Church, Home, Household, Family Essay

It is written in the bible that every house is built by some man but all things are built by God. These words seem to compare the ordinary material house built by man with the great universe of God. This thought was present in the writers mind when he wrote this verse down. The writer remembered that the creative power that is exhibited in every conception of mortal wit and mortal hands presupposes a mightier creative power of which it is derived. If one is to follow the thought of any structure through the hands that built it to the mind of the one who devised and suggested it, one is bound to arrive at last to the Mind which separated light from the darkness and firm land from water. The word house does not only imply a collection of timber and stones, it reminds every individual of the household. To build a house is synonymous with building a family. Every house is built by a particular man but God built all things. Every family has a founder, an individual to whom its origin it refers. Each member of the family feels that their relationship with it is more precious to them in every way than their relationship with the material goods or grounds which are at their possession (Clinton, 1990). They only delight in talking about the goods or grounds as an inheritance. If it was purchased, they trust that those who come after them will inherit it. The ground for national life has been the existence of this feeling of family and its preservation. Wise legislators and moralists have desired to cultivate this conception and feeling and any causes which may have threatened it have seen the certain presages of destruction to laws, morals, and social order. If this family order is of such great importance, can it be assumed that it has no foundation like the one possessed by all creation of man? Does a universal family, which is implied by the presence of particular families, exist? Can it be said that a particular family is founded by God, just like a particular family is founded by man? The whole of the human race belong to God, just like the rest of creation but man is bestowed with greater capacities. Through the scriptures, God revealed to man his purpose and the institution of the church was meant to further this purpose. The church has been identified with dispatching moral codes as required by the scriptures to the most basic of the human associations, the family. As such, the church has had an important role to play in the lives of individuals as well as the moral being of a society. This has however changed with changes in the family structure and the constitution of the church. The role of the church has shifted so much and the society itself has changed. Immorality has been the order of the day and very few individuals see the churches as divine institutions. The relationship between the church and the family has weakened during the modern times and this has led to much moral decay. However, the actual reason why there contemporary society has decayed morally is a subject of much contention and social scientists, religious and secular moralists seem to attribute this phenomenon to various aspects of human nature. What is apparent though is that the relationship between the family and the church has changed and many individuals view the church with much suspicion. The main question that this paper deals with is whether the current moral decay can be attributed to the withering relationship between the family and the church. This paper looks at various materials, both religious and secular in an attempt to answer this question. It particularly argues that even though there are some, other factors which can be attributed to the societal moral decay, the major factor is the deterioration of the family in the church. The church has served very important function in the society, a function which is today becoming obsolete. The family on the other hand has ceased to play the role which it was meant to play traditionally and hence, children grow up with loose values which make them become delinquent youths with no restraint. Families are also so much absorbed into looking for sustenance in this materialistic era to the extent that parents have forgotten that it is their responsibility to pass values to their kids. Very few people no longer have time to go to church as most parents work overtime. These, together with some other factors, have contributed to the decaying morals within the society. It can therefore be said that the failure of families to actively participate in church has partly led to this phenomenon. Men should seek the right way of carrying on their duties as this world belongs to God and he did not leave men to stray. He chose the institution of the church to dispatch the necessary and vital moral codes to the human race. Church as a guide to Humans God chose the church as an instrument through which he can do His work on Earth during the time between the first and second coming of Christ, a period marked with Christ’s physical absence. The church is seen as the body of Christ on Earth and is thus meant to complete the work that he begun in his physical body. As such, the church is the messenger of God on Earth meant to spread the gospel of Christ to the human race. However, in recent times, the human race is characterized by anti-church thinking as many people who claim to be Christians have abandoned the church. The impact has been felt especially in families. The basic human institution is suffering now more than ever. There are increased incidences of absent fathers and single mothers, abandoned children and increased rate of divorce. People have moved away from the church. Many individuals think in terms of themselves and Jesus, a relationship that excludes the Church. Others on the other hand view organized religion as a form of evil. Some modern day prophecy teachers view the church as some kind of emergency measure that has been put by God until he institutes his true Kingdom. None of these views is however correct. The importance of the church cannot be overlooked. It is the kingdom of God in the present time and every individual must actively participate in it. It has been observed that individuals who actively participate in church are healthier than individuals who hardly participate. These individuals observe high moral standards as compared to those who often do not participate in church. The lifestyle of Christians encourages healthy habits and attitudes which have positive effects on the overall morality. When one develops a Christian attitude, it becomes difficult for negative emotions to influence his or her way of life. It is clear that the task of Jesus was to draw men towards God and thus the church was to continue in this task. The teachings of Jesus were of high moral worth and these are what have been taught by the churches. As such, it is important that every family goes to church so as to acquire those values that Jesus Christ worked to reveal to human beings. With a negative attitude towards the church, it becomes difficult for any moral principles to be furthered as men are naturally inclined towards evil. However, there are some arguments to the effect that men have the capacity to be moral regardless of whether they go to church or not. Church and Family: Historical Background A new pattern of relationship between religion and family was ushered in by the reformation. It was required that an individual make a voluntary and personal decision to embrace the official doctrines of a particular church and to take part in its formal ritual instead of being seen as part of a religion simply because one is a member of a particular family, village or ethnic group. Protestantism thus brought about a shift from community cult to that which one automatically belonged to a religious community by virtue of birth. These were constituted through and by the association and congregation of individuals in reaction to religious messages. There were risks that this associational model posed, both for the family and the church. Voluntary associations are often dynamic since people adopt and abandon group loyalties. Individuals may opt not to join the church which may result into members splitting and forming sects. The family thus lost the assurance that their children would be part of the same religious system as the parents and other adult relatives. These worries are more intense in the present time among the families that still participate actively in church. Both the church and the family thus devised a mutually beneficial sharing of roles. The parents’ role was to socialize their children so that they may be able to make personal decision for Christ and also to encourage one another in living out their own religious commitment. The role of the church on the other hand was to aid the family in this endeavor by supplying the structures and activities. The nuclear family was thus the mode through which protestant voluntarism was filtered rather than through a larger clan or ethnic grouping. A mutual relationship thus existed between the church and the family within the protestant community. The churches were to aid families to have healthy relationships and to raise well disciplined and religious children. Families on the other hand were expected to teach the children the doctrines of the church. This mutual relationship that existed between the family and the church was formalized in the Pretest ant America during the 1950s in the theory of Talcott Parsons. According to Parsons, the modern society had grown to become institutionally differentiated with the public fulfilling much of the roles that were traditionally under the sphere of the family. The basic role of the family had become expressive: satisfying emotional needs of its members, training the succeeding generation of the required values and discipline and comforting its members from the frustration got from the public arena. The family’s childrearing practice provides the mental model or plausibility structure which enables the children to become productive members of the society if these practices are internalized. Religion is thus assigned the status of home in the modern times understood as the abiding place of an individual’s affection rather than the physical space of the household. Love, expression, intimacy, subjectivity, irrationality, morality, spirituality and religion are all found within the sphere of home. According to Parson, the Church no longer had any direct influence on the values of the larger society. It could however assert indirect influence in aiding the parents to socialize their children and to achieve emotional satisfaction with each other (Parsons, 1960). This role is relevant in the modern society with its extensive impersonal government and industrial bureaucracies. The major function of the church and the family is thus to provide a lead in ascertaining a moral and just society through their teachings and practices. These theories have however been questioned by social scientists. Social scientists are doubtful of whether values and valued behavior are transmitted to the next generations by the church through the family. They also doubt whether family and churches should mediate community and intimacy in a dynamic and large scale society. This conception of church and church as havens from the contemporary society leads to three powerful by misleading conclusion. First, that modernity destroys the community morally; second, that the family and church have not been permeated by the larger cultural reorganizing process; and third, that the family and the church provide protection from the negative consequences of change (Green et al, 1823). The family and the church have dramatically changed according to these critics and the major question is the extent to which they will continue to satisfy this mutual bargain of protecting and passing on religious values and beliefs. The family has undergone dramatic changes over the last few decades. Today, the family is not what it used to be traditionally. Many couples are living together without marriage, many children are being raised by single parents, there is an increase in the rate of divorce and many individuals hardly ever live in families. Couples are having fewer children. Married women with young children are also likely to be working outside the home and quite a large percentage of preschool children are being taken care of outside the home. The marriage age has also gone up with quite a majority opting not to marry at all. Most families are being headed by single parents, in most cases the mother. These have been attributed to the effects of industrialization and modernity. In simple terms, the family of today is different from the family of the past decades. The question that one is bound to ask is the extent to which the church has adapted to these changes. This issue is complicated further by the fact that churches have also changed. The increased institutional fragmentation of the American society and the emergence of expressive individualism in the United States culture are among the causes of these changes (Conner, 2007). Another occurrence is the second de-establishment where each sphere of institution had developed its own set of normative system. Religion has thus become a means of personal fulfillment and integration owing to this isolation from any meaningful political, economic or moral responsibility within the public sphere. The power and authority of the church over the society has been lost (Carter, 2001). It has also lost its power and authority over individuals in the society and even over the people within it, the majority of whom can be described as in the church but not of the church. The church has thus become an institution of service which functions to help individuals achieve authenticity and transcendental subjectivity. Very few American Protestants have complete allegiance to a specific denomination. It has been found that individuals who marry and get children are more likely to increase their religious participation. Marriage may neutralize other factors which may result in disaffiliation. With this regard, the church and the family may be considered to have some form of link. This link may help in raising a moral society through active participation in church. Every individual belongs to a particular family and if these families can adopt the teachings of the church then moral decay cannot reach the levels that are seen today.

