Saturday, August 31, 2019

Washington’s Precedents Established

Holding office from for a courageous eight years from 1789 to 1797, George Washington was one of the most significant presidents of all time. His other famous name is the â€Å"Founding Father† of the United States of America; He enforced the maximum amount of terms to two. When he promoted guidelines for the United States leader, his beliefs and visions were accepted as his guidelines have stayed over the years and some differed over the centuries such as the foreign policies and the political policies applied similarly. Some of Washington’s appliances have yet to differentiate from the past as they are still applied.Document A states two important factors: government power and its proper usage. The government utilizes its limited powers. Document A states †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦so many checks and efficacious restraints to prevent it from degenerating to any specious of oppression. † Washington acknowledges the facts that the government cannot corrupt the balance and chec ks system. Document D elaborates on the basis of the Embargo Act, which proved beneficial. The Embargo Act explains how taxation is a requirement for society, with all imports, exports, and shipping.Document D by President Thomas Jefferson states â€Å"undelegated powers its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force†. Jefferson believes that if the government will become more enforcing if they do not have the balance and checks system. They would have to do all that is necessary. If the government had enforced all necessities, there would have been no possibility for certain aspects of the political world There were many aspects that continue, as Washington would have wanted and some that didn’t. The process is handled today of the draft; Document G mentions the first concept of the topic.The draft is the sending of people to the military/army. Sometimes the draft was necessary especially if a war was to come about, but it somewhat belittled the freedom to a cert ain amount. One of the things that had gone wrong against Washington’s proposals is stated in Document I. Document I speaks about the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine basically states how The United States of America should not intervene with foreign battles and side with any European power. The Monroe Doctrine secures the United States because if the U. S would interfere, there is a possibility of battle that can evidently lead to war.Unfortunately history had repeated itself as the government decided to do what they feel and intervene in the Vietnam War (which really had nothing with the U. S. ). Some of the aspects Washington influenced have changed over the centuries. Document B states, â€Å"it is our policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world†, America, unfortunately, has formed relationships and alliance with European worlds. Document F shows how foreign connections can lead to betrayal or cruelty. The British had main tained the American ships and even violated some.All these foreign issues led to the War of 1812 between the British and the Americans. This settled the issues between America and Britain and fortunately settled possible future issues. â€Å"The baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. †, states Document B. In his Farewell Address, Washington believes if there are a separation and formation of different parties, new issues and corruption would occur. In reality, the formation of different parties promotes acceptance of new interrelated ideas. Washington proposed ideas that have been continued and have been overruled.He believed that the United States should separate from any European nation. He believed there should have been no formation of separate parties, which actually has changed over the centuries for positive reasons. Washington believed the government should be limited yet satisfied under the balances and checks system, and so they have been over the years. America has â€Å"repeated history† as they ignore the Monroe Doctrine by fighting with European Alliances. Washington was a smart man; his ideas were accepted, proposed, accepted, ignored and changed.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Well Fargo

A. Brief abstract / overview of case study Abstract The purpose of this paper is to answer the following questions: How should Wells Fargo Position it self for the future? Should it strengthen its retail presence, grow internationally, or move into the void created by the disappearance of investment banks? Develop Projected Financial Statements that fully assess and evaluate the impact of the proposed strategy. How are the acquisitions / growth financed? Will debt be increased further, or ownership of WFC stock be diluted to raise the capital needed?The author will attempt to answer these questions using chart sand graphs as illustrations and supporting evidence Overview case The paper submitted will contain a proposed plan of action using primarily data from Morning start oshowa proposed acquisition for Wells Fargo. This acquisition will greatly increase the Wealth, Brokerage, & Retirement segment of Wells Fargo that has been underutilized and overlooked. This proposal will â€Å"m arry† the benefits of TDA meritrade with the Cross-selling strength of Wells Fargo.The primary purpose that TDA meritrade was selected was convenience. Although Charles Schwa band E *TRADE are competitors of TDA meritrade, but they were not selected for varying reasons. Charles Schwabhasa history of refusing overtures for take overs after his disappointing episode of being bought up by a large corporation many years ago. E*TRADE, whom some experts consider having a high erupt side than TDA meritrade, is not nearly as stable or financially sound.Given the current economic uncertainty and the authors’ penchant for avoiding risk, TDA meritrade is the best option available of the large independent retail brokerages. According to Zacks Equity Research, an interesting side note is â€Å"that Wells Capital Management, the wholly owned institutional asset management subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, N. A. , and part of Wells Fargo’s Asset Management Group† (Zacks Eq uity Research, 2011) already owns about 2. 58% of TDA meritrade. (Morningstar. com, 2012) How should Wells Fargo Position it self for the future?Wells Fargo can position it self for the future by capitalizing on its one-stop shopping format for all financial products. Already with one of the highest cross-selling ratios in the world at 5. 81 products per banking household†¦Ã¢â‚¬  this number can and should go higher in the not too distant future. (APAeditorial, 2009) B. Vision Statement To satisfy all of the customers’ financial needs, help them succeed financially, be known as one of America’s great companies and the number-one financial services provider in each market C.Mission Statement We want to satisfy all of our customers' financial needs, help them succeed financially, be the premier provider of financial services in every one of our markets, and be known as one of America's great companies. Wells Fargo is committed to strengthening the company and the c ommunities by proactively seeking minority, women, and disabled – owned suppliers, Wells Fargo strongly believe that Wells Fargo’s suppliers must reflect the diversity of team members, customers, and communities.Proactively seek to procure goods and services from minority, women, and disabled-owned businesses. Our Supplier Diversity team assists these businesses to access bid and contract opportunities through a combination of which is actively seek to establish relationships with diverse suppliers through business networking, electronic and print communications, and participation in supplier event nationwide. We encourage and assist suppliers to gain certification of their minority, women, or disabled- owned business status from independent local and national agencies.The Supplier Diversity team advises and guides diverse suppliers to prepare and position their businesses for maximum access to bid and contract opportunities. We actively communicate with minority, wome n, and disabled-owned suppliers, referring relevant Requests for Proposal and other potential business leads. Internally, the Supplier Diversity team works to ensure that diverse suppliers are represented and considered by Wells Fargo purchasing managers in all sourcing, contracting and procurement decisions. Wells Fargo SWOT * STRENGTH 1.Strong national presence and credible reputation (Strong brand) 2. Widely recognized as industry and market share leader (Industry leader) 3. Servicing for more than 25 million customers through over 6000 stores, the Internet, and other distribution channel across North America and elsewhere internationally (Worldwide service) 4. Values its people as its competitive advantage (Strong HR & management team) 5. Values and treats its customer as friends (Loyal customers) 6. Leading innovator in the use of internet and e-commerce (Online growth) 7.Strong balance sheet and the ability to steer through the pitfalls that plagued its competitors (Strong fin ancial position) * WEAKNESS 1. The Wachovia Bank subprime mortgage problems (Over leveraged financial position) 2. Overcommitted in credit swap (Over leveraged financial position) 3. The reduction of Wells Fargo’s debt rating two levels during January 2009 (Weak capital position) 4. Cut its dividend payment in a move to attempt to solidify its balance sheet (Diseconomies of scale) 5.Wells Fargo basically did no securities business after merger (Not diversified) 6. Too much focus on consumer/retail banking (Not diversified) 7. Weak International growth OPPORTUNITIES 1. Increasing its extensiveness through mergers and acquisitions with recently owned Wachovia or with other new bank (M&A opportunities) 2. Growth and success of combined Wachovia and Wells Fargo will be one of the great financial services company (National growth) 3. Move the large national bank with an international presence forward or expansion abroad (International growth) 4.The disappearance of investment bank ing and the Wells Fargo’s announcement to significantly expand its security business (Product & service diversification) 5. The use of internet banking and e-commerce (Online growth) Threats 1. Rising interest rates in US. 2. Basel II and compliance costs. 3. Consolidation in banking industry. 4. Competitive Matrix Profile. 5. Consolidation in the US banking industry. 6. Regulation on contingent commission. 7. Rising incident of online scam. 8. Meltdown in US Asset backed Securities market.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Comparison of market structures of US retail and housing industry Term Paper

Comparison of market structures of US retail and housing industry - Term Paper Example Where there are four types of market structure which are monopoly, oligopoly, pure competition and monopolistic competition. there are number of factors which determine the market structure which are number and size of firms in the particular market, degree of similarity with competitor’s product, firm’s control over its product’s prices, barriers to entry and exit in the market, and the amount of competition based on non price factor. USA housing industry is classified sector wise in mining, construction, manufacturing, retail, wholesale, real-state, professional, administrative and other. These sectors are interdependent on each other in terms of performance and growth. The effect of US crises on housing industry was devastating as demand for land development turn down largely, now the circumstances are far better and recovering. Whereas US retail industry vends specialized and customized products and offers wide variety of products to the consumers. The change in consumer preference and taste has brought up many new opportunities and challenges for retail industry. Recent recession in US economy has shrank the purchasing power resulting in low sales and ultimately low revenue. The selected US retail industry for analysis is tobacco industry; it retails cigarettes, loose tobacco, cigars and cigarillos, and chewing tobacco. Cigarettes have the highest market share of more than 90% in tobacco industry, whereas others have very low market share with very growth rate. Whereas construction is the selected sector from housing industries, which is the second largest revenue generating industry among others US housing industries. US tobacco retail industry is dominant by few large players namely Philip Morris, Reynolds American and Lorillard which jointly holds 90% of the total market value which is actually very huge percentage and hindrance for the growth of small companies (Zitzewitz, 2003). Cigarettes segment is the dominant segment therefore market structure of this industry depends on its market size, market growth, competition and number of companies operating. Product differentiation is very low in this market whereas barriers to entry are significantly high, and associated companies face non-price competition. This shows that this industry possess oligopoly market structure. The selected US housing industry is construction and engineering, is the second largest in terms of revenue contribution to housing industry whereas it has the highest employment ratio as this sector is highly dependent on human resource. This industry decline by 13.9% in 2010 with a market value of $563.1 billion where as it is forecasted that this industry will show an increase from 2010 to 2015 by 26.2 % with an increased market value of $712.9 billion (Datamonitor, Aug 2011). This US industry contributes 24.7% in the global construction and engineering industry. Players in the market are dependent upon suppliers and buyers, whereas the larg est segment of US construction and engineering industry is non-residential building (Datamonitor, Aug 2011). The market structure of the US construction and engineering industry is determined by five key drivers, which are supplier power, buying power, degree of rivalry, new entrants and number of substitutes available. Barriers to entry are there in the market but industrial growth, accessibility of suppliers and weak brands in the market largely appreciates new entrants. There are various factors which determine the supplier power in US construction and engineering industry which are, the degree to which input is differentiated, forward integration, importance of quality/cost, number of substit

