Human Resources Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resources Decision Making - Essay Example And the best collective decisions emanates from the best individual judgement. Decision-making is both a science and art and depend so much on the learning and experiences of the one tasked to do it. The capacity to decide is bound into the person's independence whether physical or emotional. Freedom and rights to make your own decisions will destroy a person unless it is recognized that these ideals are privileges and not necessities and therefore they are accompanied by responsibilities (Arsham, 1994). As a person becomes part of a community or an organisation his decision making capabilities becomes limited and is governed by acceptable norms, roles, policies, and other guiding principles. As social arrangements become complex making decisions will also be complex that guidelines are necessary whether individual or a group must decide for any particular situations. In the process the capability of the individual to decide is hampered by systems imposed and adopted in groups. Relevant studies have shown that the capability of a person to decide is enhanced when he is to do it alone. Since systems are used in group techniques, the flexibility of the individual is limited and he is bound to follow the roles even if it contradicts to his norms, behaviours, and beliefs. There are opposing claims that individual techniques or group techniques are better than the other. In reality both can be effective, but each has its own domains, which they can be most effective, and they have limitations. Let us revisit what the experts and literatures told us about their differences. Individual decision-making is a better way of arriving at an answer if it requires personal decisions. In the other hand group decisions are needed if it requires collective actions. But in most organizations you cannot separate the two since for every corporate decision a point exist along the line that requires both individual and group decisions. To illustrate the point, a manager would decide for himself to select the best applicant from among the three finalist collectively endorsed by a promotion and selection board. In rating those applicants, every member of the board decides singly on rating the candidate. Individualism or collectivism approaches in arriving at a consensus also varies with the size and complexity and of the type, whether public or government organizations. Government offices mostly use group decision making in planning and identifying programs. Sample (1984) considered group techniques are common in extension programs where clients are involved in making solutions to problems. The small enterprises, in the other hand, rely on individual approaches as compared to large corporations, which are governed by a body that approves policies and other decision-making jobs. Managers who are to select between individual or group decision must be guided by the following ideas: In establishing objectives, a group is better than individuals because of the greater amount of knowledge available among members of the groups. In identifying alternatives, the individual efforts of group members encourage a broad search in various functional areas of the organization. In evaluating alternatives, the collective judgment of the group is again superior due to wide scope of knowledge. In implementing a decision, whether or not a group made it, individual managers is more