Downsizing: Costs and Assigned Government Executive

Industry downsizing has been a major part of the corporate world, even government agencies are downsizing. GovernmentExecutive. com â€Å"covers the business of the federal government and its huge departments and agencies – dozens of which dwarf the largest institutions in the private sector† on its website. Read the assigned Government Executive article and answer the following questions: Which industries have substantially reduced fixed cost commitments? Do you believe this reduction in costs has substantially impaired the ability of these industries to meet the needs of their customers? It appears that both privite and public sectors are reducing fixed cost. According to Ciccotello and Green, the technology, auto, and government industries have substantially reduced fixed costs. The specific examples referenced in the article, Industry’s Downsizing Lessons, were IBM, Honda, and the DoD; in some cases the downsizing has been beneficial and in others it has been detrimental. DoD has taken the lead in the current round of federal downsizing, instituting several initiatives to reduce permanent staff positions, rely more on temporary help and outsource production. Honda made large cuts in its permanent engineering staff in response to the more volatile sales environment for automobiles since the mid-1980s. These cuts left Honda unable to keep pace with its competitors in the design of new automobiles. The results have been the loss of market share and profit for Honda, which now faces the difficult task of trying to catch up. The consequence of cutting fixed costs too far could be even more dangerous for a government enterprise like DoD. The computer industry is rapidly changing technology is causing companies to reassess large, fixed-cost commitments. As a result, evidence of decreasing operating leverage in this industry abounds. Many large computer firms have made dramatic cuts in permanent staff. Standard and Poor's reports that IBM had more than 370,000 full-time employees in 1990 and fewer than 270,000 in 1994. At the same time, computer firms have greatly increased outsourcing of products and leasing of equipment. Both of these trends reduce the requirement for large in-house expenditures on personnel, plant and equipment. Outsourcing and leasing make the enterprise more nimble, more able to quickly adapt to a rapidly changing sales environment.

Piaget and Vygotsky Essay

In this Essay I will compare and contrast the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. They both were influential in forming a more scientific approach to analyzing the cognitive processes of the child active construction of knowledge. They both developed their own ideas of child development and they believed cognitive development in children took place in stages. However they were distinguished by different styles of thinking. Piaget thought that children actively construct their own cognitive worlds and they adapt their thinking to include new ideas because additional information furthers understanding. He stressed that to make sense of our world we organize our Schemata or experiences. We connect one idea to another. We also adopt new ideas. Adaptation is by assimilation, which occurs when individuals incorporate new information into their existing knowledge into an existing pattern of behavior of schemata (example). Piaget refers to Schemata or schemas to the way we organize our knowledge. We can think our knowledge as units and each of them related to aspects of the world including actions, objects etc. (referencing ) Accommodation occurs when individuals adjust to new information. Piaget thought that equilibrium occurs when is a balance between assimilation and accommodation. He believed equilibrium schema is both the category of knowledge as well as the process of acquiring that knowledge. As experiences happen and new information is presented, new schemas are developed and old schemas are changed or modified. An example is, say a child sees a crow and a pigeon in the sky, and is told that they are birds. The child then forms a bird schema defined as â€Å"something that flies†. The next day, he goes out and sees a seagull, which easily fits into his existing bird schema. This is called assimilation, when we take new experiences/knowledge and put them in our existing schemas (or categories). The next day, a child goes out and sees a plane in the sky. Whilst this fits the definition of â€Å"something that flies†, it seems to be quite different than the other birds he has seen, and he is told that this is not a bird. To explain this, the child forms one large category of ‘flying things’, with two sub-categories; birds and planes. This process is called accommodation, where we change our existing knowledge structures to account for new information that doesn’t fit. Piaget also believed that we go thought four stages in understanding the world. Each stage is aged related and consist of a distinct way of thinking, a different way of understanding the world. This theory is known as Piaget’s Stage Theory because it deals with four stages of development, which are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. ( referencing ) On the other hand, Vygotsky believed that children actively construct their knowledge. He gave social interaction and culture far more important roles in cognitive development than Piaget did. Vygotsky socio cultural cognitive theory emphasizes how cultural and social interactions guide cognitive development. He portrayed the child development as inseparable from social and cultural activities. Vygotsky argued, â€Å"learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological function† (1978, p. 90). In other words, social learning tends to precede development. He believed that the development of memory, attention and reasoning involves learning to use the inventions of society, such as language, mathematical systems and memory strategies.( referencing) Piaget believed that development had to come before learning; Vygotsky believed that development and learning worked together though socialization and language. Vygotsky gave language a huge role in development. For vygotsky Language plays two critical roles in cognitive development. First language is the main means by which adults transmit information to children. Secondly, Language itself it is a very powerful tool of intellectual adaptation. Vygotsky believed that language develops from social interactions, for communication purposes. Later language ability becomes internalized as thought and â€Å"inner speech†. Thought is the result of language. Piaget thought that there was a connection between biological and cognitive development. Vygotsky believed that knowledge from social interactions spurred cognitive growth and development. Even they had really big differences; they both believed that social interactions played an irreplaceable role in cognitive development. Piaget thought that cognitive development is influenced by social transmission (learning from others). Vygotsky believed that social interactions were an instrument in development and that it heavily influenced thoughts and language. Piaget strongly considered that the developmental ages of students determined where they should be in the learning process. Vygotsky took that idea further by comparing the learner’s actual development to their potential development. He called this area of â€Å" zone of proximal development. ZPD is the range of tasks that one cannot yet perform independently, but can accomplish with the help of a more competent individual. For example, a child might not be able to walk across a balance beam on her own, but she can do so while holding her mother’s hand. Since children are always learning new things, the ZPD changes as new skills are acquired. Piaget stages are hierarchical. Each of Piaget’s stages must be complete before moving to the next one. Vygotsky’s theory does not depend on time. Piaget stages imply that children cognitively develop on their own, without the help of someone or something. Vygotsky concentrates more on social interactions and aide given to a child when develops. Vygotsky Scaffolding is the kind of help, assistance and support that enables a child to do a task which they cannot quite manage yet alone and which it will help them in the future to be able to make that task or similar on their own. For example: In a school laboratory science class, a teacher might provide scaffolding by first giving students detailed guides to carrying out experiments, then giving them brief outlines that they might use to structure experiments, and finally asking them to set up experiments entirely on their own. ‘What the child can do with assistance today she will be able to do by herself tomorrow’ (Vygotsky, 1978, p.87). Both these educators contributed to the present day ideas of constructivist learning. Both offer some incredible insight into possible ways children learn and byusing there theories it is possible to create a more conductive learning environment for the child.

Comparison of Quality Philosophies Research Paper

Comparison of Quality Philosophies - Research Paper Example While Deming has stressed on the importance of worker involvement and statistical quality control, Juran’s emphasis focuses more on quality planning, measurement and control. On the other hand, Crosby relies on zero tolerance to defects, cost of quality and organizational motivation to explain quality management (Koontz, 2006). In terms of overlapping arguments, all three experts emphasize the importance of defect prevention and mitigation over detection besides promoting quality as a strategic competitive tool for organizations. Each also explains the crucial role of management in total quality improvement. However, there are numerous differences in their approaches over aspects such as the definition of quality, quality measurement, standards, roles of management and determining potential targets for quality improvements. Despite their unique arguments, my research has led me to conclude that Deming’s philosophy offers the best overall approach to quality management i n comparison to other thinkers. The reasons for arriving at this conclusion are discussed below. Deming defines quality as a state with ‘zero defects’ whereby similar products or services have incomparable or minimal variations. Thus, quality according to Deming is a visionary pursuit towards a product with no deficiencies, which ultimately leads to total satisfaction for the customer. On the other hand, Juran and Crosby define quality as ‘fitness for use’ and ‘conformance to requirements’ (Buhler, 2007). While both definitions are customer-centric and view quality as a set of criteria defined by the customer’s expectations, there is no attention to the fact that the customer’s requirements may themselves contain potential deficiencies. In other words, Deming’s theory suggests that companies should evaluate the product for potential deficiencies and try to be innovative in identifying hidden vulnerabilities. By taking a com paratively restricted approach as suggested by Juran and Crosby, firms are in an inhibited position to service their customers (Migliore, 2009). Deming also deviates from the traditional approach by analyzing every aspect from the perspective of quality. He suggests that quality should be the benchmark, which firms should seek to optimize, which will ultimately lead to better productivity, competitive advantage and lower costs (Paulson, 2008). In contrast, Juran and Crosby focus on improving parameters such as productivity, innovation, cost reduction and defects as drivers for improving quality. Thus, quality serves as the ultimate objective in their case, which is estimated by the collective realization of these parameters (Hartman, 2005). While utilizing statistical techniques such as those suggested by Juran

