Professional Standards for Teaching: a Review or Literature Essay

ABSTRACT Abstract:- The aim of this article is to review the related literature about the Professional Standards for teachers. The conceptual and historical background of the professional standards has been discussed in this article. It is viewed that quality of education and quality of life are interdependent. Quality of education to a great extent lies on the quality of his teachers. Professional standards for teachers are being used as a tool to improve the quality of education. Standards are the measures of achievement for both the professional teachers or educators and the their students. These professional standards are sub divided into content and performance standards in the curriculum seek to assure excellence. These standards define and establish expectations, and provide a common base for planning. Professional standards for teachers also provide a foundational framework to develop pre-service teacher education programmes, accredit the institutions that offer them and to certify their graduates as licensed teachers. In different western countries various organizations are responsible for the development of different types of professional standards for teachers. In Pakistan, National Professional Standards for teachers has been introduced by the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with UNESCO and USAID, which are discussed in detail in this review. Introduction Education is considered as one of the basic elements which contribute to the development of a country and the prosperity of the masses. It promotes awareness among people by making them able to ‘read’ the world (Freire, 1987). The increasing use of technology has transformed the world into a global village. This global community has accepted the principle that education is a basic human right. Accomplishment of such right does not only involve being given access to schools and being trained for life-long learning via either formal or non-formal means, but more importantly, being provided quality education (Ibrahim & Ahmed, 2008, p. 402). For many children, youth and adults today, access to learning opportunities is no  longer a luxury; however, getting quality education remains to be elusive even in developed countries. The declarations of the 1990 Jomtien World Conference on Education and the 2000 Dakar World Education Forum both emphasized that to achieve Education f or All (EFA) by 2015 would require, in addition to increased access to education, all countries to improve the quality and equity of education â€Å"so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all† (Ross K., 2007). Teachers are vital. Unless we can get more teachers, and better teachers, we will not reach the target of making quality education available for all by 2015.The quality and standard of excellence in education depend upon the quality and standard of teachers. Strong evidence demonstrates that the quality of teachers is the most significant educational input for quality learning in schools. The importance of the role of the teacher as an agent of change, promoting understanding and tolerance, has never been more obvious than today (Delors, Mufti, Amagi, Carneiro, Chung, Geremek, Gorham, Kornhauser, Manley, Quero, Savane, Singh, Stavenhagen, Suhr, Won, & Nanzhao,1996). This is reflected in the international trend to give greater attention and effort to improve the quality of teachers. If any country aspires to compete successfully in the global knowledge economy and convert the raw talents of its people into productive asset it has to create a world class educational system from pre-school to postgraduate levels. A world class education is not possible without world class teachers, most importantly at the foundational levels of K -10 grades, who instruct, inform and inspire their students to quality learning and scholarship. MacBer (2000) describes the qualities of a teacher, A good teacher is kind, is generous, listens to students, encourages them, has faith in them, keeps confidences, likes teaching children, likes teaching their subjects, takes time to explain things, helps them when they are stuck, tells them how they are doing, allow them to have their say, doesn’t give up on them, cares for their opinion, makes them feel clever, treats people equally, stands up for them, makes allowances, tells the truth and is forgiving ( p. 3). Since last decade, there has been a worldwide focus on quality in education in many countries. Calls for quality teachers, quality outcomes and quality schools have become something of a mantra for politicians employing authorities and business leaders (Ibrahim & Ahmed, 2008, p. 402). K. Kennedy (2001) describes a quality  profession and a quality classroom teaching as two sides of the same coin. It is true that we want a need a â€Å"quality profession†. Yet it equally true that we need individual teachers who make up the profession to be committed to quality teaching [†¦]. What the profession as a whole says about standard of professional practice should come to life in individual classrooms (Kennedy, 2001). To produce world class teachers and empower them to educate generations of learners /scholars, the fundamental requirements have been clearly delineated in professional literature. It includes standards of what teachers need to know and be able to do. Professional Standards for Teachers Standard-setting and accreditation of teacher education are key mechanisms to ensure the quality of teacher training. Quality assurance requires Professional Standards of teacher education and an effective mechanism of teacher accreditation of teacher education institutions and programmes. Developing and implementing standards of professional practice to reflect a new model of teacher professionalism is emerging as a priority in a number of countries across the globe. Professional teaching standards help to make teachers’ knowledge and capabilities more explicit, as well as provide a powerful mechanism for defining and communicating what constitutes good teaching. They can also provide a useful framework for ongoing professional learning. Quality of teachers is reflected in their quality of teaching. To ensure quality in teaching, standards for what teachers should know and be able to do should be developed. The standards are used as the criteria for licensing or certification , recruitment, and career planning and development (Ibrahim & Ahmed, 2008, p. 414). Meaning of Standards The term â€Å"standards† can be used in at least two ways: firstly, standards are statements about what is valued – statements of principle; secondly, they are measures – levels or measures of performance. A standard, in the later sense â€Å"points to and describes a desirable level of performance† (Ingvarson L. , 2002). Sykes and Plastrik point out that the word ‘standard’, as in the second sense of a measure, carries different usages and nuances. One of these is the idea of a standard as a legally recognized unit, such as that of Greenwich Mean Time, or the Gold Standard, or the Standard Meter for length. Another is the notion of a standard as ‘an authoritative or  recognized exemplar of perfection’, such as the sacred books of a religious organization. Yet another usage refers to ‘a definite level of excellence, attainment, wealth or the like’ such as ‘standard of living’, standards of health or a particular level of proficiency’, as in playing the piano or conducting a hip replacement, for example (1993). There are two main types of standards as applied to teaching: The first defines the basic tasks or duties of a teacher – what a teacher is hired to do. These are the kinds of generic criteria that school administrators usually have authority to apply in appraising whether teachers are doing their basic job. †¦ The second are standards for good teaching specific to particular subject and curriculum fields. †¦ These standards are based on professional values and images of high quality learning specific to subject fields (Ingvarson L., 1998a, pp. 32-33). Standards are used in different ways in teaching profession. For example pre-service preparation and at the time of induction, they are used to select new members of the teaching profession (Selection Standards), to assess that what graduates from teacher education courses should know and able and to do (Standards for higher qualification in teaching), to assess the teacher preparation course and institutions (Accreditation standards), and to measure the performance for full entry to the profession after probationary year (Registration / Licensing Standards). Professional Standards for teachers are also used to improve continuing Professional Development (CPD). These standards may include Employer specific standards, where permanency still applies (Permanency / Tenure standards), Standards for periodic review of performance of contractual duties for retention or dismissal decisions (Accountability standards), Standards for self-analysis and reflection on practice (Appraisal Standards for Professional Development), Profession-wide standards for highly accomplished practice set by a professional body (Advanced Certification Standards) and Standards for career advancement specific to an employing authority (Promotion Standards) (Ingvarson L. 2002, p.3-6). History of Initiative or Development of Professional Standards There is considerable interest worldwide in the potential of professional teaching standards to support improvements in the quality of teaching and learning. This interest reflects the findings of  recent research on quality teaching (Darling-Hammond. 2000; Cuttance, 2001; Rivkin, Hanushek & Kain, 2000). The development of professional standards has proceeded with remarkable speed within a number of countries. Developments have been â€Å"driven by a diverse range of factors. It includes the demand for greater accountability, the desire to reform education, the need to strengthen teacher professional development and the introduction of teacher performance appraisal† (Mulcahy, 2003). A brief history of development of Professional Standards around the world United States of America At the national level, the establishment of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) has dominated discussion of professional standards in the United States. The National Board established in 1987 in response to the criticisms of teaching standards in â€Å"A Nation at Risk†, is credited as being the catalyst for action in the United States. The National Board’s mission was to establish rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. The vast canopy of NBPTS standards of accomplished teaching is built on five core, underpinning propositions. (1) Teachers are committed to students and their learning; (2) Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students; (3) Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning; (4) Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience; and (5) Teachers are members of learning communities (NBPTS, 1987). Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) is a consortium of state education agencies, higher education institutions, and national educational organisations dedicated to the reform of the education, licensing, and on-going professional development of teachers in the USA, which had also formulated the professional standards for teachers. INTASC’s mission is to promote standards-based reform through the development of model standards and assessments for beginning teachers (INTASC, 2006). In comparison with the National Board’s approach to developing standards, the INTASC standards are performance-based, that is they describe what teachers should know and be able to do rather than listing courses that teachers should take in order to be awarded a licence (Ibrahim & Ahmad, 2008, p. 418). Developed for purposes of licensing  beginning teachers, they do not differ markedly in knowledge or skills requirements from those used by the NBPTS for accredita tion of accomplished teachers. Where they do differ is in the expectation that accomplished teachers will be able to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in more refined ways (Ramsey, 2000, p. 22). The United Kingdom The issue of standards for teachers has been a focus of policy development in England for most of the last decade. Four separate agencies are now involved in the development, monitoring and accreditation of teachers against educational standards. They are; (1) The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) or Training and Development Agency (TDA); (2) Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED); (3) The General Teaching Council (GTC); (4) The Further Education National Training Organisation (FENTO). The General Teaching Council (GTC) was established by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998, started work on 1 September 2000 as the independent professional body for teaching in England. The Act gave effect to a long-held aspiration to give teaching the same status as other self-regulating professions, such as nursing. It set the GTC two aims: (1) to contribute to improving standards of teaching and the quality of learning, and (2) to maintain and improve standards of professional conduct among t eachers, in the interests of the public. The GTC code has been revised and is effective from September 2009. The Code describes professionalism in practice in relation to registered teachers: (1) Put the wellbeing, development and progress of children and young people first (2) Take responsibility for maintaining the quality of their teaching practice (3) Help children and young people to become confident and successful learners (4) Demonstrate respect for diversity and promote equality (5) Strive to establish productive partnerships with parents and carers (6) Work as part of a whole-school team (7) Co-operate with other professional colleagues (8) Demonstrate honesty and integrity and uphold public trust and confidence in the teaching profession (The General Teaching Council (GTC), 2009). Australia The issue of standards is under discussion in Australia since 1980’s. Professional Standards for teachers have been developed both at National and state/ province level after a long and continuous struggle. This Standard  movement can be divided into two parts. (1) First Phase of standards development (1980 – 1999), (2) Second Phase of standards development (21st Century). Most of the initial work on professional standards done in first period was the result of state government agencies or employers. However, no comparable professional standards for teachers were developed. Accreditation of teacher education programs, entry to and succession within the teaching profession was organized in line with the particular qualification or registration requirements within each State or Territory. Regulatory bodies for teachers within Australia were state-based (Mulchay & Jasman, 2003, p. 13). In the second phase of standards develop movement; the responsibility of developing pr ofessional standards was squarely placed with the profession. It was increasingly argued that standards should be generated by the teachers so that establishment of these standards would craft point of reference for teachers. Ingvarson (1998, p. 127) writing in the context of school teaching, argues that teaching standards â€Å"need to be embedded in the teaching of a particular subject if they are to be valid representations of expertise and useful guides to professional development† (as cited in Mulchay & Jasman, 2003, p. 16). The National Standards for Teachers (the Standards) in Australia has been validated and finalized by The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) in collaboration with The Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) in 2010. The National Professional Standards for Teachers were endorsed by MCEECDYA in December 2010. The Standards represents an analysis of effective, contemporary practice by teachers throughout Australia. Their development included a synthesis of the descriptions of teachers’ knowledge, practice and professional engagement used by teacher accreditation and registration authorities, employers and professional associations (The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), 2011). The seven Standards identify what is expected of teachers within three domains of teaching (Professional Knowledge, Professional Practice and Professional Engagement) within their four stages (Graduate, Proficient, Highly accomplished and Lead Teacher) of their careers . Teachers’ demonstration of the Standards will occur within their specific teaching context at their stage of expertise and reflect the learning requirements of the students they teach (AITSL, 2011). The Standards are;  (1): Know students and how they learn (2): Know the content and how to teach it (3): Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning (4): Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments (5): Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning (6): Engage with professional learning (7): Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community (AITSL, 2011, p. 5). Pakistan The Ministry of Education, with the cooperation of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the financial support of United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has developed National Professional Standards for Teachers in Pakistan. These standards frame a vision of the qualifications Pakistan expects of its teachers. These expectations need to be of national concern because teachers are the heart of the nation’s effort to assure a better future for all children and youth (United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2011). These standards were launched on the 23 of February of 2009 and it is hoped that with them, a wider discussion on teacher quality will emerge and be accompanied by concrete actions dedicated to its improvement. The standards are; (1)Subject matter knowledge (2) Human growth and development (3) Knowledge of Islamic ethical values/social life skills (4) Instructional planning and strategies (5) Assessment (6) Learning environment (7) Effective communication and proficient use of information communication technologies (8) Collaboration and partnerships (9) Continuous professional development and code of conduct (10) Teaching of English as second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) (Government Of Pakistan, 2009). CONCLUSION Education is an essential need of life. The quality of life depends upon the quality of education. A quality education system depends upon the well qualified teachers. To measure the ability and performance of the teachers we need some basis and standards provide these bases for evaluation or comparison of teachers. Just like many other professions professional standards for teachers are being introduced in education in different countries of the world including Pakistan. The review of literature reveals that United States of America has a pioneering role in the development of these professional standards for teachers. In many western countries like  America and Australia these professional standards for teachers are being introduced by both public and private organizations, especially teachers’ organizations. These standards are of generic and specific types. The generic standards are introduced to general expected behavior of teachers. The specific standards are produced according to the needs of the specific subject. These standards are playing a crucial role to improve the quality of education. These standards are also motivating factor for teachers for their continuous professional development (CPD). In Pakistan these professional standards are recently introduced in 2009 by the federal ministry of Education government of Pakistan with the financial support of UNESCO and USAID under STEP project. These standards are in the process of implementation and several teachers’ organizations and NGOs are also closely monitoring and evaluating them. It is hoped that these standards may be used as agent of change for the betterment of education in Pakistan. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cuttance, P. (2001). The impact of teaching on student learning. , in: K. Kennedy (Ed.) Beyond the rhetoric: building a teaching profession to support quality teaching (Canberra, Australian College of Education) , 35-55. Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher quality and student achievement: a review of state policy evidence. Seatle, WA: Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington). Delors, J., Mufti, L., Amagi, I., Carneiro, R., Chung, F., Geremek, B., Gorham, W., Kornhauser, A., Manley, M., Quero, M.P., Savane, M.A., Singh, K., Stavenhagen, R., Suhr, M.W., Won, M. & Nanzhao, Z. (1996). Learning: The treasure within: Report to UNESCO of the international commission on education for the twenty first century. Paris: UNESCO. Freire, D. M. (1987). Literacy: Reading the Word and World. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd. Government Of Pakistan. (2009). National Professional Standards for Teachers in Pakistan (NPST-2009). Islamabad: Ministry Of Education. Ibrahim, M. S., & Ahmad, A. R. (2008). An Analysis of Teacher Education Reforms Worldwide and the Need for the Introduction of the Teacher Professional Standards in the Contemporary Education Systems. SOSIOHUMANIKA , 401-426. Ingvarson, L. (1998a). Professional standards: A challenge for the AATE. English in Australia (122), 31-44. Ingvarson, L. (2002). Development of a national standards framework for the teaching profession. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research. INTASC. (2006). INTASC Fact sheet. Washington D.C.: INTASC (Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium). Kennedy, K. ed. (2001). Beyond the Rhetoric: Building a Teaching Profession to Support Teaching. Canberra: College Year Book, Australian College of Educators. McBer, H. (2000). Research into teacher effectiveness – A model of teacher effectiveness. Report to the Department for Education and Employment. Mulcahy, D. (2003). Teaching standards and professionalism in TAFE: prospects, possibilities and pitfalls. Department of Education Policy and Management University of Melbourne . Mulchay, D., & Jasman, A. (2003). Towards the development of standards of professional practice for the Victorian TAFE teabing force. Melbourne: Office of Trainig and Tertiary Education. NBPTS [National Board for Professional Teaching Standards]. (1987). What Teachers Should Know and be Able t o Do. Detroit, MI: NBTPS Ramsey, G. (2000). â€Å"Quality Matters, Revitalising Teaching: Critical Times, Critical Choices†. Report of the Review of Teacher Education, NSW Dept. of Education and Training, Sydney, NSW. Rivkin, S., Hanushek, E., & Kain, J. (2000). Teachers, schools, and academic achievement, Working Paper 6691 (revised). National Bureau of Economic Research. Ross Ken. (2007). Quality and equity in basic education: can we have both?, IIEP Newsletter, July-September 2007. P .9 Sykes, G., & Plastrik, P. (1993). Standard setting as educational reform. Washington D.C: American Association of Colleges for Teachers of Education. The Austeralian Institute for teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). (2011). National Professional Standards for teachers, Australia: The Austeralian Institute for teaching and School Leadership. The General Teaching Council (GTC), (2009). CODE OF CONDUCT AND PRACTICE FOR REGISTERED TEACHERS, London: general Teaching Council for England. Unit ed Nation Educational scientiofic and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2011). UNESCO Islamabad, Retrieved September 2011, from Education / STEP: http://unesco.org.pk/education/step.html