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

HR Management, Industrial Relations, and Personal Management Essay

HR Management, Industrial Relations, and Personal Management - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that for many years, organizations have always emphasized on human resources for the achievement of  specific  goals. The human being had and still being treated as significant resources that contribute immensely to the objectives of an organization. Many of us have seen organizations with the variety of workers/employees. Such employees are from a different background, with different qualifications, outlook, and understanding. As such, there is a need to emphasize on the development of employees or human resources if the business wants to achieve better in the future. Businesses can make it better and progress by creative efforts and abilities of their human resources. Many businesses have a variety of functional areas. Some include production management, financial management, marketing management and human resources management. Our focus is on human resource HR or human resources management HRM. As mentioned above, human resource is e ssential to organizations. As such, human resources management in an organization has a number of functions in relation to human resources. They acquire human resources, develop and maintain it. In a simple explanation, HRM does staff recruitment, retention, and development of the human resource. Industrial relations, personnel management, and HRM all simply represent the activity of managing people. They may have different methods but at the core are focused on the same principle of managing people which have developed throughout the years in order to help the workforce.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Compare and contrast California's 2011 Statewide Redistricting Process Essay

Compare and contrast California's 2011 Statewide Redistricting Process with the one done in 2001. Will the new process live up t - Essay Example Would 2011 redistricting when appropriately done help to ensure that every voter is equally represented unlike previous redistricting of 2001? This paper thus compares the 2011 and 2001 redistricting of California State. Introduction As compared to 2001 redistricting the 2011 redistricting disagreements appears to start again in California (Rosen). This has been sparked by the recently redistricting reform proposals that were offered by Governor of California state, Democratic legislators as well as lobby groups and ordinary citizens. Throughout their proposals, these legislatures and activists embrace that redistricting should be done by an independent commission. According to researches, this observations redistricting by 2011 would result to be one of the best ever experienced California. This would be because the opportunity the process would allow citizens to decide democratically the mapping of their administration through the independent commission elected by their leaders bas ed on the authority vested to them (Maviglio 38). These commissions are as established by the people and the federal government. For instance: Advisory Commission: establishes suggestions which are handed over to legislative. These suggestions can be adopted or rejected by the legislature. The advisory commission is practiced in Vermont as well as in Maine. Primary commissions: this team has the independent mandate to formulate and implement redistricting projections. States that practice this type of arrangement are New Jersey, Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Alaska, Arkansas, Washington, and California (Cressman 6). Backup Commissions: convenes only when the legislature has failed to enact redistricting program. In such events, this commission has the capacity of drawing new district boundaries. This type of commission is active in Connecticut Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas and Mississippi. Thomas of Brookings Institute observes that after every ten as stipulated by the governme nt of the United States, a census is conducted in the all States which is used to readjust population figures throughout the country (Statewide Database). These established population figures would then applied to determine redistricting which is the re-drawing of state legislative district and Congressional leadership. Evaluations indicate that immediately the census outcomes have been released, states would be commissioned to carry out the redistricting activities. In considerable number of states the activities of redistricting are led by the state governor and legislature. In California boundaries determine administrative lines of Board of Equalization districts and Assembly. Currently, the California State Legislature draws those lines themselves. However, due to politicization this has resulted to decreased number of persons turning out for census as well as redistricting (Bickerstaff 45). For instance, Thomas of Brookings Institute (Maviglio 43) intimated that some Congressio nal Districts are systematically crafted inkblots. In such districts, voters might be made to think that they choose elected officials, however it’s the elected leaders who choose them. However, the legislative redistricting, carried out by an independent commission comprising partisan appointees, would be less egregious. This arrangement has received consent from political scientists who agree that an independent co

Monday, August 26, 2019

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

MRSA - Essay Example MRSA leads to fatal illness resulting from bacteriemia (Rotas et al, 2007). Staphylococcus aureus is a gram – positive cocci forming grapelike clusters. They have the capacity to cause skin lesions such as boils, carbuncles, impetigo, scalded skin as well as pharyngitis, pneumonia, endocarditis, food poisoning, and toxic shock syndrome (Robbins et al, 335). Moreover, Staphyloccus aureus is considered as the major microorganism causing severe burns and surgical wounds. Next to Escherichi coli, Staphyloccus aureus is the second cause of hospital – acquired infection (Robbins, et al, 335). Robbins, et al, added that this microorganism is remarkable for its local destructiveness. MRSA, otherwise known as methicillin resistant Staphloccus areus is an organism that are resistant to the commonly used antibiotics, methicillin (MRSA, 2004). Methicillin was initially used as antibiotics to manage patients against Staphyloccus aureus infection. However, Methicillin was overused and misused and consequently resulted to a certain situation where MRSA bacterium was no longer sensitive to this particular antibiotic. As a result, methicillin was never used as antibiotics but was only intended to identify this particular type of antibiotic resistance (MRSA 2004; Stryer 2006). Stà ¶ppler (2008) stated that MRSA can be found all over the world and brings about a relatively short history. Stà ¶ppler noted that MRSA existed as long as humanity existed. In 1961, MRSA was first noted. This was approximately two years following the usage of methicillin as an antibiotic to treat the microorganisms Staphyloccocus aureus and other infectious microorganisms. During this time, it was found out that methicillin resistance was caused by a certain penicillin - binding protein that was coded for by a mobile genetic element called as methicillin resistant gene or mecA. Stà ¶ppler (2008) added that this gene continued to evolve in such a way that the strains of MRSA are resistant to other

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Extended Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Extended Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example Whorf’s idea was more that some speakers have power over others and by extension power over the world, to shape the world with their words. This type of thinking makes people very uncomfortable because they would like to believe that political correctness and the fact that all humans are the same down deep is reality. Whorf himself did not set out to create a controversy in linguistics. He simply followed ideas to see where they would end up. Cameron asserts that Whorf did not set out to create controversy and may not even have held some of the ideas he is given credit for. Kodish explains that human speakers are in an eternal loop of creating language, changing reality, creating language, changing reality and so on. Reality and language are intertwined, and neither directly creates the other but they co-create perception. In a group of people, the same objective reality will be perceived differently by each individual because of the language system he or she speaks. This type of relativism is important because it also shapes how humans think about things; in other words, learning a new (foreign) word for an object or concept only barely changes our perception of the object or concept. An example that Kodish cites is the Eskimo words for snow controversy; Whorf actually wrote that the Eskimos have three words for snow, not dozens, but because of this expanded language capability they thought about snow differently from European-Americans. Linguistic relativity simply means that humans understand what we do about the world because we have words to descr ibe those things. Kodish also discusses linguistic determinism, which is the prevailing theory currently; determinism says that the biological base of language determines its eventual structure. Kodish asserts that neither Sapir nor Whorf ever put forth what is now known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Lucy has created a thoroughly detailed discussion of the literature

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Capstone - Non-Compliance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Capstone - Non-Compliance - Essay Example the outcomes include; full compliance or adherence to treatment and change in life that promotes good health depending on the treatment recommendations. Non-compliance is a complex problem that can affect and is also affected by economic status, change in lifestyle, and group approach interventions among other factors. Nursing interventions are successful and can yield tangible outcomes. However, effective interventions require identification and counteraction of factors that lead to non-compliance. Telling examples of these factors are unsatisfactory discharge instructions, economic difficulties, a language barrier, and cultural believes. Proactive attitude by nursing staff to counteract these factors yields desirable outcomes. Noncompliance is the opposite of compliance (the degree to which patients follow medical advice) plagues patients with a diagnosis such as diabetes, renal failure, and hypertension (Fischer, Stedman, Lii, Vogeli, & Shrank, et al, 2010). Noncompliant patients inhibit appropriate treatment of their general health care and thus pose a medical hazard at a wide scale (Fischer, et al, 2010). Noncompliance does not imply to therapeutic medications, but also general medical advice such as self-supervised physical exercises and therapy sessions. Dealing with noncompliant patients is a challenge that nurses face on a daily basis while carrying out their duties. However, addressing these challenges proactively (by the nurse) can bring about positive outcomes among affected patients. This capstone project covers the approaches of identifying and dealing with noncompliant patterns in patients affected by various health issues on a nursing perspective. Emerging literature on this subject suggests an increasing interest by researchers to delineate the problem. Noncompliant patients are difficult to research owing to their negative attitude towards healthcare givers (who are also the researchers). Consequently, this area is still gray and only limited