Sports Theory Lesson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sports Theory Lesson - Essay Example Students to learn about health and fitness of the human body To know and understand the working of the various systems of the body and their correlation To understand how to take care of the human body and how to restore vitality of the human body White board Charts and presentation slides Students to learn what sport testing is all about and the various ways it helps in effective sport competition Students will look into the science behind training. Students will also learn how to optimise their training time and exercises Students will be able to understand how the body functions at different levels of exercise. The students will also establish their real and optimal training zones Internet Interactive white board Laboratory Learners will be able to identify common sporting injuries and prevention techniques. Students will learn to identify and categorise sport injuries. Students will also look into preventive measures that can be adopted to minimize the risk of injury during spor ts. The students will also learn how to deal with injuries sustained during sports both psychologically and physically All learners will be able to identify common types of injury and categorise them as per severity and recurrence. The students will in addition be able to identify ways to reduce injuries during preparation, while playing and in between sporting activities. Internet Interactive white board Research analysis

Lowe's average annual sales Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lowe's average annual sales - Case Study Example The company posts on average third-quarter earnings of 59 cents per share this is from the current financial year estimates and previously audited reports, for instance, the latest annual report was of that figure up from 47 cents a share initially, on revenue of exactly $13.70 billion. Most of the annual sales is attributed to the numerous customers’ transactions within the stores particularly in the US. Similarly using the annual sales of 2013 which are the sales audited and analyzed in public domain, sales for the fourth quarter increased from $11.7 billion to $12.5 billion this is 7.6 percent in just fourth quarter of 2013, in the same year, for instance, there was an increased 7.3 percent comparable sales for the quarter. The annual sales for 2013 can be best used to forecast for sales in previous and later the fiscal years. Generally, the annual sales been boosted due to Value Improvement that have for years enhanced Lowe’s line designs, making them more and more relevant to every markets the company serve, and in the long run enabling the company to maintain perfect in-stock

APA Annotation for 4 articles Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

APA Annotation for 4 articles - Research Paper Example The paper succeeds in demonstrating that the perception of Muslim women that is portrayed in the book undermines the need to address the patriarchal societies that make it difficult for the girl child to be empowered. Instead, it shows that the background of the author and financial motivations mostly drives the message. The paper is useful when evaluating the situation of Arabic Muslim girls in the United States of America. Although the paper serves as a strong critique of the book, it has failed to appreciate the truths in the novel. The Breadwinner has succeeded in contributing to the conversation about the role of religion in undermining the faith for equality in the society. The Arabic students in the country would identify with the argument made in the paper. In particular, they will identify with the fact that the institutional structure and culture where they learn often undermines the role of women. Moreover, they will agree that the ‘girl in need of salvation’ narrative that is present in the book undermines their quest for recognition in the society. , Erick and Zaidi focus on how the media covered the murder of a young Muslim girl in Mississauga, Ontario. The incident occurred in December 7. In particular, they have focused on how the media shifted the conversation from concerns over a tragic family event to a larger topic, the clash of civilizations. The authors also focused on tolerance and the negative effect that the term has on the society. The paper has highlighted the cultural implications involved in the debate over the hijab. Since Canada and America share many cultural similarities, the paper will be informative in shaping conversations on the topic in America. The paper highlights the ethical implications in the society. The authors have succeeded in highlighting the impact of an event in

A comparative study between the regulations of the U.S. and the United Essay

A comparative study between the regulations of the U.S. and the United Kingdom on Hip Hop music - Essay Example The notion of censorship has always been warily approached with differing emotions. Whereas many regard censorship as a form of curtailment against individual liberty and freedom of speech, there are also some who would argue for censorship as a necessary mechanism for the protection of civil society and public order. In our present day, for example, several organizations both in government and outside government, espouse the need to filter media content. Within governments, we have UK’s Office of Communications and the United States has its own Federal Communications Commission. Outside governments, organizations such as the Parents’ Music Research Center actively campaign for censorship as a necessary defense against the corruption of young minds. From the early days of the Inquisition wherein large volumes of books and other literature labeled as sacrilegious or scandalous were ripped into shreds before being thrown into large flaming pyres, till today’s curre nt practice of censorship cuts on mass-produced films and broadcast programs, artistic work has consistently come under the magnifying glass and scrutiny of regulating bodies bent on filtering the content of mass media which reach the common population.

Report - Competing through Marketing Assignment

Report - Competing through Marketing - Assignment Example Marketing planning is a strategic process used by organizations to predict the future environment of the business for the sole aim of strategizing on the appropriate strategy for maximizing the full potential of the existing and future market. In organizations, market planning helps in allocation of resources, identification of the strengths and weaknesses and provides advance warning. Overall, marketing in organizations revolves around expanding the market, increasing the organization’s profit, exhausting resources, and targeting the right market (Lecture 1 & 2). Trends in banking and financial services Globalization According to Cummins and Venard (2007), different supranational agencies which include the World Bank and World Trade Organization have been major contributors in promoting globalization to the entire world, with a specific impact been focused to Asia. A good example in respect to this is in 2001 when the Chinese government was signatory of the WTO; there were cr ucial commitments made by the government in terms of liberalizing insurance industry. A new stage was hence created for the development of the insurance sector and opening of the market was enhanced instead of the previous restricted market (Padmalatha, 2011). Moreover, globalization ensures the ease of financial firms accessing the market beyond the borders of their country of origin. Globalization also ensures future penetration of foreign firms to a foreign market (Cummins and Venard, 2007, p.19). Private insurance In the past, majority of countries relied on government programs and insurance companies but of late, the trend has changed as they are relying on private insurance companies that have become dominant in the economy. Moreover, government insurance companies have diminished in time due to wave of privatization (Cummins and Venard, 2007, p.19). New technology Financial firms have witnessed advancement in new technology over the past few years. This has increased and enha nced marketing of new products in a rapid manner as compared to the past. New technology has brought with it an introduction to new sophisticated products. In insurance industry, for instance, there is an introduction of universal life insurance, which can be termed as a change facilitated by development in communication and computer technologies (Cummins and Venard, 2007, p.19). Differences between building societies and banks Building societies are mutual societies, which mean that, they are owned by members. These members either have taken a mortgage with the society or have invested with them. On the other hand, banks may not possess shareholders who earn dividends from profits earned; instead, the profit earned in banks is normally ploughed back into the firm. Basically, the difference between the two is based on their nature of lending (Boleat, 1985, p.4). In terms of raising money, building societies normally offer mortgage loans when purchasing a house. In this case, the hou se acts as the security against the received loan. In addition to this, building societies can transact loans, which are unsecured. These loans mainly

HR management challenge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HR management challenge - Essay Example The funds required for the operation of the hospital is obtained from the property taxes on the residents of Dallas. The hospital experiences a huge volume of patients on a regular basis. The hospital beds are laid in the wide hallways. The renovation of the hospital has been proposed by the Dallas County Commissioner’s court by replacement of the old infrastructure with a new 17 storied building in order to provide quality healthcare service that also takes care of patient safety. Real world healthcare human resource management challenge Recently Parkland Memorial Hospital has shown the doors to many of its employees. This has resulted in huge vacancy in the nursing department, which is three times higher than it was a year ago, as per the official figure. More than 400 workers which included registered nurses have left the hospital between November and mid-March. The figure is around 30 per cent more than what was expected. Jim Johnson the new human resource director of the hospital has acknowledged that there is more stress than it had been in the past. Almost all of the workers have left voluntarily, though 101 of them were fired after giving reasons for the same. The reasons which can be stated are tiredness, showing rude behavior to the patients, stealing and unexcused absences. Some of the employees who are underperforming are being made to undergo training to improve their skill. But the problem they are facing is that these employees are choosing to leave voluntarily. The hospital can’t keep the patients happy without keeping the workers happy. They have to motivate the staff. The main problem is the availability of nurses who can leave easily any hospital as they can get a job anywhere. But the main reason of them leaving is that there is an extraordinary amount of workload. To prevent this management have communicated to give retention bonuses to the nurses (JACOBSON, 2012). What has happened thus far and description of the challenge Dr . Thomas Royer who is the interim chief executive officer, have acknowledged that the hospital managers are walking a fine line and taking steps to make necessary changes. They have to put pressure on the employees to improve their performance but at the same time cannot pressurize too much on the employees which will force them to leave the hospital. A registered nurse, who left Parkland, told she was driven by low morale as the rank-and-file workers were blamed for what was wrong in the hospital. They were all treated as incompetent. They were criticized even for the right things they were doing. The employees believed that the main reason the problem was created was due to middle level management. None of the middle level managers were fired. All the blames were put on the employees itself. They left Parkland because they knew what was wrong and nothing was being done to correct it. They felt that the senior level management was not concerned about their issues. Johnson said thou gh the management tried to do their part to help them but it had the opposite effect on the employees. For example if a patient party reported any complaint to the managers regarding employee error which requires a corrective action the employee would feel demoralize by the action taken by them. Morale sunk so low in recent months that the hospital’s pastoral care staff had to begin counseling the employees, not just the patients. The hospital was also struggling to attract new candidates. The present scenario is also affecting their