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Analysis of the Kurt Vonnegut and Margaret Atwoods stories - Essay Example Although many of us uphold equality as an undeniable human right, the majority have their own subjective idea of what equality means. Prior to reading Vonnegut's story, I believed that I supported equality as a principle but never considered what type of equality I believed in. Following my reading, I discovered that I believed in equality before the law and equality of opportunity but, definitely do not support economic equality and equality of capacities. Economic equality entails denying people their right to succeed, just as equality of capacities ensures that people cannot strive to become all that they can be. Accordingly, I cannot support absolute equality although I most definitely do believe in the fundamental equality of all before the law. The equality to which I am committed is an equality of opportunity as would allow people to fulfill their ambitions and realize their potentials. As I am writing this, however, I cannot help but think of Atwood's story and the simple and absolute truth it conveys. That truth is that in the end, we are all going to die.

Bargaining power of supplier Essay Example for Free

Bargaining power of supplier Essay Bargaining power of supplier is also known as the amount of control your suppliers have over the price of goods you purchase dictates whether this area is an opportunity or threat. This is driven by the number of suppliers of each essential input; uniqueness of their product or service; relative size and strength of the supplier, and cost of switching from one supplier to another. In this case, Minbaochong Sdn Bhd is the supplier of Eight Eleven, the largest chain of twenty-four hour grocery stores in Malaysia. MinBao brand is one of the most popular brands of bread in Malaysia which supposed to give Minbaochong Sdn Bhd a strong bargaining power. However the tremendous mistake made by Kelvin Tan, the sales manager of Minbaochong Sdn Bhd, closed a deal with Eight Eleven by offering them a price concession and allowing them to offer a 400 gram loaf of MinBao bread for RM3.00 instead of its recommended retail price of RM3.20. This strategy causes sales of MinBao bread in supermarkets and other outlets declined significantly and resulted Eight Eleven is now accounted for one-third of Minbaochong’s sales. Further, the company already burdened by debt acquired in its recent spin off was on the edge of bankruptcy lower the bargaining power of Minbaochong Sdn Bhd. The bargaining power is now with Eight Eleven as Eight Eleven controlling one-third of Minbaochong’s sales and even Minbaochong Sdn Bhd terminate the contract and stop supplying bread to Eight Eleven, it does not affect muc h to Eight Eleven because they have its own house brand or there is greater presence of substitute inputs for Eight Eleven means the extent to which it is possible to switch to another supplier for an input or a close substitute, thus it results the bargaining power of suppliers, Minbaochong Sdn Bhd become lower. Competitive rivalry The intensity of rivalry among competitors in an industry refers to the extent to which firms within an industry put pressure on one another and limit each other’s profit potential. Competitive rivalry affects the competitive environment and influences the ability of existing firms to achieve profitability. High intensity of rivalry means competitors are aggressively targeting each other’s markets and aggressively pricing products. This represents potential costs to all competitors within the  industry. High intensity of competitive rivalry can make an industry more competitive and decrease profit potential for the existing firms. On the other hand, low intensity of competitive rivalry makes an industry less competitive and increases profit potential for the existing firms. In this case, the competitive rivalry is low because competitors have unequal size. Eight Eleven was the largest chain of twenty-four hour grocery stores scattered all over Malaysia. By having nume rous branches of grocery store leads to the great advantages against other competitors. Besides that, Eight eleven had a strong strategy that preventing them to receive any threats from rival. â€Å"Every Day Low Price† Although the product selling by Eight Eleven is lack of differentiation and Eight Eleven have high fixed cost due to numerous branches in Malaysia, but Eight Eleven is well known among the market and able to offer a lower price compare to other grocery stores due to large number of stocks held by Eight Eleven. This will eventually enhance the brand loyalty of Eight Eleven’s customer as customer switching costs are high. Hence the competitive rivalry is low due to Eight Eleven is the main driver of the grocery stores and had established a strong market base in Malaysia.

History of Tipu Sultan

History of Tipu Sultan First warfare â€Å"I saw a painting prominently displayed in the reception lobby at Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, United States of America. This place was the base for NASAs sounding rocket programme. It depicted a battle scene with a few rockets flying in the background. A painting with this theme should be the most common place thing at a Flight Facility, but the painting caught my eye because the soldiers on the side launching the rockets were not white, but dark skinned, with the racial features of South Asians.it turned out to be Tipu Sultans army fighting the British. The painting depicted a fact forgotten in Tipus own country, but commemorated here on the other side of the planet. I was happy to see an Indian glorified by NASA as a hero of warfare rocketry†. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Former President of India, in ‘Wings of Fire. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Tipu was a master strategist. Unfortunately for Indian history, his foresight and war acumen was recognised by none better than prime enemy The British in India. The Tiger of Mysore was quite simply put, just that. A Tiger to the core. Carrying on the legacy left by his indomitable father the great Hyder Ali, Tipu went on to become the quintessential thorn in the British rule in India. A close examination reveals a brilliant brain beyond the valiant warrior. The British had never been confronted in India with a more resolute and fierce contender. Tipus life-passion was to see the fall of the British in India with collective and consolidated resistance. The main focus of the external policies he displayed was that a balance was essential to restore a sense of normalcy in the governance of the country. This very balance had been tilted by the British and unless they were defeated comprehensively by a collective effort, the Indian identity would be crushed forever. Towards this end he tried to garner support from the neighbours, the other Indian powers like the Nizams and the Marathas. But their reluctance to shake out of the deep slumber of kingly comforts and complacence forced Tipu to seek alternatives. It was here that he displayed astute foresight and understanding of the art of diplomacy and war. Tipu analysed the aspects of British growth threadbare and realised that they had achieved near complete domination of the country by pitting one Indian prince against another. They had trained the Indian soldier and had ensured that it was Indian blood that was sacrificed to a larger extent in these campaigns. It was these very traits that Tipu intended to replicate when he tried to get French aid for his campaigns against the British. He yearned to see the two European giants fight each other to destruction. Just the way the Dutch eliminated the Portuguese and the English eliminated the Dutch presence in India, he hoped that the French would eliminate the English. While the French were fairly powerful, this of course would be possible only with the concerted efforts of not just the French but a cohesive and determined alliance of all Indian powers along with the French. Unfortunately for History, the British had learnt better lessons from their Anglo American wars than the French. The French failed to understand the fact that the surest way of getting at the English, akin to the American experience, was by extending massive support to the Indian powers in their struggle against the English. Despite repeated proposals from Tipu, the French failed to clutch the idea and adopted a rather timid posture as far as the Britishers in India were concerned. Regular visits by emissaries to France failed to convince the French that a golden opportunity to seize the initiative against the British indeed existed. It was only when the great Napoleon came to power and realised the validity of Tipus thought process did the French agree to pitchfork alongside the Mysorean. Destiny had her own designs. Napoleon, who had written to Tipu from Egypt and promised to arrive in India to start the revolution against the British, was stopped at Syria and the British had by t hen realised that Tipu was the primary instrument that would pivot the scales in the southern peninsular India. The ‘cohesive and concerted efforts policy of Tipu was not dependent entirely on the French. He had understood that of the four main players of Peninsular India, the other three being the Marathas, the Nizam and the British, it required the combined efforts of three powers to reduce the fourth power. Even the British, were not as powerful in the south as they were in the northern parts of India, Bengal in particular. The strong presence of the Marathas and the Hyder- Tipu combine had proven to be an entirely different predicament. The weak Nizams had also proven to be stronger than the Mughal Emperor. While the three Indian powers combined to achieve victories in the First and Second Wars of Mysore, the Nizam and the Marathas colluded with the British to engineer the defeat of Tipu in the third Mysore War. The diplomatic vision that drove Tipu to reach out to partners, the determination to follow that vision, even in the face of repeated betrayals are truly remarkable. The sole reason for the policy to fail was because the other Indian powers refused to shed their myopia. They failed to realize the magnitude and the implications of British imperialism. The swim against the heavy British tide was indeed lonely and in the end, unsuccessful for Tipu, however, the application of Diplomacy as an art backed up with unstinted courage in war very nearly upset the English applecart. This paper studies the military genius of Tipu Sultan with special emphasis on his foreign and diplomatic policies. The paper will also attempt to bring out the relevance of his policies in the present day.

