is the risk to have students with less variety when only focusing on core school applicants. After rà ©sumà ©s are collected and interviews are conducted the senior and interviewing associates have to reduce the amount of possible candidates, who can take further part in the process. This reduction could already lead to the loss of some very good applicants. Then the following on-campus round tests the cultural fit and is intended to preselect candidates for Super Saturday. On Super Saturday each applicant has multiple interviews with different bankers of the firm. These managing directors then decide for themselves whether the candidate is a good fit for the company, but this way of evaluating can result in big disagreements and disadvantages. One director may see the great attitude of an applicant as more important than his technical skills, while another would take the opposite opinion. The worst scenario for applicants would be the different personal opinions of the directors leading to a false estimation and result in disqualification of the candidate. Afterwards, there are group decisions. The biggest problem  of these decisions is that interviewers already have their impression of the applicant and it is often difficult to convince them of the contrary. Often the majority of directors vote similar, so there might be no way to discuss the outcome, if one thinks he has a candidate who is a perfect fit for the company. To summarize, it can be said that the hiring process of SG Cowen makes sure that new employees fit well and that they only want to get the best talents for their company. The evaluation of the candidate’s abilities in form of notes is a great way of remembering each candidate and to make sure everybody can participate in the following group discussions to represent his opinion about the applicant. Besides the disadvantages of non-core to core business schools this ensures that the recruiting process is fair because every applicant who participates on Super Saturday has equal chances to be offered the vacancy. The possibility to offer vacancies to people who completed an internship and analysts is also a very good alternative to hiring people from external resources because they know the company very well and have already proven to be a good cultural fit, they have learned a lot about SG Cowen and are acquainted with the current employees. In contrary SG Cowen has to contact previous employers to get to know external candidates and check if the provided information is accurate. We think the super Saturday is a bit hard for candidates as well as interviewers. The fact that there are multiple interviews distributed throughout the whole day seems very exhausting and we think it is hard to make the right decisions at the end of such a hard day of work. Also there is no guarantee that the applicant accepts the job offer. They might have other possible job offers, which they would rather like to accept and this would result in a high risk for SG Cowen regarding that they only have a fixed number of vacancies and try to fill all of them. SG Cowen declined candidates for low technical skills, so it is very important for candidates to have this skill. Therefore the knowledge of Finance & Accounting, Prioritizing, Creativitiy and Modeling are mandatory for our applicants. Our Group takes the same opinion as the company, because the training process after the recruiting would be long and expensive. Furthermore we support the decision that candidates with low skills can be eliminated earlier. In the present time work ethic is an important factor for employees, especially for a boutique Investment Bank like SG Cowen, where teamworking is invitable. This expects also a certain level of flexibility and work motivation. The statement of Fennebresque – â€Å"The type of person who does well here doesn’t want to be told what to do. He or she is far less regimented. This is not the Navy. We want the  self-starter† – shows that SG Cowen appreciates leadership. A candidate can show his/her leadership skills from previous work. Interpersonal skills are relevant in businesses, where there is a high level of contact to client and associates. Good verbal communition is especially necessary for the candidates, which should be taken with serious impact/presence. Like the most companies of the world SG Cowen wants to hire the candidates for the longterm. The best Investment banking talents are highly coveted and hard-fought in the job market. So there is a high probability that the employee could be courted from other banks. Thus it seems it is useful to estimate the commitment to the firm. The Bankers have to make a lot of decision through their professional life. The characteristics of judgment and maturity are an important criteria. In our Opinion is the utilization of this factor is appropriate. Nevertheless we have an improvement suggestion for the evaluation form. It is possible that all of the interviewer priotize the factors different. Therefore we recommend a strandarized model with fixed priotization for each skill. To Change from a subjective evaluation to a standardized and objective evaluation, we set the emphasis for the factors. The emphasis is based on our analysis of the recruiting process, the statement of Chip Rae and the evaluation form. The technical skills in the business of investment banking are a critical requirement. SG Cowen has a competitive advantage with their core competency from research. This is the reason that technical skills should get the highest   weight (35%). SG Cowen is a small boutique company, so the candidate needs to show good teamwork and also should have a high motivation to enter the company. From this reason we have given the factor work ethic 20%. Leadership is a very important criterion. As we can see in the last years, the market is changes fast and steadly. Therefore SG Cowen needs employees who can learn very fast and are self-starters. This could be picked up on the statements of Schoendberg and Fennebresque. Interpersonal skills  complement andsupport the factor Leadership. Because somebody, who can learn very fast and has also awfully good communication skills, could be assumed responsible. So we gave each of the criteria 15 %. At the end are the judgment/maturity criteria. The Banker has a lot of situations, where they have to decide. So it is also important to have a particular skill of judgment, but it is our opinion the least important criteria in this evaluation form. We gave these criteria a weight of 5 %. Further details to the criteria can be found in the Appendix. Evaluation of the four candidates Through the interviewing-process, four candidates were categorized as â€Å"maybes†, so their pros and their cons were pretty much balanced. Just two of these four candidates can be selected, because SG Cowen has only has two additional jobs left to offer. To make a reasonable decision we decided to rate them using the linear model. In this model we used the weights mentioned above according to different parameters to develop a scorecard for each of the remaining candidates.

Diversity in America

The information I have interpreted from the United States about diversity has not help me to better over stand the, and relate to other different from the past. I would say that the diversity issue in this country has made me very aware that we as a country have a long way to go when it comes to diversity. The information I have processed and have been taught about diversity in this nation is how to effectively base upon other beliefs and upbringing to deal with biases.The information I have learned in this course that’s been the most insightful were the discussion question and the mix array of answer and point of views was expressed about various topics. This allowed me the opportunity to see first and the differences of opinions and reality. I have learned a great deal about the various struggles of my ethnic group and other ethnic groups during my studies in this class.It’s easy to get polarized in one’s own thought process and experiences without seeking over standing form others experiences who have suffered and victimized by prejudices and discrimination throughout history as well. Such as the Native American and the American Asian, are a small group of minorities who have experience in justice and a lack of acceptances in main stream American. I believe by the year 2050 the United States will have changed look and feel where immigration and demographics are concern. American will have changed significantly whites will no longer be in the majority.The U. S. minority population, currently 30 percent, is expected to exceed 50 percent before 2050. No other advanced country will see such diversity; most of America’s population growth will be among its minorities, as well as in a growing mixed-race population. Latino and Asian populations are expected to nearly triple, and the children of immigrants will become more prominent. Currently in the United States, about 25% of children under age 5 are Hispanic; it is estimated that by 205 0, that percentage will be almost 40 percent.Changing patterns of immigration have put the United States on a short road to a population diversity never before experienced by any nation—a population in which all races and ethnicities are part of minority groups that make up a complex whole. Bearing in mind that this nation at the same time, will be growing older; the aging population of baby boomers who are concerned about running out of money before they run out of life and about the increasing cost of health care will have a large impact of the future trends of America.These demographic trends will play out differently in different states and regions, with some areas seeing exploding populations while others experience declining based upon current studies. As America continues to grow more diverse; a huge challenge to overcome is the acceptance and over standing of each individual race and culture that makes up that’s great nation. It’s sad to see, that even t oday the lines of separation are far divided by hate and a lack of over standing. This lack will have a direct effect on our future and how will communicate and exist with each other.Diversity helps society to grow as individuals and open our minds to different ways of life. When we are exposed to different ways to live, we see how other cultures carry on we are no longer closed to the idea that we are indeed all different in some way, and those differences are beneficial to our changing world. Diversity also promotes more tolerance allowing people the opportunity to see other as a lesson of growth help us to accept other cultures, and even adapt some of their ways within our society.The differences that we have between us can be used to strengthen society as we know it. Diversity allows us the opportunity to learn, grow, understand new ways of living, and experience life to the fullest. Without diversity, we are closed off in our own worlds. But with it, we expand our knowledge and we are no longer ignorant. When you are aware of the differences and embrace them, then you have taken the blind fold off to living differently and you are a better person for it.The key is exposure and using what you learned to increase more tolerance and decrease things such as racism. Moving forward America can foster an environment and commitment of pluralism; teaching through acceptance and engaging with other from who are different. Without any engagement or relationship with one another pluralism can be achieve. We key way to see this happening is through the media. Because the media is known for polarizing people of color in a negative light they could start to report news fairly and accurately.Also changing their advertising and programming approach; without stereotypes and outlandish perceptions. Engagement with other creates a common society for all, diversity as a whole is pluralism plain and simple embracing each other for our differences. Yes, there are some people wh o still feel threatened by diversity, or even hostile to it. Throughout America history there have been groups that have expressed prejudice and intolerance toward people of color and cultures however as we grow as a nation we need to look forward to the day when all these differences fade away.The United States faces many challenges in diversity of its many people, and there is still a large percent of the population that supports racism and bigotry. If we don’t make these changes we will not be able to move forward in the United States racially and culturally; this is not just a problem with white people, it is a problem facing all the different cultures in the world because racism has many colors, fearing of something new scaring everybody, but with it comes change and I hope that we all could get along in this world and every one occupies.The world and United States has come a long way in battling this war on racism, but it is still has many miles to move ahead before peo ple could see that although different we are all people. The more diverse we become racially and ethnically, the more important it is that we learn to tolerate differences; and also to celebrate what we all have in common. Whether we came to the United States voluntarily or involuntarily, we all choose to live here now. And more people want to live here than anywhere else in the world.

Literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Literacy - Essay Example However, he does not apply it, instead he sells the bags to get money for food and clothes and during harvesting, he gets minimal returns. The farmer goes to the company complaining of poor pay while he â€Å"did all the work† on the farm and so needs pay increase. Such a farmer can read and write his name and receipts but he cannot figure out that the reason he is being given the fertilizer is to boost production. Such a person knows how to read and write but he is not literate as a literate person could be able to figure out this. Literacy and literary skills is an important course to undertake because it helps make people realize the act of being responsible and trying to think critically in some situations. This also helps students to uphold their spiritual norms, as they will be able to interpret their respective books of faith and norms of the society hence sanity restoration. Since the start of the course, students already knew how to read and write and was expected that as such they should be able to read the spiritual book and know how to behave and relate while on campus. However, as it happens sometime students do not understand the rules or how to apply them in real life. This means that they can read but they are not able to apply the knowledge in their daily life and therefore literacy goes beyond mere reading or writing. A writer like Freire for example was not educated because he could not learn while hungry. In addition, he now advocates for both adults and young people to be taught how to read and write. He says, â€Å"Because education and literacy empower people to overcome oppression by giving them the ability to understand the manipulations.† On the other hand, Mirabelli was for literacy n the catering department. Waiters should have literacy on how to read but also apply it in how to serve well the customers. Literacy is a very vital thing in the society. It helps to restore

Art response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Art response - Essay Example Art theory is a factor that is very relevant to this country since the interpretation is not uniform and there is need to evaluate the relevance of each work presented in museum to form part of the cultural heritage. Successful evaluation requires in-depth understanding of content and context in which the work is relevant. It is important to note that various theories of criticism have been formulated by scholars to ensure that all the elements of art are applied relevantly in any production. The context in which the piece of art is established determines its application and serves to bring out the meaning in simpler way. For the works of art to portray the actual picture of the social context in which they are set, various critical analysis tools have been applied as in the case of the museum in Denver, USA. Another important aspect of American Art is the expression of the aesthetic values present in the pieces. USA has a wide variety of art and therefore serves as the center of anc ient studies on history and art. Art as shown from the past drawings and sculptors sets emotional status and therefore gives the real context and setting in which it was taken. Considering some of the artifacts found in the museums, it is worth to note that the emotional aspect of the works makes the viewer create a picture of the setting and context in which it is relevant. A collection of various pieces of art presents diverse abstraction which has remained a critical aspect of art. In the modern society, creative art still incorporates the ancient concepts in expressing the scene, meaning and context for the piece of art. It is important to note that art stands for past events which are useful in defining the lifestyle observed on a given society. The common saying that a picture speaks a thousand words asserts that artistic pieces say more. The posture, facial expression and other decorations gives detailed information about the moral concepts being conveyed. It is common to see the drawings painted in different colors and texture differentiated with a main aim of creating a particular impression. This is the reason behind the multiple colors, textual indentation and varied body features expression found in various artifacts kept in museums across United States. American art is not limited to artifacts but also written history. The complex social structure of the modern United States can be attributed to the Red Indian community and the immigrants who cumulatively formed the Amerindians. There is great history that covers the ancient tribes that inhabited the modern day United States. The story of art in this country dates many years back but some of the outstanding monuments like The Twins meets the Gods of Xibabla (The underworld), cylindrical vase e.593-830 CE among others gives a long period of art and history development ranging from 16,000 to date. Taking the Mayan tribe as an example, the art they left behind has been a ground for research study on the ancient American society and their way of life. The modern American society traces its roots from a very complex cultural fusion which is always exhibited in form of art. Some of the writings, paintings, drawings left behind and collected for stewardship in museums are important as far as the development of ancient art is concerned. Other art forms

East Timor Research Question - East Asia Research Paper

East Timor Question - East Asia - Research Paper Example In addition, the real GDP growth was 10.2% in the year 2012, one of the highest in the world2. Despite all these positive indicators, it is rather surprising to see that the country is the third-worst place in the world to live in because of the high degree of poverty and unrest3. This work intends to identify the factors that prevent East Timor from growing politically and economically. An important factor behind the political instability in East Timor is the large number of actors and viewpoints in politics, making it difficult to have a coherent policy position. According to Kingsbury, the political spectrum in East Timor is divided into two broad categories; those in favor of, and those against, independence from Indonesia. However, these groups include a large number of actors and viewpoints, and hence, even now, it is difficult for them to have a coherent policy position4. Kingsbury believes this volatile situation is the reason behind the 2006 crisis in the nation5. The 2006 crisis had its beginning in the military of East Timor (F-FDTL). The military consisted soldiers from both eastern and western parts of the country. While easterners were the majority in the military and members of FRETILIN, the guerrilla force against Indonesia, the westerners were minority in the military, and were disliked in the army for their not-so-hard attitude towards Indonesia. In addition, there were conflicts between the military and the police force that consisted mainly of westerners and former members of the Indonesian military6. Slightly differing from this viewpoint, the International Crisis group identifies reasons for this clash within the political administration7. The then President Xanana Gusmao and the Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri were rivals and wanted to sack each other. Gusmao alleged that Alkatiri had ordered a hit squad to kill his political opponents, and this allegation was sufficient to ignite mass backlash in such a volatile

Dell Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dell - Case Study Example wn design in the year 1985, this was followed by unveiling of the world’s fastest performing computer in 1986 which was to be promoted by the setting up of the first onsite service to compensate for lack of retail in the year 1987. In 1988, the company changed its name to Dell Computer Corporation then tried to change its marketing strategy by selling to retailers in 1990 through warehouse clubs and superstores. However, this strategy did not last owing to dismal performance. They then embarked again on selling custom-built computers online to the customers. In 2000, Dell became number one seller of computers in USA surpassing even the Compaq (123HelpMe.com, 2015). Dell computers corporations has the mission to be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve. It was created to operate on a direct selling model where customers are to order for their computers online and then the computer is custom-made according to the needs of the customer (Saunders, 2009). Dell’s success is majorly attributed to the better management of its supply chain. Dell applies the best expertise to process customers’ orders and supply it at the fastest speed possible. Where the rivals take weeks, Dell takes only hours to supply the products to its customers. Dell has adopted as one of its strategies, the shortest supply chain. Dell purpose to minimize the involvement of middle men as a way of minimizing time they take to get products to customers and as a way of getting directly in touch with the customers. The company also ventured into customer relationship management (CRM) as a way of staying close to customers. They hire third party logistics to supply their finished products instead of the middle men. Supplier of Dell supply raw materials on a just in time basis directly to the production line at shortest time hence contributing to success of the company. Success is in terms reduced costs on setting up a