Groups in High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Groups in High School - Essay Example The gentlemen ask questions but only when necessary. They ask questions solely to clarify their concept. Whether or not the class pays attention to their question does not matter to them. All they want is clear concept from the teacher. They don’t tend to become prominent through speaking in the class or acting in the ways that are expected of the capable children. They are quite likely to be seen in spectacles. Most of them lose their eye-sight as a consequence of their obsession with studies. The gentlemen assume a higher status amongst the class fellows. They are idealized by the regulars and envied by the back benchers. The Regulars The regulars are seated in between the gentlemen and the back benchers. They make a bulk of the class and are the main source of income for the schools. They are the question raisers. They raise questions not because they are quite as interested in the lecture, but because they want to make their presence felt. Quite often, the regulars establi sh a gentleman as a benchmark and commit to themselves that they would beat that particular gentleman in the upcoming exam. Sometimes, the regular works hard enough to achieve this goal and thus, be promoted from the status of a regular to a gentleman. The regulars are generally quite vocal about their ambitions and challenges. If one regular establishes a gentleman as a benchmark, his friends would most likely know it. The regulars are all-rounders. They are not bad at studies but also not very good either. They have a wide array of topics to discuss with their friends on everyday basis. They are the first to know which movie is expected to release when and how much business would it do. They know what is going on in the national and international political scenario. In other words, their attention is diverted to so many areas at the same time that they are not able to do as good in studies as they are capable of doing. In a vast majority of cases, the regulars are more brilliant t han the gentleman, but they cannot help paying attention to activities other than studies. If they focus entirely upon their studies, they can do much better than most gentlemen. Many regulars are in this community because of their laziness. If they overcome their laziness, they are quite capable of becoming the gentlemen. The Back Benchers The back benchers are just as many as the gentlemen in the class. They occupy the rear-most seats in the class and are least enthusiastic about studies. They come to class just for the attendance. They bunk the classes yet make sure that they attend the classes just enough to have their case forwarded to the board for enrollment in the exam. The back benchers come into the classroom with earphones plugged in. They listen to the songs on MP3 while the lecture is on. Some of them sleep with their heads down on the table. They are artists. Most of them sleep in a way that you cannot catch them from a distance. They hold the book high in the hands to hide the face behind that. Somebody from a distance can take a back bencher for a gentleman. They are mostly found in the cafeteria with a cup of tea in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Their most favorite topic of discussion is girls. One back bencher consults the other for ways to make friends with girls. They discuss how they spent the weekend and the plans for the upcoming weekend. The back benchers

Tears of the Tiger Essay Example for Free

Tears of the Tiger Essay In Sharon Draper’s novel Tears of a Tiger various character deal with a particular challenge or obstacle. Andy Jackson face conflicts with other individuals, their societies, and themselves. Andy conflict with his father shows through out the story and is consistent. Mr.Jackson pressures Andy way too much which leads to arguments between them. â€Å"You seem to be doin’ a fine job of dreamin’ my dreams and planning my future. Maybe I don’t wanna be accepted to white folks† (Andy Page 153). Mr.Jackson pressures Andy a lot with school and keeping his grades up, so Andy can get into college and work in business administration. Andy does not want to do that with his life, it’s not his dream but his father’s dream for him. Mr.Jackson want Andy to have a bright future but does not consider his son feeling or what he wants to do with his future. Andy and Mr. Jackson arguments come from exception his father has for him. Racism in this story plays a pretty big role, Andy puts up with his teachers being racist and also with society. Mr.Jackson tells Andy how society works â€Å" But you must, That’s the only way to make it in this world to assimilate into the society in which we live in that’s why you must pull up your grades and improve your attitude.† Mr.Jackson tells Andy that he must work hard in life to be accepted by white people. He said that how society works. Andy does not like what his father is saying to him because it doesn’t bother him that black people are unimportant to white people. Andy feels white people look down on like his teachers do. Depression is a really consistent conflicts that Andy tries to deal with but struggles with it. Andy’s depression takes over him, he could not control it anymore because he couldn’t get over the death of Rob. In Andy’s Poem he tell how he really feels inside. â€Å" it’s dark where I am and cannot find the light. There are shadows all around me and my heart is full of fright†. The poem shows the state of mind in which he’s in. He feel that he has no one. The aloneness comes from him losing his best friend. Andy can’t think straight because he is so depression he doesn’t know what to do anymore he think he has no one to talk to be he does not realise that so many people are trying to him throught thing but Andy just doesn’t see it . The Depression is what makes Andy struggle with life.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Planning Process