The Revolution of 1848 and Karl Marxs The Communist Manifesto Essay

The Revolution of 1848 and Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto There were two major things that happened in Europe in 1848. One of those things was the Revolution of 1848. The other was the publication of the Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx. The Revolution of 1848, and the Communist Manifesto tie into each other very well. The Revolution was calling for a change in society, and so was Marx through the writing of his Manifesto. The revolution was a foundation for changes to take place in Europe. Due to the Revolution, socialism and communism began to rise. The Revolution of 1848 affected much of Europe. Almost all of the countries in Europe with the exception of England and Russia were involved in the Revolution. The Revolution shook the countries in which a bourgeois elite led the opposition against reactionary governments. Russia was not involved for the fact that they did not have any bourgeois, and England was not involved because after the electoral reform of 1832, the English bourgeois was no longer in opposition. In 1848, France was in turmoil. There was high unemployment in France at that time. Workers went to barricades in the streets. Upheaval broke out all over the country. Men went to barricades and forced the king into exile. It was very hard for many of the people to make any money in France at that time. The money for factory workers was quite scarce. Factory workers barely made enough money to survive on. In 1848, a woman’s newspaper came out that was called the Voice of Women (voix de femmes). The women of France were the authors of this newspaper. These women called for freedoms of their own. Women wanted the ability to vote, and they wanted m... ...lassicnote.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/communist/shortsumm.html 3) Industrialization http://http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/westn/ind&rev.html 4) Class Website http://http://homepages.udayton.edu/~santamar/ 5) E-mail me your thoughts http://stevenpc@notes.udayton.edu Biography 1) Bernstein, Eduard. Fredrick Engels: The Principles of Communism, October-November 1847, (19 October 2001). 2) Franz Mehring, Karl Marx: The story of his life, (Great Britain: Butler and Tanner, 1951). 3) Kessler, Gary E. Voices of Wisdom: A Multicultural Philosophy Reader, (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1998), 529. 4) Manifesto of the Communist Party. History and Religious Studies. 5) Sherman, Dennis, and Joyce Salisbury. The West in the World. New York: Mcgraw Hill. 2001.

Awarding Six Medals to the Three Released POW S :: Free Essay Writer

Awarding Six Medals to the Three Released POWS The military has lost its mind by awarding six medals to the three released P.O.W.s. I do not mean to rag on the three troops -- although one did write a "Thank You" note to his prison guards for his swell Motel 6 treatment, but more to the point is the damage such giveaway policies do to our military awards programs. Remember what Napoleon said about awards: "Give me enough ribbon and I will conquer the world." So that all of you have a complete list of the awards the three "heroes" got, I will list them for you: Purple Heart Army Commendation Medal P.O.W. Medal Armed Forces Medal United Nations Medal NATO Medal The Purple Heart is awarded for wounds suffered while in armed combat with an opposing force, for wounds received while in combat "operations" in a combat zone or for wounds received from terrorist acts while in the military. It is also awarded to the next of kin when someone is KIA or dies as the result of wounds received. How can the Pentagon give out Purple Hearts for injuries received that are no worse than those received in a H.S. football game? Yes, they were soldiers; yes, they were on a mission and yes, they were "treated roughly" -- broken noses, cracked ribs, chipped teeth, cuts and abrasions. Is the Army telling me that the same award for being killed, maimed or shot-up in a firefight is the same award for taking a fist to the chops -- "treated roughly"? I propose a new award -- the "Black & Blue Device." It would resemble the old W.W.II ruptured duck or just be a plain Red Cross on a white background the International Sign for First Aid. And by the way, it was the President himself who referred to them as detainees and stated that they "weren't in a war zone." Now they're hailed as conquering heroes and given combat awards for sterling performance in a war zone.

Contradictory Characterisations of Women in Shakespeares Othello Essay

Contradictory Characterisations of Women in Shakespeare's Othello    Othello opens with a discussion between two men concerning the fate of a very beautiful woman named Desdemona. One of the men is distraught, having tried to win her love but miserably failed, and the other agrees that she is quite a prize. A prize is not just a name for Desdemona, as her humanity is lost somewhere along the way and she ceases to be anything but a prize to be won. Both men are angry and want to seek revenge against the man who won her, slandering Desdemona’s name in the process. Their superior and rival, the man who won Desdemona, is none other than Othello. Othello has proven the two men inferior, obtaining what they could not. The two other mistreated women in the play are Emilia and Bianca, all three viewed as nothing more than objects of lust.   Desdemona was born from a high-class Venetian family; Emilia is a servant; Bianca is a â€Å"whore,† incidentally a word that Desdemona refuses to use. Although they all belong to completely different classes, they are all abused by men and become the objects of their sex... ...rk: Penguin Books, 1968. Neely, Carol. "Women and Men in Othello" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 68-90) Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos. Wayne, Valerie. â€Å"Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello.† The Matter of Difference: Materialist Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed Valerie Wayne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991.

Hotel Management Documentation

` USER MANUAL CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Getting Started 3. Main Menu 4. Master file Maintenance 5. Payroll Reports 6. Payroll data Backup and Restore INTRODUCTION Confide payroll system is a windows payroll software written in Microsoft Visual Basic (VB. NET). Although confide pay system is extremely powerful it is in no way difficult to use. The payroll software includes many new features that enable the user to do your work easier and faster. In this windows version, user will improve productivity with time saving windows feature.All command bars and drop menus are logically organised in systematic manner that will enable user to operate smoothly. Confide payroll is highly respected because of its high performance, user friendly and data integrity. We therefore strive for the best improvement to support customers in terms of quality. These notes, together with the practical you will do during the day, will ensure that learning to use the system is an informative and useful experi ence for you. GETTING STARTED After installation procedure a shortcut icon is created on the desktop to provide easy access to your program.Double click the shortcut icon to gain access to your Confide payroll system. When you see the log in main screen appears, you have to type in the correct information so that you can successfully enter into the system. 1) Enter your User name in the text box provided. Press Tab to move to the next box. 2) Enter your password. The password is case sensitive so ensure that your Caps lock key is on or off as required. MAIN MENU Once you have entered your password and selected the payroll required you will find yourself in the Opening menu.Features include: – 1) A drop down list of all the chief program options. Like the drop down lists in other Windows menus, if a folder has a + in the box beside it, when you click the + 2) A list of the options included in that folder will drop down, while the + changes to a – COMPANY SETUP Before at tempting to store any employees, you have to enter your company details. Go to MAIN MENU select FILE and then click on the NEW COMPANY tab the following window appears Enter all your company details and press the Save button on menubar. PAYROLL STANDARDSTo setup the payroll standards you go on the SETUP Menu, SELECT Payroll Standards then set your standard hours and days. PAYROLL CALENDAR Under the main menu select SETUP go to PAYROLL CALENDAR then in the textbox enter the 12 runs per year. Set your calendar from January to December. MASTERFILE MAINTAINACE The section enables the user to add, update, delete and view employees in the master file. Employee details such as Name, Date of Birth, ID Number, Medical aid scheme and number of dependents are stored in the Employee File. ENTERING A NEW EMPLOYEE 1.Select Employees from the Confide Navigation bar and double click ALL employees, click the new employee Button. 2. The employee data entry screen offers a series of tabs each correspo nding to a Page of information about the employee. . 3. Click on the tab with the details you need to enter and enter the details about the employee in the form presented – see example overleaf. PAYROLL RUN To run the payroll, go onto the Payroll menu select Payroll Run. The following form appears select the Process button. You will be asked to backup your data for payroll pre run .Specify your data backup name and SQL path and press OK. PAYROLL REPORTS PAYROLL SUMMARY To view the payroll summary select the + sign on the REPORTS icon on the payroll navigation bar types of reports are shown as shown on the screen below: Double click on the payroll summary icon and the payroll summary for the month is displayed. PAYSLIPS To view and print pay slips on the reports menu double click the pay slip icon and you will be asked to enter the date to be printed on the pay slip and also to select the number of pay slips you want to print and then press OK.The pay slips will be generated a utomatically. DATA BACKUP Backup – A backup is a compressed copy of your data at the moment when you make the backup. Work that you do after a backup is lost if the backup is restored, so that we recommend that a backup is done every 30mins when working on the payroll. Clicking on the payroll on the menu bar and select payroll data backup button will bring up a screen that allows you to back up your data as shown below:Specify your backup name, the path where you want to store your backup and select OK a message is shown for notification that your payroll data had been successful saved. RESTORE The option to restore is found under payroll on the main menu, as shown in Fig 2g below. Selecting this option brings up the Data Restore screen 1) Select the path on which source database is stored 2) Select the SQL Server Data Path 3) Select one of the two buttons shown and your data will be successfully restored.