Computer Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Computer Security - Essay Example The network also makes it possible to share resources like printers and hard drives. This therefore reduces costs for of having to buy these resources. Proposed client-tier architecture The application architecture that I better and promises better security is that of 3-tier architecture. In this aspect the server will be installed in a data center with the server of the server program. Three-tier architecture has various layers with various functions. 3-tier architecture. The 3-tier client/server architecture was introduced to eradicate the problems that were associated with 2-tier architecture. With this architecture, a middleware lies between the server and the client. They are implemented in several ways, which include implementation as a message server, or application server or processing monitors. The functions of the middleware are queuing, execution of applications, staging of the databases, and prioritization for work in progress (Wegner, & Peter, 2007). This architecture im proves performance when the number of users is increased. It has the advantage of flexibility when compared to 2-tier architecture. One of the downsides of this architecture is the fact that the development is more complex than that of 2-tier applications. There are two types of 3-tier architectures 3-tier with message server In this type of 3-tier architecture, the messages are processed and prioritized asynchronously. This is done in such a way that the messages have a header which contains priority information, address and identification number. The message server provides a link to the relational database management system and other sources of data. Messaging systems are good alternatives to wireless infrastructures (Gorit, Dreoh, & Jeri, 2006). This architecture allows the main body of an application to run on a shared host instead on running on the his machine which is already overloaded due to its minimal resources (Rabaugh et al, 2001). The application server shares the sect ions of the business logic, computational and data retrieval engine. The good thing about this architecture is the fact that applications are scalable compared to 3-tier with message server. Furthermore, the installation costs are less on a single server compared to a situation where maintenance is done on each of the client machines. In the payroll program, the users will be configured so that they can access the server which is installed in a central location. The reason why I prefer this architecture is that one application program will be acquired and the rest will be in the server machine. It will be cheaper. The cost will be reduced in terms of purchasing the software that will be installed. This is because in this case one application software will be purchased which will be installed in the server. Given the many users who are going to use the program, it will mean that the applications would be bought for every user who will be required to use the payroll program. Another c ause for reduction of cost is that of maintenance. With this architecture, there will be maintenance of the server machine only. Maintaining one application is easier and cheaper in terms of expertise who will undertake the maintenance (Orfali, Dan, & Jeri, 2006). How to prevent interception There are mitigation strategies that are used to eradicate the risks that are associated with interception attacks. For spoofing and ARP poisoning, one way on which this can be mitigated is by using IP addresses which are static. Also the network administrator should make use of ARP

Guillermo Furniture Store Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Guillermo Furniture Store Analysis - Essay Example By use of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC), multiple valuation methods in minimizing the risks and calculation of Net Present Value (NPV) of future cash flows including sensitivity analysis, the company can find a solution to the impending problem. Weighted Average Cost of Capital The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) refers to the rate of return that the company or business anticipates acquiring on its optimal risk ventures in order to offer a considerable anticipated return to all its shareholders. It is applied in valuing new assets that possess similar risks as the existing assets and that hold a similar debt ratio. WACC is a relevant rate of discount specifically for projects that are similar to the current business operations (Brown, & Reilly, 2006). To determine WACC, one must first understand that a majority of firms use different forms of financing. Some of the financing techniques include use of bonds, ordinary shares, preferred shares and other form of sec urities. The securities have unique types of risks and thus owners seek to get various rates of return. Under such conditions, the firm’s cost of capital might not be equal to the anticipated return on common shares. It is dependent on the anticipated return from the entire portfolio of securities that the firm has given out. Besides, taxes are also included given the point that interest payments executed by the firm are expenses which are tax deductible. In this perspective Guillermo’s cost of capital will be established as the weighted average of post-tax interest cost of debt financing and the equity cost. This is to say that the anticipated rate of return on the company’s ordinary stock. The weights are the portions of debt and equity in the company’s capital structure.  Ã‚  Ã‚  The weighted average cost of capital is utilized to assess optimal risk on the capital ventures on projects. This is means that the risk on the projects coincides with the r isks the company faces on the current operations and assets.   The average cost of capital is found by; WACC = Kd (1-T) Wd + Ke* We (Emery, Finnerty & Stowe, 2007). From the financial statements given the cost of debt before tax is 7.5%, the tax rate stands at 42%, the weight of debt in the capital structure in 2010 is 84.3% while that of 2011 is 82.4%, and the weight of equity in the capital structure is 15.7 in 2010 and 17.5 in 2011 while the cost of equity is 11.34% The above figures were derived as follows; Weight of debt: Information from assets, Liabilities & Equity Information  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wd 2010 = Total liability/ Total Equity=$1,130,963/ [$211,111+$1,130,963] = 84.3% Wd 2011 =Total liability /Total Equity=$1,109,358/ [$235,805+$1,109,358] = 82.4% Cost of equity is derived from the following steps: Risk free rate used is 4.36% while the market rate of return according to S & P rating is 13.08 %. It should be noted that the security’s contribution to the risk of a po rtfolio that is diversified is dependent on the market risk. However, some securities might not be affected by the ups and downs in the market. The sensitivity of securities to market movement is known as beta. Securities with a beta more than 1 are specifically sensitive to the market movement (Emery, Finnerty

Term paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Term paper - Essay Example Apparently, taxation policies as well as government spending have considerable effect on the economy and future prospects of the government as far as international relations are concerned. Taxation policy must take into account the fundamental rights of all workers in an economy (Mishkin 34). The government should particularly take into account the total population of its workforce during a given financial year even as it plans bring the fore the budgetary estimates. Since the budget of most countries is largely dependent on the local taxes as the main source of funding, the wage rate per worker will be a key factor. Taxation policy should not compromise the worker’s ability to meet their day-to-day needs to keep life moving (Mishkin 34). Hence, fiscal policy makers must take into account the wage rate, currency strength locally and internationally, and the cost of living. The government must therefore consider the current situation of its labor market before making any critic al additions regarding purchasing goods and services, distributing transfer payments, and collecting taxes. If the current trend were unfavorable to the economy and labor market, the government would then have to revisit its fiscal policy to save the situation (Mishkin 34). An increase in amount of taxes that employees pay to the government will adversely affect their disposable income. In most cases, the taxation policy that triggers increases in taxes paid to the government tends to lower the purchasing power of most households. Thus, a considerable number of people working in manufacturing and service industries among other forms of industries will have to relinquish certain commodities that were previously a necessity to them (Agell 25). The main area of concern for fiscal policy is looking into ways in which changes in the government budget affect the overall economy. The changes may not only compromise the capacity of the government to meet its policy needs but also providing essential services to the people. Heads of country’s finance or treasury department are on the verge of drafting fiscal policy that is realistic and achievable considering the strength and sustainability of the current economic state of the country (Agell 25). The flagship annual document of finance ministry essentially reviews the growth and developments of the economy. Of critical value is the capacity of the economy to withstand the constantly changing economic, social and political prospects. Fiscal policy further affects the quality of labor in the market. If the government spending surpasses its total revenues, one of the major options it employs to save the situation is raising the taxation rates. The increase shall take a toll on struggling employees, who in most cases hardly meet all their necessities. Hence, policy prospects should be workable and sustainable in the short term and long term despite the impending challenges to the economy during implementation of its programs. Under such circumstances, employees and business organizations will essentially react by initiating strategies of ensuring the government policy does not compromise their day-to-day lifestyle (Agell 25). In the wake of growing concerns about bad fiscal policy, most employees as well as prospective workers have resorted to look for employment opportunities in