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Planning Process CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is 20 year old tool for environmental management, not living up to its full potential. (Mudge, 1993). This chapter describes the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) planning process as conventionally depicted in subsequent EIA texts and guidelines. EIA characteristics and objectives are first presented because EIA planning process characterisations are interdependent with assumed EIA characteristics and objectives. Following the depictions of EIA characteristics, EIA objectives and the EIA planning process vary greatly from source to source. These variations are more the result of the varying perspectives of different authors than clearly defined schools of thought. Although, there has been a pro- process of evaluation over the past two decades, there also are many instances where elements suggested in earlier works have not been incorporated into most recent portrayals. This overview of the conventional EIA planning process is a point of departure for the modifications and refinements discussed in later chapters of this research. Also, the conventional portrayals of EIA characteristics, EIA objectives and the EIA planning process will be revisited in later chapters, taking account of combined implications. The following are EIA characteristics as commonly depicted in introductory EIA literature and guidelines; As a field of study EIA draws upon many social and natural science disciplines (Jain, Urban and Stacey, 1977). Drawing upon diverse disciplines is necessary to understand the significant aspects of the environment in order to predict how those environmental attributes may change over time with and without a proposed action; Boundaries between, and links to both traditional disciplines and to other transdisciplinary and transprofessional fields such as planning (Lawrence 1992). EIA must transcend individual disciplines if a holistic image of the environment with and without a proposed action(s), is to be presented. Hence, EIA should not be viewed as a transdisciplinary field. EIA consist of structural approaches and set of procedures in order to ensure that environmental factors are considered in planning and decision making (Clark1981a). In this regard EIA is a normative procedure that seeks to identify natural and social environmental norms or ethical standards and to infuse these into planning and decision making. In the definition of Environmental Impact Assessment, the impact element is often prefaced by one or more dimensional distinctions, such as; positive and negative (Mitchell and Takheim 1977; Rau and Wooten 1980); time ( short term, long term, frequency, duration); space (on-site, off-site); direct and indirect, quantitative and qualitative; individual and cumulative; and likelihood of occurrence (Rau and Wooten 1980). While the assessment component of EIA includes analysis synthesis and management- Analysis involves data collection and compilation, the identification of likely environmental conditions and interactions among environmental conditions and systems (Mm 1979; Munro et. al 1986; Amour 1990; Erickson 1994) und the description, measurement and prediction of likely effects and interactions among effects. Synthesis includes the interpretation of the significance of affects and interactions among them (Munn 1979; CEARC l988b) and the aggregation and evaluation of individual and cumulative effects (Cumulative Environmental Assessment CEA) both with and without mitigation (Westman 1985; Lang and Annour 1981; Armour 1990; Erickscm 1 994; Shoanaka 1994). Management includes mitigation (Jain, Urban and Stacey 1977) compensation and local benefits (Amour 1990), the management of residual impacts (CEARC 1988b), monitoring and contingency measures, and communications/ consultation activities (CEARC 1988b). In summary, EIA is a process that identifies, predicts, evaluates and manages the potential (or real) impacts of proposed (or existing) human activities on both the human and natural environment. The EIA planning process includes analysis, synthesis, management, communications and consultation activities. The consequences of such activities and their alternatives will result in specific impacts. Underlying EIA practice are usually implicating application assumptions. Formal or informal institutional mechanisms are, for example, anticipated to be in place to help to compel, or at least facilitate public or private proponents to initiate and complete an EIA planning process and the necessary documentation, as a perquisite to project approval. Along with perquisite methods it is expected that a systematic planning process can be devised or adapted for analysing and synthesizing the appropriate data and for involving relevant agencies and the public. Further assumed that: there is appropriate expertise to tackle the necessary technical work and to review whatever the outcomes of the planning process; there is a basis for choosing among alternative plans and for deciding if an undertaking should or should not proceed; the people who make the decision will rationally use the information provided to guide their actions; the requirements for approvals can be enforced and the impacts managed if unforeseen impacts occur; the contingency measures can be instituted. These application assumptions have been increasingly challenged in the EIA literature and in decision of courts and hearing panels and boards. The expectation that knowledge and expertise are sufficient may be especially dubious in situations characterised by emerging technologies, poorly understood environments and complex inter relationships within and among proposed actions and components of the environment. The extension of EIA from the conceptual to the applied pre-supposes that EIA must also be a transprofessional field of practice, EIA comprises of a core body of knowledge, skills and methods. Social and natural sciences provide the initial knowledge base- EIA seeks to integrate and, thereby transcend, the inputs and insights of a range of professions with expertise m the proposed action, the environment and their interactions, within a public policy setting. Frameworks, procedures and methods have been formulated and refined through practice, which over the years, has resulted in the emergence of EIA as a recognized area of expertise. EIA is a planning tool (Bisset 1983; Clark l9Ã »3a; Smith 1993). It is a form of applied policy analysis or more specifically, a form of resource management and environmental planning (Smith 1993). Consequently, the formulations and applications of environmental planning processes is one aspect of EIA. It, therefore, tends to be assumed that the EIA planning process should be anticipatory (prior to decision-making), systematic or orderly and rational. The results and conclusions from the EIA planning process should also be documented, generally in the form of an EIA report or statement. EIA is a generic planning process intended to contribute environmental information to decision-making. It provides a regulatory basis for forcing the explicit consideration of environment concerns by public and private decision makers. As such EIA forms a part of the institutional fabric through legislation, public policy or administrative procedures. Institutionalisation requires mechanisms to prepare, review and document the process, to coordinate inter-agency and private/public interactions, to adjudicate disputes and to monitor and enforce compliance. This dissertation therefore takes up this theme to investigate the effectiveness of EIA in the Skye Bridge project by considering the planning process and by using literature review as a means of analysis and research. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW On July 3, 1988, European Union (EU) Directive 85/337/EEC (Directive) came into force and as a result, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) became a part of the EUs environmental protection plans. The Directive requires that before consent is given for the development of certain public and private projects that are likely to have significant effects on the environment, an assessment of those effects must be compiled and considered by the developer and the authority in charge of approving the projects. By asking decision-making authorities to ponder likely environmental harm before the harm occurs, the Directive promotes a policy of preventing environmental harm. The comprehensive effectiveness of mandating pre-consent environmental impact assessment is undercut, however, because the Directive textually exempts national defense projects from its process. This study suggests that the European Union could and should include national defense projects in its EIA law. Part I of this Chapt er will provide a summarized, chronological evolution of environmental policy in the European Union. Part II will give a description and history of EIA law, including that of the United States, so as to provide a comparative and contrasting point of reference. Part III will propose a way by which the European Union can more fully live up to the preventative approach that it has espoused for environmental protection by requiring environmental impact assessments for national defense projects. This Chapter concludes that the inclusion of national defense projects in the EUs EIA law would broaden the scope and effectiveness of EIA law and environmental protection generally. 2.1. HISTORICAL AND LEGAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT LAW 2.1.1. The Evolution of Environmental Policy in the EU The 1957 Treaty of Rome (Treaty), which established the European Economic Community, focused on the creation of a common-trade zone. Accordingly, the Treaty failed to make any explicit statements regarding policies for environmental protection. In fact, until 1987, all EU environmental protection legislation was introduced via the general language of one or both of two Treaty articles that only implicitly recognized EU authority over environmental issues in Member States. Article 100 of the Treaty calls for the harmonization of laws affecting the common market in Member States. Article 235 authorizes measures that prove necessary to attain one of the objectives of the Community absent a specific delegation of authority by the Treaty. Although the Articles make no explicit reference to environmental issues, they have been used as authority for certain environmental regulations. For example, Article 100s allusion to issues affectin g the common market was used as the authority to develop legislation that regulated product and industry standards across the EU. On the heels of the increased environmental awareness that swept the globe in the late 1960s, the European Community initiated the European Community Action Programmes on the Environment. The first of these five-year programmes, covering the years from 1973 to 1977, established principles and priorities for future environmental policies. The second five-year programme (1977-1981) established a list of eleven principles and actions to be taken in order to move closer to the goal of environmental protection. The list included the decision-making tool of environmental impact assessment. The first two Action Programmes had a common theme of protecting human health and the environment by controlling pollution problems. The third five-year Programme (1982-1986) solidly shifted the emphasis of environmental policy from one of pollution control to one of prevention and integration of environmental issues into other European Community policies. Not surprisingly, it was during the era of the S econd and Third Action Programmes when Directive 85/337/EEC, an inherently preventative and integrating piece of legislation, was first proposed and then accepted. The Fourth Action Programme (1987-1992) continued the trend of prevention but proceeded further beyond its predecessors by stressing the importance of using stringent environmental standards in regulating the activities of Member States. The evolution of environmental policy in the EU took a crucial step on July 1, 1987 when, in conjunction with the adoption of the Fourth Action Programme, the Community adopted the Single European Act. The Act, which consisted of amendments to the Treaty of Rome, contained articles that specifically affected environmental policy. Article 100A recognized the relationship between promotion of the common market and protection of the environment by authorizing the EU to adopt environmental legislation on the basis that such issues affect the marketplace. Article 130R lays out the objectives of future Community action relating to the environment by formalizing the principles of prevention, subsidiarity, polluter pays, and most importantly, integration. Article 130T reconfirms that individual Member States may enact environmental legislation that is more stringent than, but is compatible with, that of the Community. The evolution of environmental policy in the EU from the 1957 Treaty of Rome through the various Action Programmes and to the Single European Act exemplifies the European Communitys commitment to a preventative approach to environmental protection. EIA law stands as a hallmark of that preventative approach. The EUs commitment to the comprehensive prevention of environmental degradation is tested, however, by the limitations of its own EIA law. 2.1.2. Environmental Impact Assessment Law: A Description and Comparative Study 2.1.2.1. EIA: A General Overview The essential structure of EIA law is common to all the nations that use it. Generally, EIA law is a process intended to minimize or prevent environmental damage that is usually associated with the construction and operation of certain development projects. Usually in the form of legislation, regulations and/or administrative processes, EIA law requires that certain development projects, while still in a planning stage, be analyzed in terms of their potential adverse impacts on the environment. Developers and/or governmental bodies, depending on the particularities of the EIA law in question, must conduct an analysis, or assessment, of the environmental effects of certain projects. The public authority responsible for granting or denying consent to the project is asked to take into account the results of the assessment. Again, depending on the particularities of the EIA law in question, provisions are made for public disclosure of the assessments, as well as for public involvement in the authoritys decision-making process. The EIA process plays four important roles in protecting the environment. First, EIA law gives concrete, practical effect to environmental policy language that is often broad, general and otherwise absent of specific mandates. The U.S. Congress, in formulating its declarations of environmental policy, included EIA so as to insure that the policies enunciated . . . are implemented. EIA helps to insure proper implementation of policies by requiring the formulation and submission of written assessment reports, demonstrating an affirmative compliance with the environmental concerns outlined in policy language. A second role for EIA is to provide an analytical decision-making tool that institutionalizes foresight. It asks the decision-making authority to look beyond the moment and to incorporate into its decision the possible irreversible future effects a project may have on the environment. Third, to the extent that EIA affirmatively asks developers and decision-makers to account for the social and economic costs resulting from their actions, EIA forces the internalization of those costs and consequences that might otherwise go unaccounted for. The final role that EIA plays is as a public-awareness measure. Most EIA processes allow for public disclosure of development plans, as well as for public participation in the decision-making process. In the words of Professor Nicholas Robinson, EIA facilitates democratic