Cultural Diversity Essay

Cultural diversity is a big part of the community I was raised in and apart of today. Many people spend their whole lives surrounded by one race or culture, but I grew up surrounded by many. Having been raised in a society influenced and shared by so many different races, I had very little idea about what or why racism existed in the world. Having never been taught and seeing very little racism growing up I believed benefited me, today and benefited my future. Today being in the Marine Corps I am surrounded by different races and knowing one day my life could rest in their hands I respect them for who they are not what color they are. Martin Luther King once said â€Å"Men hate each other because they fear each other, and they fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they are often separated from each other.† If the rest of the country had been raised in a military lifestyle then I believe racism would be all but extinct in the United States. Sadly racism is not only intertwined with the United States past but also with its present and its future. Racism has been part of the history of the United States, and helped create this country as we know it today. Racism not helped shaped the United States and infiltrated every aspect of American society while showing no signs of decreasing. Many people view racism as an evil minded treatment of one individual to another. This is not a correct assessment though, and would be more easily understood if it was viewed more accurately, an institutional ideology. The reason racism is allowed to subsist because governments and institutions foster and maintain racism. Even when these governments and institutions determine that the practices of a particular group of people are racist, individuals at the top of these hierarchical organizations are hard pressed to bring about change. To understand how racism relates to us in the United States today, one must understand the real definition of racism. â€Å"Racism is the belief that one group of people with a particular biological make up is superior to other groups with a differing biological make up.† So one could infer that the groups deemed superior gain economic and social dominance over the other cultural groups that are deemed inferior, even with the many strides that have been made over decades to mend the situation. An excellent example of a country that has made those strides and still lack racial reconciliation is the United States. From the bus boycotts in the fifties, to the sit-ins and marches in the sixties one could assume that these would be the starting steps to improvement. While the United States was mending the hatred and racism between black and whites another type of racism was creeping its way into American society. Today racism has taken a new face, one that has become multi-coloured and multicultural. To be able for the United States to keep a culturally diverse appeal new legislation and laws are being written against discrimination. Affirmative action has been taken to allow equal opportunity for employment, housing, and even in the military. Television and movies have had to change their format and even some of their characters in order to obtain political correctness. Even with so many fighting for change, there will always be the ancient invisible barriers blocking the few who are looking to main the status quo. Even with so many people trying to seek improvement for this country, it cannot happen unless every individual is working to abolish racism. There is racism in every facet of life no matter who someone hangs out with, or who someone even works for. Being in the Marine Corps I see different races every day, and work with different races every day. Mission accomplishment is the number one goal of the Marine Corps, so when a job needs to get done every one does their part of their job and race is not an issue. That is the way my career has gone so far, so when I read an article about racism in the Marine Corps it shocks me. New websites and social networking sites are being created all the time. A new social network website was created with the logo â€Å"online community for whites by whites†, so it was a social website for only white people. Out of the many number of people who have made a profile there have been about forty personal profile that have listed the military as their occupation. Out of those forty a number of them are wearing their military uniforms in their profile pictures. Even more disturbing a number of the military members have poster racial slurs and racial propaganda. One member states that he â€Å"hate(s) illegal immigrants with a passion and feel(s) every true red-blooded, white American should do whatever it takes to stop the foreign invasion.† While another lists The Turner Diaries, which is a white supremacist novel, as his favourite book. It is important for members of the armed forces to not participate in these types of websites or groups. The first reason not to participate in these organizations is the Pentagon has regulations in affect that prohibit active duty members form participating in extremist groups. The second reason is those racial extremists who serve in the military could be inadvertently training future domestic terrorists, and the United States does not need any more terrorist on her soil. A solution for this problem would be senior military members mentoring their junior service members on the dangers of becoming involved in these organizations. Being in the United States Marine Corp I have many close friends that are from different countries in the world. One of my close friends is from the Philippines, and has a very strong accent when he speaks. Sometimes he gets his words confused and does not make any since when he speaks. Marines tend to point out these faults, not just with him, but with many other Marines that are from different countries and have trouble speaking English. My friend does not believe that his fellow Marines are being racist, but are just having a friendly poke at him. Marines do not mess with only a few Marines, or the Marines from other countries, but every Marine. It is not because we are racist, or are a mean group of people, but picking and jibing on one another is just the way that Marines bond with each other. When my friend says that he is getting picked on, yes it sometimes hurts, but in the end it makes him feel like he is part of the family. If Marines are not being picked on they are usually secluded and out of the Marine Corps family. Racism is wrong and should not be used for any reason, even to bring people together. Racism may start with a good reason, but the final product will fester into an infection that could spread and destroy a family within a short time. Racism is in this world to stay whether people like it or not. Individuals believe that if they spread the word about the dangers and negatives of racism then it will cease to exist, but that is not the truth and will never happen. As long as we humans exist and have emotions, the knowledge of right and wrong, and pride there will be crimes. Whenever a person graduate’s high school as valedictorian or an athlete becomes the fastest man on the planet, stereotypes will follow. Crimes, education, athleticism all turn into a stereotype and stereotypes are a form of racism. Racism is one of the things that drive our great country, and create some of our countries greatest works. Racism is what helped form and mold this country into what it is today. Without racism then this country could be one of a single culture, there would be no freedom to branch out and try new diverse things. The dangers of bringing so many different cultures into one space are there, but I believe the good thing we bring to the table References Vardell, M. (1998). Cultural diversity. Retrieved from http://www.markvardell.com/quotes.htm. Associated press (2009). Congress asked to address racism in military. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31854789/ns/us_news-military/t/congress-asked-address-racism-military/#.Tr3ZM4LSRkY AllAboutPopularIssues (2011). The History of racism. Retrieved from http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/the-history-of-racism-faq.htm