Call For Further Research To Enhance Organizational Behavior Theory Essay

Call For Further Research To Enhance Organizational Behavior Theory - Essay Example Nowadays, the organization is the principal form of employment for people around the world, and under scrutiny from all quarters. The twenty first century began with a great deal of excitement especially as the innovatory technologies of the twentieth century started to appear commonplace and every organization had already been supplied with tools through academic research to deal with additional massive organizational changes in the offing. The discipline of organizational behavior had been through its trials and tests, finally emerging as an indispensable area of learning for all twenty first century managers to have gone through. Arthur P. Brief and Howard M. Weiss (2002) describe this relatively new field of applied psychology thus: Organizations act as the engine of the world economy in our day. So, for the first time in the previous century, the psychology of workers in an organization became a focal issue in studying organizations. Employee development, organizational citizenship, organizational attachment, work attitudes, job design, turnover, leadership, absenteeism, and employee work motivation turned out to be the centers of attention with advances in psychological theory and changes in the workplace (Mowday and Sutton 1993). Developments in the understanding of personality, emotion, and cognition, and their influence on work choices and goal striving were thoroughly investigated. The entire human resources departments world over were revolutionized at the same time as economic, technological and organizational changes encouraged further research on the influence of sociocultural and environmental factors on motivation. The emergence of new theories, paradigms, and organizational concerns not only provid ed a rich matrix for the study of organizational behavior, but also provided firms with a rather attractive framework for organizational behavior modification, and in general, the art of running a firm with reference to its people (Kanfer 2006). By the end of the twentieth century it was evident that we have a borderless, international economy (Hodgetts 1999). Organizations with multinational structures could more conveniently apply the standards described in organizational behavior theory and achieve well for themselves and their communities. An organization with international outreach meant that there were many other organizations in the same boat facing the world economy as the primary source of inspiration. Applying latest international research in organizational behavior was definitely easier and more lucrative for them, just as the use of latest developments in computer technology was made mandatory in these organizations before others.Organizational behavior experts in the twentieth century did not need to give attention to tremendous transformations about to affect the world economy beginning in the twenty first century. There was no way for them to predict the effects

Friday, August 23, 2019

The Logic of Descartes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Logic of Descartes - Essay Example The Logic of Descartes Descartes felt the only way to obtain true knowledge was to rely solely upon human reason while ignoring the senses. Descartes wrote several books regarding the nature of existence and knowledge, providing us with plenty of material to study and has had tremendous influence on those who have come after him. These books are typically divided into segments Descartes labels meditations. In these meditations, Descartes reflects upon the nature of the individual and determines that he does indeed exist as both a physical and a metaphysical being through a detailed consideration of the various elements that contribute to his awareness. Through statements such as ‘I am not lodged in my body like a pilot in a vessel’ and ‘I am not that set of limbs called the human body’, Descartes attempts to bridge the difference between the new sciences and the sensory perceptions of the old philosophy, introducing in the process a new way of thinking about thinking. In Descartes ’ Meditations on First Philosophy (1989), Descartes states emphatically ‘I think, therefore I am.’ This simple-sounding statement is the result of a discourse in which Descartes calls into question all of the assumptions he’s come to know as a result of the philosophical thought of his day. To seek a higher version of the truth, Descartes felt it was necessary to question every assumption that had even the shadow of a doubt. Through this questioning process, he demonstrates how thought, not observation or the senses, is really the right foundation for knowledge. â€Å"When I considered that the very same thoughts (presentations) which we experience when awake may also be experienced when we are asleep, while there is at that time not one of them true, I supposed that all the objects (presentations) that had ever entered into my mind when awake, had in them no more truth than the illusions of my dreams† (Descartes, 2001). The first issue to be overco me was the concept that knowledge defined by a â€Å"clear and distinct perception† as being clear of sensation is foiled by its own dependence on the senses within the definition. Descartes argues that in order to fool a mind, a mind must first exist, indicating that the senses are not necessary to the development of a thinking being, so we must be something more than the physical material we are made of, something more than ‘the set of limbs.’ In the process of breaking down all of his perceptions to determine the very basic, deepest thought that is not based on the senses, Descartes admits that there may be some way in which all of his senses could be fooled all of the time into thinking he exists; this in itself proves his existence. â€Å"But there is I know not what being, who is possessed at once of the highest power and the deepest cunning, who is constantly employing all his ingenuity in deceiving me. Doubtless, then, I exist, since I am deceived; and, let him deceive me as he may, he can never bring it about that I am nothing, so long as I shall be conscious that I am something† (Descartes, 1989). Meditation III builds off of Descartes’ earlier idea that he exists because he is capable of thinking – â€Å"I think, therefore I am.† Assuming that what he is able to perceive as distinct must be true, he strives to erase his mind of all information that has been gained through his five senses to arrive at what he knows deep within himself. â€Å"In this item of first knowledge, there is simply a clear and distinct

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Professional Roles and Values Essay Example for Free

Professional Roles and Values Essay A. Promoting Interdisciplinary Care When nurses promote collaborative interdisciplinary care, they are ensuring the availability and accessibility of quality health care (ANA, 2010). As the nursing supervisor in this clinical setting, I would hold a staff meeting with the family nurse practitioner (FNP), nurse, licensed vocational nurse (LVN), nutritionist, and social worker. I would ask them to speak about their areas of expertise and explain how their knowledge will enhance this clinical team. The nutritionist’s expertise in diet, the social worker’s fluency in Spanish, the LVN’s training in education, and the nurse’s specialization in community health are all attributes that will promote the delivery of quality patient care. In this meeting, I give examples of how the specialized training and resources of these individuals will improve patient care and ease the workload of other staff members. I foster an open discussion and encourage thoughts, feelings, and questions. I also state that if someone has a question or concern that they do not wish to discuss in front of everyone, they can speak to me in private. B. Delegation and Teamwork As the nurse supervisor, I would use a coaching approach to speak to Ms. W. Coaching provides a safe environment for trying different approaches to new or challenging situations (Robinson-Walker, Detmer, and Schultz, 2011). I would request to have lunch with Ms. W and at this lunch, I begin by praising her work and emphasizing her importance to this clinic. In a light-hearted and non-confrontational way, I say, â€Å"I know how hard you have been working with Ms. R and you must be so frustrated!† I encourage a response by asking, â€Å"Why do you think she is being non-compliant?† I listen to her responses without interrupting and work into the conversation these questions: â€Å"Do you think it’s possible she does not understand English? What do you think about having the social worker speak to her?† The LVN’s expertise in community health and her available resources would also be mentioned. I emphasize that delegating to members of the team will b e in the  best interest of the patient, as well as free up some of Ms. R’s valuable time. B1. Responsibility The Nursing Code of Ethics Provision 2 states that the nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient and it further implies that nurses should actively promote collaborative multi-disciplinary planning (American Nurses Association, 2012). If Ms. W does not have time to follow through with community services that could benefit Ms. R, then Ms. W has a responsibility to refer Ms. R to people who have the knowledge, resources, and time to help her. In addition to the Nursing Code of Ethics, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) states that one of the standards related to the RN scope of practice is that nurses evaluate the patient’s response to nursing care. They do this by evaluating: the patient’s response to interventions, the need for alternative interventions, the need to consult with other team members, and the need to revise the plan of care (NCSBN, 2012). When Ms. W saw that the patient was not compliant, she should have reevaluated her plan of care. Ms. W can delegate to the LVN, who is experienced in prenatal education, and would be able to explain the importance of finishing antibiotic therapy or performing tests that are essential for a healthy pregnancy. If Ms. W is too busy to educate, then she is responsible for finding someone who can. B2. Recommended Resource A resource that would benefit Ms. W in learning more about delegating is the continuing education course given by the ANA, â€Å"Developing Delegation Skills.† This course covers delegation and the associated concepts of accountability, responsibility, and authority (Weydt, 2010). It discusses using nursing judgment and interpersonal relationships during the delegation process and at the courses end, the author speaks about how to develop delegation skills. Learning to properly delegate ultimately improves the quality of patient care. B3. Delegation Opportunities The nurse in this scenario has 4 colleagues in the clinic that she can delegate to: the LVN, nurse, nutritionist, and social worker. Ms. R had recurrent urinary tract infections; the nutritionist can review her food and fluid intake and the LVN can teach prenatal care based on the nutritionist’s evaluation and recommendations. The nurse in the clinic can explore community resources that may be available to assist Ms. R. The social worker, however, is the most important person in these collaborations because it is probable that Ms. R does not understand English and needs an interpreter. The social worker is fluent in Spanish and her presence will not only raise the comfort level of Ms. W, but will assure that she is receiving the required information that is pertinent to her pregnancy. References American Nurses Association. (2012). Code of Ethics for Nursing with Interpretive Statements. Nursing World. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/codeofethics National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2012). NCSBN Model Rules. Retrieved from http://www.ncsbn.org/12_model_rules_090512.pdf Weydt, A. (2010). Developing Delegation Skills. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 15(2). Retrieved from www.nursingworld.org/mainmenucategories/anamarketplace/anaperiodicals/ojin/tableofcontents/vol152010/no2may2010/delegation-skills

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Is Cloning Playing God?