Strengths and weaknesses of situational leadership model

Strengths and weaknesses of situational leadership model According to situational leadership models in general, leaders should adopt different leadership approaches depending on the situations that they encounter. Leadership competencies which work in one given situation may not be effective under different circumstances (Graef, 1983). In other words, other factors must be taken into account when deciding which leadership style to use in a given situation. Therefore, successful leaders can be characterised as those who are able to adjust their leadership styles according to situations which warrant their intervention. The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model is built on the concept using follower maturity as the key issue which affects adjustment in leadership styles.  [1]  Follower maturity, which defines the readiness of followers to perform in a given situation, is based on two major factors the ability and confidence in performing the tasks. Four leadership styles which emerge from this two-by-two matrix model (see Table 1) are Participating, Selling, Telling and Delegating. All these four leadership styles have varying levels in terms of follower ability and confidence. Table 1: Hersey-Blanchard Situational Table Leadership Model High PARTICIPATING STYLE Followers are capable but Relationship Behaviourunwilling and not confident SELLING STYLE Followers are unable but willing and confident DELEGATING STYLE Followers are capable, willing and confident TELLING STYLE Followers are unable, unwilling and not confident Low Task Behaviour Low High Managers who are keen to use the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model must first fully understand or be able to assess/gauge the level of maturity of its subordinates with reference to their readiness or commitment to perform their job tasks.  [2]   Based on the case analysis presented and the leadership model depicted in the table above, it can be concluded that John Terrill had adopted the Delegating Leadership Style in dealing with the situation at DGI Internationals Technical Services division. Delegating Leadership Style Looking at the two-by-two matrix, the Delegating Leadership Style is described as Low Task, Low Relationship, whereby intervention from managers is kept to a minimum with the assumption that the subordinates are able, willing and confident of accomplishing the tasks at hand. Managers who adopt this style of leadership will allow their followers or subordinates to take responsibility for their assigned tasks with minimal supervision from them. In the case of DGI Internationals Technical Services division, John Terrill practiced the delegating style based on the profile of the team in his division. Since it was stated that all 20 of his subordinates are engineers who are highly paid and best educated, it can be deduced that this group of employees are high performers in their area of expertise within the organization. Management will not be willing to pay them highly if they do not possess high level of job maturity, which refers to their job capabilities and confidence in accomplishing their tasks as engineers. Based on their aptitude and the fact that the engineers requested top management to stop making them spend too much time on writing reports, Terrill was able to gauge that the employees possess high capabilities of performing their tasks and are also willing and confident to do their job provided that they were given the opportunity and time needed to accomplish their tasks. The engineers did not need much prompting and directions from him to take on new initiatives which help contribute to their productivity. Terrills delegating style can be further identified when he promised to stay off the engineers backs and also make sure that top management did the same. This indicates that Terrill will not interfere much with the daily tasks of the engineers because he believes the engineers know what are expected of them, what they are supposed to do and do not need much direction from Terrill to accomplish their tasks. Strengths of Delegating Style This style of leadership empowers followers to be responsible for their own actions and decisions. For example, the engineers are given high autonomy in completing their tasks with minimal supervision by Terrill. For mature followers who have high level of job readiness, this leadership style will give them a great sense of accomplishment which acts as motivator to give their best and increase productivity (Hersey and Blanchard, 1988). In this case, the engineers are able to concentrate on accomplishing their tasks and productivity of the division will improve. Empowerment allows for a certain degree of independence which promotes accountability and creativity in individuals. A leader who is able to delegate his authority in terms of job accomplishment will have time to focus on other strategic matters. Followers of this leadership style will feel more trusted and will build a closer working relationship with the leaders and foster better team work. Inadvertently, it will be easier for Terrill to turn around the department because his engineers will have more respect for him and will not hesitate to help him achieve their goals. Weaknesses of Delegating Style Measurement of job readiness is subjective and based on several factors, mainly job ability and job confidence (Hambleton et al., 1977(. However, if a leader wrongly gauged the job readiness of his followers and leave it to them to accomplish certain tasks, he may not achieve the desired results at the end of the day. This style of leadership is open to abuse. Followers may be able, willing and confident to perform the tasks but they may also take advantage of the low intervention from their managers so that the tasks may not be completed on time or productivity is not up to par as expected. A leader is able to delegate the tasks to his followers but accountability of the job still lies with the leader. To sum up, job delegation should be a gradual process until the leader is satisfied and confident that the tasks can be accomplished with minor supervision. However, in the real world, there is no single leadership style that can be applied in all situations. Effective leaders should be able to adjust their leadership styles according to the situation at hand. Leaders who are able to adopt different styles based on what is required of them will be most successful. Question 2 What do you think was John Terrills source of power? Do you think it is effective? The concept of power can be defined in varying ways but generally power is regarded as the ability to influence, affect and mobilize the attitudes and behaviour of others. The term power, authority, domination and control are often used interchangeably as there is a thin line separating their meanings (Pheby, 2004). However, power is not exclusive to only managers and leaders as opposed to authority which comes with certain legitimate positions. Power is able to shape ones actions and behaviour; thus, it can be maintained that decision making can be influenced with the existence of power sources in a system. In an organizational context, power is directly related to hierarchy or structure and legitimacy which come with positions. The ability of those in higher ranking positions to influence their subordinates is driven by power. It is an element which is able to shape managers and followers, and is the key underlying factor for leadership effectiveness. In fact, one of its most important functions is to build interdependency between leaders and followers. Ogden et al. (2006) entails that power need not have goal compatibility but only dependence. Researchers French and Raven (1959) had studied the sources of power and successfully listed them in five distinct forms. The five bases of power in organizations which are able to affect success in leadership are described as follows: Category Source of power Description POSITIONAL POWER Legitimate power This source of power usually comes with specific roles and positions in organisations. This power is also embedded in formal job descriptions that are mutually agreed to by employees in an organisation. Generally, people holding higher position are able to exert more organisational power compared to those in lower ranking jobs. Reward power Normally associated with the formal authority to allocate organisational rewards to employees. This type of power can weaken if the reward is no longer perceived as valuable by the receiver. Coercive power The person holding this power is able to impose punishment. In organisations, punishments can be in the form of reprimand, disciplinary action, suspension, demotion, dismissal, etc. Coercive power is usually associated with authority and can be used as a coercion tool at the workplace. PERSONAL POWER Expert power The ability to influence based on a persons knowledge, skills and expertise which originates from within an individual. This type of power is normally acquired by experts in certain fields. May not necessarily linked to position or authority in an organisation. Referent power An individual with referent power is looked upon as a role model by others. The individual usually possesses a charm, appeal, charisma or admirable qualities which others want to identify with. These five sources of power can be broadly categorised into positional power and personal power. Positional power refers to external power which is vested in an individuals formal role, position or authority. Legitimate power, reward power and coercion power fall in this category. On the other hand, expert power and referent power can be grouped as personal power because they involve internal or personal traits which belong to individuals. In DGI Internationals case study, John Terrill applied a combination of both position and personal powers to solve the problem faced by his subordinates in the Technical Services division. 1. Positional power Being appointed as the head of Technical Services Division clearly indicated that John Terrill held legitimate power over the department. As the new boss to a team of highly paid and skilled engineers, it can be assumed that John Terrill himself possessed quality traits which made top management at DGI International very confident that he can turn the non-performing department around. Terrill first demonstrated his legitimate power during his meeting with the engineers. First, he cleverly gained the engineers confidence by showing great concern for their welfare. Then he exerted his legitimate power by demanding to know the reasons for their lack of productivity and factors which hamper their expected performance. His ability to influence the engineers to voice out their grievances which affected their performance showed that he was successful in getting to the root of the departments productivity problem. In this case, Terrill did not use any reward or coercive power because he did not impose any reward or punishment in getting to the root of the problem and then making sure that his engineers would carry out their tasks after that. He used empathy and diplomacy as a leader by exerting his influence to make them follow his instructions. Terrill also exercised his authority when he issued immediate order for reports to be sent to his office instead of the headquarters as warranted by top management. He was well aware that his orders were against top managements instructions, but he was not afraid to use the legitimate power vested in his position to stand by his decision to keep the management off the engineers backs as promised. 2. Personal power The top managements concern about the low productivity further showed the importance placed on his team. Terrill understood that his team of engineers is crucial to the organisations growth since they are the best educated and highly paid employees in the company. From this profile alone, Terrill knew that his division held a lot of expertise required in the manufacturing of refinery equipment. Knowledge and skills of the engineers are highly valued by the organisation, which was why they were never reprimanded for their lack of productivity before. In other words, the engineers have expert power which made them indispensable to the company. Terrills source of expert power was also derived from the engineers knowledge and skills. He could anticipate that top management would agree to his recommendation that management should not bog down the engineers with daily reports because their engineering expertise is a critical resource in meeting the companys production objectives, whereas internal reports are only administrative requirements. In this example, Terrill obviously used the divisions expert power to negotiate with top management to stay out of their way so that they can carry out their engineering work as expected, and hopefully increase productivity as expected of them. Terrill seemed to have gained support from his engineers because they cheered him when he was about to meet top management to fight for their cause. If he successfully gets top management to agree with his plight, he will undoubtedly build his referent power and be admired for his charm and charisma in carrying out his task as their leader. It can be summarized that Terrill effectively used his legitimate power to influence his engineers to confide in him about problems that they faced which hampered productivity of the division. Terrill also successfully exercised the divisions expert power to ensure top management did not impose trivial matters (such as writing internal daily reports) which consume much of the engineers time so that they could concentrate on accomplishing their engineering tasks. Question 3 Henry Mintzbergs research indicates that diverse manager activities can be organized into ten roles. Identify two of these roles that John Terrill performed in carrying out his duty. According to Henry Mintzberg (2004), based on his research on the various activities of managers in a business setting, the roles of managers can be classified into ten types as depicted in the following table: CATEGORY ROLE ACTIVITY Interpersonal Figurehead Perform duties which are symbolic and ceremonial. Regarded as symbol of authority. Leader Directing, motivating, training, advising, influencing, encouraging, promoting development of others. Liaison In charge of internal and external information links. Engage in exchange of information. Informational Monitor Process and assess information. Maintain information and contacts. Disseminator Transmit information to other via phone calls, memos, notes, etc. Spokesman Representing organisation to outsiders in public relations capacity. Decisional Entrepreneur Project initiation, business identification and leads for opportunities. Disturbance Handler Handles internal crises and conflicts involving employees, and also external changes. Resource Allocator Responsible for allocation and sets priority for organisational resources via budgets, etc. Negotiator Negotiates with suppliers, unions, etc. Through his research, Mintzberg (1973) also managed to conclude that all the above ten roles fall into three broad categories which are interlinked. To illustrate the point, all three interpersonal roles Figurehead, Leader and Liaison provide information. Informational roles Monitor, Disseminator and Spokesperson process the information and act as a link to all the managerial roles. Meanwhile, the decisional roles make decision on how to deliver the information to other parties. All these ten roles can be applied to any managerial situation depending on the requirement of the circumstances. Based on Mintzbergs theory, in the DGI Internationals case, John Terrill played the roles of Liaison and Negotiator. Liaison John Terrill applied his interpersonal skills excellently when he first approached the engineers to seek information on their current problems which affected their productivity. During his meeting, he played his role as a liaison or intermediary between the engineers and top management. He did not reprimand the engineers for the poor performance of the Technical Services division without first finding out the cause of their low contribution to productivity; instead, he offered to resolve the conflict by trying to get to the root of the problem and find a lasting solution that will help them to increase their output in the organisation. His openness may have encouraged the engineers to confide in him even though he was new to the organisation. Terrill also successfully executed this role by openly showing his concern for the staffs welfare. Perhaps this helped open up the communication channel between him and the engineers because they feel that Terrill was acting in their interests. After that, the engineers willingly voice out their grouses and complaints when Terrill asked them point blank as to why the division was not performing as expected. His networking skills were clearly demonstrated when he empathised with the engineers and responded positively that engineers in the Technical Services division should not be tied down with paperwork if top management expected them to be more productive. Instead, they should be allowed to focus more on accomplishing their engineering tasks. In his liaison role, Terrill tried to maintain positive relationship with the engineers and not take sides with the top management by using any form of coercion on his team. His objective was to turn around the division and increase the engineers productivity. Therefore, he carefully played his role by offering them a possible solution. Using the power vested in his position as the manager of the team coupled with the mandate given by top management to solve the productivity issue, Terrill issued an order which was against the wish of company management. To illustrate, while the company management requires that the engineers turned in daily reports to headquarters, Terrill ordered them to turn in the reports to his office instead. However, Terrill had anticipated a showdown with top management and had already thought up a plan to back up his actions. He had proven that while the engineers were asked to turn in daily reports, actually nobody in top management would need the report dai ly because for three weeks, nobody in headquarters enquired about the missing daily reports. Negotiator In solving the low productivity issue of the Technical Services division, Terrill also played the role of a negotiator. This role was demonstrated during his first management meeting with the engineers. He explained to them the managements concern for the low productivity of the division despite being the highest paid and best educated group within the organisations. He also asked them to voice out their grouses and the possible reasons for their non-performance. When he found out that the engineers were demotivated by the amount of daily reporting that they had to do instead of focussing on their engineering tasks, Terrill asked the engineers to carry out their engineering duties like they were supposed to and increase the divisions productivity while he took care of the daily report generation problem with top management. He convinced them that he would stay out of their way and get the top management off their backs so that the engineers can accomplish their tasks as expected. Wit h Terrill at the helm of the division, the engineers are able to concentrate on their primary tasks and not worry about other petty issues. The engineers were also confident that Terrill will be able to prove a point to top management by keeping the daily reports in his office, and they seemed to have supported his actions. During the showdown with top management in the presidents office, Terrill displayed his negotiation skills by informing top management that the main reason for Technical Services divisions low output was that the engineers were more occupied with writing daily reports than actually doing their engineering tasks. He successfully proved his point by showing top management that the high stack of report produced over the last three weeks were not read by anyone because no one asked to look at them. He evidently showed them that the amount of time spent on writing the report had gone to waste, and that the precious time should be spent by the engineers to accomplish other important engineering duties. He then suggested that management do away with the daily report and one brief report from his office on a monthly basis is sufficient. In conclusion, managers are involved in a myriad of activities when performing the managerial functions. These activities can be clustered into broad categories and identified into roles. By understanding these managerial roles, managers will be able to discharge their duties more efficiently and effectively. Question 4 Do you think gender makes a difference when it comes to leadership style? Use example(s) and literatures to support your stand. Gender is a socially constructed concept of men and women which varies according to cultures, societies, social classes and even periods in history (FAO, 1997). It is sometimes misunderstood as being biologically determined and solely related to the sexual characteristics of men and women. However, according to Bravo-Baumann (2000) gender relations involves how society determines the rights and responsibilities of women and men. Traditionally, the roles of women are mostly confined to household-related chores and nurturing of family. Many cultures across the globe regarded women as the weaker sex with limited roles to play in the social system. In some countries, women are even denied access to education, rights to freedom, and in extreme cases are relegated to subordinate status (Bass et al, 1971). However, with the rise of movements towards equality in gender in the modern world, more societies have begun to change their mindsets and accept the fact that women also have roles to play in the development of the society and economy (Inglehart and Noris, 2003). The last several decades have witnessed the emergence of women holding managerial roles in organizations. Although men still hold the fort, more women are seen entering the workforce with an increasingly number of them being promoted to high managerial positions (Druskat, 1994). However, many women nowadays earn their organisations mandate and are appointed as CEOs and MDs of companies. Currently, some countries are headed by female premiers and presidents, for example Australia and New Zealand. These show that women are fast being recognized in their roles as capable leaders. As a result of the increase in female leadership roles, there have been a string of researches aimed at studying the leadership styles and behaviour differences between men and women leaders (Statham, 1987; Carless, 1998; Davidson Ferrario, 1992; Van Engen et al., 2001). Some researchers failed to find disparities in leadership styles between men and women (Pounder and Coleman, 2002; Van Eagen, Van der Leedeen Willemsen, 2001). Even though there are varying outcomes from these researches, a majority of the research results agreed that differences in leadership styles definitely exist among male and female leaders. Conceptually, due to the differences in nature and characteristics of men and women, there are bound to be distinct features which affect their leadership styles. It is generally accepted that the leadership styles of men and women vary because of differences in behaviour of men and women which are shaped by society and culture (Eagley, Wood and Diekman, 2000). Women in leadership roles were seen to be more collaborative, less hierarchical and more cooperative, caring and promoting self-worth of others (Helgesen, 1990; Book, 2000; Rosener, 1995). In contrast, due to the masculine nature of men as perceived by societies, male leaderships tend to be more assertive, aggressive, controlling and confident (Eagley et al., 2000). The above findings are further supported by a study by Eagly, Karau and Johnson (1992) on leadership styles among school principals supported this notion. From the study, it was concluded that: Female principals are more task-oriented compared to male principals. In the role as school principal which requires more interpersonal ability, women display greater task-orientation. However, in male dominated roles, men will appear to be more task oriented (Eagley and Jonhson, 1990). Female principals are also more democratic or participative while male principals adopted a more autocratic or directive approach. Due to social values, experience and thoughts associated with feminine characteristics (Goldberger, Clinchy, Belenky and Tarule, 1987), women leaders generally use the soft approach when dealing with others. Hence, women naturally develop leadership styles that are more democratic and participative. Male leaders, on the other hand, adopted stronger approaches which are consistent with natural dominating and controlling characteristics of men. Differences in leadership styles have an impact on the effectiveness and direction of an organization. Leaders must be able to adopt different approaches when confronted with varying circumstances because not all situations will warrant the same types of actions. Hence, leaders are most successful and effective when they can evaluate a situation accurately and act according to the requirements of the situation instead of generally applying the same form of leadership across all circumstances (Fiedler, 1951). Leadership styles can also be affected by external factors such as the nature of work, business environment, organizational culture and industry structure. To illustrate the point that gender differences in leadership styles do exist (Kanter, 1991), we will take a closer look at Transformational (largely associated with women leaders) and Transactional (dominant in male leaders). The following table highlights the differences in the two types of leadership:  [3]   Transformational Leadership Transactional Leadership * Leaders motivate their followers by arousing their emotions and acting beyond the framework of exchange relations. * Leaders are proactive and help form new aspirations and expectations of followers. * Leaders are differentiated by their ability to inspire and provide individual consideration, stimulation and influence to followers. * Leaders help in creating learning opportunities and stimulate their followers to find solutions to their problems. * Leaders develop emotional bonds with their followers using their management and rhetorical skills and great visions. * Leaders encourage followers to strive for their goals beyond self-interest. * Leaders are conscious of the relationship between reward and effort. * Leadership is responsive with high orientation to solve present issues. * Leaders control the actions of their followers by depending on reward, inducement, punishment and sanction. * Leaders use rewards to encourage their followers to achieve desired results. * Leaders reinforce behaviour of followers for successful execution of plan. Source : http://leadershipchamps.wordpress.com Introduced by James MacGregor Burns (1978), the transformational leadership concept defines an approach which encourages positive and valuable changes in performance and morale of followers based upon the behaviours and characteristics of leaders. Transformational leaders brought about changes in organizations by inspiring, motivating and sometimes acting as role models for employees to identify with (Bass, 1985). By being role models, such leaders will encourage employees to develop skills which could help them enhance their productivity. Transformational leadership style is often displayed by women leaders since women have innate nurturing ability (Kornives, 1991; Ross, 1990). This style can be effective in less-hierarchical organizations such as schools or retail outlets. In male dominated settings such as the military, transformational leadership may not be preferred. On the other hand, transactional leadership style is more visible in traditional organizational settings where male leaders are dominant (Rosener, 1990). Transactional approach values desired results in exchange for rewards, motivations or punishments; thus, transactional leaders will stress on higher productivity and offer rewards (or punishment) as motivation ( Burns, 1978). In conclusion, there are differences in leadership styles by gender. Women leaders generally tend to adopt a softer approach such as democratic and participative. These styles involve relationship with followers through understanding of their emotions and building the self-worth through motivation, aspiration and encouragement. Women leaders try to stimulate the working environment and develop confidence through empowerment (Burke, 1986). In contrast, men display more traditional leadership characteristics such as assertive, controlling, aggressive and dominating. However, the above differences do not limit men and women to any one leadership style. Regardless of gender, successful and effective leaders will find their preferred leadership style, that can be a blend of gender-specific roles, which is most suitable to the situation that they are in. Question 5 If you were the president of DGI International, would you recommend modifications in John Terrills leadership style that you would like him to adopt? Do you think it will be possible for John Terrill to make necessary changes? Why? In the DGI International case study, John Terrill adopted the Delegating Leadership Style (Hersey and Blanchard, 1982) based on the assumption that the team of engineers in the division that he was heading has high level of job readiness or maturity owing to the fact that they are the highest paid and best educated employees within the organization. Also, the statement made by Terrill that he will stay off the engineers back and get top management to stay off their backs too indicates that he will not interfere much with the engineers daily tasks. This indication further supports the notion that the team of engineers is able, willing and confident to accomplish their tasks without much direction or supervision from Terrill. Terrill was hired by DGI International to turn around a non-performing division. When he decided to adopt the delegating style, he must have based his decision on solid grounds highest paid and best educated group of engineers must have possess