Customer Lifetime Value †A Case Study Essay

A Your manager asks you what you think might explain the differences in p, r, and AC between the three groups. What would you say? i Group 1’s higher â€Å"p† could be due to the fact that this group of students doesn’t have the meal plan that undergrad students who live on (or close to) campus have. Additionally, some MBA students may have longer classes than the typical undergad student, especially on weekends. The MBA students may be more inclined to buy more food to save and snack on during class sessions. The retention probability through a certain time â€Å"r† is expected to be higher for undergrad students who live on or closer to campus and can easily walk to the sandwich shop. MBA students still have a high retention rate, but following the completion of their MBA program, they’re less likely to drive to Ike’s for food since they commute to school (especially if they have a good sandwich shop from where they commute). Regarding â€Å"AC†, the cost to promote Ike’s for people familiar with the area (Group 2) is expected to be lower because the Bay Area natives already have some knowledge of Ike’s. The â€Å"AC† for Groups 1 & 3 are higher because Ike’s must promote their business to people who have most likely never heard of the sandwich shop through ads, Facebook, or coupons. b What do you think could be done to improve CLV for any of the groups? Describe a specific action that can be taken by Redhead and explain how it alters the variables and CLV in the table for one or more groups. ii I expected the CLV for Group 3 to be higher considering the distance from the school. It could be so low due to the meal plan those students might have, but by decreasing the â€Å"AC† from 25 to 20, â€Å"CLV† will increase from 2. to 7. 5. The can be done by focusing their advertising efforts aimed at students to strictly on campus efforts. Perhaps they could also utilize social media for free advertising and introduce a â€Å"punch card† where after a certain amount of sandwiches bought, the customer can get a free one. This would possibly help increase the retention rate of all groups, especially Group 1 where these MBA students don’t have an on campus meal plan and often look for good food and money saving incentives off campus. Additionally, if the retention rate for Group 1 went from . 0 to . 825 through the use of the â€Å"punch cards† and even coupons for a free drink or chips, the CLV would increase from 7 to 11. 667 – almost putting Group 1 even with Group 2. And if the retention rate for Group 3 went from . 825 to . 85 through the use of the â€Å"punch cards† again, the CLV would increase from 2. 5 to 6. 875. I believe that by using more free social media advertising (decreasing AC) and increasing retention rate â€Å"r† through â€Å"punch cards† and coupons, the CLV for all groups will increase.

Analysis of USEC Inc.

USEC is the world’s leading supplier of enriched Uranium to nuclear power plants. Due to the expiration of long term energy cost savings contracts, USEC is examining the possibility of taking on a new project called the American Centrifuge Project. This project will utilize a different process for Uranium enrichment, which is the core business process of USEC. The new technology process uses much less energy, which will reduce manufacturing costs and keep USEC on the leading edge of technology in the enrichment market space. As with any major energy industry project, the ACP project comes with a huge price tag of around $1. billion. Investment of this size cannot be made without due analysis. We have taken in to account all the details given while calculating key statistics for this project. A thorough analysis is in the best interests of USEC as the project will provide them with the freedom to implement new technologies in the uranium enrichment process in their own plant. W ithout this, USEC is constrained to lease the government owned plants which usually comes with its own restrictions. We will be calculating the individual cash flows of its existing Paducah operations and the ACP project it is planning to invest in.Our decision will be based on the incremental NPV and IRR. This report will walk us through all the important aspects of our analysis and ultimately to our final decision of whether accepting or rejecting the project. Background USEC is pursuing ACP for several reasons, most of which can be attributed to an increasing gain by its competitors in the market space. USEC’s long term contract for a lower cost power supply for their current process had expired. This left USEC with much higher costs for electricity, which is heavily used in the current process for Uranium enrichment, gaseous diffusion.This jump in energy cost reduced the margins USEC was receiving on sales, as compared to their competitors. This is driving the need to com e up with an alternative solution to the current process. The ACP technology is being looked at because it could give a competitive advantage to USEC against its competitors. ACP will lower the production costs and improve USEC’s technology position in the market. If the company takes on the ACP project, USEC will reach 6. 5 million units in production by 2013. A minimal level of maintenance would be required due to the improved technology and better facilities.ACP would also double the size of USEC as a whole. Cash Flow Calculations We are providing below the assumptions and other calculations we used while computing the WACC and the cash flows. * Net working capital of 5% of sales will be used for both Paducah and ACP project * Inflation is assumed to be 3% * Flotation costs are ignored for cost of equity. * We assume a risk-free rate of 5. 09%. This number comes from the current yield of the 30 year T-bond as shown in Exhibit 5. * 50% reduction in enrichment cost start fro m year 2011 (for ACP project).Without the 50% reduction, the enrichment cost in 2011 would have been $50. 15. We are going to start at 50. 15/2=$25. 07 (50%) from year 2011 as enrichment cost and from there it will again increase at the rate of inflation which is 3%. In 2011, the total capacity will be 3. 5M (2. 5M from ACP and 1M from Paducah). While calculating the enrichment cost for the year 2011, we used the reduced cost for the ACP capacity which is 2. 5 million and the original enrichment cost for the scaled down Paducah plant capacity which is 1 million. * Change in NWC for 2006 will be 0.The NWC will be recovered at the end of he final period which is at the end of year 2025. * The CAPEX and the depreciation cost for the Paducah plant in the year 2011 will be prorated to the reduced capacity of 1 million while calculating the cash flow for the ACP project. * Market Risk Premium will be assumed as 6% * CAPEX for Paducah, Paducah depreciation, and lease expenses are fixed and prorated where required but is not adjusted for inflation. Weighted Average Cost of Capital To calculate the weighted average cost of capital, we first calculated the market value of debt and equity.The case exhibits provided the necessary data to calculate the market value of debt and equity. The weight of debt and equity were calculated to be around 32 and 68 percent respectively. Appendix will provide the detailed steps we used to calculate the WACC, individual cash flows for Paducah and ACP and the incremental cash flows. A risk free rate of 5. 19%, a Beta of 1. 3, and a market risk premium of 6% were used to calculate the cost of equity using CAPM. For cost of debt, we used the given 9. 04%. We came up with the after tax WACC of 10. 57%Analysis and Recommendation. We are comfortable in using the WACC as the discount rate for cash flow calculation. NPV calculation using the WACC as the discount rate will provide us some idea about whether this project is at least worth or not f or the cost of capital. But to make our final decision, we would really look at the incremental IRR and NPV to see how much more or less it comes up when compared to the discount rate. We will be expecting an IRR which is at least 2 percent above the discount rate as a justification to recommend a project of this size. We calculated the NPV for ACP to be $1,910,199,999. 1 which is greater than the NPV for Paducah at $1,615,996,848. 88. The incremental internal rate of return and NPV of this project are 13. 12% and $294,203,150. 14 respectively. The incremental IRR of 13. 12% is 2% more than the discount rate of 10. 57% (or WACC in our case). Current stock price of $10. 80 is based on USEC’s current business model. We believe that the current stock price is undervalued as it does not reflect the potential of the ACP project. As a result, the stock price will increase. So based on the NPV and incremental IRR, it would be in USEC’s best interest to accept ACP.The ACP proj ect will help the firm to double its capacity and improve the technology to gain the competitive advantage in the industry. The long term prospect of USEC will be bright as a result of ACP project. Though the ACP plant will be completely depreciated at the end of its life cycle of 15 years, it will provide USEC with more opportunities to further improve on the technology which has proved profitable already and to invest in more lucrative future projects which will ultimately improve the financial bottom line of the organization.