Is Cloning Playing God? Imagine sitting down, all of the sudden, you look to your left, and what do you see. Yourself, as a seven-year-old child, but wait a minute, you are 30 years of age. This child is genetically identical to you, however, his parents are not yours; and although you see many similarities, this child is acting in a way you have never acted. This child as you can see knows more about technology than you did at that age. Why? The answers is simple, this seven-year-old child is growing in a different era an era where technology is necessary. So is this child really your clone or? This child has a different set of parents than you, yet this child does not have one single gene from them. Is it cloning a human being playing God? Scientists have been experimenting with cloning for at least forty years; however, it was not until February 24, 1997 and the news of the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep from mammary cells of an adult sheep, that reaction emerged from around the world. Now a day, we have heard of other animals, such as sheep, mice, cows, pigs, goats, dogs, and cats, as well as other things have been cloned with no condemnation. Conversely, the possibility of human cloning is for most an abomination. The idea of cloning humans has created a mixed of emotions, including confusion in society. Cloning for most of the people, means changing the history of humanity. Even though, Ian William, the Scotland scientist that cloned the sheep, agree to never clone humans, thirty hours after the news of Dolly circle the world, a bill was passed in New York by Legislator, John Marchi, to make human cloning illegal. Furthermore, other scientists, physicians, conservative ministers, and rabbis joined the Thou Shalt Not Clone Humans movement; and among the reasons to banned cloning were the human rights to have a set of biological parents (Pence 23). Almost globally but mostly in the USA and Europe there is a devastating agreement, stating that human cloning is unethical; therefore, it should be prohibited by law. On the other hand, there is not a clear explanation or reasons to explain as to why cloning breaks societys basic moral principles. Answering the how clones are created question can shed a light and might provide a reason in favor or against it. In early 1970s, the breakthrough in medical ethics (bioethics) has attracted many philosophers because it seems to help answer questions about the beginning and end of life, which is something that philosophers have continually thought about. Modern science and technology continue to raise new questions of morality, death, and new ways of reproducing the human kind. On the other hand, philosophy is about questioning assumptions. The status quo has dictated that is unthinkable to clone humans. To which philosophy responds: Unthinkable? Let us think about that (Pence 35) . Creating a human through cloning is very different from creating humans through in vitro or IVF (under glass fertilization). Cloning is considered asexual reproduction because unlike the other two methods mentioned where an individual is created from two different sets of 23 chromosomes, the individual created through cloning would have the same 46 chromosomes as the donor. Cloning implies the removal of the nucleus of an oocyte (egg) and introducing the donors nucleus. Keeping in mind that a nucleus is what holds genetic data; and by removing the original nucleus and inserting the donor, this process creates a new artificial cell with the potential to be used to develop a new human being (clone). Scientists would have to biochemically manipulate the process in order for the cell body (oocyte) to accept the new nucleus. After this process is of reproductive cloning is completed in a laboratory setting, this oocyte has to then be implanted in a womans uterus for the embryo to fully de velop (Pence 15). In the natural creation of a human being, the oocyte (from the female) and the sperm (from a male) unite in a process called fertilization. Each the oocyte and the sperm have a nucleus, which hold genetic data from each one of the parents. Unlike cloning, there is no separation or removal of the oocytes nucleus, thus, creating a new and unique human being, with a different genotype. Another subject for discussion is the idea of utilizing artificial uterus to grow these embryos; thus, denying the fetus of bonding with the mother. Then again, a clone would not be considered human, unless a real flesh-and blood female gestate such embryo (Tannert 238). On another matter, humans already produce natural clones. Monozygotic twins are the natural production humans trough the same fertilized cell. The division of the cell into two genetically identical individuals is considered normal but rarely; and although identical, they are not flawless copies. Furthermore, they are still the product of a natural process of fertilization and mutation and not cloning or biochemically manipulation. Therefore, the genetic material has gone through an intertwine process to create a new genotype ( (Tannert 239). Alternatively, an embryo produced in a laboratory, has been artificially constructed by human action. A manipulation that might grow up into a human, but considered an object. There are no possibilities of random mutation, as in the monozygotic twins, because to be considered a clone, it has to be genetically identical to the donor. Therefore, the argument becomes one of ethical evaluation giving a point to a legal ban on reproductive human cloning because we must not enforce ones genetic identity to another individual. Humans for the most part strive for autonomy; and so, by cloning we are restricting the cloned individual of some of the basic components of human survival; thus violating what constitutionally guarantee human rights. Whether it is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which the US Declaration of Independence lists as the unalienable rights of humankind; whether it is libertà ©, à ©galità ©, fraternità ©, the famous motto of the French revolution; or whether it is the simple and elegant statement that The dignity of man is sacrosanct, the first sentence of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany (Tannert 238). If one uses Immanuel Kant philosophies and adds the science of cloning, cloning uses one persons genetic material (to clone) as a vehicle to achieve the needs of another person (the person cloning). Therefore, one can say that this process is unethical and why it should be forbidden. On the other hand, for example, the first IVF baby born in England in 1978 is a normal woman. At first, the idea of producing humans in a tube was insane because of possible birth defects, since then thousands of kids have been born utilizing this method. The same people arguing against it in the past were the same people arguing against cloning. The National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) has also suggested a federal law to sanction any effort to create a human by cloning. This organization utilized the Americans illogical reservation of human cloning as a motive for a ban. The fears come from fictional movies and novels of human cloning, as well as, not being able to trust scientists. Arguments against human cloning thus far have been based on human emotions and ethics rather than facts. Emotions, however, can change with evidences. Artificial insemination for example, was once looked at as a deviance, now considered a social norm. Also, genetic testing for Down syndrome thro ugh amniocenteses because selection of pregnancy was an option. Cloning can offer some benefits: It can help scientist to comprehend how cells age; it can help with treating mitochondrial DNA diseases; and more importantly can eliminate the use of embryos for research. This could be accomplished by using the de-differentiated cell in the normal stage without fusing them to an egg, to create an embryo for reproductive experiments (Pence 46). There is also Polly the sheep, the first cloned animal to have a human gene in 1997. Polly was able to produce a human protein in the milk; to help individuals, such as hemophiliacs and bone diseases suffers that are not able to produce it. (CNN interactive). With Wilmuts techniques and discoveries, there is the possibility of new therapies to help sick people, for example, the alteration of a gene can help the treatment of cystic fibrosis and the transplant of pigs organs to dying humans could be genetically altered to reduce rejection (Pence 22). Scientists agreed that the possibility of having an identical genetic person is nearly impossible: Even clone cells, with identical set of genes, vary somewhat in shape or coloration. the jump is made from molecules to cells, complexity jumps exponentially because molecules can be combined in thousands upon thousands of ways from cells (Pence 31) Therefore, even if scientists try to play God, the odds of reproducing identical cells are close to zero. People should be given an opportunity to hear both sides of the arguments in favor or against it, and then vote on what they think is correct. The cloning techniques need to be perfected, the odds of a human cloned survival is poor and uncertain; furthermore, no one can guarantee perfect babies with no birth defects, but then again, even though natural fertilization, no one can guarantee a perfect baby. Human cloning it might look like playing God; however, God is a God of perfection, and that is something no human can ever achieve. Every single time the debate comes up-after Ian Wilmuts first cloning experimentations on mammals, after the Raelians claim to have cloned a human being, and in recent times, in the stir of the South Korean cloning scandal-the community, legislators and the media all express a profound apprehension with human cloning (Pence 16).

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Theories of Culture in Organisations