decision making and consensus building regarding new development. For EIA to incorporate environmental norms into decision making, it must address both environmental ethics and values and human ethics, values, perceptions, beliefs and attitudes. It is an objective procedure for identifying, measuring and predicting environmental attributes and changes brought about by existing or proposed actions, but is subjective in the interpretation, aggregation and management of those changes. Although driven by an environmental ethic, the links between EIA and ethical theory in general and environmental ethics in particular, have been tenuous at best. The tendency has been to assume that concepts and methods developed to predict and explain environmental change provide a sufficient knowledge base. The practice of EIA involves, usually implicit assumptions regarding the known environment, environmental impacts and environmental norms. It is, for example, generally assumed that aspects of the environment and their inter- relationships can be identified, described or measured and monitored; changes, with or without a proposed action can be predicted to the extent that cause-effect relationships can be established; stakeholders values can be determined; measures of impact magnitude and importance can be combined; individual and cumulative environmental consequences can be interpreted, aggregated and managed; end issues of probability of uncertainty can be managed sufficiently to decide whether a proposed action should proceed and, if so, then, in what fashion. These knowledge assumptions are questionable, especially in the subjective realm of conflicting values, perceptions and human behaviour. The primary focus of EIA was initially on the physical and natural environment and, to a lesser extent, on the socio economic consequences of physical and natural environmental changes. The environmental aspect of EIA now generally embraces both natural (physical, biological and ecological) and human (human health and well being, social, cultural, economic built) environmental components and systems (Wiesner, 1995) and their inter relationships (Jain, Urban and Stacey, 1977; Estrin and Swaigen, 1978; CEARC, 1988b). There are many opinions regarding whether social impact assessment (SIA) or socio-economic impact assessment is or should be a sub-field of EIA (Morris and Therive1, 1995). A broad definition of the environmental EIA facilitates a more comprehensive approach to environmental management but it leaves open the possibility that certain elements of the environment will not receive pertinent attention. The question of how best to integrate social, ecological and economic data and perspectives remains unresolved. Human actions alter the environment (Jain, Urban and Stacey 1977; Mitchell and Turkheim 1977). In EIA, the term impact generally refers to the accepted environmental consequences (Meredith 1991) of a proposed action or set of actions (Rau and Wooten 1980) and less frequently to the actual consequences of an existing activity. Distinctions also are often drawn between changes or effects (measures of magnitude) and impacts (measures of magnitude in combination with measures of importance), between alternations of environmental conditions or the creation of a new set of environmental conditions, and between environmental conditions changes caused or ind uced by actions (Rau and Wooten 1980). Although the traditional focus of EIA has been capital projects, EIA requirements are increasingly applied to legislative proposals, policies, programs, technologies, regulations and operational procedures (Munn 1979; Estrin and Swaigen 1978; CEARC 1988b). The expectation that the conceptual basis for EIA largely developed at a project level can be readily extended and applied to policies, programs and technologies is questionable. At the policy and program level the range of inter related choices tends to multiply, impacts tend to be more generic and less amenable to precise prediction and EIA overlaps with policy and program evaluation, planning and environmental and resource management. A distinction is sometimes drawn between project level EIA und the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of policies, plans and programs (Sadler 1995). Risk assessment, technology assessment and environmental health impact assessment are viewed as either subfields within EIA (Sadler 1995) or as distinct fields that partially overlap with EIA in most cases EIA applies to the actions of both public and private proponents (Meredith 1991; Mitchell and Tuclcheh 1977). Alternative methods of achieving a proposed end and of managing the impacts associated with a partial choice are also usually considered in an EIA planning process. 2.1.2.2. A Comparative Study: The United States Experience with EIA The significant history of EIA law began with the passage in the United States of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. NEPA was brought about as an instrument of policy and planning (Roberts, 1984a). Among NEPAs eloquent but broad declarations of environmental policy is a brief section mandating EIA law for certain projects, thus providing a set of teeth with which to enforce the statutes policies. Section 102(2) of the Act requires all federal agencies to prepare and include an environmental impact statement (EIS) with every recommendation or proposal for major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. The importance and weight of this requirement, as well as the problems inherent in defining its triggering terms, are demonstrated by the fact that the EIS clause has spawned nearly all case law brought under NEPA. Much of NEPA case law has dealt with the issue of w hether projects involving national defense and national security are subject to compliance with Section 102(2), and judicial review of such compliance. The environmental, public-awareness and military interests at stake in these cases are reflected by two questions. First, will compliance and judicial review compromise the confidentiality of matters regarding national security? Second, will compliance and judicial review compromise the ability of the military to proceed with projects, which while detrimental to the environment, are crucial to the defense of the country? In answering these questions, it is important to note that NEPA calls for EISs from all agencies of the Federal Government; the statute does not provide a textual exception for national defense or security projects. Despite the clear language of the statute, however, U.S. courts have struggled with the issue and are currently responding in a manner that runs counter to the language and true intent of NEPA. Most court decisions find that NEPA-based claims against projects involving national defense interests are justifiable. Early cases, however, were ambiguous in answering questions of whether such projects must comply with NEPA requirements and whether EISs for such projects are subject to judicial review of their legal sufficiency. For instance, in the early case of McQueary v. Laird, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals dealt with a NEPA challenge to a military project by claiming lack of jurisdiction. In another early case, Citizens for Reid State Park v. Laird, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Maine found that NEPA applies to all federal agencies, including the Department of Defense. The Court in Citizens for Reid State Park refused to require an EIS for the Navy project in question, however, because it found that the plaintiff citizens group had failed to prove that the Navy plans constituted a major project significantly affecting the environment. Later court d ecisions often allowed national defense projects to proceed without an EIS or judicial review of an EIS, not because the courts believed that such projects did not have to comply with NEPA, but merely because the courts found that major federal action or significant effects on the environmentrequirements necessary to trigger NEPA were absent. In cases where major federal actions having significant effects on the environment were found to exist, compliance with NEPA was required despite national security interests. In Committee for Nuclear Responsibility, Inc. v. Schlesinger, for example, the Supreme Court refused to issue an injunction for violation of NEPA, but the Courts rushed decision upheld a Court of Appeals finding that the Atomic Energy Commission did have a judicially reviewable duty to comply with NEPA requirements in spite of national security considerations. In Progressive Animal Welfare Society v. Department of Navy, the Western District Court of Appeals of Washington found that the Navys plan to use dolphins in a military project was a major federal action with significant environmental impact; accordingly, a NEPA EIS was required for the project. Finally, in Concerned about Trident v. Rumsfeld, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that the Navys plans for a submarine support facility requ ired compliance with NEPA to the fullest extent possible. The court found that the Navys own internal environmental impact statement was insufficient to fulfill the requirements of NEPA. In making its decision, the court, citing judicial precedent as well as NEPAs lack of a textual military exception, rejected the Navys argument that NEPA could not possibly apply to strategic military decisions. The court stated that the Navys plans were subject to NEPA requirements despite the projects serious national security implications. In 1981, the Supreme Court again addressed the issue of the militarys compliance with NEPAs EIA mandate. In Weinberger v. Catholic Action of Hawaii, the Court refused judicial review of the Department of Defenses compliance with NEPA in a matter of national security. The dispute began with the Navys plan to construct a weapons and ammunition holding facility capable of storing nuclear weapons in Ohau, Hawaii. The Navys internal assessment concluded that the fac ility would not have significant impact on the environment and as such, a NEPA EIS was unnecessary. The Navys assessment, however, failed to include an analysis of the facilitys impact on the environment should nuclear weapons actually be stored at the site. The district court that first reviewed the case found that the Navy had complied with NEPA to the fullest extent possible. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the district court, arguing that an EIS was necessary and feasible since it would not necessarily release confidential matters. Important to the court was the fact that the Navy had already made the nuclear capabilities of the facility public knowledge. The court went on to suggest a hypothetical approach to writing EISs that would protect national security, environmental concerns, and public disclosure interests. Judge Merrill wrote that under this hypothetical approach, the Navys EIS must evaluate the hypothetical consequences of storing nuclear weapons at the site but it need not imply that a decision to actually store nuclear weapons had been made. The court argued that since the public was already aware of the capability of the facility to store nuclear weapons, a hypothetical EIS that discussed the impact of such storage, but not whether it would actually occur, would not reveal anything the public did not already know . Further, it would allow the Navy and the decision-making authority to consider the true and potential costs and consequences of proceeding with the project. Finally, the Court stated that a hypothetical EIS would assure the public that the decision-making process had fully accounted for the projects externalities and consequences. On review, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals creative approach to balancing the interests at stake. The Court, discrediting the Ninth Circuits notion of a hypothetical EIS, refused to mandate a NEPA EIS because it believed that doing so would reveal confidential matters of national security. In the majority opinion, Justice Rehnquist outlined the current status of the law regarding military compliance with EIA law in the United States. He wrote that public policies favoring the protection of confidential information regarding national security ultimately forbids judicial scrutiny of whether or not the Navy has complied with NEPA to the fullest extent possible.' Justice Blackmun, who concurred with the judgment of the Court, was joined by Justice Brennan in stressing that although the Defense Department may disseminate EISs in a manner that protects confidential matters, it is still bound by the obligations of NEPA. 2.1.2.3. A Comparative Study: The European Unions Experience with EIA Sixteen years after NEPA took effect in the United States and after five years of consideration in the European Union, Environmental Impact Assessment law was officially incorporated into the statutory framework of the EU on June 27, 1985. Directive 85/337 mandates EIA for certain projects such as those involving crude-oil refineries, thermal and nuclear power stations, motorway construction and dangerous waste landfills. It also requires EIA to be performed in conjunction with those other projects that Member States find have a significant effect on the environment due to the projects particular characteristics. The specific legal authority for the Directive is derived from Articles 100 and 235 of the EEC Treaty. The Directive also cites to the first three Action Programmes for their policies of preventing environmental harms at the source rather then trying to counteract environmental degradation once it occurs. The procedure called for by the Directive identifies, describes and analyzes the effects a development project may have on humans, fauna, flora, soil, water, air, climate, landscape, welfare and cultural heritage. The EIA must contain a description of the project in question, an outline of the main alternatives to the project, the reason for choosing the proposed plans, a description of the significant effects the project will have on the environment, and a description of the measures that must be taken to avoid, reduce or compensate for those effects. Because developers have the best knowledge of the nature of their proposal, they have the responsibility of gathering the information and compiling the EIA. The decision-making authorities who have the power of giving consent to the developers plans have the responsibility of setting standards for approval or disapproval and ensuring that the developers EIA complies with the law. Further, they are obligated, by statute, to incorporate the EIA into their decision-making process. Also, Article 10 of the Directive states that the authorities must respect existing regulations and practices regarding industrial and commercial secrecy. Finally, the Directive envisions an active role for the public. In addition to supplying the decision-makers with information regarding the impact a project will have on the local environment, the public may have an opportunity to suggest alternatives and to pursue judicial action in order to request a review of consent. Further particularities of public participation and involvement are to be determined by the individual Member States. 2.1.2.4. The National Defense Project Exception to Directive 85/337/EEC The effectiveness of the Directive in preventing environmental harms is undercut by the exception it gives to national defense projects. It is reasonable to infer that this exception reflects two assumptions. The first assumption, explicitly mentioned in the Directive, is that national legislative processes will ensure that defense projects comply with the Directive. No rationale is provided for this assumption except for the implied reasoning that national legislators share the concerns of the Directive and are able to guide national legislation accordingly. The second assumption appears to be that the confidentiality of Member States national security matters would be compro