Global Warming Essay -- Environmental Climate Change, Greenhouse Gase

Global Warming Global warming is the progressive gradual rise of the earth's surface temperature thought to be caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect and responsible for changes in global climate patterns. The greenhouse effect is a term used to describe the roles of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other trace gases in keeping the Earth's surface warmer than it would be otherwise. These "radiatively active" gases are relatively transparent to incoming shortwave radiation, but are relatively opaque to outgoing longwave radiation. The latter radiation, which would otherwise escape to space, is trapped by these gases within the lower levels of the atmosphere. The subsequent reradiation of some of the energy back to the surface maintains surface temperatures higher than they would be if the gases were absent. There is concern that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, (the carbon dioxide emissions are primarily caused by the use of fossil fuels for energy) methane, and manmade chlorofluorocarbons, may enhance the greenhouse effect (this is called the enhanced greenhouse effect) and cause global warming. There are several important factors that have caused the increase in greenhouse gases over the past 200 years. Fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas - contain carbon. When they are burnt as a source of energy, they release carb on dioxide. The global demand for energy, primarily from fossil fuels, has grown to an average annual rate of approximately two per cent for almost two centuries - although the demand for energy varies considerably over time and among different regions. The burning of fossil fuels on a global scale produces around 20 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. About half of these emissions are absorbed by oceans and plants. The rest stays in the atmosphere. Deforestation also contributes to increases in carbon dioxide, although on a much smaller scale, through the burning and decaying of vegetation. The reduction in vegetation also means that there are fewer plants to absorb the gas. Methane has various sources including herbivorous animals such as sheep and cattle that release it as a byproduct of digestion, rice paddies, land fills and forest fires. It can also enter the atmosphere from natural gas fields and coal mines. There are various sources of nitrous oxide including the use of fertili... ...   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We as a world community need to seriously do something drastic to slow down the process of global warming, otherwise we may find ourselves in a situation where we can't turn back the hands of time and we're suffering because of Global warming. We need to make sure that future generations can live a happy and uncomplicated life; they shouldn't have to suffer from the impacts of Global warming that we (the current generation) have mostly caused. BIBLIOGRAPHY: - Macmillan Senior Geography 1 textbook. â€Å"Bush Administration Launches Historic Federal Climate Change Initiatives†. US Climate Change Science Program. (Accessed 23 Nov 2006) . â€Å"Executive Summary – Climate Change†. The White House. (Accessed 23 Nov 2006) http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/climatechange.html>. â€Å"The Kyoto Protocol†. Matthews, J. EGEE 101 Lesson 10 Online Course Content. (Accessed 23 Nov 2006). . â€Å"Overview: The Need for the Best Available Science to Address Global Climate Change Issues†. 24 July 2003. http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/stratplan2003/vision/overview.htm>.

My Husband’s Lover

My Husband's Lover is a Filipino drama television series created and developed by Suzette Doctolero and produced by GMA Network. It premiered on June 10, 2013 on the network's coveted Primetime block. The series stars Carla Abellana, Tom Rodriguez and Dennis Trillo as the main characters. Carolyn Galve serves as the executive producer of show and Dominic Zapata directed the series. It is credited as the very first gay-themed series in Philippine television due to the series' central subject of homosexual relationships and infidelity. The show has multiple continuing story lines that tackle sensitive yet relevant social issues like homosexual and bisexual relationships, homophobia and the society's discrimination against homosexuals, infidelity, pre-marital sex and the consequences of early or unplanned marriages. It also tackles the importance of family, friendship, integrity and love. Vincent Soriano (Tom Rodriguez) got his girlfriend Lally Agatep (Carla Abellana) pregnant while they were still in college. So they decided to get married even if the two of them were not ready for the responsibility and Vincent's mother Elaine was very much against it. Thus Lally's married life was never smooth-sailing because of Elaine. But for the love for her husband, Lally endures the hardships in dealing with her mother-in-law. However, when Lally got pregnant on their second child, Vincent suddenly became distant and cold towards her. Lally felt that Vincent was being unfair to her so she decided to leave together with their children. Vincent loves his kids so much, so he tried to win back his wife by proposing and this time getting married again with a blessing from the church. Unknown to Lally, Vincent is keeping a secret from her; it is also a secret he has kept from everyone else ever since he was young. Vincent was a closeted homosexual man who never planned to come out because he was afraid that it'll destroy his family. However, everything changed when he crosses paths with Eric del Mundo (Dennis Trillo) again – his greatest love. Unlike Vincent, Eric is openly gay. But, just like Vincent, he still is in love with him. Eventually, the two men start an affair and Vincent tries to hide the affair from Lally by showering her with gifts and attention. However, Lally's intuition tells her that something is wrong even though everything in her married life seems fine. That's when she starts to investigate and she eventually learns of Vincent's darkest secret. II. Audience Reception My reception Well, at first I didn’t like the idea of My Husband’s Lover because I’m not a homosexual, and I don’t like homosexuals too, so I didn’t watch the Pilot Episodes of My Husband’s Lover. But then, my Mom used to watched television after work, it just so happens that she turned the channel to channel 7 (GMA) and the show was My Husband’s Lover, she watched for a few minutes, after the show she got attracted by the story. She goes by everyday watching the show. I have no choice but to watch too, since we only have one television and I have nothing to do. The show’s story is good as it is. I just don’t like the theme of the show which is about homosexuals. But by watching it every day, I came to like the show. I even got excited when Lally is about to discover her husband’s secret. I think I liked the show because of the professionalism of the actors, and the moral lesson given to us by the story itself. There are many moral lessons in this story; you just need to dig deep into the words spoken by the actors. B. Others reception Interviewee: Maria Aileen Icay She said, â€Å"For the past few days, this drama has been consistently topping the trends and even the ratings despite its unusual story concept. This drama has taken our country by storm. We define it along with the veterans in the Philippine entertainment industry as â€Å"Phenomenal†. This drama that I’m so proud of for is the most talked-about†My Husband’s Lover†. Primarily it’s because this drama is a gem! For a drama fan like me, this drama has set the bar higher for upcoming Philippine dramas and is a history in itself. This is the first drama that tackles same-sex relationship in a very realistic manner. Aside from that, the family issues this drama portrays are something that most of us can empathize with or can even relate to. It’s just sad that some people refrain from watching this masterpiece just because they are a fan of the rival network or they’re a Roman Catholic or they are against same-sex relationships. † Interviewee: Gia Francia Leron She said, â€Å"I just love this drama because everything is very well executed. The story, script, acting and cinematography. No drama is perfect but this is by far the best Filipino drama I’ve ever seen in my watching experience† Interviewee: John Kenneth Sarampote He said, â€Å"What makes My Husband’s Lover such an extraordinary and groundbreaking drama is the fact that it defies standards. We see Vincent and Eric, all masculine and manly, identify themselves as gay men. We see that their relationship is rooted on love and not on monetary co-dependence. We see that there are many layers of characters that define a gay man. We see two gay men struggle prejudice that pushes them to loathe themselves and hide who they really are. We see that all people, no matter what gender, struggle in their own way. † Interviewee: John Paul Luis He said, â€Å"I’ve never been a Kapuso viewer actually. I liked the show even before it aired on television because of the theme, the theme song, the story. Everything. I also liked the show because I can relate to Vincent (Tom Rodriguez) especially on his life, the part wherein he hides his real identity just because his father is a retired general. I envy Eric (Dennis Trillo) because of the acceptance of his mom that he is Gay and her mom is just okay with it. I pity Lally (Carla Abellana) because right from the start, Vincent had been lying to her. What I can only say is that this show made me cry. All of the emotions are already here. Interviewee: Maurice Kim Lim He said, â€Å"What makes My Husband’s Lover unique is its central struggle — that of a wife witnessing the disintegration of her marriage with her closeted gay husband, whose failure to come to terms with his homosexuality gives Filipinos a venue to discuss pressing LGBT issues. â€Å"