Theories of Culture in Organisations In this chapter the researcher will provide review theories relevant to the stated research questions. The culture is the important subject that can be explained and defined in many ways. The Hall (1976) explains the culture as a mans medium that forms the human life of an individual. Accordingly there is not one phase of human life that is not influenced by culture. This means personality, how people behaves to others and express themselves, how they move and solve the issues, how their critics are planned and put forward, as well as how government and economic systems are put together and function. According to Hofstade, (1997) culture is the collective programming of the mind based on values. Stark (2001), suggested that diversity not only includes race and gender, but also goals, values, role expectations and thoughts. Thus there is an infinite range of individuals characteristics and experiences that can be labelled diverse. They can include elements such as age, sexual orientation, religion, physical disability, life style, physical appearance, economic status, education, family type and geographic orientation Thomas (1991) credits the emergence of diversity, as an issue, to three factors: the global market which makes doing business intensely competitive, the changing composition of the workforce (Toosi, 2002), and the increase in individuals celebrating their differences instead of contesting what makes them unique. A broader definition and the emergence of diversity as an important issue, helps set the stage for diversity being recognized as a potential source for competitive advantage Perry and Mankin (2004) identified the importance of perception in influencing trust in management. They identified that staff perception of management turnover increases difficulty in attaining employee trust as it instils feelings of insecurity. Lee and Brand (2005) found a positive correlation between perceived personal control over the physical environment and self-reported job satisfaction. They also found that perceived personal control was positively related to workplace satisfaction. The perception of management support will positively impact upon trust. Research has found (Stokols et al., 2002) that greater perceived support for creativity at work is associated with lower stress and greater job satisfaction Cultural diversity has an important place in the communicational problems in multinational or global business. Informing incompletely about cultural structure and properties of an employee group causes wrong estimations in the period of performance evaluation, measurement and, in general, the decision making of management (Akova, 2000; Deniz, 2000); in most multinational or global businesses difficulties are encountered in the performance evaluations of employees because of cultural needs of showing diversity. For instance, Americans prefer the announcement of their performance results directly to themselves, whereas Asians generally indirect ways. Thus, development of a standard performance evaluation system applicable in all departments of most multinational or global businesses would not be realistic (Arslan, 2001). From an employee perspective, research has shown that individuals who perceive that diversity is supported and encouraged in their workplace are likely to hold positiv e attitudes towards their organization, their job and their career (Hicks-Clarke and Iles, 2000). Such workplaces are characterized as having a positive atmosphere or climate for diversity, where this term is conceived of as the extent to which human resource diversity is valued and in which employees from diverse backgrounds feel welcomed and included (Hicks-Clarke and Iles, 2000, p. 324). Conversely, other studies have found that employees who do not feel valued because of their race and ethnicity consider that this negatively affects their job and career satisfaction and job involvement (Cox, 1993) and their ability to interact with others (Kossek and Zonia, 1993). West and Mayor (1997) in their study concluded that characteristics of top management team members affect the organisations capability to seek out and concentrate to compelling information about future conditions and competitive environments. 2.2 Different approach in managing the culturally diverse organization: The basic concept of managing diversity accepts that the work force consists of a diverse population of people. By realising the difference between the employees and if it is properly managed this will become a great asset for the organisation and work to be done will be more efficient and effective. Race, culture, ethnicity, gender, age and disability are examples of diversity factors. (Bartz, Hillman Lehrer, 1990:321) There are many definitions diversity management, but the essence of the concept contents that; Diversity management is founded on the premise that harnessing the differences of a diverse population of people, will create a productive environment in which everyone feels valued, where their talents are being fully utilised and in which organisational goals are met (Kandola Fullerton, 2000:8) Social scientists have been trying for long to identify the relationship between culture and behavior of the people in different regions. In many ways culture is no longer a terminology but it is interpreted as the set of guidelines for a society to live in (Venken 2002). On reflecting on this view the organizations can be viewed as the minor social institution. In general, culture is a vague concept and many scientists have tried to define it in many ways and measurement of this concept related to the definition (Perks and Sanderson 2000). Human resource management have tried to put forward the importance of the cultural diversity in business while the research exists only in the areas of human resource management such as recruitment, organizational socialization and in service training, it is widely viewed that there is a deep study needed in the field of cultural issues.(McGuire et al, 2002). The diversity movement is hailed by many as a positive change, in which organizations voluntarily engage in a process of systemic cultural transformation designed to eliminate any further forms of exclusion. This development coincides with a general change in the political climate seeking to reverse many of the legal mandates of the previous decades, most notably affirmative action. To reinforce the desired state of managing diversity at the organizational level, revised recruiting, appraisal, development, and reward systems, as well as an enforceable diversity policy need to be implemented (Allen and Montgomery, 2001; Hemphill and Haines, 1998; Miller, 1998). Ingley and Van der Walt (2003) have developed the two different frameworks to describe the diversity related to decision outcomes in firms. The decision outcomes can be related to the performance outcome of the firm because all decisions affect how a firm can use its resources to reach its performance goals. Thus, the frameworks can be useful to understand the connection between diversity and firm performance. The first framework in figure 1 shows how the outcomes of the decision process in boards are mediated by varying amounts of diversity. If the board is diverse then the outcome, according to this framework, can be unintended which may lead to the outcome that was originally intended. Moreover, the framework shows how diversity on the other hand can lead to an unintended but a more creative outcome than was intended, or lead to a situation where an agreement cannot be reached because of irresolvable conflicts (Ingley and van der Walt, 2003). The framework has the title Intended, unintended, and realized outcomes of diversity and board dynamics and is illustrated in figure The second framework is displayed in figure 3.2 and it shows diversity related to the strategic context and the quality of the decision process of the board. The framework shows that in a stable and safe business environment, more diverse boards may produce low quality decisions in contrast to more homogeneous boards. The literature points out that diversity in boards suits firms which operate in a more turbulent and changing environment where the strategic complexity is high (Ingley and van der Walt, 2003). The framework can be helpful in explaining differences between industries. The framework is called Diversity, strategic context, and board decision quality and is illustrated in figure 3.2. There are numerous studies that implicate that diversity in firms is a positive and maybe even necessary aspect to consider when the members of the BoD and TMT of a firm are appointed. Five arguments for diversity are presented by Wang and Clift (2009). First, the market is becoming more diverse. Thus, the firms could benefit from adapting to the customers different needs, and from creating a deeper understanding for the market and the customers. Second, an individuals beliefs, attributes and cognitive functioning are varying with variables such as age, gender, and race; this implicates that creativity and innovation is enhanced by diversity. Third, the variety of perspectives that emerge from diversity could lead to a wider range of alternatives for the decision makers to evaluate, which enables them to get a more effective problem solving process. Forth, diversity may lead to an improved understanding of the surrounding environment. Finally, diversity may enhance business in a global marketplace due to the cultural and ethnical dimensions of diversity, thus, enhancing the understanding of different cultures (Wang and Clift, 2009). Furthermore, Martell and Caroll (1995) say that creativity and innovation are closely related to a diverse group of people, which in turn makes it easier for the TMT to be flexible in a changing and dynamic business environment (Carson et al., 2004). 2.3 EFFECTIVENESS OF DIVERSITY MANAGEMEMNT: It has been in the discussion among the researchers about the effectiveness of the diversity management in the organization or business. The researchers and management gurus have argues various benefits of the diversity management of the different organizations that have increased the diversity measures of their organization. But the important parameter to be found is under what condition the diversity measure of the organization at its maximum. According the Haas (2008) the diversity measurement is methodologically complicated. And due to the variety of factors and situational outcomes of different studies are not able to complete. Hass distinguishes three main theories focusing on the role of gender, ethnicity and age factors to find out the firms performance. He used social identity theory based on Festingers work(1954) to study the individuals comparing themselves with the others in the organization. this comparison causes the team members to reflect on their performance level and it will lead to positive or negative level of self image to belong the other group. This will cause to increase the overall performance of the group. This comparison can be of individual level or on group level to increase the performance. The group comparison will make the group strong and it will ease the communication among the group members. Another perspective of the Hass is the similarity-attraction theory (Byrne, 1971). Based on the demographic characteristics the individuals perceive that they belong to similar groups and which nurture the trust, mutual cooperation and interaction among the group. It will lead to the formation of the subgroups thus causing the less functioning of the team at large. The third perspective distinguished by the Haas is information processing and decision making theories (Gruenfeld et al 1996). According to this view the heterogeneity within a group causes the improvement in information exchange and it enables the decision making. Normally the different group members have great variety of resources using more diverse networks than the homogeneous networks would do. It is to be noted that the this perspective pertains with the positive outcome of the diversity where as the other is more looking to the negative outcome of the group structures and processes. In Haass study of diversity and team performance linkage the first two perspective are much more supported by the results of the empirical studies reviewed than the third one. Most of the studies conducted by others gave negative results of the diverse groups and structures. So it can be conclude here that the elegance of the information processing and knowledge diversity perspective is defined by the messy reality and of the interpersonal and group process in the organizations. In other words the power of diversity is meets the reality of diversity of power and interest (Klein and Harrison, 2007). The context of the diversity and the effectiveness is addressed by the Lopez Fernandez and Sanchez Gardey. For this the diversity is defined in the multidimensional point of view associating the democratic diversity and human capital diversity. In the theoretical framework the Lopez and Gardy stress that the diversity doesnt influence the organizational or group performance directly but it is more influenced by the process like decision making process. Also the different configuration of human resource practices may affect the organizational dynamics differently, and at the end the group may have different affects on workgroup performance and sustainable competitive advantages. So in order to extract the benefits from the diverse work force the companies need to strategically place the human resource operations and systems. Lopez and Gardy found three different HRM orientations. The Individualistic control orientation The group development orientation The group control orientation The individualistic control orientation is referring to an orientation which is characterized by the Focus on individuals rather than on the work groups. Rigid control mechanism and little self control within the work groups Strong market orientation for achieving human capital rather than emphasizing the intra organizational development of human capital The group development orientation is characterized by the A strong focus on the work force rather than on individuals A system of open and flexible Human resource practice which allow self control within the work groups A focus on the intra organizational development of human capital The group control organization is characterized by the A strong emphasis on groups Rigid external control mechanism and a little self control Preference for external markets to recruit employees and no stress on intra organizational development of human capital According to the study conducted by the Hardy and Lopez it is found that the individual pattern hinders the decision making process in the diversified groups. The study also conclude that the to foster the cognitive benefits of the diversity, a collective and interactive HRM orientation suffices to benefits from the work group diversity. 