English Essay

Holt tells us that joke books became routine after the first one was published in English in 1484. Jokes remained fairly lowbrow until the middle of the 19th century when with especially the clever retort became prized in English culture. A typical joke concerned a hefty fellow rushing to Florence late one evening. He asked a peasant â€Å"Do you think I’ll be able to make it through the city gate?† The man replied, â€Å"Why if a cart of hay can make it through, you can, too!† No one embodied this shift better than Oscar Wilde. Holt tells us that in the 1890s, poet Sir Lewis Morris complained to Wilde because he was not to be named England’s poet laureate. â€Å"It’s a complete conspiracy of silence against me,† Morris said, â€Å"a conspiracy of silence! What ought I to do, Oscar?† â€Å"Join it!† Wilde replied. While detailing this history, Holt discusses the three major theories of humor. The â€Å"superiority theory†, propounded by Plato and Groucho Marx, sees the essence of humor in mockery and derision, in the â€Å"sudden glory we feel when† those we dislike are leveled whether they be the high and mighty or members of religious and ethnic groups. After researching about various television shows I found this joke from â€Å"Friends,† episodes two hundred and two. It is a dialogue between Chandler and Joey who are asking their friend Carol about breastfeeding. Chandler asks Carol, â€Å"Carol I was just wondering if Joey could ask you questions about breastfeeding?† Carol replies, â€Å"Sure.† Joey then asked her, â€Å"Uh, does it hurt?† Carol said, â€Å"Well, at first but not anymore.† Joey then says, â€Å"Oh. Chandler?† Chandler then asked Carol, â€Å"So uh, how often can you do it?† Carol replied, â€Å"As much as he needs.† Joey then said, â€Å"Oh okay I got one. Uh if he blows into one does the other one get bigger?† There are topical jokes, perennial jokes, cultural jokes, and universal jokes like, â€Å"I was so unpopular when I was little, even my imaginary friend played with the kids across the street†. There are jokes about groups of people, jokes appropriate for polite company, and jokes that are dirty enough to be somewhat scandalous such as, George H. W. Bush’s favorite â€Å"How do you titillate an ocelot? You oscillate its tits a lot.† Then there are the political jokes, geographical jokes as well as jokes of various lengths one-liners, two-liners, long jokes, â€Å"shaggy dog† jokes, and even jokes of only two words: â€Å"Pretentious? Moi?† As with so many philosophical issues these days, perhaps only because of our current fashions of research, humor may simply come down to the neurological. Using an electric probe to try to find the cause of a patient’s seizures, doctors stimulated a part of her left frontal lobe, eliciting a laugh. It happened over and over, and it was not just a mere physical reflex. She really did find things funny, whether she was looking at the operating team, or at a picture of a horse they showed her. Put a little current to the â€Å"L-spot† of the brain, and everything becomes a joke. There is little risk that neurosurgical procedures are going to impair the activities of joke-tellers, however; telling a joke is a simpler way of getting a laugh than doing brain probes, and anyway, whatever the purpose of jokes is, it probably cannot be accomplished in such an electromechanical way. Like many things, jokes are probably best appreciated for themselves and not for any thinking that they might inspire. Holt’s little volume will inspire some thinking, but it also contains more than its share of good along with some bad jokes, including one that he has traced back in different forms which people have been laughing at for fifteen centuries. And he even includes a personal favorite of mine, a meta-joke: â€Å"A priest, a rabbi and a minister walk into a bar. The bartender says, `What is this, a joke?'† According to Holt’s essay I found this joke from Friends to be a universal joke because it is appropriate for polite company. Everyone knows that men have no clue about babies or at least women are more experienced on that subject. This is what made the joke from Friends so funny to me because it allows all viewers to relate to Chandler and Joey’s curiosity regarding breastfeeding. Family type jokes such as this one allow shows like Friends to become such a success. The joke regarding breastfeeding is a great example of Holt’s definition of a universal joke. I find universal jokes to be the funniest because they are funny enough to be able to enjoy with your family and in my opinion being able to have a good laugh with your family is a very important part of life.