Zeus Research Paper

rZeus Beginning around 700 B. C. , stories by Homer and other Greek poets told of the lives of powerful gods who involved themselves in human affairs. Supreme among these gods was Zeus, but to the Romans he was known as Jupiter. Zeus was the supreme god and ruler of Olympus. He was known by many titles: Lord of the Sky, the Cloud- gatherer, the Rain-god, and Zeus the Thunderer. All of which are the most popular names dating back to ancient Greek history and mythology. Zeus was the child of the Titans, Cronus and Rhea, and was the youngest of all his siblings.Cronus , Zeus’ father, had been warned that one of his children would overthrow him. Cronus knew the consequences, for he had overthrown his father, Uranus. To prevent this from happening Cronus swallowed his newborn children Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon, but according to legend his wife Rhea and her mother Gaia, wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes in the place of the infant Zeus. Cronus thinking it was the n ewborn baby swallowed the stone. Meanwhile Rhea and her baby were taken to Crete, and there, in a cave on Mount Dicte, the divine goat Amaltheia suckled and raised the infant Zeus.When Zeus had grown into a young man he left the cave and returned to his fathers domain, and with the help of Gaia, tricked Cronus to vomit the five children he had previously swallowed. However, this led to war and Zeus led the revolt against his father and the dynasty of the Titans. In the end theTitans were defeated and banished to â€Å"Tartarus†, which was a region lower than the underworld. Once Zeus had control, he and his brothers divided the universe amongst themselves: Zeus gaining the heavens, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld.Being the supreme ruler he upheld law, justice, and morals, and this made him the spiritual leader of both gods and men. Zeus has always been associated as being a weather god, as his main attribute is the thunderbolt for which he used to rule Olympus. Her a was Zeus’ wife and was very jealous of her husband's many affairs. His wife Hera, bore him Ares, Hebe, Hephaestus, and Eileithyia, however Zeus had numerous other children with both goddesses and mortals. His affair with a woman named Leto led to the birth of the twins Apollo and Artemis.Hera being the jealous wife she was, forced Leto to roam the earth in search of a place to give birth, for Hera had stopped her from gaining shelter on land or at sea. The only place she could go was to the isle of Delos in the middle of the Aegean Sea, for Delos was a floating island. This would be one of many of Hera’s revenges on her husband’s affairs. Zeus used many different disguises to seduce women. When he seduced the Spartan queen Leda, he transformed himself into a beautiful swan, and from the egg which Leda produced, two sets of twins were born.They were Polydeuces and Castor and Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy. He also visited princess Danae as a shower of gold, and from this, the hero Perseus was born. He kidnapped the Phoenician princess Europa, disguised as a bull, then carried her on his back to the island of Crete where she had three sons. They were Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon. These were just some of his many children. Zeus had many Temples and festivals in his honor, the most famous was Olympia, the magnificent â€Å"Temple of Zeus†, which held the gold and ivory statue of the enthroned Zeus, which was sculpted by Phidias.It was later to become one of the â€Å"Seven Wonders of the Ancient World†. Also the Olympic Games and many other numerous festivals throughout Greece were held in his honor. In art, which was a big part of Greek culture, Zeus is usually shown as bearded, middle aged, but with a youthful figure. He seems very poweful and imposing. Artists always try to show the power of Zeus in their art, usually by giving him a pose as he is about to throw his bolt of lightening. To this day Zeus is still consider ed to be one of the most interesting parts of Greek mythology.

Rising Through Lifes Destruction essays

Rising Through Life's Destruction essays In this world many things that used to be knew and wonderful lose their beauty and rot into old pieces of garbage. In the poem Miss Rosie by Lucille Clifton the woman once was beautiful and knew but as time progressed she turned into a body of useless woman. All people in life have problems with finding the person that they want to become. Miss Rosie is not only useless but she is "surrounded by the smell/ of too old potato peels." The potato peels in her life represent the fact that her life has become nothing and she has just sat there and done nothing to try and help it. By the potato peels surrounding her she is unable to escape the scent of what her life has become because the garbage is so powerful it overcomes Miss Rosie. She is wrapped up like garbage and has a lot to offer the world but instead of showing people the good side to the rose she is still and does nothing about it and only shows people the outer part of herself. Although Miss Rosie's life is mainly surrounded by trash she does find the inner strength to show herself that she needs to fix what her life has become or she will end up being surrounded by bad things the rest of her life. Miss Rosie's father is also a useless man and Miss Rosie realizes that if she doesn't do something about herself soon that she is going to turn into her father. She is the little toe that is cut out of her father's shoe but she still has hope that she can overcome the spot that she is in her life. As Miss Rosie sits she learns that in life you have to do things for yourself and can't wait around for someone to do them for her. All Miss Rosie's life someone has done everything for her and she has been able to go through life without really thinking. As she waits for next week's grocery's it dons upon her that her life has become next week's grocery's. Her life is replaceable and that whatever it was that was getting her through lif ...

Free Essays on Natures Place In Literature

When Frederick Jackson Turner announced in 1893 that â€Å"the American character did not spring full-blown from the Mayflower,† but that â€Å"it came out of the forest and gained new strength each time it touched the frontier, â€Å"his speech punctuated nearly three centuries of examinations into the American wilderness. From Jamestown and Plymouth Plantation to the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and the subsequent expedition of Lewis and Clark, to Turner’s â€Å"Frontier Thesis† at the Colombian Exposition of 1893, the geography and ecology of the American continent was the center of debate among Americans. Two primary views of the wilderness were contested: the wilderness either contained savagery and temptation which threatened the authority of the community or it represented a new Garden which could flourish with the proper cultivation by European settlers. Although these contradicting views of the wilderness shared the goal of establishing a civilization by removing obstacles presented by the natural environment, the state of wilderness that originally, characterized the young nation eventually became the source of natural pride and identity for America. William Bradford wrote about the first type of nature previously described . In his manuscript entitled â€Å"Of Plymouth Hardin 2 Plantation,† Bradford describes the Wilderness as something hideous and desolate. He and the other settlers he was traveling with are constantly being described as fighting the weather, Indians, and nature by the Grace of God. Bradford sees himself as a Moses figure. He is leading these people to the promised land. He believed God sent them to this land, and is constantly praising Him for delivering them from harm. Bradford states,† for summer being done, all things stand upon them with a weather beaten face, and the whole country full of woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hue† (49). The land that th... Free Essays on Natures Place In Literature Free Essays on Natures Place In Literature When Frederick Jackson Turner announced in 1893 that â€Å"the American character did not spring full-blown from the Mayflower,† but that â€Å"it came out of the forest and gained new strength each time it touched the frontier, â€Å"his speech punctuated nearly three centuries of examinations into the American wilderness. From Jamestown and Plymouth Plantation to the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and the subsequent expedition of Lewis and Clark, to Turner’s â€Å"Frontier Thesis† at the Colombian Exposition of 1893, the geography and ecology of the American continent was the center of debate among Americans. Two primary views of the wilderness were contested: the wilderness either contained savagery and temptation which threatened the authority of the community or it represented a new Garden which could flourish with the proper cultivation by European settlers. Although these contradicting views of the wilderness shared the goal of establishing a civilization by removing obstacles presented by the natural environment, the state of wilderness that originally, characterized the young nation eventually became the source of natural pride and identity for America. William Bradford wrote about the first type of nature previously described . In his manuscript entitled â€Å"Of Plymouth Hardin 2 Plantation,† Bradford describes the Wilderness as something hideous and desolate. He and the other settlers he was traveling with are constantly being described as fighting the weather, Indians, and nature by the Grace of God. Bradford sees himself as a Moses figure. He is leading these people to the promised land. He believed God sent them to this land, and is constantly praising Him for delivering them from harm. Bradford states,† for summer being done, all things stand upon them with a weather beaten face, and the whole country full of woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hue† (49). The land that th...