2.4 ADVANTAGES OF DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE: In many ways the culturally diverse organization is considered as the asset and resources. The diverse workforce is increasingly helpful when the organization is practicing new ideas or expanding the business plans, if the organizations are able to recognize the diverse potential on the work force then the greater advantage can be obtained (Iles 1995). There are a plethora of literatures claiming the performance advantages of the diverse work force over the homogeneous work structures (Cox, Lobel and MacLeod, 1991; Cox and Blake, 1991). one of the advantage is the redundant options for the multi cultural organizations in attracting and retaining the best talent. the capabilities and skills of the minorities and women offer a wide labor pool. The organizations that are able to attract and retain the minorities and offer the gradual career advancement treatment in the formal way gain competitive advantage and high quality human resource individuals. Researchers suggest that diversity provides benefits to organizations, including: the capability to attract and keep the best talent available; reduced costs due to lower turnover and fewer lawsuits; enhanced market understanding and marketing ability; greater creativity and innovations; better problem solving; greater organizational flexibility, better decision making; and better overall performance (Cox, 1993; Cox andBlake, 1991; Cox, 1991; Robinson and Dechant, 1997; Carlozzi, 1999; Griscombe and Mattis, 2002; McAllister, 1997; Watson et al., 1993). These benefits have the potential to influence organizational performance and the bottom-line. Also the diverse work force is more important to meet the demands and skills for competing and to satisfy the clientele in the extremely competing global marketplace. Such diverse organizations have a strong understanding of the requirements of the legal, political, social, economic and cultural environments of foreign nations (Adler, 1991). Second in hi-tech industries the wide range of talents generated by the ethnic and gender diverse organization becomes a huge advantage (Morgan 1989). The diverse organization are seems to be brilliant in the problem solving and have better ability to extract the meanings this will help to reflect the multitude of meaning regardless the group thinking. The diverse organizations tend to possess more organizational flexibility, and are better able to adapt to changes. Women, for instance, are said to have higher tolerance for ambiguity than men (Rotter and OConnell, 1982). 2.5 DISADVANTAGES OF DIVERSITY AT WORK PLACE: As in the many system the diverse organization has also its disadvantages over its moderate advantages. In problem solving situations the extraordinary cost in the financial and time resources may nullify the benefits of the diversity and it can lead to the dysfunctional conflicts. Diversity is not suited for the situations in the uncertainty and complexity which may lead to the frustration and confusion. Some time diversity can make difficulties to come to a decision on a particular course of action and it may result in developing the negative synergy and cultural clashes in within the team or organization. Traditionally the cultural conflicts within the organization between the minority and majority groups are solved in the favor of the majority groups this will cause the delivering full performance by the minority members in the critical situations. OReilly (1992) found diversity to be associated with lower level of psychological identification with group members which would tend to detract from overall performance and result in adverse effects on organizational measures of productivity, absenteeism and turnover. Homogenous groups have been found to outperform culturally diverse groups particularly where there are serious communications issues which make it more difficult for everybody to make optimal contributions to the group effort (Sheridan, 1994).The absenteeism and higher turnover are the two main problems identified in the multicultural organizations. Several researches shows that since 1960s the absenteeism among the minorities and woman is consistently higher on absenteeism and turnover than their majority counterparts OReilly(1992). There are also downsides with diversity. Ingley and Van der Walt refer to a study conducted by Milliken and Martins (1999) where some of the findings are pointing on the negative aspects of diversity. First, there could be problems with integration. Second, the turnover of members is higher in more diverse groups. Third, diversity could lead to affective costs (Ingley and van der Walt, 2003). Another issue regarding the negative effects of diversity is communication and coordination between members in a group as heterogeneity could inhibit the effective use of skills and knowledge (Van der Walt et al., 2006). Groups that are more diverse have a lower level of member satisfaction although this effect diminishes when the group stays together for a longer time (Ingley and van der Walt, 2003). 2.6 CHALLENGES WHILE PURSUING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL DIVERSITY Nonetheless the success of some organizations when deciding to manage their diversity, there are also some that have failed while attempting the same. There are several reason to be linked for the failure of in the initiatives of the diversity initiatives. One of the reasons is the lack of top management involvement. The long term effectiveness of the organizational culture is limited in these organizations where the lack of top management initiation mainly predominant (Konal, Prasad, Pringle, 2006). Some organizations are still viewing the diversity in the legal and compliance aspects only and are not addressing the important management/leadership qualities needed for the implementation at the hand. According to Susan Meisinger (2008) many organization concentrates their diversification completely on the issues around representation and compliance. If the organization include the diverse workforce and they use hiring policies that are in strict compliance with the law they believe t hat their diversity strategy is a success. Mullins(2008) also states that the diversity strategies in order to be successful must also focus on achieving strategic business results and look for ways to leverage diverse groups of workers to create new opportunities for success. Others are avoiding to address the specific cultural definitions that are present in each countrys specific needs and develop a diversity strategy around those needs to ensure that the organizational goals will be fulfilled. Another view is the pay for performance developed by the Trompenaars(1994), according to him many managers around the world are in favor of this principle but they translate differently the terms pay and performance. The culture is a time depended term and it will undergo changes due to the economic trends or migratory trends among the others. This will affect the organization and as in like the culture. The cultural values changes as the countrys value changes. This phenomenon will cause the new challenges for managers that needed to adapt their management styles in order to meet the organizational goals. It is to be noted that the all changes in the employees cant be addressed by the management in the same manner. (Cross,2000) While developing the successful diversity initiatives managers may come across different barriers and challenges. Superficial or not properly implemented diversity initiatives will cause the negative affects causing the harm to the organization structure. Mutton and Hernandez (2004) brought some of these barriers after conducting a deep study on a variety of industries and they conducted series of conversations with the participants that shows the barriers to these initiatives. Organizational culture: while trying to amplify diversity issues to all parts of the organization, diversity managers need to carefully explore the organizations culture in order to be able to frame and communicate the issues of workplace diversity in an effective manner. For example, taking a subjective approach while explaining diversity issues to an analytical and linear type of culture, might become a barrier when trying to get the desired point across Middle management and employee buy-in: Lower levels of management and the general employee population do not know what it is they are dealing with when addressing these diversity initiatives, thus resulting in lower levels of buy-in. Kreitz (2008) identifies three elements that are vital when implementing diversity initiatives, but have proven to be challenges for some organizations: Top management commitment The skilled training and breadth of organizational knowledge HR possesses Shared understanding that managing diversity is not an isolated problem to be solved but an ongoing and lengthy process Stockdale and Crosby (2004) provide a list of mistakes to avoid while implementing diversity initiatives. This list is the result of what various authors call, Common diversity traps: assuming that short-term training will be enough failing to relate diversity to the organizational mission and key products waiting to collect all possible data and ignoring employee perceptions as data for taking action waiting for everyone important to be thoroughly behind the effort not paying attention to the impact of resistance people in important positions isolating the effort in one department (such as human resources) or under one person not differentiating between good intentions, usually contained in verbal expressions of support of diversity, and the impact of specific institutional actions that go against diversity not building coalitions and support with different stakeholders who may fear that the diversity effort will not include them assuming that managing diversity is just good common sense and people skills measuring success by the quantity and magnitude if diversity activities and events, rather that the impact on the work and people Tjoswold and Leung (2003) identifies decision making to be negative impacted because of problems with communication in a cultural diverse organization. Since the spoken word is interpreted differently conflict could arise from differences in values and norms. Even written communication is interpreted differently depending on your values and norms. One very interesting finding is from the article Managing Functional diversity, risk taking, incentives for teams to achieve radical innovations from Cabrales, Medina, Lavado, Cabrera (2008) where they have found that the multifunctional teams has some disadvantages in reaching consensus due to the diversity of perspectives 2.7 HOW TO ACHIEVE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF DIVERSITY IN ORGANIZATIONS Some researchers as well as experts have mentioned different ways that can help organizations success in their diversification methods. Out of the many in the plethora of literatures the researcher found a few that come in line with the research domain. Below the researcher present a few of them which are divided in different categories for the easier understandings. Clear definition of what diversity means to the organization: by this definition itself we understood that the need of clear picture and reason in the diversification process. Each organisation should have their clear rationale in doing the diversity initiatives. As Schmidt(2004) mentioned, organizations should separate between diversification that are based in facing the legal implications and of policy character between those that are really invested into achieving the recruitment of people and talents that they identify as beneficial to the initiatives. Also according to the Helms, Dye and Mills (2009) there should be clear understandings between the management of diversification and the notion of equal employment opportunities initiatives. Stockdale and Crosby (2004) suggest the need of integrated human management systems at the corporate strategy level for the diversification process. Top management support: an effective diversification process has 100% supports from the top management (Schmidt 2004). Basically it is to be understood that there should be strong vision of diversification goals and the ways in which it attains the goals. The goal should be organised to monitor through the top level of management and this support should be consistent in the diversification process and should address the importance of the initiatives. Stockdale and Crosby (2004) All around employee involvement is necessary: apart from having the top leadership support it is to be noted that the support from the employees at all levels of organisation is important in the diversity initiatives. Mutton and Hernandez (2004) suggest that having a strong diversity/compliance professional help in delivering the high level of commitment to the rest of the organisation. One of the other method in ensuring the employee commitment is developing the performance measures, accountability initiatives and evaluation initiatives. Creation of the work groups is important where the discussion about the diversity is carried out and a group leader will be needed to report the employee concern to the top management periodically. This method of employee initiation will help to develop the diversity in to the core culture of the organisation. Assign a reasonable growth period: the diversification cannot be taken from a quick point of view, they should be viewed as the long transformational process instead. The organisation and management need to understand diversification process need time before reaping the benefits can be appreciated. As in any system the integration of new methods and process to the organisation culture will take time. With diversity initiatives the organisation must considered a trial and error period until the stated benefits of the diversification can be found. So this is the reason why the organisation do not give too early in the process of diversification process. Stockdale and Crosby(2004) suggest to pilot and experiment the situations and encourage an environment of learning from experience where errorless implementation is not expected. In general, clear and integrated management practices also can be observed during the implementation of the diversity initiatives. All managers should put their maximum efforts to achieve the vast meaning of what it means diversity. Both the structural and cultural changes are needed to implement the successful diversity strategies. Managers of the organization must execute and follow certain number of processes to reap the benefits of the diversity. Some of the management practice includes target recruitment, education and training program intended for the underrepresented individuals or groups, career development, flexible work arrangement, mentoring, workshop among the others (Helms 2009). Helms also mentioned the other success factor that must be present at the moment of an organization decides to execute diversity. 2.8 Managing Diversity in the work place The term diversity management have emerged in the recent time as a voluntarily corporative initiative directed at the systematic recruitment and retainment of employees belonging to the diverse social identity groups.(Prasad,Pringle and Konrad, 2006). The voluntary organizational actions are intended to develop the greater inclusion of the employees from various domains into the formal or informal organizational structure through special policies and programs. Further to this notion some view the diversity management and their contribution will add competitive advantages to the organizations thus improving its business performance. The managers of the organization need to develop different skill sets to achieve the success of their organization and their own benefits. These developments causing many initiatives can cause the ideal environment that works naturally for the total diversity within the organization.(Thomas 1992). A good practice for the organizations that aim to manage the diversity would be to investigate what are the practices required for a good diverse workplace environment. Taylor Cox (1993) suggests that organizations need to undergo the transformation to accept the multiculturalism within the organizations. According to Taylor the objective of managing the diversity is to absorb the all socio cultural backgrounds to the organizational core culture to amplify the organization