Constructing Feminine Form for Masculine Sake Essay Example for Free

Constructing Feminine Form for Masculine Sake Essay Fashion provides one of the most ready means through which individuals can make expressive visual statements about their identities. (Bennett, 2005) Constructing Feminine Form for Masculine Sake. Does it make sense to say that sex is at the heart of identity today? The answer is surely yes, and more so than ever before. (Gauntlett, 2008). Introduction. Consider the cover of the December 2011 edition of FHM (Fig. 1). It portrays a constructed ideal of female attractiveness. Aimed at the male market it conveys the attributes of female form deemed attractive to men. Has this identity been constructed by women or imposed upon by men? Butler (1999) suggests ‘the female body is marked within masculinist discourse’ , and women have not had the freedom to create their own identity, ‘women with the ostensibly sexualized features of their bodies and, hence, a refusal to grant freedom and autonomy to women as it is purportedly enjoyed by men’ (Butler, 1999). Macdonald (1995) notes that this enforced construction is neither a new concept nor just present in magazines aimed at a male audience: The body has historically been much more integral to the formation of identity for women than for men. If women had defined for themselves the ideals of their bodily shape or decoration, this would not be problematic. It is the denial of this right in the western cultural representation, in medical practice and in the multi-billion dollar pornography, fashion and cosmetic industries, that has granted women only squatter’s rights to their own bodies. However for the purpose of this essay we will concentrate on the feminine identity constructed in men’s lifestyle magazines and identify from where this was created. Why we enjoy beauty. ‘It is suggested that what makes one thing beautiful and another less so is our psychological attraction, probably unconscious, to some quality in the former that is absent from the latter, combined of course with equally-implicit cultural biases.’ (Lakoff and Scherr, 1984) Considering this, it is hard to determine how a particular portrayal of the female form is universally attractive. However studying the following passage from Sigmund Freud’s study Civilization and its Discontents we can note the possibility that the images constructed of women in men’s magazines are not to portray beauty, but to invoke sexual feeling through lack of clothing and provocative poses: Psychoanalysis, unfortunately, has scarcely anything to say about beauty either. All that seems certain is its derivation from the field of sexual feeling. The love of beauty seems a perfect example of an impulse inhibited in its aim. ‘Beauty’ and ‘attraction’ are originally attributes of the sexual object. (Lakoff and Scherr, 1984) Another psychotherapist Lacan puts forward the idea ‘women are objects for men: men are objects for women: men are objects for men, and women are objects for women. Each of us can only ever be objects for another subject, however much we try. (Hill, 1997) With this in mind it can be said that all identity is constructed to receive the admiration of others, regardless of gender. (Gauntlett, 2008) states ‘sex as being at the core of identity’ further suggesting that male identity is constructed with the same intentions the female. Although ‘it has been women in particular who have been defined primarily in terms of their physical appearance’ (Negrin, 2008). The emergence of new men’s lifestyle magazines. It is interesting to note that men’s lifestyle magazines are not a new concept, neither has their content changed over time. The earliest attempt to launch a men’s lifestyle magazine in the UK was in 1935, it consisted of ‘heroic masculinity with style features and pictures of female nudes’. (Gill, 2007). The 1950’s saw the launch of Playboy, a lifestyle magazine aimed at an emerging class of men who enjoyed consumption as much as their female counterparts. The magazine ‘became the ‘bible’ for the men who dominated this class fraction; its individualistic, hedonistic, consumption-orientated ethic of personal gratification represented a rebellion against the ‘old’ figure of male as breadwinner and family provider and opened up a space of libidinous fun and lascivious consumption, albeit premised on troublingly sexualized and objectified representations of women. (Gill, 2007). The content of such magazines was not necessarily in place to objectify women but to protect the ‘new man’s’ masculinity. ‘Consumption for men was promoted in an atmosphere not threatened by suspicions of homosexuality’ (Gill, 2007) and said of Playboy ‘the breasts and bottoms were necessary not just to sell the magazine, but also to protect it’ (Ehrenreich, 1983.). If we look forward to the 80’s and 90’s we see a new generation of men’s magazines emerging, ‘constructed around an assumed white, working class aesthetic and sensibility, centred on football, (beer) drinking, and heterosexual sex. (Gill, 2007) In circulation terms, figures from 2006 show that over 370,000 copies of FHM are sold per month and almost 300,000 copies of Nuts per week. (Gauntlett, 2008). From this we can see the popularity of such publications and the importance of the portrayal of a new type of masculinity. Considering the content of these magazines; ‘numerous photo-shoots of semi-clothed and topless women appear in the UK magazines’ (Gauntlett, 2008), and speaking of the launch of Loaded ‘the sexual politics of the magazine were in place from the first issue, which featured photographs of Liz Hurley, a homage to hotel sex, porn channels etc., a ‘travel feature’ recounting cheap cocaine and cheap women, and the Miss Guyama bikini contest. (Gill, 2007). The magazines depict the rise of a new type of masculinity or the ‘new lad’, the figure of which ‘became embedded in advertising and popular culture- his multiple articulations in different spaces generating a sense of his solidity and ‘realness’, making him instantly recognizable as an embodiment of a type of masculinity’ (Gill, 2007). This new generation of ‘Lads Mags’ has often been attributed to two factors; firstly the ‘feminine backlash’ occurring in the 80’s. These new publications ‘constructed around knowingly misogynist and predatory attitudes to women, represents a refusal to acknowledge the changes in gender relations produced by feminism, and an attack on it. (Gill, 2007) served to reaffirm male dominance in the gender war and a refusal to change. They are considered by Whelehan ‘a direct challenge to feminism’s call for social transformation, by reaffirming – albeit ironically – the unchanging nature of gender relations and sexual roles.’ (Gill, 2007) Studying the content of these magazines in more depth there is an underlying theme where ‘’feminist’ becomes a pejorative word to label, dismiss and silence any woman who object to the lad mags’ ideology’ (Gill, 2007). Two examples of such; ‘an article concerned with the question of ‘how to get your girlfriend to come in your face’ (FHM, April 2000) any possible feedback is forestalled with the comment ‘now before I get any angry letters from feminists..I have asked women and they agree it can be an incredibly rewarding experience’. (Gill, 2007) and ‘a letter to FHM from a woman called Barbara who wished to object to the magazines portrayal of women as ‘weak, frail, ob edient, submissive and sexually available’ is dismissed as a ‘blundering rant’ from ‘Butch Babs’ (FHM, May 2000)’ (Gill, 2007.) Two prime examples of where the subject of feminism is dismissed before it has even been raised, suggesting the magazines know their content is anti-feminist, but either dispel the argument before it is raised or ridicule and patronise anybody that dares challenge their viewpoint. The second factor is again a backlash, this time on a type of masculinity, himself more aligned with the ideals of feminism, referred to as ‘The New Man’. (Gill, 2007). Trying to dispense with this, the ‘masculinity they constructed was regarded as true to men’s real selves, in contrast to the contrived image of the new man.’ (Gill, 2007.) As with the issue of feminism this form of masculinity was ridiculed and dismissed, leading the way for ‘laddish’ behaviour to be accepted. ‘New man was derided for his ‘miserable liberal guilt’ about sexual affairs and presented as insipid and unappealing. By contrast, new lad was presented as refreshingly uncomplicated in his unreserved appreciation of women’s bodies and heterosexual sex.’ (Gill, 2007) Are these the views of the average man? So we can deduce how these magazines and images within them came to be but where does this leave the average male? Are these depictions of woman the ‘ideal’ for men? ‘By men’s own admission, the playboy ideology has created conflicts both in men’s view of themselves and in their attitude towards women.’ (Lakoff and Scherr, 1984) Many men insist they do not subscribe to this scantily clad, temptress type identity as being their ideal. (Lakoff and Scherr, 1984) suggest what most men fantasize about is a woman they can connect with and that personality is more important than looks; ‘Many men spoke of movement, gracefulness, a direct look in the eyes, an aura of mystery, attributes which cannot quite be captured by a camera, as what they felt constituted female beauty.’ Their ‘observations seem to contradict what the media not only tell us men want but also what they propose women should look like.’ This seeming indifference to contrived images of female form could be the over production and readily available means to consume them. ‘we are so bombarded with visual images that men are taking refuge and looking for the real thing’ (Lakoff and Scherr, 1984) Also another factor is that as we are increasingly aware of artifice in the production of images it can cause the consumer to be disillusioned with them; ‘And its disappointing to find that the women, when interviewed, don’t sound that interesting really. And it’s disappointing because you see these gorgeous women who wouldn’t look twice at you, but then you remember that they probably look like people you know, really, and it’s the careful styling and makeup and photography that makes them so irresistible’ (Gauntlett, 2008) Where do women fit in? What we have to remember is there always a willing subject to construct identity upon. In this case, a women to present as the ideal to men. Whilst feminists may view the women featured in the magazines as ‘submissive, obedient and sexually available’, do the subjects themselves feel this is the case? Pre-feminist women were programmed to be as attractive as possible to their male counterparts. Anne Fogarty an extremely successful American fashion designer highlights the importance of dressing for men ‘when your husband’s eyes light up as he comes in at night, you’re in sad shape if its only because he smells dinner cooking’ (Fogarty, 1959). It is possible that even now women are still programmed by society to want to appear as attractive as possible to men. With the post-feminist shift in gender relations it is argued that women are now objectifying men in the same way that they have traditionally been; ‘looking at scantily-clad women was clearly quite wrong for a right-thinking man, but have started to change their views as time has moved on and gender relations have changed again (including the development of the new language in popular culture where women can treat men as disposable eye-candy too).’ (Gauntlett, 2008). This seems to have caused a sense of double standards when talking of the objectification of women; â€Å"I used to agree, and I mean I really did agree, with women who said that naked women in magazines was a bad thing. But now-a-days I can hardly remember what the argument was. Women can look at handsome men in films and magazines, and men can look at attractive womenit seems fair.† (Gaunlett, 2008) Another reason argued why women cultivate this identity is it can provide means to increase their economic and social standing; ‘denied access to power and status by legitimate means, they had to resort to using their looks as a means of furthering their aims.’ (Negrin, 2008). This was very true of the playboy era where working class women did not have the same opportunities for advancement as their male counterparts. Conclusion. So who is determining this supposed ideal of the female form? Psychoanalysis tells us we all respond to natural sexual urges and have the need to objectify other beings. Yet today’s men’s magazines were not primarily constructed to satisfy their sexual urges. The content was also put into place long ago, not to objectify women, but to protect masculinity from any suggestion of homosexuality. What better way to diminish these threats than by filling the pages with naked women? The tone of the ‘new generation’ of men’s magazines was constructed around a backlash to feminist principles and the emergence of the ‘sensitive, understanding man’. Again what better way to protect these new threats by objectifying women and distancing themselves to ‘new man’s’ ideals? As gender roles have shifted and the issue of equality is facing us, men do not feel that looking at women is a guilty pleasure, as women do it themselves towards men and are compensated for it by the advancement of their social and economic standing. It can be said that this construction of female identity truly is for masculine’s sake, not necessarily for their consumption and enjoyment, but to protect and cultivate the meaning and existence of masculinity, reminiscing of a time where men were secure in their place in society. Fig. 1. Bibliography. Halberstam, J. (1998) Female masculinity. Durham, N.C. ; London : Duke University Press, 1998.:. Bennett, A. (2005) Culture and everyday life. London: Sage, p.95 116. Berger, J. (1972) Ways of seeing : based on the BBC television series with John Berger / a book made by John Berger [et al.].. London: Penguin. Butler, J. (1999) Gender Trouble; Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. London: Routledge. Forgarty, A. (2011) The Art of being a Well Dressed Wife. 2nd ed. London: VA Publishing. Gauntlett, D. (2008) Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction.. 2nd ed. Oxon: Routledge. Gill, R. (2007) Gender and The Media. Cambridge: Polity Press. Happysocks.com (2011) Happy Socks / FHM UK  « Happy Socks in the Press. [online] Available at: http://www.happysocks.com/press/?p=2851 [Accessed: 2nd June 2012]. Hill, P. (1997) Lacan for beginners. London : Writers and Readers:. Lakoff, R. and Scherr, . (1984) Face value : the politics of beauty . Boston ; London : Routledge Kegan Paul:. Macdonald, M. (1995) Representing Women:Myths of Femininity in the popular media. London: Edward Arnold, p.192 221. Meyers, D. (2002) Gender in the Mirror. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.. Negrin, L. (2008) Appearance and identity: Fashioning the body in Postmodernity. Cowden: Palgarve Macmillan, p.33 52. Sturken, M. and Cartwright, L. (2001) Practices of looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press., p.72 108.