Advertising and Promotion Strategies

Advertising and Promotion Strategies Scenario You have been hired by an advertiser as a consultant to devise the promotional campaign for the product (Please select any product or business of your choice). The advertiser is not sure about the promotional budget therefore he wants you to advise and develop plan of how effectively can he advertise having your expertise. Besides above the line promotion, he also wants to know about the below the line options that can be offered to him by you. P.7: Differentiate between the characteristics and Objectives of the various below-the-lines promotional Techniques. Below-The-Line Promotion can be classified as above the line and below the line promotion. The promotion activities carried out through mass media for example radio, television, newspaper comes under above the line promotion. Below the line promotion refers to forms of non media communication below the line promotion are becoming increasingly important within the communication mix of many companies. In some ways by which companies do below the line promotions are by exhibition, sponsorship activities, public relations and sales promotions. Sales promotion Below the line sales promotions are short term and companies target the consumers and it is to achieve communication objectives more efficiently in limited budget with pressure on marketing team to achieve the communication objectives. An immediate or delayed incentive to purchase, Expressed in cash or in kind and having only a short term or temporary duration. (Hugh Davidson). Below are the lines of sales promotion: Price Reduction It is known as price discounting and it is done in two ways: Discount to normal selling price of a product More of the product at normal price Price promotions can also have negative effect on brand reputation or just a short term sales boost. Coupons Coupon is a ticket or document that can be exchanged for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product coupons are issued by manufacturing companies and retailers and the sources for coupons are through mail, magazines, newspapers, internet, and mobile devices. Rebates Rebates are like coupons which offer value to purchasers by lowering the customers final cost for acquiring the product. Rebates often request the purchaser to submit personal data in order to obtain the rebate including name, address and contact information is general required to obtain a rebate and sometime marketers may ask additional information such as reason for purchasing the product Samples: It is a free amount of a product delivered door to door, sent to mail, picked up in a store, attached to another products. Premiums (Gifts): Merchandise offered at a relatively low cost or free as an incentive to purchase a particular product. It can be inside a particular product, or in a package offered. Public Relations The point of public relations is to make the public think favorably about the company and its offerings. Commonly used tools of public relations include news releases, press conferences, speaking engagements, and community service programs. But advertisement is closely related to public relations. the goal of advertising is generating sales, while the goal of public relations is generating good will. The effect of good public relations is to lessen the gap between how an organization sees itself and how others outside the organization perceive it. Public relations involve two-way communication between an organization and its public. It requires listening to the constituencies on which an organization depends as well as analyzing and understanding the attitudes and behaviors of those public. Only then can an organization undertake an effective public relations campaign. Many small business owners elect to handle the public relations activities for their own companies, while others cho ose to hire a public relations specialist. Managers of somewhat larger firms, on the other hand, frequently contract with external public relations or advertising agencies to enhance their corporate image. But whatever option is chosen, the head of a company is ultimately responsible for its public relations. Sponsorship Companies and brands use sponsorships to build brand recognition by associating with an event. Companies try to find the target groups who fit within a specified budget and provide sponsorship benefits that suit the companys objectives. There are various sponsorships which are local, national and international sponsorships. Objectives of Sales Promotion techniques: Many sales promotion techniques used to attract the customers who are using the product for the first time. It is used for introduction of new products. Sales promotion can act as an effective customer information gathering tool. Marketers found that sales promotions are an effective tool for creating interest in a product because creating interest is considered as an important use of sales promotion. Some Sales promotion techniques offer the opportunity for customers to try the product for free or at low cost. Sales promotions are designed in a way to move customers to action or to provide information about product. Sales promotions are to build product awareness and to maximize the demand. Objectives of Public Relations: Public relations objective is to aware consumers about new product launching or to maximize the demand of existing product. Public relation can be used to provide customers with more information about a product. It is also used to build a good image and to maintain a positive relationship with customers. Objective of Sponsorship: The main objective of sponsorship is to increase sales. To aware the customers about a product. To reach target markets. To reach consumer where they live and play. To build relationship with customers. To build image. P8: Recommend the use of individual techniques in two commercial situations. Confed School for Professional Studies Confed is a consultancy which provides information about many U.K universities to the students of Pakistan. It has four branches in Pakistan located in Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. It provides information to the students who want to study abroad and helps them in selecting their careers. Confed conduct seminars in which that call different student and gave them briefing about different universities in U.K and about the living in the U.K. Besides consultancy business Confed is also offering Higher National Diploma (HND) and classes for ILETS exams. Recommendations for CSPS to improve their business. Confed should distribute flyers in different colleges and universities invite them to their seminars. They should specially target the students of FSC, A-levels. They should give discounts to the student who are applying for the first time and should give them keep the student satisfied. CSPS should make writing pads, pens, and distribute amongst the students of other colleges and universities. In Peshawar every one cannot afford the education in the U.K Confed because it is too expensive. Confed should make their customer realize that if the education is expensive it doesnt matter later on it has many advantages and benefits. Confed should deliver the advantage that a student will get by studying in the U.K. Confed should conduct different campaign for example beatifying university town, this will make a good reputation of confed. They should be participating in social activities. Daewoo Pakistan Sammi Corporation was established as forest products importer in 1954 but has expanded its business to become a dynamic trading company in Korea. From the 1950s, Sammi has been challenging the world market with a great emphasis on conforming to international requirements for the timely delivery of top-grade industrial products, such as Stainless steel, Coated steel, Automotive parts, Wood products various raw material.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Daewoo is a bus service introduced by Sammi cooperation, Daewoo is a bus service which covers almost all the cities of Pakistan. The journey of Daewoo is very relaxing, comfortable and is always on time. Now a days Sammi Daewoo is very popular for traveling in Pakistan. Here we will discuss about three major cities Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore and how can Daewoo improve its services. Recommendations Reservation of Daewoo is made by phone. They should start a service by which there customers can make booking online or through their mobile phones. Sometimes the operator is busy and may not receive call so they should introduce new way of booking of seats on Daewoo that is online booking and through mobile phones. This will save time for their customers and will be much easier. They should give monthly cards to their regular customers worth Rs 2000 and the fare should be deducting from the card automatically. And should also give them discounts. They should also give donations to charitable trust. This is very good for overall reputation of the company. They should launch VIP busses for the executive class and should make the service different than normal routine. For example the menu should be different. Bussed traveling from Peshawar to Lahore should take the route of motorway from Peshawar usually the bus passes through noshera which takes a lot of time. Daewoo should offer snacks in between the journey. P.9 explain the principles and process of campaign management including (Communication goals, situation analysis, Campaign objectives, Strategies and Budget allocation) Goals of communication: The main goal of business communication is to influence, to control our audiences responses in the way we had intended, so that we can fulfill certain aims for ourselves and our organizations. Effective business communication, of course, results in our eliciting the response we desire both in the short term, such as having our audience obey an order, and in the long term, such as having our audience continue to follow the spirit of the policy. Secondary goals such as self-expression, social relationships, and career advancement also involve producing change in knowledge, attitude, or action. With all these complicated variables going on in the communication process, no wonder communication is imperfect. Situation analysis When analysis of the organization as it is at the moment and how it may develop in the future, is important. The analysis has to be executed at an internal level as well as an external level to identify all opportunities and threats of the external environment as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the organizations. There are too many factors internal and external to the firm which includes in situation analysis but some of the important contexts are given below. Historical context Industry analysis Market analysis Competitor Historical context All situations are unique, it is important to know how the firm arrives at the current situation. For compaign plan we should know about the history of the company including mistakes and success and decision that take in past. Industry analysis In industry some factors affect the character and growth in an industry i-e technology, regulations, economic conditions and social factor. In industry we have to identify that, is there any trend of that product or service? Does customer wants to avail it or not?. We should find out what is unique going on another side. We cannot ignore trends in an industry, no matter in what business we are. Market analysis There are different factors that affect decision making. The effect of external environment is unavoidable in all areas of marketing. There are different types of customer. and Each type o customer have their own attitude towards product and process of decision making so while making campaign we have to keep in eye all of our different types of customers. Competitors We cannot ignored competitors strategies while campaign plan. Its not like to follow each other strategies but have to make different, unique and more effective strategy compare to competitor. Campaign objectives Some of the important objectives of campaign are given below. New customer acquisition. Ensure a strong level of public awareness, understanding and support. Revenue. It raises the awareness of decision making, Cross-selling and bundling Churn prevention and management It also helps in feedback. Youll receive valuable tips, suggestions and leading during your referral interviews Stimulate the trends of investment etc. Strategies Strategy is mechanism by which something is to be done. There are infinite numbers of strategies. Developing marketing campaign can do around these three phases: Conduct your own market research. Focus on one or two positions which, based on your research, look like a good fit for you. Create a position thats right for you in a company where you feel comfortable and motivated. Budgeting The most important and difficult