Monday, August 19, 2019

Hamlet Essays -- Literature

Comedy and tragedy are two totally opposing genres but both have been very successful during the Elizabethan period. Several plays were written to help people to be instructed in a general way and to purge their emotions through the laughing in comedy or the crying in the tragedy. Among the writers of tragic plays, there was Shakespeare with one of his most famous play The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Regarding comedy, John Lyly takes the myth of Endymion in his courtly comedy Endymion, the Man in the Moon. Starting from these two plays this essay will look at the boundaries that allow defining and distinguishing between tragedy and comedy as well as their importance at the time. Tragedy and comedy stand out mainly by the fact that one of these genres makes people cry and the other makes them laugh. The boundary between the two is not always easy to distinguish, since a play can be considered as a comedy without being funny, simply because it has a happy ending. The issue here is to contrast these two genres to better draw the border between them. The comedy featured ordinary characters and thus allowed people to laugh at their pains and ironic situations. Unlike comedy, tragedy had as protagonists, people of high social level. The characters of the tragedy are usually caught in a fate that they cannot escape. It is rare that the tragedy gives a solution or it is in most cases death. To summarise, comedy was designed to make people laugh and show that a happy ending is possible, it often ends with marriages, while the tragedy shows that even very important persons can find themselves in situations that are beyond them and that lead them to their downfall. By writing The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Den... ... of Revenge. 315 o A Theory of Renaissance Tragedy. pp. 292 †¢ Bolt, Sydney. (1985). Hamlet. Peguin Masterstudies. †¢ Deats, Sara. (Nov., 1975). The Disarming of the Knight: Comic Parody in Lyly's "Endymion" South Atlantic Bulletin, Vol. 40, No. 4. pp. 67-75 †¢ Houppert, Joseph W. (1975). John Lyly. Twayne Publishers, Boston. o Chapter 2. Non-Dramatic Fiction. I Euphues, the Anatomy of Wit. pp. 22-52 o Chapter 7. Lyly’s Reputation and Influence. I Lyly the Stylist. pp. 147-150 †¢ Jump, J. Davies. (1968). Shakespeare: Hamlet: a casebook. London: Macmillan. L. C. Knight. o L.C. Knight. (1960) Hamlet and Death. pp. 151-155 o Mack, Maynard. (1952). The World of Hamlet. pp. 86-107 †¢ Lyly, J., Bevington, D. M. (1996). Endymion. Manchester: Manchester University Press. †¢ Neufeld, M. Christine. Lyly’s Chimerical Vision: Witchcraft in Endymion.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Federalists :: American History, Madison, Factions

James Madison was a very intelligent man and was one of the forefathers for our country. In Madison’s Federalist Paper Number 10 he describes the need to control factions in the United States and how the government is to do so. The Federalist papers are a key point in describing how to control â€Å"factions† that are so dangerous to the young government, or so Madison feels. In Madison’s paper he clearly lays out his idea on the sources of factions, his feelings on democracy versus a republic, and how to control factions. To Madison factions, or groups of citizens with mal-intent for the new government, are a threat to the new government and it is impossible to find an acceptable remedy. Madison considers both liberty and the idea of having opposing opinions to be the key sources to factions. This also proves to be the reason why factions can never be eradicated completely. To Madison there are â€Å"two methods of removing the causes of faction: the on, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.†(pg. A21) Of course both of these ideas are completely preposterous because they are impossible to be had. Removing liberty in the words of James Madison would be â€Å"worse than the disease† (pg. A21) because of the pure fact that to abolish liberty would be to abolish everything fought for in the American Revolution. Madison compares liberty to air in that removing it would rid of the fire, factions, but also kill every life, so basically it is a lose-lose situation. The latter idea of Madison is to basically have everyone think in a homogenous manner, which of course is impracticable. As Madison puts it â€Å"As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed† (pg. A22) Men will always have a difference of opinion because we are always influenced by reason and self-love. Madison continues saying that the causes of factions are â€Å"thus sown in the nature of man† (pg. A22) and all we can do is try to control factions but it is impossible to rid of them completely. The federalist paper continues on to Madison’s feelings about having a democracy versus a republic and which he feels is a better decision. Federalists :: American History, Madison, Factions James Madison was a very intelligent man and was one of the forefathers for our country. In Madison’s Federalist Paper Number 10 he describes the need to control factions in the United States and how the government is to do so. The Federalist papers are a key point in describing how to control â€Å"factions† that are so dangerous to the young government, or so Madison feels. In Madison’s paper he clearly lays out his idea on the sources of factions, his feelings on democracy versus a republic, and how to control factions. To Madison factions, or groups of citizens with mal-intent for the new government, are a threat to the new government and it is impossible to find an acceptable remedy. Madison considers both liberty and the idea of having opposing opinions to be the key sources to factions. This also proves to be the reason why factions can never be eradicated completely. To Madison there are â€Å"two methods of removing the causes of faction: the on, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.†(pg. A21) Of course both of these ideas are completely preposterous because they are impossible to be had. Removing liberty in the words of James Madison would be â€Å"worse than the disease† (pg. A21) because of the pure fact that to abolish liberty would be to abolish everything fought for in the American Revolution. Madison compares liberty to air in that removing it would rid of the fire, factions, but also kill every life, so basically it is a lose-lose situation. The latter idea of Madison is to basically have everyone think in a homogenous manner, which of course is impracticable. As Madison puts it â€Å"As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed† (pg. A22) Men will always have a difference of opinion because we are always influenced by reason and self-love. Madison continues saying that the causes of factions are â€Å"thus sown in the nature of man† (pg. A22) and all we can do is try to control factions but it is impossible to rid of them completely. The federalist paper continues on to Madison’s feelings about having a democracy versus a republic and which he feels is a better decision.

Ameliorating Hospital Working Conditions Essay -- Nursing, CISM

It is found that most â€Å"nurses love their work and hate their jobs† (Berliner and Ginzberg 2742). Due to the current quality of the nurses’ environments, this is of no surprise. The major factor hindering the quality of hospitals is the level of stress in the workforce. While it is inevitable to eliminate stressors in all medical centers, how stress is perceived is a controllable factor. The idea of stress being controlled emphasizes the need for CISM programs in all health facilities of America to cope with the critical incidents and stress that occur on a daily basis. CISM, as defined by Tracy, is a â€Å"comprehensive, multi-component program based upon counseling principals and peer support processes designed to assist emergency health professionals’ when dealing effectively with the stressful components of their work† (28). The program is thought to be the most effective type of counseling in hospitals for critical incidents and stress, due to it s extensive step-by-step guideline. CISM is expected to increase nursing staff, patient satisfaction, and overall create more efficient health care facilities by mitigating negative stress reactions in hospital workers. The program will provide a safer and healthier environment for both the nurses and patients in the medical centers. In a study, it was found that hospitals with more positive work environments for their nurses have higher patient satisfaction (Greenslade and Jimmieson 1189). The higher patient satisfaction is most likely due to nurse’s more emotionally prepared to care for their patients in a thriving environment. CISM programs provide that healthier environment and better working conditions in the hospital. CISM was created by Jeffrey Mitchell initially to reduce the ... ... (2003). Crisis Intervention and CISM: A Research Summary. Ellicott City, Maryland, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. Retrieved from http://cism.cap.gov/files/articles/CISM%20Research%20Summary.pdf Parsley, Lee Ann, Conditions and strategies Affecting Interagency Collaboration in the Development of Critical Incident Stress Management Programs. Diss. U. of Ohio, 2003. UMI, 3093687. Print. Sieben, Laura. Staff Debriefing after a Critical Incident in the Emergency Department. Diss. College of Scholastica, 2009, UMI, 14738626. Print. Tracy, Scott. How Cumulative Stress Affected the Lived Experience of Emergency Medical Service Workers after a Horrific Natural Disaster: Implications for Professional Counselors. Diss. Duquesne University, 2007. UMI, 3292249. Print.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Text Messages and Video Conferencing