Budgeting Importance Essay Example for Free

Budgeting Importance Essay Abstract Beyond Budgeting has been proposed as an influential idea that will reinvigorate management accounting contribution in business  operation and performance. It is claimed that the traditional system has lost relevance with the modern business environment and is no longer satisfying the needs of managers. Budgets have been ingrained in the culture of business since their inception in the 1920s and managers will find it extremely difficult to radically shift to a system without budgets. The implications of a Beyond Budgeting system are; performance measures relative to competitors and a decentralised organisation structure. Alternatives such as the Better Budgeting techniques may be more favourable to management who desires a formal planning and control system. The Beyond Budgeting concept is still in its infancy and requires further development and practical implementation. Keywords: Budget; Beyond Budgeting; BBRT; Management Control I. Introduction Beyond Budgeting has been proposed as an influential idea that will reinvigorate management accounting contribution in business operation and performance. According to Hope and Fraser (2003) the budgeting system, as implemented by most businesses, should be eradicated. The budgeting debate has arisen due to a movement into the information age (Drury, 2008). It is considered that the environment is now so complex and competitive that budgeting in its existing form is no longer useful for businesses. Dissatisfaction with traditional budgets is growing in the business world and ‘Beyond Budgeting’ has been suggested as a method to reinvigorate the managerial contribution of management accounting. This article discusses how budgeting has evolved into its current state, before examining why this universal technique has come under such heavy criticism of late. The limitations and weaknesses of traditional budgeting system will be supported with appropriate references. At the he heart of this paper is the evaluation whether the Beyond Budgeting model is more relevant in today’s business environment and if it can be a prominent tool in the future practices of management accounting. After critically evaluating academic scholars’ views on this issue, a conclusion will be drawn as to whether Beyond Budgeting really is the way forward. This article is organised as follows: Section II introduces and discusses evolution of various concepts of budgeting; Section III discusses limitations of traditional budgeting; Section IV discusses how beyond budgeting addresses the limitations of traditional budgeting and is indeed the way forward and finally section V concludes. II. Evolution of Various Concepts of ‘Budgeting’ Bhimani et al. (2008) define a budget as a quantitative future plan created by managers to assist the implementation of this plan. Becker et al. (2009) state the common view is that at the foundation of management accounting  systems is budgeting. In the 1920s budgets were born in order to help managers control costs and cash flows (CIMA, 2007). This concept grew into fixed performance contracts involving future income and expenditure estimations. Budgets were used to drive and evaluate management performance. Furthermore, Rickards (2006) believes the main purpose of budgets is to help implement a firm’s strategy, not just controlling and planning. The changes in the economic environment and business processes led to evolutions in budgeting. From the initial cash budgets to more modern techniques of zero based budgeting (ZBB) and activity based budgeting (ABB). Drury (2008) details six functions of traditional budgets: Refining the company’s long term plans; Coordinating the different departments and helping to improve relationships between them; Communicating ideas and expectations from top management to all other employees; Motivating managers to achieve challenging targets and goals.; Controlling the business activities using variance analysis to determine areas requiring attention; Evaluating the performance of managers in relation to achieving targets. A study of 40 managers revealed that budgeting is still very popular (Dugdale Lyne, 2006). They found that all businesses in question were using budgets and that when used alongside other tools; budgets can harmonise, motivate and control. Budgeting is ingrained in the cultures of many companies; therefore it can be difficult to convince managers that the business will be better off without them (Libby Lindsay, 2007). Daum (2002) argues that in the dynamic business environment managers should be looking to grow, expand, exceed targets and limits, and not be restricted by them. He describes many features of this environment such as; complex activities, innovation, retention of good employees. The new business environment is vastly different from the 1920s and although budgets have evolved to adapt to these changes, they are increasingly coming under criticised. III. Criticisms of Traditional Budgeting The traditional budgeting methods are considered too time consuming and unresponsive to external changes. According to a research by Neely et al. (2003) the budget creation uses 20% of management time. Following on from this, Bartram (2006) found that even the leanest and most efficient  companies take 79 days to organise their budgets, whilst 210 days are spent in the worst practice companies. This is a considerable amount to time for a firm to spend on an activity that arguably adds no value to the business. The budget culture has restricted the ability for a firm to reshape into a modern business because the budgets reign and contain management behaviours into old  paradigms (Hope and Fraser, 1997). In today’s environment the traditional systems of frequently found to be an obstacle to innovation and enterprise by management (Daum, 2002). Daum Hope (2003) highlight the growth of organisations as a factor in causing the irrelevance of traditional budgeting methods. Previously, businesses were smaller and staff relationships were built on trust. Trust to act in the best interests of the company. The expansion and development of multinational companies has caused a break down in trust between employees. To combat this, budgets were used as systems of control. However, now this control aspect has become a restriction to progress for a modern and forward thinking company. The following are weaknesses suggested by Neely et al. (2003) and they advocate these as an area for improvement. Budgets lack strategic focus and value creation, instead the aim is always cost reductions. The bureaucratic style restricts flexibility which in turn impacts a firm’s creative instincts. Annual budgeting is too infrequent therefore feeding into the unresponsive argument. Employees may not react well to having controls forced onto them thus having the potential to de-motivate. Also the top down style of budgets strengthens vertical command structures, which can lack adaptability and responsiveness. Working to budgets can cause dysfunctional behaviour as managers are often under pressure to meet targets, this behaviour is also known as budget games. Bartram (2006) breaks down budget  games into five areas. Firstly, ‘The Sky’s the Limit’, this entails management pushing the boundaries and trying to get as large a budget as possible instead of asking for just what they need. This feeds into ‘Mine’s Bigger than Yours’ whereby managers use the size of their budget to judge their own status within the company. ‘Cooking the Books’ relates to a delay of declaring revenue if the targets are already met so that they can use this revenue to meet future objectives. Next is ‘Hey Big Spender’, managers feel that they must spend the entirety of their budget otherwise it will be cut next year. Finally, ‘Bonus or Bust’ is concerned with the managers focus on measures that impact their own salaries or bonuses, whilst ignoring targets which may be more vital to long term success. On the subject of budget games, Jensen (2003) feels the integrity of the whole firm can be compromised when managers partake in this type of behaviour. The traditional system is based on a flawed principle; reward managers for meeting targets but punish if they fail to do so. This only encourages the type of dysfunctional behaviour described by Bartram. In order to end these games, Jensen proposes abolishing the using budgets as a system for rewarding performance. Otley (2003) believes budget system has the potential to create dysfunctional behaviour and discusses his experience of a coal mine that held back stock to meet weekly quotas, an example of ‘Cooking the Books’. The majority of criticism of traditional budgeting methods has been published by the proponents behind the Beyond Budgeting movement, Hope Fraser. Their initial criticisms were used as a spearhead to create a better management tool. Traditional methods rely on past information which can have negative knock on effects. An example is the incremental budgeting tool, where the previous year’s budget is slightly adjusted for the new year without any analysis into areas which are over/under performing. The performance evaluation is generally carried out at the end of the budget period; this can be too late to remedy deficiencies. Leading on from this, the common practice is to carry out fixed percentage cuts when early results appear unacceptable (Hope Fraser, 2003). Libby Lindsay (2007) feel that the problems are originating from how budgets are implemented and used within business, if used correctly they still can be a very effective tool. Ekholm Wallin (2010) agree with Libby and Lindsay, and add that if properly used traditional budgets are a strong framework to plan and measure a company’s operations. Therefore it can be suggested that many of the inadequacies of traditional budgets could be down to the implementation and not the tool itself. Despite the reasoning behind these limitations, Hope and Fraser (1997) report that 99% of European companies use formal budgeting procedures, this figure is likely to remain high even today. In addition, a survey of US organisations by Libby Lindsay (2007) revealed that over 50% of senior managers felt businesses could not cope without budgets and that they were imperative to success. Managers also believed that despite the associated time and costs, budgets were adding value to a company. Ekholm Wallin (2010) feel the annual budget is not dead yet, but it is past its peak and has lost usefulness and become outdated. IV. Beyond Budgeting Beyond Budgeting promotes the most ideal characteristics of a budgeting system; flexibility, coordination and responsiveness (Pilkington Crowther, 2007). It is not just another system of tools; it requires a complete overhaul of the organisations culture and a shift in the management style (Becker et al, 2009). Hansen (2011) states this can be performed in two stages; move toward performance evaluation relative to competition and then implement a decentralized structure. Hope Fraser (2003) believe the limitations of traditional budgetary systems require businesses to abandon budgeting altogether and instead focus on financial and non financial measures. The process should look to external benchmarks and competitors rather than internally set targets. The restrictive nature of budgets is removed and this can enhance the potential of a firm whilst empowering employees to make better decisions. Player (2003) describes Beyond Budgeting as extreme approach but with vast benefits to be r ealised. A key problem area is with rewarding managers using traditional systems. A Beyond  Budgeting reward system is far more appropriate as it is relative to performance measures, often derived from competitors and benchmarks (Hope Fraser, 2003). Daum Hope (2003) argue that Beyond Budgeting is a more adaptive approach to management, with more frequent performance reviews. A second feature is that centralized and hierarchical structures are converted to a decentralized management style. This empowerment pushes authority and decision making to lower levels of the business. The effect can be found in increased productivity and motivation. Managers have embedded budgets into their culture so it is likely they will struggle to manage without them. Hope and Fraser (2001) believe that the volatile nature of the environment mean budgets and plans are redundant. Budgets try to remove surprises from business. Instead, managers should embrace them and look to them as opportunities for improvement. They continue by saying that in order to take full advantage of the opportunities lower level staff need the authority to make strategic decisions. Furthermore the removal of budgets creates extra time for managers spend on  problem solving and adding value to the business, as the time taken to prepare budgets is a particular disadvantage (Ostergren Stensaker, 2011). The Beyond Budgeting model is becoming increasingly popular and many companies are now following its principles. Hope Fraser (1997) discovered that the Scandinavian bank Svenska Handelsbanken abolished all forms of traditional budgeting in 1979. Since then it has grown into the largest bank in Scandinavia and one of Europe’s most efficient banks. Their CEO reported that a cultural change from budgets and targets to improvement has enabled costs to be driven down. Daum (2002) states that Svenska Handelsbanken utilised a decentralised structure to enable each branch to run as an independent profit centre. This is an example of the potential that Beyond Budgeting can unlock. The Beyond Budgeting Round Table (BBRT), a network designed to transform the  traditional budget system, studied 14 companies without budgets or almost without budgets and from this they produced 12 guiding principles to Beyond Budgeting: i. Measure performance against the competition, not internal targets. ii. Motivate employees by empowerment. iii. Delegation to divisional managers allows them to take responsibility. iv. Give operational managers independent access to resources. v. Create customer focused teams. vi. Provide transparent information sharing across the organisation. vii. Set targets on external benchmarks. viii. Rewards in line with beating the competitors. ix. Allow managers to be involved with strategy planning. x. Grant management access to local resources. xi. Coordinate the internal use of resources. xii. Performance measurement information should be available freely. (Daum, 2002) Pilkington Crowther (2007) have found that Beyond Budgeting is most commonly adopted by large firms employing over 1,000 people. The smaller firms (10 50 employees) tend to impose strict budgets for employees to follow. This is likely to be due to the size, management style and ability to train staff in unfamiliar concepts. DeWaal (2005) suggests an entry scan before implementing Beyond Budgeting to ensure that staff feels the current systems are failing. The scan creates discussion into whether staff wants, and if the organisation can, implements Beyond Budgeting. The main advantage of questioning the employment of Beyond Budgeting is that staff will feel involved in decision making and internal business processes. Beyond Budgeting appears to have many advantages over traditional systems but it is not without criticism of its own. CIMA (2007) believe that having no budget  creates various problems. A business will have no framework for planning, coordinating and controlling its activities. The business can lose direction without detailed plans of its current position and future goals. Finally, a drastic culture change can leave employees feeling disillusion and the decentralized structure may be impractical for some organisations. An alternative option for firms that still want a formal budgeting system is Better Budgeting. Better Budgeting entails five techniques that can be used to overcome some of the limitations of traditional methods (Neely et al, 2003). Activity Based Budgeting involves planning using value adding activities, following a similar concept to ABC and ABM. Zero Base budgeting forces managers to justify their budgets every year to try and prevent dysfunctional behaviour and budget games. Thirdly, a Value Based technique encourages a focus on creating shareholder wealth and linkages with strategy. Profit methods consider both short and long term projections whilst ensuring sufficient cash is generated. Finally, Rolling Budgets create frequent budgets to provide more accurate forecasts. A major problem with Better Budgeting techniques is that they can actually take even more management time to be used effectively, which is likely to cause greater dissatisfaction with the processes. The Beyond Budgeting movement is still in the early stages of development and Rickards (2006) feels that further research and practical implementations are required before a real breakthrough in management accounting is achieved. Becker et al (2009) believe that the initial fascination with Beyond Budgeting is fading and that some principles are being put into practice, just not under the umbrella of Beyond Budgeting. Decentralisation and empowerment may be growing in popularity due to the current business environment. V. Conclusion To conclude, Hope’s view is that Beyond Budgeting is a far more effective system which conquers the limitations of traditional methods. He foresees the international expansion of the BBRT and that Beyond Budgeting will become a ‘major management theme for the future’ (Daum Hope, 2003). After evaluating the thoughts and opinions of various academics, this article believes that Beyond Budgeting has an important role to play in the future of management accounting. However, it is unlikely that it will be fully adopted as the BBRT imagined; a number of principles are extremely useful within the modern environment. These may be adopted but management will find it hard to completely abandon budgeting, as it is embedded it business culture. Perhaps some Better Budgeting techniques could be practiced in order to update the failing traditional system. This article supports the argument that traditional budgets are outdated and no longer appropriate for the current environment. Furthermore, budgets can actually destroy shareholder value within a firm therefore it is vital that new systems are developed. It is the view of this article that the traditional budget requires refreshing and revitalizing but is not yet ready for removal. References Bartram, P. (2006). Forecasting the end for budgets. Director. 30. Becker, S., Messner, M. and Schaffer, U. (2009). The Evolution of a Management Accounting Idea: The Case of Beyond Budgeting. Working paper. Bhimani, A., Horngren, C., Datar, S. Foster, G. (2008). Management and Cost Accounting, 4th ed. Harlow: Pearson. Michael Goode, Ali Malik CIMA 213 (2007). Beyond Budgeting. [Online] Available at: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/cid_tg_beyond_bu dgeting_oct07.pdf [Accessed: 28/11/11] Daum, J. (2002). Beyond Budgeting: A Model for Performance Management and Controlling in the 21st Century? Controlling and Finance. Daum, J. and Hope, J. (2003). The origins of Beyond Budgeting and of the Beyond Budgeting Round Table (BBRT) An interview with Jeremy Hope. DeWaal, A. (2005). Is Your Organisation Ready for Beyond Budgeting? Measuring Business Excellence, 9(2), 58-67 Drury, C. (2008). Management and Cost Accounting. 7th Edition. Andover: Cengage Learning. Dugdale, D. and Lyne, S. (2006). Budgeting. CIMA Financial Management, 32-35. Ekholm, B. and Wallin, J. (2010). Is the annual budget really dead? European Accounting Review, 9(4), 519-539. Hansen, S. (2011). A Theoretical Analysis of the Impact of Adopting Rolling Budgets, Activity-Based Budgeting and Beyond Budgeting. European Accounting Review, 20(2), 289-319. Hope, J. and Fraser, R. (1997). Beyond budgetingbreaking through the barrier to the third wave. Management Accounting, 75(11), 20-23. Hope, J. and Fraser, R. (2001). Beyond Budgeting Questions Answers. CAM-I Hope, J. and Fraser, R. (2003). New ways of setting rewards: the Beyond Budgeting model. Californian Management Review, 45(4), 104-119. Hope, J. and Fraser, R. (2003). Who needs budgets? Harvard Business Review. 81(5), 125-126. Jensen, M. (2003). Paying People to Lie: the Truth about the Budgeting Process. European Financial Management, 9(3), 379-406. Libby, T and Lindsay, R. (2009). Beyond budgeting or budgeting reconsidered? A survey of North-American budgeting practice. Management Accounting Research. Neely, A., Bourne, M. and Adams, C. (2003). Better budgeting or beyond budgeting?Measuring Business Excellence, 7(3), 22-28 Ostergren, K. and Stensaker, I. (2010). Management control without budgets: A field study of â€Å"Beyond Budgeting† in practice. European Accounting Review, 19(1), 1-33. 214 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 31, No. 2 Otley, D. (2003). Management Control and Performance Management Whence and Whither? British Accounting Review, 35, 309-326. Pilkington, M. andCrowther, D. (2007). Budgeting and control. Financial Management, 29-30. Player, S. (2003). Why some organizations go Beyond Budgeting. Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, 14(3), 3-9. Rickards, R. (2006). Beyond budgeting: boon or boondoggle? Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 3(2), 62-76.