The Cold Case of the Keddie Cabin Murders

The Cold Case of the Keddie Cabin Murders On April 11, 1981, 36-year-old Glenna Sue Sharp, her 15-year-old son John, and his 17-year-old friend Dana Wingate were murdered in Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort, in Keddie, California. It was discovered later that 12-year-old Tina Sharp was missing. Her remains surfaced years later. Before the Murders Sue Sharp and her five children- John, 15, Sheila, 14, Tina, 12, Ricky, 10, and Greg, 5- moved from Quincy to Keddie and rented Cabin 28 five months before the murders. On the evening of April 11, 1981, Sue had given the okay for Ricky and Greg to have their friend, 12-year-old Justin Eason, over to spend the night. Justin was also relatively new to Keddie. He had been living in Montana with his father, but moved in with his mother and stepfather, Marilyn and Martin Smartt, in November 1980. The Smartts lived in Cabin 26, which was just a short distance from the Sharps cabin. Letting Justin spend the night would not be a problem, but if it became one, Sue knew she could always send him home. Plus the house was fairly empty. Sheila had plans to go to a sleepover at a friends house. John and his friend, 17-year-old Dana Wingate, were going to Quincy that night, then coming back to hang out in Johns bedroom in the basement. Tina was over in Cabin 27 watching television, but came home around 10 p.m. The Discovery The following morning Sheila Sharp returned home at around 7:45 a.m. As she opened the door, she immediately noticed an offensive odor that seemed to engulf the room. When she stepped into the living room, it took her mind a moment to comprehend what her eyes were seeing. Her brother John appeared to be bound and lying on his back on the living room floor. There was blood caked around his neck and face. Next to John was a boy, bound and lying face down. It appeared that the boy and John were tied together at their feet. Her eyes then landed on a yellow blanket that was covering what looked like a body. Gripped by fear, Sheila ran to the neighbors while screaming for help. The investigation into the murders was initially handled by the Plumas County Sheriffs Office. From the start, the investigation was riddled with errors and oversights. To begin with, the crime scene was never properly secured. Even more astounding was the amount of time that it took for the police to realize that Tina Sharp was missing. When the first police officers arrived at the scene, Justin Eason tried to tell them that Tina was missing, but they ignored what the boy was saying. It wasnt until hours later that everyone realized that the 12-year-old daughter of the murdered woman was gone. The Murders Inside Cabin 28, investigators found two kitchen knives, one that had been used with such force that the blade was severely bent. Also found was a hammer, a pellet gun, and a pellet on the living room floor, which led investigators to believe that the pellet gun was also used in the attacks. Each victim had been bound with several feet of medical tape and electrical appliance wires removed from appliances in the home and extension cords. There was no medical tape at home before the murders, indicating that one of the attackers brought it in to help bind the victims. An examination of the victims was conducted. Sue Sharps lifeless body was found under the yellow blanket. She was wearing a robe, and her underwear had been removed and forced into her mouth. Also in her mouth was a ball of tape.   The underwear and tape were held in place with an extension cord that was also tied around her legs and ankles. Both Sue and John Sharp had been beaten with a claw hammer and stabbed multiple times in their bodies and throat. Dana Wingate was also beaten, but with a different hammer. He had been strangled to death. There was considerable blood on the living room floor, and drops of blood on Tinas bed. The investigation pointed to rape as the motivation behind kidnapping Tina, instead of murdering her in the home with the others. More evidence found included a bloody footprint that was discovered in the yard and knife marks in some of the walls of the home. The Investigation While the brutal attacks inside Cabin 28 were going on, Sues sons Ricky and Greg and their friend Justin Eason were sleeping undisturbed in the boys bedroom. The boys were found unharmed in the room the following morning after the murders.   A woman and her boyfriend, who were in the cabin next door to the Sharps cabin, were woken up at around 1:30 a.m. by what they described as  muffled  screams. The sound was so disturbing that the couple got up and looked around. When they were unable to determine where the screams were coming from, they went back to bed. It seems impossible that screams woke the neighbors, but did not disturb the boys that were in the same house where the screams originated. Also perplexing is why the killers chose not to harm the boys when any one of them could have been pretending to be asleep and later identified the perpetrators. A Possible Break in the Case The Plumas County Sheriffs Office questioned anyone who could have heard or witnessed something that could help solve the case. Among those that they interviewed were the Sharps neighbor, Justin Easons stepfather, Martin Smartt. What he told investigators made him a prime suspect in the crime. According to Smartt, on the night of the murders, a friend of his by the name of Severin John â€Å"Bo† Boubede was staying with the Smartts on a temporary basis. He said he and Boubede first met a few weeks earlier at the Veterans Administration Hospital, where they were both receiving treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. Smartt claimed to suffer from PTSD as a result of his time spent fighting in Vietnam. He went on to say that earlier in the evening of April 11, he, his wife, Marilyn and Boubede, decided to go to the Backdoor Bar for a few drinks.   Smartt worked as a chef at the Backdoor Bar, but it was his night off. On the way to the bar, the group stopped in on Sue Sharp and asked her if she wanted to join them for drinks. Sue told them no, so they left for the bar. At the bar, Smartt complained angrily to the manager about the music that was playing. They left shortly afterward and went back to the Smartts cabin. Marilyn watched television, then went to bed. Smartt, still angry about the music, called the manager and complained again. He and Boubede then went back to bar for more drinks. Thinking that they now had a prime suspect, the Plumas County sheriff contacted the Department of Justice in Sacramento. Two DOJ investigators, Harry Bradley and P.A. Crim, conducted additional interviews on Martin and Marilyn Smartt and Boubede. During the interview with Marilyn, she told the investigators that she and Martin separated the day after the murders. She said that he was short-tempered, violent, and abusive. After the interviews with the Smartts and Boubede were completed and Martin was polygraphed, the DOJ investigators decided that none of them were involved with the murders. Marilyn Smartt was interviewed again at a later date. She told investigators that Martin Smartt hated John Sharp. She also admitted that early in the morning of April 12, she saw Martin burning something in the fireplace. Back to Justin Eason As time went on, Justin Eason began to change his story. He had told the investigators that he was asleep during the murders, as were the other two boys, and that he did not hear anything.   In a later interview, he described in detail a dream that he had where he was on a boat and saw John Sharp and Dana fighting with a man with long black hair, a mustache, and black glasses, who was carrying a hammer. The man threw John overboard, and then Dana, who he said was very drunk.   He went on to describe seeing a body that was covered in a sheet lying on the bow. He looked under the sheet and saw Sue, who had a knife cut in her chest. He tried to help her by patching the wound with a rag, which he ended up throwing into the water. In reality, Sue Sharp did have a knife wound in her chest. Another time, while being polygraphed, Eason told the polygrapher that he thought that he saw the murders. He said that a noise woke him up and that got up and looked through the door into the living room. He said he saw Sue Sharp laying on the sofa and that there were two men standing in the middle of the room. He described the men, one with black and dark glasses, the other with brown hair and wearing army boots. John Sharp and Dana came into the room and began arguing with the two men. A fight broke out, and Dana tried to escape out through the kitchen, but the man with the brown hair hit him with a hammer. John was being attacked by the man with the black hair, and Sue tried to help John. Justin said that this point, he hid behind the door. He then saw the men tying up John and Dana. He also claimed that he saw Tina come into the living room holding a blanket and asking what was going on. The two men grabbed her and took her out the back door as Tina tried to call for help. He said the man with the black hair used a pocket knife to cut Sue in the middle of her chest. Justin worked with a sketch artist and came up with composites of the two men. A Former Neighbor On June 4, 1981, investigators Bradley and Crim interviewed a man who lived in Cabin 28, but moved two weeks before the murders. He said he did not know the Sharps, but that three weeks before the murders he heard Sue Sharp and an unknown man yelling at each other. They continued to fight for another 30 minutes, screaming obscenities back and forth at each other. DOJ Investigators Get a Slap From the Locals When details of the interviews that Bradley and Crim had conducted with Martin Smartt and Boubede came to light, the Plumas County authorities were livid. Bradley and Crim were accused of sloppy work and failing to fact check or to pursue clarification for obvious discrepancies made by Smartt and Boubede. During the initial interview with Crim, BouBede said that he had worked as a Chicago police officer for 18 years, but retired after being shot while in the line of duty. This was an obvious lie which could have quickly been spotted had Crim paid attention to Boubedes date of birth.  Boubede lied about how long he had lived in Kiddie by adding two weeks to the time.  He said Marilyn was his niece, which was a lie. He claimed Marilyn was awake when he and Smartt came home after their second trip to the bar. Had anyone been paying attention, they would have caught that it contradicted what Marilyn said, which was that she was asleep when the two men came home. BouBede said he never met Sue Sharp, which contradicted what Marilyn said about the three of them stopping at the Sharp house and inviting her for a drink. Bradley and Crim showed a similar lack of energy when interviewing Martin Smartt. In one interview, Smartt said that his stepson Justin Eason might have seen something on the night of the murders, adding, without me detecting him at the end of the sentence. The investigators either missed the implications in Smartts slip up, or they werent listening. Smartt talked to the investigators about the hammers that used in the murder, adding that he had recently lost is own hammer. There were no follow-up interviews with Smartt or BouBede, since the investigators believed that the pair had no involvement in the murders. No longer a prime suspect, Martin Smartt moved to Klamath, California. Boubede returned to Chicago where he scammed several police officers out of money, was caught and almost did prison time, but died before being incarcerated. Tinas Remains In 1984, the cranium part of a skull was found about 30 miles from Keddie. Several months later an anonymous caller told the Butte County Sheriffs office that the skull belonged to Tina Sharp. Another search of the area was made, and a jawbone and several other bones were found. Testing confirmed that the bones belonged to Tina Sharp. The Butte County Sheriffs office gave the original and the backup copy of the recording from the anonymous caller to someone in law enforcement. Since then, both the original and the backup copies have disappeared. A Dead Mans Confession and New Evidence Martin Smartt died in 2000, and not long after his death, his therapist told the Plumas County Sheriffs Office that Smartt had confessed to him that he killed Sue Sharp because she was trying to convince Marilyn to leave him. Smartt never mentioned who killed John, Dana, or Tina. He also told the therapist that it was easy to beat the polygraph, that he and Plumas County Sheriff Doug Thomas were friends, and one time he let Thomas move in with him. On March 24, 2016, a hammer was found that that matches the description of the hammer that Marty Smartt claimed was missing two days after the murders. According to Plumas County Sheriff Hagwood, the location it was found... It would have been intentionally put there. It would not have been accidentally misplaced.

Personal savings and insurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal savings and insurance - Essay Example me of the actions that necessitate precautionary savings include business risk, health risk, risk of labour income change, unavoidable expenditures, children’s educations, and savings for retirement (Carroll and Kimball, 2001). Life-cycle motive involves anticipation of the disparity between expenditure and income. This theory provides that consumers save a proportion of their income so they can have something to turn to in their elderly ages, when they are not able to raise income. In this view, individuals are chiefly motivated to save so they can accumulate for their retirement (Modigliani and Brumberg,1954). Some consumers are motivated to save so they may enjoy interests or dividends that those savings may attract in the future. The group of people who save to enjoy interest, therefore, prefers saving where their savings can grow, such as in the stock exchange and banks. Independence motive is whereby consumers save so they can use their savings as a source of power to do their thing independently. They believe that their savings is fully theirs and hence they will not ask for approval from anybody when deciding what to do with it. Furthermore, consumers are motivated by the fact that, when they have savings, they will not borrow from anybody or ask help from anybody each time they want money for consumption or investment. Enterprise motive is whereby the savings give investors freedom to spend the funds if and when necessary. As such, consumers find saving money as a way of empowering them economically since they can have capital to invest in viable projects whenever the need arises. Bequest motive is whereby savers put aside money so they can have adequate to inherit to their heirs. The reason for this motive is to safeguard the welfare of their beneficiaries when the savers pass on. This motive, therefore, goes beyond personal interest as individuals think of how those who are close to them live after they dies. A good example is where a parent

Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Psychology - Essay Example Thailand has remained a model for organic farming. Many Thai companies are boasting of chemical free products today. Thailand’s Buddhist Asok movement helps to build organic farms and is a monk led movement, which has brought a change within the monk living style too. â€Å"Additionally, while several mainstream Thai monks are millionaires, Asok monks are not allowed to own any property and lay members living inside the community make no money. But everyone receives free food, lodging, and medical care, and students receive free education† http://www.newfarm.org/columns/Jason/2003/0303/thai_asok.shtml Thailand is feeding the world with many organic products other than the rice and in recent years this had been its valuable offering towards environment and it still remains the largest rice exporter in the world. Green Net has rendered yeomen service to organic revolution with its organising farm and trading activities. â€Å"Through more than 7-year experiences, Green Net believes that the main challenge for Third World organic movement is how to organise fair trade at national and international level which would truly benefit small-scale organic producers in a sustainable manner,† Alfoldic (2000, p.664). Organic marketing called Lemon Farms are spreading all over Thailand. Initially, it had not been easy to find customers. â€Å"It has proved difficult to get customers to pay more for generic products although there are some signs this is changing. For instance initial efforts to market organic fruits and vegetables in Thailand, ran into stiff marketing resistence† Charter (1999, p.347). â€Å"There are many doors into the organic community. Some folks come in through their alternative lifestyle. Some come desperately seeking ways to save their farms. Some are merely attracted by high organic soybean and dairy prices†. The Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) has been spreading

Sickness and healing - An Anthropological Perspective Essay

Sickness and healing - An Anthropological Perspective - Essay Example Disease accounts; whereby the biomedicine’s recognizes the body as the cause and remedy of sickness and lastly, disorder accounts; whereby the imbalances are the main source of illness and means to cure. He refuses the concept of culture-bound syndrome because he believes that it is based on anthropological and psychiatric notions and; therefore, it is culturally biased. The cultural difference in health and illness presents and makes people understand the symptoms of the disease. He goes ahead to explain that the individual and social experiences of illness are termed as a complex process, and; hence, the physiological expression of these diseases are becoming the main concern among medical anthropologists and something needs to be done. Hahn also gives an example of sociocultural influences on low-birth-weight between black and white infants. He says anthropology and epidemiology are can make a conclusion on this social-medical problem. This evidence can illustrate how the t wo disciplines can make individuals understand the complexity of a disturbing problem. It serves as a powerful means that shows individuals the benefits of looking at sickness and heals from both sociocultural and biomedical perspectives3. There are different ways in which individuals respond to sickness from one society to another. Hahn concludes that anthropology is exclusively found on investigations of subjective States and expresses that sociocultural phenomena should be included in the medical epistemology and should be practiced4.