Project Objective The objective of this project is to implement sending and receiving text messages and video conferencing on LANA using Visual Basic. It provides functionality that enables classes to use a default application framework. Once the frame work is able to do sending and receiving messages and video conferencing on LANA, the project can be extended in future for developing audio chat as well. Two users are able to chat by entering each others' IP addresses. Users can easily add and delete contacts from their contact list.Users can accept and reject invitations or requests of video hat. Since the only form of authentication is enabling the recipient to accept chat request, this application is not very secure to use on the Internet. But, this application is intended to be used inside a LANA where users are known and trusted. Questionnaires 1 . Who can benefit this system? 2. What are the requirements In terms of: Hardware components Software Components 3. What features does the system offer In terms of: Sending and receiving message Video Conferencing 4.How many participants do you envisage needing to use the system? Will be the equipment be used? In a single location dedicate location at school range location throughout the school 5. Where 6. Are there any maintenance and support services or contracts available to you In relation to the equipment? 7. How much was the cost of the project and when will be Its duration? 8. How easy Is the equipment to use and operate? How straightforward Is the user Interface? Statement of Problem This present study tries to analyze, design, develop, test and Implement secured LANA chat system.Specially, the study sought answer the following questions: 1. Who can benefit this system? 2. How efficient the LANA chat System Is? 3. What specific programming language needed for the proposed LANA chat System? 4. What are the technical features of the proposed system In terms of: a. Security b. Celestially d. System Process Si gnificance of the Study The proposed system basically connects to certain people by obtaining an IP Configuration; it also provides video conferencing by obtaining the said IP address.Further, it also provides on sending and receiving messages through LANA and at the same time you can only chose and create contact list wherein a certain person you want can only interact to you by getting its IP address. This system is a project proposal intended for the students and officers/employees of some establishments for them not to need a wireless connection Just to communicate to other people or their friends. This would also allow them to connect and socialize to people like sending and receiving text message and video conferencing through LANA even though they don't have connections like wireless or modem.With this system, it would be easy for them to exchange thoughts and ideas by Just communicating to their friends. Review of Related Literature The simplest computer chatting is a method of sending, receiving, and storing typed assuages with a network of users. This network could be WAN (Wide Area Network) or LANA(Local Area Network). Our chatting system will deal only with Élan's (static IP address) and it is made up of two applications one runs on the server side (any computer on the network you choose it to be the server) while the other is delivered and executed on the client PC.Every time the client wants to chat he runs the client application, enter his user name, host name where the server application is running, and hits the connect button and start chatting. The system is many-to-many arrangement; every-one is able to â€Å"talk† to anyone else. Messages may be broadcasted to all receivers(recipients are automatically notified of incoming messages) or sent to special individuals (private chatting through server) where during this operation all messages are encrypted at the sender side and decrypted at the recipient to disallow any hackers to the server from reading these private messages.For this system to be physically realized you should be familiar with programming and networking. Visual Basic is our programming language, TCP/IP is our network protocol, and finally â€Å"windows sockets† is our programming interface to have access to network functionality. Video conferencing enables direct face-to-face communication across networks. The term ‘video conferencing' covers a range of communication activities and technologies.At one end of the scale are web- conferencing tools such as Yahoo Instant Messenger, which can be used with low- cost webs on stand-alone PC's to provide basic video conferencing facilities. At the high end of the scale are dedicated video conferencing studios with specialist cameras, lighting and audio equipment. What each video conferencing system has in common is that two or more parties in different locations have the ability to monomaniac using a combination of video, audio and data.A video conference can be person to person (referred to as ‘point-to-point') or can involve more than two (the United Kingdom Education and Research Networking Association) to develop a national schools' network. This will be a secure network, available from anywhere, allowing easy access to a wide range of high quality online applications, including video conferencing. Methodology Waterfall Approach In the software development process cycle, programming models are used to plan the various stages of developing an application. One such model is the waterfall del.It is called such because the model develops systematically from one phase to another in a downward fashion, like a waterfall. Requirement Gathering and Analysis Deployment of System System Design Implementation Testing Maintenance Figure 1 . Waterfall Model Figure 1 shows the model that the researchers followed from the start until the implementation of the system. It had begun in the gathering of requirements and analys is. The researchers conducted an interview with the client in order to assemble the necessary information in constructing the system Just as how the client expects it to be.Sharing of if ideas and opinions between the researchers and the client took place during the meeting of the requirements for the said system, in order to distinguish, whether such requirements could be valid and possible to be included in the system to be developed . Seer friendly interface, big capacity of storage, reliable and secure. After the requirements have been gathered and analyzed, the researchers then started to build the design of the system. The user -interface was drafted and designed according to client's request.The researchers chose IV programming Language for construction of the system. The design served as a guide on where to begin and to end. Without this, the construction of the system would be difficult. Upon finishing the chosen design of the system, the coding was started. As the coding o f the system progressed, immediate testing was done to distinguish if it works in the preferred way and to remove all the bugs. When the construction of the system was at the last completed, it was tested to phase. After the successful testing of the system, it was then transported to client .The waterfall approach was used as guide to complete the system or project. Proponents System Analyst is responsible for the support of at least complex systems and applications, analyzes and understands the current state processes to ensure that the context and implications of change are understood by the clients and project teams, develops an understanding of how present and future business needs will impact to the solution and works with the clients to prioritize and rationalize the requirements of the system.The documenter or project writer develops and maintains, under the supervision of the project leader, the different documents pertaining to the management of the project including the p roject plan/schedule of he project closure document. In this project, the first systems analyst and the project manager is John Michael Mango. In systems development, he is responsible for the designing of the new system/application.Also required to perform as a programmer, where he actually writes the code to implement the design of the proposed application. The second systems analyst is Siebel Managua who is responsible for defining the alternate solutions to the system and also for the problems occurring at the various stages of the development process. Finally, the documenter is Johnnie Malay who designs, creates and maintains technical documentation.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Fashion Channel Market Segmentation Essay

One of TFC’s glaring strengths is that it specializes in fashion-oriented programming. The company is dedicated to fashion programming 24/7, meaning it is in a position to influence the market. Secondly, TFC appeals mostly to women between 35 and 54. The company’s viewership in the segment is 45% compared to 42% and 40% for Lifetime and CNN respectively. This category has the largest number of viewers and at the same time, one of those segments that is able to attract premium pricing. In addition, the company operates under the basic cable package. The package has more than 80 million subscribers in the U.S meaning that a large number of people have access to the channel. Conversely, TFC faces several weaknesses. Firstly, the company has not fully diversified its operations; it only specializes in fashion related programming. This could spell doom for the company, especially if the current trend is an indication of the future. Moreover, there is a section of the top management that is reluctant to accept change in the organization. The implication is that Dana’s recommendations may fail to get ratified for fear of the unknown. Thirdly, the satisfaction level of TFC’s customers is on the decline. The company is quickly losing customers to the two major competitors, and there are fears that the trend is sustainable. The other major weakness is that the organization has not segmented its market. The company ought to segment its market in order to benefit from the premium fee charged for the highly valued demographics. There are a number of opportunities available for TFC in its external environment. To begin, advertisers are ready to pay a premium for higher rating as well as defined demographic programming. Channels with higher rating are able to charge more for advertising meaning that TFC can gain additional revenue if appropriate strategies are developed to help increase its overall market rating. Secondly, there is a more room for the company to increase its market size. Fashion specific programming is continually gaining prominence among viewers in the U.S. market. In addition, viewer’s demand on network content and ad is directly related to the cost of advertisement. The company can thus increase its ad revenue through marketing strategies aimed at increasing viewership. One of TFC’s predominant threats is its two chief competitors: CNN and Lifetime. The two are constantly eating into the TFC’s major revenue base, and may even force the company out of the market. The second threat is that TFC is only entitled to $1 per subscriber. This is quite a small portion that cannot fully sustain the company’s operations. Besides, there is a threat that TFC may get dropped from the basic cable platform if subscribers satisfaction fails to improve. This may mean total loss for business. TFC’s Central Strategic Issue The company appears to lack a clearly defined business strategy. The  company’s product-market focus is vague. For instance, TFC has not segmented its market into different segments. Alternative Strategic Promotional Courses of Action Alternative 1 There are a number of marketing courses of action at TFC’s disposal. The first one, and perhaps most important, is market segmentation. The company should divide its market into different segments and concentrate on maximizing the revenue for the segment of choice. According to the data provided in the case, a combination of Fashionistas (scored 23.1M) and Shoppers/Planners (scored 42.35M) segments appears the most economical alternative for TFC. The two categories of customers are highly involved in matters related to fashion and are thus a suitable target for the company. There is also economic benefit involved if the company opts to back the strategy. Firstly, an admixture of the two segments yields a high profit margin (39%) in comparison to any other alternative. Besides, the alternative will trigger an increase in overall rating by 20%. There is a potential rise in the company’s rating from 1.0 to 1.2 consequently leading to increased revenue. In addition, this segmentation has the highest percentage of viewers 50% (=35% + 15%). The large number of viewers in two segments is thus suitable for the company, especially given that it entirely specialize in fashion programs. The problem with this alternative is that there is an increment in programming expenditure by $20 million. Alternative 2 The second alternative is broad-based marketing. This involves treating the entire market as a single group typified by customers with shared needs. The advantage of this strategy is that it is quite profitable at least in the short-run. Its adoption is likely to earn the company a net profit of more than $40 million (=$94.9 – 54.6). In addition, the approach does not attract incremental programming expenditure. On the other hand, the broad-based alternative will deny TFC the opportunity to earn premium CPM (Cost per thousand). Alternatively, TFC can opt for Fashionista segmentation. Using 2007 as a  base year, the alternative may rake for the company at least a net income of $100 million (=151.4 – 54.6). In addition, the approach is likely to boost the company’s overall rating from 1.1 to 1.2. The company will also be in a position to increase its charges from $2 to $3.5. Conversely, the Fashionista alternative will lead to an incremental expenditure of $15 million. Decision and Implementation Plan The new promotional plan should be positioned towards a combination of Fashionistas and Shoppers/Planners segment. Although there are a number of risks involved in this strategy, the returns are investing in the strategy. One of the greatest challenges for the company is maintaining the loyal customers while at the same time wooing new planners/shoppers and fashionistas. The company must come up with ways of ensuring that they do not lose some customers. This is achievable through evaluating the programs popular among the loyal customers and ensuring they are not disrupted by the new alternative. The company can also benchmark with its customers to learn how they are able to attract a huge number of fashionistas. The fact that the alternative may lead to incremental $20 million expenditure presupposes that its implementation is quite expensive. Benchmarking with Lifetime and CNN can help reduce the cost. Finally, the company should devise ways to foster awareness, perceived value, and interest of its products among consumers. This can be achieved through online marketing and ensuring there is appropriate social media policy in place to avoid misuse of the marketing platform.