Neuropharmacology and gender

There is a growing interest in examining differences in pharmacological responses among different genders.   This gender-related discrepancy in the administration of pharmaceutical drugs has influenced that success of the treatment of specific medical disorders.   Several research investigations have been conducted in the last ten years in order to better understand any underlying gender-related mechanisms that influence factors related to particular diseases.   The factors that are swayed by gender include prevalence, disease symptoms, behavior of the patient during treatment and reaction to pharmacological treatment.Several analyses have suggested that gender-related differences in pharmacology induce different levels of sensitivity to drug medications.   In the field of neuropharmacology, a significant number of pharmaceuticals have already been reported to illicit gender-related differences in the reaction and response to specific neuropharmacologic reagents.   The diff erences include delayed reaction time or even a lowered sensitivity to the administered drug.   The opposite scenario has also been observed with other medications, wherein a specific gender is more responsive to the drug treatment due to the elevated sensitivity to the medication.   It has also been suggested that gonadal hormones may play a role in the reaction of specific genders to particular drugs.Pharmacological research has recently focused on determining the factors that influence the effects of prescription drugs on the treatment of neurological disorders.   One factor that has been of great concern is gender.   There are critical differences based on sex that have been determined to influence neurological disease prevalence.   In addition, gender has also swayed the presentation of symptoms among patients as well as the behavior of the patient himself in terms of seeking treatment.Another influence of gender-based neuropharmacological treatment is the response of the patient to psychotropic medication.   It has been observed that females tend to undergo a less serious course of schizophrenia than males.   This condition is characterized by less frequent negative symptoms and a greater chance for the females to adapt to her social environment.   Females have also been determined to response faster to an administered low dose of antipsychotic drug regimen, thus resulting in fewer cases of hospital admissions and hospitalization.It has been estimated that approximately 5% of all hospital cases are due to adverse drug reactions.   This significant number of death due to adverse drug reactions thus makes it essential to identify the factors that are strongly associated with risk management.   Case studies have shown that the increasing age of a patient poses a higher risk for adverse drug reactions.   In addition, the employment of several pharmaceutical drugs at the same time influences a patient to experience adverse drug reactions .   Liver and kidney diseases are also correlated with adverse drug reactions.   Interestingly, gender has also been determined to be a factor for adverse drug reactions, wherein females are more prone to experience such deleterious side effects.The main mechanism behind the connection between gender and adverse drug reactions still remains unclear but it has been suggested that pharmacological concepts play a major role in this reaction.   Pharmacokinetics or the dynamics of drug interactions in the human body is one of the areas of pharmacology that integrates the aspect of gender-related differences (Meibohm et al., 2002).   The concept of pharmacogenetics or the inter-individual differences in drug response also provides some kind of influence of gender-related pharmacological issues.   Hormonal factors have also been suggested to cause some effect of the response of different genders to pharmacological reagents.Classical pharmacological studies have generally under-re presented females in clinical trials for neuropharmacological drugs and this has resulted in an insufficiency of information with regards to any gender differences in drug efficiency and side effects (Aichhorn et al., 2005).   The major reason behind the under-representation of females in clinical trials is that there is a general fear that the drug being tested may be a potential teratogen which may cause mutations and eventually cancer to females.The fear is also associated in generating offspring that may carry multiple congenital anomalies due to the exposure of a neuropharmacological drug that is still being investigated.   Today, the principles of registration of a new drug require more stringent criteria for approval for clinical trials.   Amongst the requirements are the guidelines that indicate the need for gender-specific testing.Both males and females should thus participate in a clinical trial, with equal numbers of females and males in the entire study population so that bias can be avoided.   In addition to sex-matching in clinical trials, each gender is age-matched, meaning that every age group within the female category of participants should have an equivalent male of the same age group.   The new guidelines with regards to registration of a new drug have thus facilitated the inclusion of females in clinical trials.One neuropharmacological drug that has been extensively studied in terms of pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenetics are the second generation anti-psychotic drugs.   