Health care A TD #2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Health care A TD #2 - Essay Example Texting while driving among the youth results in unpredictable driving behaviour such as speeding or lane weaving which increases the chances of hitting pedestrians or hitting other vehicles. Texting splits a driver’s reaction making him or her less able to react to sudden road perils. In order to reduce the rampant use of mobile phones by teenagers and other drivers, the best advocacy efforts would be to post visual images on the internet and set up bill boards along the streets to sensitize the youth on the dangers of texting while driving (Mason et al., 2011). On the internet, the best approach would be to offer the teenagers tips on how they can avoid texting while driving. The visual images can be posted on social media webpages such as Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and Google+. The webpage on the internet can also contain information such as how to keep their phones away when in a car or silence them. In order to make the advocacy more effective, the campaign slogan will be â€Å"you text, you call, you

Incorporating Graphics Into the Justification Report Assignment

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You will choose a current event topic from the last 20 or so years and Essay

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Individual 4 international financial market Essay

Individual 4 international financial market - Essay Example Mean is often used to determine the expected future returns of mutual funds since it is the best estimate that can be used from the past data. Resources such as NASDAQ stock prices or Yahoo finance are used to provide to help project the future returns of securities. As long as any positive trend or negative trend is noted and taken into consideration, the use of historical data is therefore appropriate in predicting future mutual fund performance. We can also use the mean to project the future and also deliver the obligatory caveat that past returns are not necessarily indicative of future returns. Discussion The mean return is used to analyse the current market performance of the business and to make future projection. The expected mean is sometimes appropriate best estimate available of future returns, where the actual return is likely to be equal to the expected return. Due to this reason investors would prefer to have an idea of how precise their estimates might be. To assist in quantifying the managers and investors estimates, standard deviation and variance are always preferred to be used. Standard deviation is the measure of variability which is also used as the standard measure of the total risk of individual assets and portfolio assets. It measures how far from the expected return the actual return might be. The two companies discussed has the same positive return but their level of risk as measured by the variance cannot be seen to be the same. ConocoPhillips (COP) It is a multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in Texas in the United States. The company is viewed as one of the largest independent pure play exploration and production and it is also one of the big fortune 500 companies. The company was founded in 1875 as the continental oil and Transportation Company. The company have gone through different stages to reach this far. It is considered the top performing company financially in the NASDAQ financial market. Most of f inancial analysts use standard deviation when working with historical returns since they are deemed to be samples unless 100% of the data points are used in the calculation. The company recorded a negative average mean of -5.64%. Even though the company is the best performing in the current stock market its long term financial plan has failed and they have recorded a loss. On the other hand the company strategy for the upcoming trade is more profitable as shown by their projected return shown by the standard deviation measurement that have indicated a positive percentage of 4.41%. The variance of the company stock also shows a positive percentage of 19.46%, therefore showing that the company obligation to meet long term goals is positive. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories This is an international pharmaceutical company that is based in Hyderaband, Andhra Pradesh in India. The company was found by Dr Anji Reddy who had been working in a publicly owned Indian drugs pharmaceutical limited. The company manufactures and markets a wide range of pharmaceuticals in India and overseas, with over 90 different types of medication and 60 active pharmaceutical ingredients, for drug manufacture, diagnostic kits, critical care, and biotechnology products. The historical performance of the company has indicated a good financial market. The result of the return from the past 10 month’

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Consumers and the law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Consumers and the law - Essay Example He agrees to accept a price reduction of  £500 as well as the dealer being responsible for fixing the brakes. This does not bring about any other issue in the scenario so it would seem as though the dealer’s agreement to accept less as well as fix the problem would not be disputed. The amendment to initial offer would constitute as a condition, as defined in the case of Wallis v Pratt [1911] AC 394 as: "[a condition is] an obligation which goes so directly to the substance of the contract, or in other words, is so essential to it very nature that its non-performance may fairly be considered by the other party, as a substantial failure to perform the contract at all.†3 Another operating issue that is important to note is if Amir is dealing as a consumer or operating in the course of business. The facts indicate that although he intends to use it mainly for personal use, he also intended to use it for business purposes, and more importantly, the purchase money came out of his business account. If the court determines that Amir is operating within the course of business, he will not be protected under the additional consumer protection given under s.48 Sale of Goods Act1979, as well as provisions contained within the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, among others.5 This issue becomes relevant with regards to the situation involving the clutch. Amir seems to be seeking rescission. There are three problems with this is. The first issue is whether or not it can be seen that Amir is acting as a consumer. If it can be seen that Amir was acting as a consumer, he would be protected by s.48A(3) Sale of Goods Act which indicates that: â₠¬Å"...goods which do not conform to the contract of sale at any time within the period of six months starting with the date on which the goods were delivered to the buyer must be taken not to have so conformed

Understanding the Meaning, Ideologies, and Contexts of the films Argo Research Paper

Understanding the Meaning, Ideologies, and Contexts of the films Argo and Babel - Research Paper Example Film context entails the setting of a film. Other scholars refer to it as the situation, circumstances in which a film is set or scripted (Coleman, 2011). Film context involves the time frame of the film, the historic background and the geographical location of the poem. According to scholars, the ideologies of any film are those values that we get from a film that enable us to be better humans. They are the socio-economic, cultural and political values or ideas that we share with the film (Lewis, 2013). These idea or values inspire us and enable us to clean the world from the moral and political decays to make it a better ground for dwelling. If you watch a film and it inspires you to act, then you have gained ideologies in a film. This paper thus seeks to analyze the ideology, context and the meaning of the movies; Babel and Argo. Babel is a three plot American film screened in Africa, Morocco, Japan and America-Mexico. The initial plot is in Mexico. However the three are well connected such that the story line flows from one country to another (Shaw, 2011). In Morocco, in the desert, we meet Abdullah. Abdullah is a farmer who keeps his herd in the desert and has two sons; Ahmed and Yussef plus a daughter. He is constantly bothered by jackals in the desert that prey after his herd. He thus buys a gun from his neighbor Hassan. The gun is high powered. He plans to drive away the jackals with the gun. He gives the gun to his boys while out in the field herding. The boys always competing aim at rocks, trees and cars then compete in shooting. Ahmed aims at a tourist bus and shoots (Shaw, 2011). The bullet hits an American, Suzan, who together with her husband, Richard are on the country for a holiday. America is quick to brand that as an act of terror and therefore asks the Moroccan government to arrest the culprits. Police officers then come after the family of Abdulla and an open fire leads to Yussef

“The Life You Save May Be Your Own” by Flannery O’Connor Essay Example for Free

â€Å"The Life You Save May Be Your Own† by Flannery O’Connor Essay 1.Explain the significance of the name Shiftlet. The name Crater. Shiftlet suggests he is a sketchy character or that he will change. Crater is an empty space or hole, indicating that she is in want/need of something 2.Underline any positive references to nature. Explain the significance of these references. At what point in the story does nature change/darken? Why? Nature begins as a beautiful sunset that represents Shiftlet as a possible good person. As the car becomes a possible item for him to obtain, nature darkens until he leaves Lucynell in the diner and the storm comes to indicate his lost redemption. 3.Identify and explain any allusions to Jesus Christ. The carpenter occupation, the crooked cross in the sun, raising the car from the dead; all of these references suggest Shiftlet is a good character who is capable of redemption 4.Why does O’Connor include Shiftlet’s explanation about the doctor in Atlanta? This is an indication of comparing formal education to natural instincts. Nature vs Nurture. The story addresses the theme of a man in search of the meaning of life and the open heart is a metaphor for this theme. He cannot know the meaning of life. 5.Why does Shiftlet compare the car to the spirit? He makes several references to the car and the potential it holds The car is a temptation to the spirit and a spirit at ease/peace does not need to keep moving or wandering. He is telling Mrs. Crater that he is NOT the man she thinks he is. 6.Why does Shiftlet feel â€Å"the rottenness of the world about to engulf him†? Shiftlet makes an anguished plea to God to take him away. He is what is rotten in the world and the impending thunder is a symbol of his missed opportunity for redemption. 7.Explain the significance of the title of the story. Where is it referenced in the story? Why? A sign warning about driving. Significant because he is driving his temptation away from his redemption. Title is a motif of salvation/redemption. It applies to both Shiftlet and Crater to warn them to seek change before being left morally bankrupt. Additional Notes: Shiftlet begins as a man in search of something in life and believes he can find it in the car/wedding gift. But he chooses to continue wandering and abandons Lucynell who represents atonement. Mrs. Crater lures Shiftlet into her home to gain his services as a carpenter and potential suitor for her daughter and in turn loses

Sublayers of the Data Link Layer Essay Example for Free

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Effects of Back Massage on Chemotherapy-related Fatigue