Critical Thinking about the Viet Nam Conflict Research Paper

Critical Thinking about the Viet Nam Conflict - Research Paper Example The American diplomats were so convinced of their supremacy of war power that they completely failed to look at the other side of the coin. As a result of poor planning and failed execution of the projected estimates, the American Culture received shocks and trauma that still haunt them even after so many years. Post the wars, thousands of families were affected, having lost husbands, sons, and daughters. People were left homeless and struggled to meets ends; the scars left on the society were so deep that not only the physical trauma was evident but the emotional stress was high enough for them to start doubting the bureaucrats’ intentions and integrity. The United States had a firm belief that communism anywhere would be a threat and they had a clear thought that they would do everything to curb and eradicate communism. United States were not involved in the Vietnam conflict directly until they felt it was absolutely necessary to continue their fight against communism. Befor e losing out on the World War II, France ruled Vietnam and Vietnam became independent but French were unwilling to let it go without a battle, which eventually led to the The Battle of Dien Bien Phu. France lost the battle, post which it was decided that France and Vietnam would sign a treaty in the Geneva Convention on 1954 to settle for peace. It was agreed that Vietnam would be divided into North and South states on th 17th parallel with communist Vietminh ruling the North and Bao Dai ruling the South Vietnam for two years. The agreement was that presidential elections would be held in 1956 to decide the future course of action but things did not went as planned. The National Liberation Front started communism in the South Vietnam and started anti Diem practices. United States was in full support of the new ruler of the South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem and decided to intervene to ensure that another communist country does not come up. John F. Kennedy made up his mind to completely ta ke sides and prove the supremacy of America by signing a treaty with South Vietnam to extend economical and military help (Lawrence, 2010). United States even helped the South Vietnam in creating Army Republic of Vietnam in the hope that the unit will fight the communists from North and keep the country free from communism. Despite many efforts from America, Sout continued to face defeats on many levels of the dispute. Despite several efforts of United States, it so happened that the South Vietnam went on to face several defeats from Guerrillas and communism was threatening to prevail in the country. Meanwhile, America’s attention was divided in several other major happenings taking place around the world, especially in the Indochina region. But, it was high time that U.S. played direct and more active role to curb out the communism from Vietnam or so they thought. The Truman Doctrine that was originally designed to be made applicable in Europe and Middle East was then being adopted in Vietnam conflict due to the belief that if Communists were not destroyed; communism would soon engulf the concerned Asian region (Westheider, 2007). John F. Kennedy, who took the office in 1961 was of the opinion that there were other major issues than Vietnam and he only increased the U.S. aid at the insistence of

Evaluating TQM of Emirates Airlines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Evaluating TQM of Emirates Airlines - Essay Example By providing a skeletal support for the strategies, it will be easy to allocate resources to the important goals respectively without wastage of precious resources. They also make the task easier for ever employee as it makes clear what they have to do or aim to do and they will be motivated towards a strategy. (Basil Henry Liddell Hart, 1967) Mission and vision of Emirates: The mission statement of Emirates is: â€Å"To become a leading airline with good customer relations by encouraging transparency and fair competition and adopting open skies policy.† The vision of Emirates is: â€Å"To become a leading airline by setting new industry standards that has focus on innovation, diversity and customer service.† Strategies and Goals †¢ To become a global airline and carrier of choice all over the world. †¢ To promote UAE especially Dubai as one of the safest, modern, technologically advanced. Progressive and modern commercial centers of the world. †¢ To encourage sustainability and economic efficiency through various programs †¢ To encourage diversity by having multi-cultural staff †¢ To develop and train employees and provide them opportunities to enhance their skills. To apply and develop new technologies internally as well as in the services and products that are offered t the customers. To expand and grow in the new markets. Core Competencies The core competencies of Emirates include its: Strong leverage to brands: Focus on marketing and promoting the brands by investing on them Competitive cost structure: Focus on low costs so as to offer low fares. Spoke and hub operation: The mega hub of Emirates Airlines is at Dubai International Airport that is the centre connecting the whole world. (Emirates, n.d.) Strategic Control Strategic control is very important to monitor the internal and external environment. It helps in evaluating the company’s programs from a long term perspective. For Emirates it is very important to systematically and continuously check the implementation of plans, monitor all the events that take place inside and outside the company in all situations. (Porter, 1996) Stakeholder analysis Government: Government of UAE is the major stakeholder of Emirates Airline as it is also one of the owners of the company. They have high power and are very much interested in the operations of the company. The government has the authority to build pressure and question the decisions. The government is so much involved with the company that it created a liberal market for the Airline to operate in Fast east Share holders: they are the people who have bought the shares of Emirates. They have high level of interest in the affairs of the business as they have invested their money, but they have low level of power. It is very important to develop engagement strategy for them and keep them informed about the activities. Employees: employees are one of the main stakeholders of a company as they have the power that can either make the company or break it. They are directly linked to the company. It is thus very important to keep them satisfied by providing training and development opportunities, good compensations and a good environment. Their needs should be catered and taken care of. Customers: without the customers a company cannot survive. Customers thus are very important and play a very important role. They have the power to influence the company and its success. Strategies should be made to keep the customers engaged and updated about the products and services. Public: on a larger scale the

The Role of the Environment (Geography) in the Emergence of the Egypti Essay - 2

The Role of the Environment (Geography) in the Emergence of the Egyptian Civilization - Essay Example People grew food along the river due to the availability of water and the fertility of the land. The river became an important feature that attracted settlements, leading to a significant growth of cities (Stalcup 2000). Being in a desert, Egypt’s survival relied on the river. Therefore, as civilization continued people came to live in the cities near the river in order to increase their chances of survival. Egyptians lived in an environment with a lot of dessert features. Due to the seasonal rains in East Africa where River Nile originates, the Nile overflowed annually during the ancient Egyptian civilization (Smith 1916). When the rains decreased, the rich black soil was deposited on the floodplain. This environmental phenomenon led to successful agricultural production in Egypt (Stalcup 2000). The sun was also shining relentlessly, providing light and heat for the people and crops. Furthermore, natural dessert barriers caused protection of the Egyptians against foreigners. In terms of arts and writings, a strong and creative society was created following the rise of cities and civilizations along the Nile Delta. The Lighthouse at Alexandria and the Pyramids of Giza became two of the five wonders of the world. There were a lot of written records of ancient Egyptians including moralistic treatises, love poetry, instructional texts and tales. Their knowledge of Mathematics and architecture motivated by the environment also led to the development of large stone buildings (Smith 1916). The availability of building stones and other architectural materials encourage the ancient Egyptians to develop writings and architecture in the Nile Delta region. The Nile River was also a good environment for the growth of papyrus plant that was used to write texts. This encouraged the development of writing during civilization, which  was one of the earliest forms of writings.  

Evaluating TQM of Emirates Airlines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Evaluating TQM of Emirates Airlines - Essay Example By providing a skeletal support for the strategies, it will be easy to allocate resources to the important goals respectively without wastage of precious resources. They also make the task easier for ever employee as it makes clear what they have to do or aim to do and they will be motivated towards a strategy. (Basil Henry Liddell Hart, 1967) Mission and vision of Emirates: The mission statement of Emirates is: â€Å"To become a leading airline with good customer relations by encouraging transparency and fair competition and adopting open skies policy.† The vision of Emirates is: â€Å"To become a leading airline by setting new industry standards that has focus on innovation, diversity and customer service.† Strategies and Goals †¢ To become a global airline and carrier of choice all over the world. †¢ To promote UAE especially Dubai as one of the safest, modern, technologically advanced. Progressive and modern commercial centers of the world. †¢ To encourage sustainability and economic efficiency through various programs †¢ To encourage diversity by having multi-cultural staff †¢ To develop and train employees and provide them opportunities to enhance their skills. To apply and develop new technologies internally as well as in the services and products that are offered t the customers. To expand and grow in the new markets. Core Competencies The core competencies of Emirates include its: Strong leverage to brands: Focus on marketing and promoting the brands by investing on them Competitive cost structure: Focus on low costs so as to offer low fares. Spoke and hub operation: The mega hub of Emirates Airlines is at Dubai International Airport that is the centre connecting the whole world. (Emirates, n.d.) Strategic Control Strategic control is very important to monitor the internal and external environment. It helps in evaluating the company’s programs from a long term perspective. For Emirates it is very important to systematically and continuously check the implementation of plans, monitor all the events that take place inside and outside the company in all situations. (Porter, 1996) Stakeholder analysis Government: Government of UAE is the major stakeholder of Emirates Airline as it is also one of the owners of the company. They have high power and are very much interested in the operations of the company. The government has the authority to build pressure and question the decisions. The government is so much involved with the company that it created a liberal market for the Airline to operate in Fast east Share holders: they are the people who have bought the shares of Emirates. They have high level of interest in the affairs of the business as they have invested their money, but they have low level of power. It is very important to develop engagement strategy for them and keep them informed about the activities. Employees: employees are one of the main stakeholders of a company as they have the power that can either make the company or break it. They are directly linked to the company. It is thus very important to keep them satisfied by providing training and development opportunities, good compensations and a good environment. Their needs should be catered and taken care of. Customers: without the customers a company cannot survive. Customers thus are very important and play a very important role. They have the power to influence the company and its success. Strategies should be made to keep the customers engaged and updated about the products and services. Public: on a larger scale the