Clinical investigations have reported that different anti-psychotic drugs have different efficacies.   In turn, there anti-psychotic drugs also exert variable side effects among the patients that have been administered with this drug.   Anti-psychotics are generally given to patients suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar or manic-depressive disorders.Other mental health illnesses that are associated with the use of anti-psychotic drugs include dementia, delirium, depression and autism.   Anti-psychotics drugs are prescribed to the patient in order to control any untoward behavior that the patient may perform in the near future, such as aggression, violence and suicide.   These drugs are effective enough in lowering the chances of performing these untoward actions without affecting their normal motor functions, yet there are particular side effects that have been noted in relation to the use of anti-psychotic drugs.One side effect is weight gain which is determined by the increase in weight as well as the change in body mass index of the patient.   Abnormalities in glucose and lipid metabolic pathways are also affected by the intake of anti-psychotic drugs.   There have also been reports with regards to side effects related to cardiac and sexual functioning of the patient.   Gender-based differences in side effects have been implicated to these observations.For the case of schizophrenia, gender-related differences have be en observed in relation to the cumulative lifetime risk.   The initial expectation for the risk of schizophrenia among males and females was classically determined to be the same.   However, there is an accumulation of clinical reports that show that males generally experience schizophrenia at a younger age than females.There is an average difference of 3 to 5 years between males and females with schizophrenia.   More importantly, this gender-related difference also affects the patients’ behavior in terms of seeking medical attention.   Negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia have also been observed to be higher frequency among males.   The prevalence of cognitive deficiencies has een reported to be greater among males.   Any related structural brain and neurophysiological dysfunctions and abnormalities are also more frequent among male schizophrenia patients than among female schizophrenia patients.Oppositely, female schizophrenia patients have been repor ted to more frequently show affective symptoms related to this psychological disorder.   Females are also more prone to experience auditory hallucinations as well as delusions that result in self-persecution.   However, it is interesting to know that females respond to anti-psychotic medications at a faster rate than male patients.   This quick response, unfortunately, is strongly correlated to more severe drug-related side effects.   Clinicians have observed that the course of schizophrenia is less destructive among female patients.   Also, female schizophrenia patients are associated to fewer incidents with smoking and substance abuse, unlike male patients who generally perform both heavy smoking and drug and alcohol abuse during their entire illness.The gender-related issues that were observed with schizophrenia are strongly associated to neuroanatomic sexual differences among males and females.   For example, research has shown that the temporolimbic abnormalities ar e present among male schizophrenia patients.   These abnormalities involve a significant change in the volume of the left temporal lobe of male schizophrenia patients.   The volume was observed to be much smaller as compared to the left temporal lobe of female schizophrenia patients.   Comparison of the volume of the left temporal lobes of schizophrenia patients with that of normal healthy individuals has shown that the volume of the left temporal lobe of female schizophrenia patients is the same as that of normal healthy males and females.Another difference that relates to gender differences and neuropharmacology is the variation in the volume of the grey matter of the brain.   It has been reported that male schizophrenia patients showed a significant decrease in the volume of their grey matter (Leung and Chue, 2000).   On the other hand, female schizophrenia patients show a smaller volume in their hippocampal region, while the volume of their amygdala had increased.   Magnetic resonance imaging studies have indicated that male and female schizophrenia patients show great differences in the volume of their corpus callosum.The differences in volume of several regions of the brain among male and female schizophrenia patients may possibly influence the variations in response to pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia.   Initial pharmacological studies with regards to psychopharmaceuticals mainly focused on the treatment of the disorder itself and gender differences were not investigated until a significant number of cases reports were issued describing specific adverse drug reactions to anti-psychotic drugs.   It has been generally observed that female schizophrenia patients improve at a faster rate than their counterpart male schizophrenia patients.   