Democracy Of Goods In Contemporary Consumer Culture Media Essay

Democracy Of Goods In Contemporary Consumer Culture Media Essay The term democracy was defined as equal access to consumer products and by depicting the everyday functioning of that democracy with regard to one product at a time, these tableaux offered Americans an inviting vision of their society as an incontestable equality According to Onufrijchuk in Leiss et al 1997: 50 the course of the 20th century has seen a dramatic and sustained rise in the real income and purchasing power of the average person in western societies, where most people have access to a huge and constantly changing array of goods this may rely on the fact why Marchand argued the fact that the 20th century allowed for equal access to goods because individuals for example the working class individual in society were continually earning more, and what better way to spend the extra money they have than to buy products that the upper class would usually use, thus, they can then believe that they are having shared experience with the upper classs taste, whereas the upper class are getting furious because they have to continually look for ways in other to differentiate themselves from the other classes. Bourdieu in Gronow (1997: 11) argued that the taste of the ruling class is always the legitimate taste of a society, but in his own opinio n, this legitimate taste is not genuine good taste: in fact there could be no possible genuine good taste. He went on to argue that legitimate taste pretends to be the universally valid and disinterested good taste, whereas in reality it is nothing more than the taste of one particular class, the ruling class. The term Trigg 2001 calls trickle down, leap-frog and trickle down. Taste would be considered later on in the essay in relation to democracy of goods. This could be said as to why Marchand suggested that the early 20th century advertising offered access to goods and a vision of society of incontestable. Schudson 1986: 180-181 illustrates better as he argued that there was a new sense of scarcity of time, accelerated by the increasingly large array of choices available to people. There was more choice, or a sense of more choice, in part because the newspapers, movies, and radio bought to people a strong sense of other social worlds, and other possibilities. The advances in mass production methods made goods and luxuries unheard of a generation before potentially available to a large number of people. In the supermarket there were more product categories, and within these more brands to choose from. The different media outlets made people think or feel that they had many choices and that they could experience the world of the upper class just by buying certain products to make them blend in to the crowd of the upper class. With the i ncrease of mass production of products, it made it possible for the working class to have the shared experience and for the fact that there was an increase in mass product, goods were produced cheaper. Hence, Marchand 1985: 218 arguing that there were no discrepancies in wealth could prevent the humblest citizen, provided they chose their purchases wisely, from retiring to setting in which they could contemplate their essential equality, through possession of an identical productGIVE AN EXAMPLE LATER This can be said to be what is happening in our current contemporary society The advertising parables offered comfortable rather than distasteful truths. They usually sought to persuade more through insinuation than confrontation, and sought unthinking assent rather than active thought or new insight. They encouraged readers to assimilate the product into their present lives in order to force them to a decision to live by a different logic. Marchand 1985: 207. Advertising products makes the audience feel like they need to purchase certain products and that if they do not acquire the products, they cannot be satisfied in their lives, Marchand 1985: 207. The parables of advertising promised reads no insurmountable limitations and offered a reality easily within the reach of their hearts desires provide any one with the ultimate satisfaction (ibid: 218) GIVE AN EXAMPLE LATER) According to Marchand 1985: 217-218 Democracy of goods is the wonders of modern mass production and distribution enabled every person to enjoy the societys most significant pleasure, convenience, or benefit. The definition of the particular benefit fluctuated à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the cumulative effect of the constant reminders that any woman can and every home can afford was to publicize an image of American society in which concentrated wealth at the top of a hierarchy of social classes restricted no familys opportunity to acquire the most significant products. Daniel Boorstin in Schudson 1886: 181 stated that there was democratization of good. Products that once held some kind of uniqueness to them by being available only at certain times of the year or only certain parts of the country were increasing available all year-round and throughout the country, thanks to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ other technological and other social developments. Not only the means of production but the modes of became a continuous process' Boorstin argued that products became democratized in three ways. Firstly, they became more standard as they come to be produced for the mass audience. They are easier to handle, easier to do it yourself without great skill on the part of the user; both a mediocre cook and a great cook make equally good cakes from a cake mix à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ standard products and standard situations for shopping make it easier for the unskilled consumer to avoid embarrassment and to become equal to the adept consumer. Secondly, products become not only more standard but milder and easier to use. They become convenient à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Convenience is an attribute that has much to do the social uses and social meaning of a product as with its engineering. The more convenient a good, the more it is equally available for the use if men and women, adults and children à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Thirdly, there is democratization when goods are consumed in increasingly public ways. To liberate from society, we ought and must was not for Marcuse a problem. What the problem the problem specific to society which delivers the goods was that for liberation there was no mass basis few people wished to be liberated, een fewer were willing to act on that wish, and virtually no one was quite sure in what way the liberation from society might differ from the state they were already in Bauman 2000: 16 One such issue was the possibility that what feels like freedom is not in fact freedom at all; that people may be satisfied with their lot even though that lot were far from being objectively satisfactory; that, living in slavery, they feel free and so experience no urge to liberate themselves, thus forsaking or forfeiting the chance of being genuinely free Bauman 2000: 17 is liberation a blessing, or a curse? A curse disguised as blessing, a blessing feared as curse? Bauman 2000: 18. other popular addresses for similar complaints have been the embourgeoisement of the underdog (the substitution of having for being, and being for acting, as the uppermost values) Bauman 2000: 19. However Gronow 1997: 9 argued that taste was an ideal means on making social distinctions. Any parvenu who tried to act as a gentleman could always be put in his proper place by letting him know through small gestures that even though he thinks he is acquainted with the right etiquette, he still does not master the requirements of good taste. This can us be used as a criticism in relation to democracy of good in the sense that even though there was mass production of goods, the working class were not accepted even though they tried fitting in, into the upper class. Thus it can be argued that the democracy of goods created an illusion of democracy, as it made working class ind ividuals Boorstin 1993 and others have suggested that mass consumption created democracy of goods. Schudsons account is somewhat different. Yes, goods became more uniformly available, more standardized, more convenient, and more likely to be consumed in public ways. Yet, although the goods displayed in a department store are in theory available to everyone, in practice they are available only ot those with the resources to make the purchase. Schudsons analysis reminds us that the displays of mass consumption creates a democratization of desire and envy (1984 pp 181, 151) Advertising reached its modern form around 1900 rather than simply describing products technical virtues, ads increasingly addressed consumers deeper concerns. Instead of extolling the cleaning powder of a particular soap, for example, the new ads emphasized the social embarrassment of body odor or the sex appeal of the skin (Fischer 2010: 65) The parable of the democracy of goods always remained implicit in its negative counterpart. It assured readers that they could be as healthy, as charming, as free from social offense as the very nicest (richest) people, simply by using a product that any one could afford (219) The parable emphasized the affordability of the product to families of modest income while attempting to maintain a class image of the products the preferred choice of their social better (221) The most attractive aspect of the parable to advertisers was that it preached the coming of an equalizing democracy without sacrificing those fascinating contrast of social condition that had long been the touchstone of high drama (221) They dressed up Americans wealthy as dazzling aristocrats, and then reassured readers that they could easily enjoy an essential equality with such elites in the things that really mattered GIVE AN EXAMPLE CHERYL COLE ADVERTISEMENT (she worked her way up, the general working class public could identify with her background and where she has come from. Thus suggesting that if they work really hard they could get to where they want be and be what they want in society