step or context is budget the funds, time and human resource for your campaign. There are different methods which usually get follow are given below. Percentage of sales approach is a simple but inexperienced way to deal with issue. Unit of sales approach that allocates funds on a per-unit base rather than percentage of sales basis. In the share-of-market approach the activities of key competitors are factored in to the budget setting process. A funds available approach is used when firms are strapped for cash and need to cover costs and preserve profitability. Tasks for P10 For this task you must: Discuss the importance of integrated and cost-effective campaign. Use appropriate techniques to develop a cost effective and integrated campaign, consider relative costs of various promotional techniques, product life cycle considerations, strategies that can be adopted by firms, positioning strategies, barriers to integration The most important factor of integrated is to control of the promotional process allows for more synergy activity among each of the communication program elements. It also helps organization to arrange a convenient for clients to coordinate all promotional efforts with one agency and agencies with IMC capabilities can create a single image for the client. The importance of cost-effective campaign is giving a guild line to marketing department that promotional message reaches youre intended and targeted audience and also message is understood by audience and the message stimulates the recipients and they take action. Any communications campaign must have clear, measurable objectives. This is true whether the campaign is designed to communicate product benefits or to support an event. In order to achieve these objectives, a campaign requires careful planning. There are eight main stages to consider, from defining the target market to setting a budget and schedule. (Steel, Jon, 2010) The most important factor of integrated is to control of the promotional process allows for more synergy activity among each of the communication program elements. It also helps organization to arrange a convenient for clients to coordinate all promotional efforts with one agency and agencies with IMC capabilities can create a single image for the client. Asses our marketing communication It is important in this first step to examine and understand the needs of our target market. Our target markets are the students who want to go abroad for their higher studies. What communication channels will use? In the beginning we place billboards near the colleges, schools, and universities and the other thing we distribute our pump flits to different students and keep the help desk of Confed in different colleges and universities. Objectives Our objectives in a promotional campaign are slightly different from our marketing campaign. Our Promotional objectives are stated in terms of long-term behaviors people are having been exposed to your promotional communication. These objectives must be clearly stated, measurable, and appropriate to the phase of market development. Promotion Mix   In this step we will need to allocate resources among sales promotion, advertising, publicity, and of course personal selling. Dont skimp on either of these areas. We must create awareness among our buyers in order for our promotional campaign to succeed. Promotional Message In this step we will need to sit down with our team and focus on the content, appeal, structure, format, and source of the message. We should keep in mind our promotional campaigns appeal and execution and also objectives. Product life cycle Confed overcome the consultant name as ICAS. ICAS was the good consultants but it never capture the market instead of this Confed in the start was not that much good then it highly advertise their service and to promote their business more they launch an HND which is the good opportunity for the students wants to go abroad and want to study the business. Now a days its in a stage of growth. confed Strategy: Confed standard is good, means they installs the multimedia for lectures, a/cs to create the better environment for the students, But there is something slightly missing in it that now they have to advertise more and more in these days because in these days admissions are open at U.K and also in Pakistan and the other thing is to create their management effective which attracts the parents. P.11: present promotion recommendations in the form of a promotion plan Situational analysis Daewoo Pakistan service was established in 1997 with a new kind of service for traveling and tourism. They have routes to all over Pakistan by providing the relaxing and refreshing service to their customers. Company Analysis Recently they are the largest land travel provider in Pakistan. Daewoo has bus terminal with complete range restaurants, cargo service, and travel service. The main goal of the company is to leave on time and get to destination on time. As Daewoo is an international company but this company has indirect competitors which are private busses and the new Motorway Express which tries to compete with Daewoo. Customer Analysis Today customers are becoming sensitive in terms of traveling and food, many people wish to travel safe, comfortable, on time with reasonable price, airlines are providing this kind of service but the price is high, Daewoo is providing the same service which the people of Pakistan wished. Competitor Analysis Daewoo Pakistan is the leader in bus service they dont have a direct competitor but if we consider the indirect competition, there are lots of busses which are trying to get the customers providing a comfortable travel but they dont have on time delivery and safe travel. About a year ago the new travel service has been introduced by the name of motorway express, but this company is in introduction stage which provides the routes from Peshawar to Islamabad and Rawalpindi. P12: Discuss briefly are the criteria for measuring promotional techniques effectiveness. How would you measure the campaign effectiveness in this scenario? There are many ways through which we can measure the promotional techniques effectiveness. Different companies use different ways to measure their promotional activities. The companies follow up to measure their promotional techniques are following areas. Measuring effectiveness of advertising Measuring effectiveness of sales promotion Measuring effectiveness of personal selling Measuring the effectiveness of advertising To check the number of enquiries from advertising. If the advertising is strong so automatically the sales of the company will be very good. When the sales are there means that the advertising goals have been accomplished. To check the customer awareness before and after the advertising campaign. Number of request for further sales means that the advertising campaign was very strong and more awareness is there in-between the consumers. Levels of repeated sales also show the effectiveness of advertising. To assess the effectiveness of advertising campaign, you can monitor sales, new customer requests for information, phone inquiries, and response from the retailers. Measuring the effectiveness of sales promotion The company must take the feedback of their customers regularly. A sales promotion is constructed to inform customers about the new product. This is possible by advertising in newspaper, and other Medias explaining the product and inviting customers to visit their websites for coupon offers. An activity like this can be measured by tracking the number of people visiting the website. Besides coupons another promotion techniques is price discounting such as 50% discount offer, buy one get one free, reducing cost is a sure way to motivate customers to buy the product. M5: Show in which situations do u think your recommended techniques may not work The recommendation I have given they may not work in the following conditions. We have suggested that we should distribute flyers in different seminars but because of security reasons usually seminar get cancelled, due to which we can face problems. It may affect the image of company while giving discounts. To offer the service of booking Daewoo seats through sms or internet can be costly. If there are not enough funds so the organization will not be able to advertise their product in a proper manner. Lack of human resources resource can be the possible reason of not meeting the required goals. Lack of communication between the staff can also affect the overall business of the Confed. The managers of the organization should keep check on the staff. If the manager is not competent the organization can suffer. If there is political instability the organization might not be successful to achieve its required goals. The organization might not have enough funds to allocate them into other activities M6: Develop the budget for the promotion plan To develop a budget for the promotion plan is a very technical part. We need to allocate out finances in such a way that we can get full benefit out of it by utilizing minimum finances. A budget planed at the beginning of the year and is followed throughout the year. As we are introducing a new product which is a mineral water at the beginning it will need lots of advertising so that people come to know about the product. We are going to make our promotional plan as follows: We will advertise our product in news papers which will cost us about 30,000rs. We will advertise our product on television by giving a contract to an ad agency to make an attractive ad so that the consumers get attracted to it by watching that ad on the television. This can take about 50,000 to 80,000. We will distribute free samples to different retailer which can cost about 4,000rs per retailer. We will make poster, brushers and distribute them in every possible area where people can see then easily. This will also take about 20, 000rs of our finances. We will hire a bill board in a main area, near traffic signal, so that on red light people can see our advertisement. This will cost us about 50,000 to 80,000 per month. M.7: Develop the communication goals through DAGMAR approach. DAGMAR is called (Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Result) It is an approach to advertising planning and a method for selecting goals and to use those goals to measure performance. It is intend to create awareness, impart information, to develop attitude. There are four stages of DAGMAR approach which is discussed below Awareness: This model is used to aware the customers of the existing brand of a company. Comprehension: To make consumers understand the usage of the product. Conviction (Persuasion): to persuade the consumers to buy the product. Action: To get the consumers to purchase the product. Characteristics of advertising objectives in DAGMAR approach: There are four characteristics of DAGMAR approach which are discussed below Well Defined Objectives: The objectives should be cleared, it should be measurable and specific, and these objectives should be communicated to Copywriters and marketer specialists who develop the advertising message and it will help them to select the specific message for advertisement. Measurable objectives will help for effectiveness of advertisement. Benchmark and Degree of change sough: Benchmark is to target the audience in communication model. It means to know how many target audience are at the stages of communication model. It is must to know the number of target audience who are at awareness stage and at persuasion stage. Well defined target audience: The advertising message should well define to the target audience. It is must to know the person involved in each stage of communication. Like some audience are at understanding stage and some are target audience and maybe some are at persuasion stage. Specified time period: The time period of advertising should be specified for achievement of objectives. Most of companies specify the time period from months to year period it depends on situation and degree of change sought. If a companys objective is to increase brand awareness than it can be done in short time through mass media. But if objective of the company is increase the understanding and persuasion of branch loyalty than it takes time. D5: Show how your promotion plan activities will be planned, managed and organized. We can plan and manage our promotional activities as follow: We will divide the task amongst our employees so that each and every task is done in a proper manner. Like this there wont be a burden on one person. For advertising on television we have to look up in best advertising agency, do that they can make our ad more attractive. We will gave our products on much more discounted rates then our competitors We will provide our product to different Hotels, restaurants so that more people consume our product. Also take feedback from our customer that how we may improve our product.