Effects of Back Massage on Chemotherapy-related Fatigue Shahida Abbasi This paper is aimed to critique on a quantitative research article. â€Å"Effects of back massage on chemotherapy-related fatigue and anxiety: Supportive care and therapeutic touch in cancer nursing† Written by Karagozoglu and Kahve (2013) as part of my assignment. The Problem The problem is significant to nursing as noted by Karagozoglu and Kahve (2013) that nurses are directly involved to provide care and deal with patients receiving chemotherapy and their experienced side effects. It is also mentioned that problem is significance to nursing, as nursing interventions intend to improve quality of life by reducing the stress level of the patient with cancer. Moreover, the purpose of conducting quasi experimental and cross sectional study research was to determine the effectiveness of back massage, a nursing intervention, on fatigue process which develops due to chemo therapy. Furthermore, on the anxiety level which develops, and has been explained explicitly. In my point of view this study can accomplish its purpose as Burns and Grove (2011) mentioned that effects of independent variables on dependent variable can be determined through quasi experimental studies. In addition, quasi experimental; a quantitative approach study design is best fit to determine the effectiveness of back message. In the article research variables back massage independent variable and fatigue as dependent variable has been explained with literature support, whereas I feel the dependent variable anxiety need more elaboration. The investigators promptly introduced the problem statement at the end of the introduction. In my point of view the answer to the problem provide insight into current issues in nursing practice because there was no study found which determine the effects of back massage in decreasing fatigue and anxiety of chemotherapy patients. In addition, the investigators has stated the assumptions very clearly that â€Å"back massage providing during chemotherapy reduces fatigue and anxiety† Moreover, limitations are not listed explicitly but reader can infer easily as evident by this statement, small sample size was used therefore, the findings of the study could not be generalized. The limitations of quasi study design are as mentioned in Polit and Beck (2012) noted that in interventional study participants show reluctance to be selected through randomization. Thus these assumptions and limitations are realistic. Review of the Literature The literature reviewed by the researchers is comprehensive, critical, and logical. Moreover, the literature was published during the period 1988- 2013 and most of them were not recent but relevant to the problem. The relationship to the research purpose is evident by the literature review. In addition to that the researchers included 21 recent research studies and of these three studies published in 2013 were also used. The investigators paraphrased the reviewed adequately did not use any quotation. The researchers made a case logically for conducting a new study based on the review Protection of Human Rights This study was designed to minimize risk and maximize benefits to participants. Moreover, the researchers indicated very explicitly that participants gave voluntary, verbal and written informed consent and no evidence of coercion was found. However, it is not evident in study that participants were invited to consent during periods of high stress. There is no evidence in the study that individuals can be identified and linked to study. The researchers very clearly mentioned that approval to conduct the study has been taken from an independent ethics committee of Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Medicine. Theoretical / Conceptual Framework The researchers did not describe any theory or framework to guide their study. Coughlan, Cronin and Ryan (2007) noted that theoretical frameworks tend to be better developed in experimental and quasi-experimental studies. Burn and Grove (2011) noted that a well-developed quantitative study is based on clearly stated framework and quality of frame work needs to be evaluated for practicality. However, in this study the absence of theory or frame work did not detract the researchers from the significance of the research. Hypothesis The investigators formally stated hypotheses. It is appropriate to have the hypothesis in quantitative study as the investigators were interested to test the effectiveness of back massage. Burns and Grove (2011, p.167) stated that this type of researches are required to have hypothesis in order to predict outcome. Moreover, hypotheses are naturally derived from the research problem and transform the problem into predictable results. In this study hypotheses contain two dependent and independent variables. Furthermore, the investigators stated hypotheses clearly and objectively and the prediction is evident. It is very obvious that these predictions are supported by the literature. Sampling The target population carefully described by the researchers i-e patients who at least underwent for chemotherapy. The target population was appropriate according to the study problem and desirability. However, resource limitations are not mentioned in the study. The investigators described sample selection procedures by giving strict eligibility criteria. However, it would be better if they had clearly mentioned the type of sampling procedure used. Moreover, the sampling method fits with the research design and level of inquiry of study. However, the authors did not describe potential sample biases. According to Polit and Beck (2012) under representation of the sample pertaining to research question should be acknowledge by the researchers. The sample is sufficiently large as Polit and Beck (2012, p.285) propose that small sample size will be adequate if researcher is certain about the strong relationship of the independent and dependent variables and it is described under the subhe ading of methods p.212.This study can be generalized on the target population and patients receive chemotherapy. The investigators have described the eligibility criteria to enroll participants on ( p.212) to ensure a representative sample. However, sampling error can be minimized by increasing the sample size. Research Design The investigators used quasi experimental and cross sectional design to determine the effects of the interventions. The design used for the level of inquiry of research question and purpose of research was appropriate as Burn and Grove (2011, P.151) mentioned that this study design is to determine the effects of back massage on independent variables. The researcher did not discussed potential effects of confounding variables and possible measures to control such effects (validity). Polit and Beck (2012) proposes selection of homogeneous sample to control confounder, however, statistical analysis can also be used for the same purpose. The researchers gave enough information based on which study can be replicated. Data Collection The instruments Personal Information Form, The State Anxiety part of Spielberger State- Trait Anxiety Inventry (STAI) Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) were used for data collection. Personal Information consists of nine questions for that detail is given under the subheading of Personal Information on p. 212. Moreover, State- Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) instruments developed by Spielberger et.al in 1964 has been used by Oner and Le Compte. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was given that shows validity and reliability. In addition, Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) developed by Mendoza et.al. (1999) which consists of 10 questions was used to assess fatigue, and the same scale was used by Cinar, Sezerli,Sarsmaz and Ments. The value of Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of the scale verifies its validity and reliability. However, rationale for the selection of instruments was not given. Instruments used in this study were congruent with research questions. Are results of these tests sufficient to indicate their use? The instruments are suitable for use with the study sample. Quantitative Analysis Determining the effectiveness of back massage is the third level of inquiry of study question, and for that quasi experimental and cross sectional study design is best fit. The investigators calculated mean and standard deviation for age. Chi-square test has been used for qualitative ordinal variables. A non-parametric Friedman test that is substitute of ANOVA has been used to analyze mean BFI score for intra group variability. Moreover, a Wilcoxon non-parametric test alternative to paired t-test was used to examine mean STAI scores of patients before, after and right after chemotherapy. Furthermore, Mann-Whitney U test was used for mean STAI and BFI score of patients before and right after chemotherapy. Despite the fact that data were normally distributed, non- parametric test have been used. The link between the analysis and findings are logical, clear, and are evident by statistical rejection of null hypothesis by P-value. The researchers did not go beyond the data during interpretation of the findings, and they presented statistical result both in the narration and in tabulated form. The investigators used inferential statistic that is enough eviden ce to establish the correctness of the statistical result as Coughlan Cronin, P., Ryan (2007) noted that statistical significance assist the investigators to rule out threat to validity. The investigator presented findings in a table which is clear, simple, and accurate. Conclusions and Recommendations Data analysis clearly explained in reference to research questions and hypotheses. Since the study sample was small, the researchers made appropriate decision; based on significant findings and did not claim for generalizations beyond the study sample or population. However, the results are applicable on our patients who are planning for chemotherapy. If we will implement this intervention to our context, then it will lead to increase comfort, decrease fatigue, and anxiety. Furthermore, there are no risks of implementing study findings mentioned explicitly or inferred. The authors also recommended that back massage during chemotherapy is effective intervention to be practiced to control the side effects especially fatigue and anxiety and this recommendation is well supported by the others studies. However, the investigators did not give recommendations for future research studies. To determine the efficacy of back massage, a nursing intervention is a unique study which is significance for nursing practice. In this study the investigators used quasi experimental and cross sectional study design. Moreover, the study purpose of the study is explicitly stated. The investigators tested hypothesis with instrument which are reliable and valid and they described the instrument very comprehensively. Moreover, sample selection was carried out on strict eligibility criteria. Study findings have been explained in narration and in table. Finally, investigators gave conclusion based on findings that back massage is effective nursing intervention to decrease the fatigue and anxiety of the patients who receive chemotherapy. The investigators also mentioned that study cannot be generalized other than target population. References Burns, N., Grove, S. K. (2012). Understanding Nursing Research: Building an Evidence-Based Practice. Elsevier Health Sciences. Polit, D. F., Beck, C. T. (2012). Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice. Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Coughlan, M., Cronin, P., Ryan, F. (2007). Step-by-step guide to critiquing research. Part 1: quantitative research.British Journal of Nursing,16(11), 658-663.