Night :: essays research papers

Night by Elie Wiesel â€Å"Hitler won’t be able to do us any harm, even if he wants to.† So begins the book, Night, by Elie Wiesel an autobiographical work about Elie’s struggle to survive the Holocaust while living at multiple concentration camps. Beginning at age 15, Elie Wiesel moves from a young man questioning the accounts of German hatred, to becoming a witness of many inhumane acts brought upon people. Elie Wiesel’s book, Night, describes instances of inhumane acts on the Jews at Berkenau-Auswitz, at Buna, and on the march to Gleiwitz.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Upon arrival at Berkenau-Auswitz, the men and women were separated. It was here that Elie saw his mother and sisters for the last time. With the advise of another prisoner, Elie and Mr. Wiesel, lied about both their ages and occupations in order to get into the same line of men. â€Å"The baton moved unremittingly sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left.† (page 29) Happy to be with his father, Elie still did not know if he was in line for the prison or the crematory. The line marched up toward the fires, he could see little children and babies being tossed into the fire. The line moved on past another pit where adults were being burned. After seeing these tragic events, Elie could no longer sleep. He could not believe this was happening and nobody was doing anything to stop it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After surviving the first concentration camp, Elie and Mr. Wiesel were sent to Buna, a work camp. At Buna a Overlap (a prison guard) was tortured for sabotaging a power station. A young boy under him, called a Pipel, was also to be tortured for information on the Overlap’s accomplices. The Pipel was hung because his he would not reveal the Overlap’s accomplices. â€Å"For more than a half an hour, he stayed there struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes.†(page 62). As Elie stood and watched he heard the other prisoners repeatedly ask, â€Å"Where is God?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A third cruel act the Nazi’s did was make the prisoners run nearly 50 miles to Gleiwitz. They did not let the prisoners stop running for even a second or the person would have been killed. Even though the prisoners were not given a chance to stop, the S.S. Guards were given many breaks so they were not tired. Some of the prisoners went too slowly and they were trampled by other prisoners.

Health, Safety and Nutrition Essay -- Health Nutrition Pyramid Diet

The reason I chose to do my project on a game that can hit all three areas safety, health, and nutrition, is because all three areas are important to children and their families. As a parent I can easily justify the role a teacher has on the lives of our children. It is usually a parent does not know anything and the teacher is always right. In the eye’s of a child.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many times well most of the time what you teach a child it usually stays with them, and if it is presented in a fun way it is almost certain that to stay with them longer. More important children like to share their new information with their families, some of the information may be new. So not only are you teaching their children you are also teaching them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before I introducing this game I would send out information to each child’s family so they will be familiar with some of the questions. Of coarse it is important not to send to much information so it will not become overwhelming. It is also important to get the families input, any way to get parents involved is important.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Why safety? Safety is important no matter where your child may be. Any information that a child learns in safety can easily be reinforced. From talking to strangers to playing with fire. This is important everywhere, not only in school but at home or in public places. Many times parents as well as teachers tend to overlook simple things like how unsafe playing with sharp objects, can be, such as pencils. Also taking simple precautions, as covering outlets, or not leaving cords hanging from drapes. This is why safety is important and why it can be life saving to many families.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not long ago, many safety issues were not addressed the way they are now. Why has it changed so much in the past several years? I stop and look back at my life as an infant and a child many things have changed drastically. When I was a infant car seats were not required, to think the safety of my life was at risk, I can recall a time being involved in a accident and I was lucky I did not fly out of the windshield, being that I use to like to stand up o... ...e a good choice or a family member makes a good choice. Sometimes it takes something like a game with fact to have families more aware of the choices that they make the good and the bad. We are only human and we can easily fall off track, I know that I am thankful when my children put me back on the correct track. It is also a good feeling to know that they are aware of their choices and that sometimes we don’t always make the correct ones. It also reassures our children that we as parents, grandparents, and teachers, also make mistakes and sometimes bad choices.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Still I feel that the most important thing is to model for children, take the time to talk to them and of coarse to listen to them. We all like to be heard at some point in our lives even when were small. Work Cited http://www.llu.edu/lluch/safekids/safek4.html 5/2/05 http://www.cdu.gov/nccdphp/hnpa/5aday/faq/important_3.htm 5/2/05 http://www.nut.safe._heatlh/faq/safe4ki.html 5/2/05 http://ific.org/publications/bro/tentipkids.cfm 5/7/05 http://safeforchildren.families/ 23.htm Http://www.llu.edu’‘lluch/safekids/safek8.html 5/7/05 Robert Gonzales 5/9/05 Dorthoy Aguilar 5/9/05