International Business strategy - NOKIA on global market Essay

International Business strategy - NOKIA on global market - Essay Example Every company is gearing up to develop new applications in their Smartphone offering which ultimately decreases scope of creating differentiation for customers. Mobile industry review has pointed out companies need to customize their offering with Android OS in order to fulfil demand of customers. High buyer power has forced companies to adopt technological innovation in Smartphone in order to achieve product differentiation. Threat of Substitutes Fixed line telephones can be classified as direct substitute for mobile phones. For example, fixed line phones play important role in big organizations in comparison to mobile phones. It can be inferred that threat of substitutes becoming lower due to mobile phone’s multi application and wider geographic coverage. Mobile manufacturing companies need to adopt more technological innovations in their offering in order to increase acceptance in big organizations and decrease threat from substitutes further. ... Some companies are using Android operating system for their Smartphone’s while others are focusing on windows phone. Fixed costs associated with smart phone market are high due to requirement of investing in latest technologies. Hence it can be concluded that market rivalry is high. Global Smartphone market condition can be explained in the following manner. (Source: Deloitte, 2012) The diagram is showing that Global mobile phone market is dominated by Android OS while Apple iPhone OS is the second largest contributor. Companies are banking on Android OS to develop new products. Mobile manufactures try to establish equilibrium between Smartphone and features. The market segregation can be explained in the following manner: (Source: Deloitte, 2012) In future Companies will face specific threat from counterfeit products. Mobile manufacturers complemented by low resorce capabilities tend to imititate features and design of Smartphone manufacturered by reputed companies such as No kia, Samsung and Apple. Impact of such threat will increase in future. For example, small companies in copycats has counterfeited Nokia X6 product and launched in the market. Picture of counterfeited Nokia X6 can be used to analyze extent of counterfeiting in telecommunication industry. (Source: Delaney, 2012) Companies need to take strict legal action against counterfeits in order to maintain not only market share but brand image among customers. PEST Analysis- Nokia Political Factors Companies needs to follow respective government rule of different countries in order achieve sustainable business growth and demographic advantage (Zikmund and Babin, 2006, pp. 12-15). Global economy is complemented by

Comparing Criminal Justice Systems: US and China

Comparing Criminal Justice Systems: US and China The two criminal justice systems that shall be discussed in this paper are those of the United States and that of the Peoples Republic of China. When comparing and contrasting these two systems one should start with the premise that both are instituted in their countries in the attempt to curb the proliferation of crime, apprehend offenders and deter potential offenders. Both the U.S. and Chinas criminal justice systems make use of a court system, police enforcement organizations and detention/correctional facilities. However this is as much as similarities go as the two systems are radically different since they are based on ideologically opposing government structures. The U.S government is based on a free market capitalist economy supported by a representative democracy. On the other hand that of China is founded on a social communist ideology. As for demographic figures, the U.S. has roughly 355 million citizens while China has well over one billion, which makes up one fourth of the world population. Klaus MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), in his book Criminal Justice in China, states that Peoples Republic of China (P.R.C.) was founded in 1949 under a socialist rulership. From that point onwards a push was made to establish basic legislation with regards the administration of the criminal justice and enforced nationwide. The U.S. government is hierarchally based on a unified organization where power is shared between the federal and state governments. Therefore this means that the political system secures autonomy of each state in the U.S. but at the same time adopting a centralized government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The U.S. justice system is derived from the British common law tradition. Common law is the law that is agreed upon by the common people and exists in two forms, Lex Scripta (written law) and Lex non Scripta (unwritten law). On the other hand MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), says that the Chinese justice system is quite difficult to put under one unitary system. This is due to the fact that the Chinese criminal justice system was repeatedly reorganized in the wake of political changes and internal party disputes since 1949, when the communist party took over. MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009) also notes that the Chinese justice system under socialism is not an independent administrative system but was integrated into a network of social control and political mobilization. The Chinese Criminal Law is based on the ideological precepts of Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong. Its tasks are to use punishments to resist against all revolutionary or criminal behaviour, for the sake of protecting the Chinese autocracy. Gaines and Miller (2006) explain that the police forces of the United States are the successors of Militias originally instituted in the early colonies to protect the population and control the Native Americans. The different forming States developed their own security forces and these operated autonomously. Major cities instituted their own police forces, which function under the control of a city government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to Gaines and Miller (2006) Currently the U.S. police forces are structured on local/city/county and federal/state levels, thus having a federal system. All local policing duties are shared between local municipalities and rural localities. Cities, towns and villages are able to institute their own police forces, while others, usually rural localities, rely on a county Sheriffs department for the task of enforcement and policing. Usually the size of police forces in the U.S. is directly proportional to the population of the area being controlled. The 50 States forming the U.S. also have their own police forces that are ascribed to different regions and often patrol undeveloped rural areas. The job of such agencies include investigating crimes against the state such as alcohol licensing violations or welfare fraud, fish and game violations, and highway traffic infractions (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to a statistic of the U.S. Department of Justice (2008), on average the ratio of police to population in the U.S. is about 2.3 officers per thousand residents, however larger cities generate grater ratios. This police force ratio has stayed fixed around 2.21-2.34 police officers per 1000 civilian population for nearly 30 years. Next up on the U.S. hierarchal police system is the Federal Governments police force that subdivided into various other agencies (Gaines and Miller, 2006). There is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is independent of any administration. The F.B.I. intervenes when federal laws are infringed, an interstate crime is committed, or if national security is threatened. However the last case scenario has been taken over by the Department of Homeland Security established after the attacks of September 11th 2001. The U.S. has about 20 federal law enforcement agencies, which also include the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Marshals Service. Further more there exist the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Treasury Department, the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearm Agency and the Immigration and Naturalization Services handle illegal immigrants while the U.S. Customs officials deal with border infringements. However this specia lization of the different policing agencies has its drawbacks. Problems can arise due to jurisdictional issues, when what one should really take care of is the upholding and maintenance of the law (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009) the P.R.C. employs around 2 million police officers, of which most work is small offices that serve communities of roughly 10,000 citizens. The main policing agency in the P.R.C. is the Peoples Armed Police (PAP), which includes about 700,000 officers. This agency was instituted in 1983 and was formed by incorporating disbanded units of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) on domestic defence duty and armed frontier defence and fire fighting. The rise of the PAP shows how Chinese leadership is more concerned with domestic security than it is with foreign threats (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). The PAPs main task is to deal with domestic disturbances, by acting as riot police, guarding government compounds and also foreign embassies. It usually handles border defence but in some cases it is requested to back up local police. Recently it has been employed to suppress anti-government protests. The Public Security Service (PSB) is both a local police and the Chinese equivalent of the Secret Service in the U.S. The P.R.C. justice system also employs paramilitary armed police and more than 1 million security guards. Quasi-police force known as cheng guan also operates in China (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). These carry out tasks deemed unpopular by the citizens, such as collecting fines and tax money, often these are just thugs hired by the official police to carry out such tasks. The Chinese government introduced a new special unit in December 2008, to counter gun-related crimes and organized crime such as gambling rackets, organized prostitution, drug production and trafficking. By 2009 Chinas public security budget was increased by nearly a third, to $4.2 billion partly to tackle internal stresses related to the unrest in Tibet and western China. Also this increment in the public security budget came about as a result to unrest brought about by unemployed workers and other problems related to the global economic crisis (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). In the past, police forces in the U.S. have been accused of corruption and the Good-Old Boy network of hiring practices. Also in recent years charges of racism, racial profiling, and use of excessive force have been reported by citizens and related organizations (Gaines and Miller, 2006). In China family members of victims of crime have often been criticised police for their incompetence and reluctance to make sensible effort towards solving cases that affect them. Another criticism directed to Chinese police forces is that these have a reputation for being corrupt and connected to smuggling. Also citizens, particularly in rural areas, regard these with suspicion. Chinese police have traditionally been more involved in maintaining government control than solving crimes, and this is directly related with Chinas political ideology. (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). As for the US court system, this is a dual judiciary system, of which the two constituent parts (federal and state) function independent of each other. The federal judiciary system includes district courts, circuit courts of appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. The state system includes trial courts at the local and state levels, intermediate courts of appeal, and state Supreme Court (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The primary agents working along each other are the judge, prosecutor, and defence lawyers in the U.S. system. The U.S. law is derived from four main sources, which are constitutional law, statutory law, administrative regulations, and the common law (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The most important source of law is the United States Constitution, under which all other laws fall. No law can contradict the U.S. Constitution. As already stated the U.S. follows the principles of Common law that were inherited from English jurisprudence. This tradition holds that a decision taken in court is always made on the principle of precedent. This means that each case previously resolved serves as reference and guide for new cases. New aspects of law may be determined or discovered and thus a precedent arises. The U.S. justice system allows for presumption of innocence until proven guilty, plea-bargaining, trial by jury, and the right to a quick trial (Gaines and Miller, 2006). These features compose the U.S. justice system which is flexible and according to Gaines and Miller (2006) caters for the citizens ne eds in a batter way. Chinese Law is based on the Constitution, of which Article 28 declares: The State maintains public order and suppresses treasonable and other counter-revolutionary activities; it penalizes acts that endanger public security and disrupt the socialist economy and other criminal activities, and punishes and reforms criminals. According to an article by Jeffrey Hays (2008), the main task of the Chinese justice system has fundamentally always been to protect the interests of the state rather than the individual and to keep the population under control. There is no independent judiciary in China and courts are regarded as weak and subordinate to the Communist Party and the National Peoples Congress. The court system of the P.R.C. is divided into two types, Courts of General Jurisdiction and Courts of Special Jurisdiction. The first type consists of the Supreme Peoples Court and the local peoples courts. The second type includes courts of the first instance, intermediate courts that handle important local cases for the first instance and hear appeal cases from the basic courts and the high peoples court responsible for issues of provincial level. As for Courts of Special Jurisdiction there exist the Military Court of China, Railway Transport Court of China and Maritime Court of China (Hays, 2008), According to Hays (2008) Unlike in their U.S. counterparts, in Chinese courts unlawfully obtained evidence is not excluded in court and an accused person has no right to remain silent but has the duty towards the state to speak, often after administration of corporal punishment. According to Amnesty International, when the Criminal Procedure Law was revised and promulgated in 1996, commentators pointed to various articles, which although did not explicitly state that suspects were to be presumed innocent, when taken in unison the presumption of innocence could be inferred. The penal system of the U.S., like the judicial system, branches into federal, state and local levels. The prison system is supported by governmental funds, in the form of tax revenue from federal (corporate income), state (sales) and local (taxes) revenues. Is also receives funding through Inter-governmental transfer, in the form of federal grants and state grants. Gaines and Miller (2006) sentencing within the US judiciary system are considerably lengthier than those of other western countries and many states have endorsed a three strikes system which forces the judiciary to sentence a suspect to a life term in the case of a third offence (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The USs penal system has a huge problem because of overpopulation of convicts and thus in order to counter this many states have resorted to the privatisation of prisons. Other problems include the imprisonment of the criminally insane, increase of sexual offenders, dangerous offenders, gangs and drug smuggling in the pr isons. The aim of the penal system in China is to reform criminals, however this is carried out by means which in the west one might deem unacceptable. The USs penal system on the other hand is instituted to punish the criminal and protect the public. Both systems endorse capital punishment as their most extreme sanction and such actions have roused many heated debates within modern human rights exponents. Differences of Standard Profit and Actual Profit: Case Study Differences of Standard Profit and Actual Profit: Case Study Incognitos latest costume set is Meridas outfit in the Disney Pixar film Brave that sold through internet. The purpose of this report is to analyse and compare the differences of standard profit and actual profit. All calculations are available in the appendices. 1.1 Absorption Costing System Absorption costing system is used to cost Merida. It recognizes the importance of absorbing the fixed overhead on valuation of stock in calculating profit as fixed overhead is essential to incur to make product. All fixed and variable production cost is included in stock valuation in absorption costing while, marginal costing only include variable production cost in stock valuation5. It allocates portion of fixed manufacturing overhead to each unit of product and hence, it will be brought forward to next period in the closing stock5. Also, it avoids fictitious losses being reported. For instance, a company produces more on first few months to cater the sales for the next few months. In absorption costing, fixed production cost will only be expensed off when it is sold. While, marginal costing would expensed it off when it is incurred that may cause a huge losses at the beginning. The absorption of fixed overhead in stock valuation helps prices to be set with full knowledge of all costs. This is useful for decision making and preparing financial accounts. Additionally, absorption costing system is consistent with external reporting5. 2 1.2 Variance Analysis Standard costing is predetermined costs that assist in budget preparation and decision-making. It allows profit measurement and inventory valuation purposes. The variance analysis is applied to explain the deviations in the actual results from budgeted amounts8. The results of variance analysis is attributes to different elements such as material, labour, variable overhead and fixed overhead. These would provide a better understanding of the business performance and aware of any changes in the organization, economy, or sector. The variances might due to several reasons. This variance analysis segregates total variance into different element such as price and efficiency8. This sub-decomposition would provide more detail in explaining the deviations. It helps in performance evaluation that could motivate managers and identify areas of concern that enables managers to focus on the most critical areas8. It seeks explanation for variances and helps in planning activity by identifying the necessary early corrective action to be taken depending whether variance is favourable or adverse8. It would allow manager to generate more informed future predictions. Therefore, it acts as measurement system and controlling tool to supervise the progress of a project and controlling of future cost by understanding the present costs9. Key findings of the variance analysis 2.1 Possible reason of variances The most critical areas are adverse variances especially those with significant figures. The adverse variance of sales margin price might due to overestimation of standard selling price; higher quantity discount given by sales manager that result to lower actual selling price or bad response of the product that influences management to decide to lower the selling price. Adverse sales margin volume variance may due to overestimation of budgeted sales that is set without careful analysis of market condition. Also, inefficient sales force such as failure in advertisement (marketing) effort or customer dissatisfaction because of poor quality of costumes. Although the decrease in selling price by $4 should reflect an increment in sales volume, however, in this case, it is shown as adverse sales volume which might due to economic downturn as what happen to unexpected sales drop of Hennes Maurit (Fashion retailer) by 5% during Euro zone crisis6. The purchasing power of consumer will drop. Hence, despite the drop in selling price, the sales volume will decrease. Another possible reason for adverse sales price and volume is the escalating market competition in internet of selling childrens costume that affects both the sales price and volume to decrease by 4 and 190 units respectively. Adverse material price variance (Velour fabric and Metal poppers) may due to management careless in purchasing a batch of material with a higher cost without realizing it, ; general increase in price of the material (inflation) or the used of the improved quality of the material. Moreover, it can due to underestimation of material standard price; losing bulk discount as less has been purchased or inefficiency of purchasing manager in price negotiation9. The adverse material usage variances (Satin fabric, Polyester yarn and Velcro) may due to mistake by production department in allocating materials to jobs which causes wastage. Excessive usage may due to excessive wastage of materials by untrain workers, faulty machines, poor supervision or theft existence. Furthermore, purchasing department may obtain inferior materials where it may be unsuitable for use and causes excessive waste9. Also, it may have stricter quality control where, if any material does not meet certain standards in terms quality would be eliminated2. The adverse labour rate for skilled and unskilled labour may due to inflation or increase pressure by labour union for salary increment. Also, it may be the management strategy to increase workers morale by increasing the pay so to improve worker efficiency as where it is reflected on favourable efficiency of unskilled labour. There may be also payment of unplanned overtime or bonus where it has to pay more2. The adverse labour efficiency of skilled labour may due to error where the standard time were set too tight without careful analysis of operating condition and the employee skills4 or human resource error in employing inexperienced skilled worker and yet still paying high wages of the skilled worker2. Moreover, the usage of inferior quality material that leads to inefficiency where more time is needed to produce each costume2. Additionally, this adverse can result by poorly trained or motivated workers which require more time in processing; faulty equipment causing work interruptions; inefficient work schedule and poor supervision of workers2. Adverse variable overhead rate variance may due to underestimation of the rate by management. While adverse variable overhead efficiency variance, may due to adverse figure presented in skilled labour efficiency. The lower productivity causes more time needed for production. The possibility of factory breakdown causes variable overhead to increase, as a day production is lost. The adverse fixed overhead variance for supervisor and utilities may due to the general increase in market price due to inflation. This inflation resulted to escalated living expenses and hence, a pay increment for supervisor is necessary. While utilities, the possibility for wastage of electricity and water when machinery faulty or equivalent. Although the hiring of skilled labour should result to a favourable labour efficiency variance, this adverse variance is possibly due to insufficient demand to keep the workers busy. Hence, production is reduced from 7,500 to 7380 units due to just-in-time principle. Since workforce is fixed, skilled labour would need to produce less costume, and hence causes inefficient in work as they have more idle time, resulting to the rise of labour hours needed per costume from 1.25 to 1.5 hours. The adverse variance of postage and packaging may due to general increase of international shipping. Measure should be taken to control the escalating material, labour, variable and fixed overhead rate and decrementing usage efficiency as it would reduce profitability. It should also understand the reason for favourable variances, so these practices will continue and be used within the organization. Firstly, favourable material price variances (Satin fabric, sequins, polyester yarn, metal hoops and Velcro) may due to inferior quality material usage which incur lower price, changed to a lower-price supplier, obtaining bulk discount by buying in bulk, industry oversupply of those materials causes the price to drop or material standard price is estimated too low4. The favourable material usage variance (Velour fabric) may due to efficient usage of the material by labour. There may have existence of inter-relationship of material usage and price. The better quality of velour fabric used, the higher the efficiency of the material2. Hence, material wastage decreases due to lesser defective material. The favourable labour efficiency variance for unskilled labour may relate to ergonomics whereby work motivation arises when there is improved quality of equipment or materials, or better techniques of production. Also, it may due to salary increment. Hence, the productivity increases lead to higher efficiency. The favourable fixed overhead variance (rent) may due to market price for rent have reduced or it shifted to another venue with a cheaper rent. 2.2 Implication of variances The adverse variance indicates ineffectiveness and overspending by the business as compared to budgeted figures and vice versa for favourable variances. Adverse variances would have a negative impact to reconciliation statement that causes lower profit, as more have to pay (Higher expenses) and used (More time and material used). Also, the reputation would be affected as it is less efficient. Whereas adverse sales price and volume indicates lower selling price and volume sold which causes lower sales revenue. Favourable variances have a positive effect towards reconciliation statement that causes higher profit as less have to pay (Lower expenditure) and used (Lesser time used). 3.1 Comparison Incognito has a net profit margin of 2% as compared to retail clothing sector average of 7.86%. It shows that Incognito has a higher risk that a drop in sales would wipe off profits and cause net losses. This may due to inefficiency in controlling cost as shown in several adverse variance figure (Material, labour, fixed and variable overhead). Also, the recession and continuing uncertain economic climate became the greatest threat to sales over the recent years as what happen to HM with sudden drop of 5% sales and which believed has influenced Incognito with drop of sales from 7,500 to 7310 costumes6. It founds that fancy dress industry is competitive as there shown a growing number of fancy dress like companies and website retail sales exceeded 10 billion in UK alone1. This would limit Incognito growth opportunities and reduce its profitability. 3.2 Recommendation To improve sales, it is prudent to increase marketing (Advertisement) efforts during slower sales periods as there are more competition and fewer consumers especially during current Eurozone crisis. It should utilise social networking features such as Facebook to extend business coverage. Nonetheless, it should keep up-to-date on the costume trends so it would not be left behind by its competitor. If the adverse sales are due to quality issues, it may consider using better quality materials or purchasing new machine. New machine would improve quality, productivity (Efficiency) and less maintenance is needed in the long run. Also, it is recommended to develop maintenance schedule to avoid future machine breakdowns that affects efficiency and costumes quality. To reduce material price, it is recommended to purchase material in bulk which lower the overall material price due to bulk discount given by the supplier. However, it should caution of not causing excessive inventory4. Also, it can bargain with the current supplier for a better deal by ascertaining a positive relationship. Nonetheless, it should always monitor the market for other alternative supplier that offers a better deal in term of lower price without compromising the materials quality. To ease labour rates, it is advisable to hire part-timer rather than full-timer as they are paid according to the actual hours work. This can prevent money being wasted during the idle time and improve labour efficiency. It can consider outsourcing certain jobs to low-cost areas such as Vietnam which is highly productive with lower labour rates. If adverse variance is due to inflation, it is advisable to revise the standard cost regularly so that it will always reflect the current market rates. For utilities rate reduction, it is recommended to negotiate a deal (Lower utilities rate) with the utilities company or seek for alternative utilities companies that may provide a lower utilities rate. To strengthen online presence, it needs to continue develop its B2C websites to ensure it is user friendly; high security to build trust and provide sufficient information on products offered3. Nonetheless, interaction with customer and respond to their feedbacks is important3. Also, it should increase its product range of innovative new fancy dress costumes so it would have larger market1. Ethical issues are important for sustainability as UK adults claiming to have made purchase decisions for ethical reasons7. It should concern with the material used to ensure it is up to certain quality, environmental friendly and cruelty free; employee working condition and pesticide used7. Furthermore, issue regarding trademarks copyright. Incognito took design of Meridas costume, a character in the Disney film Brave without the consent of the original designer. This could be subject to copyright issues and can be liable for fine. It is unethical as it is consider stealing of others trademark. It should encourage employee personnel development by providing training and improve employee attitudes through motivation. Frequent timely non-financial performance measure is advisable for control purposes such as observing defect rates and number of costumes completed without rework4. Additionally, it should identify its market share and target for planning purposes such as expanding and determining quantity to manufacture. 4.0 Conclusion Precautionary action should be taken to prevent material price and usage; labour rate; variable and fixed overhead rises uncontrollably in the future which reduces profitability. Nonetheless, non-financial issues such as environmental, working condition and ethics should be taken into consideration. (2000 Words)