This positive response, unfortunately, is coupled with the occurrence of extrapyramidal symptoms among female schizophrenia patients.Aside from gender differences in neuropharmacological treat ment, differences among female schizophrenia patients have also been observed.   Research investigations have observed that pre-menopausal female schizophrenia patients show a faster and better response to pharmacological treatment than post-menopausal female schizophrenia patients.   This observation suggests that female younger than 40 years old only need a minimal amount of anti-psychotic pharmacological treatment than male schizophrenia patients.   This pharmacological treatment advantage is lost when the female schizophrenia patient is above 40 years of age.Differences in neuropharmacological treatment response, clinical course and treatment outcome among males and females may also be due to variations in the cerebrum.   An example that could be employed to this notion is that the volume of the caudate nucleus changes over time after treatment of the patient with anti-psychotic drugs.   These changes in volume of the caudate nucleus are also influenced by the gender o f the schizophrenia patient.   In terms of male schizophrenia patients, treatment with neuropharmacologic reagents generally results in an increase in the volume of the caudate nucleus.   On the other hand, this volume was observed to increase among female schizophrenia patients after treatment with anti-psychotic drugs.It should be noted that not all components of the brain show gender-related differences in terms of neurological disorders and neuropharmacological treatment and response.   The striatal dopamine D2 receptor binding activity among male and female schizophrenia patients were determined to be the same, suggesting that the left striatus of both male and female schizophrenia patients are similar before and after neuropharmacological treatment for schizophrenia.Cognitive functions have also been observed to be different among male and female schizophrenia patients.   It is a common observation that male schizophrenia patients perform in a poorer fashion than femal e schizophrenia patients.   Other research groups have observed the opposite result, wherein female schizophrenia patients showed a lower degree of performance in cognitive functions.One explanation for such variations among genders is that some particular research groups only reported these differences as a side-observation while conducting an investigation that focus on another aspect of neuropharmacological research.   It would thus be more reliable if a research study was performed solely in identifying gender-related differences associated with neurological disorders and their response to pharmacological treatment.   It has been postulated that the discrepancies among male and female schizophrenia patients may eventually lead to major variations in the cognitive functions of males and females.It is therefore imperative that gender differences be comprehensively analyzed in terms of cognitive functions.   Another interesting research would involve drug responses among ma les and females of different neurological disorders.   There is also a great need to determine whether there exists a difference between males and females in terms of neurocognitive outcome after pharmacologic treatment for a neurological disorder.There is also a need to examine differences between gender and ethnicity in terms of neurological disorders, treatment and response.   Case reports have described that African-American male and female patients diagnosed with psychoses showed a unique neurological profile and treatment response from that of the general human population.   This observation resulted in a faster rate for hospital discharge after administration of a relatively higher dose of anti-psychotic pharmaceutical drug.The comprehensive investigation of gender-related differences among neuropharmacological treatments would provide a better understanding of the pharmacokinetics of drugs.   In addition, future research efforts on this area would also provide more i nformation that may be used in designing safe, effective and personalized drug treatment plans for patients suffering from neurological disorders.ReferenceAichhorn W, Gasser M, Weiss EM, Adlassnig C and Marksteiner J (2005):   Gender differences in pharmacokinetics and side effects of second generation antipsychotic drugs.   Current Neuropharmacology   3:73-85.Leung A and Chue P (2000):   Sex differences in schizophrenia, a review of the literature. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Suppl. 401:3-38.Meibohm B, Beierle I and Derendorf H (2002): How important are gender differences in pharmacokinetics?   Clinical Pharmacokinetics   41:329-342.

Role of the State in Internet Privacy Protection Essay

Role of the State in Internet Privacy Protection - Essay Example To specify, information privacy is believed to exist if one is able to monitor the usage of personal information, its circulation, and release (Culnan 341). With the rapid growth of the web space and technology advancement, concerns of users’ about personal privacy threats are also growing. Research into the issue found that internet users today are exposed to embarrassment, stalking, cyber-bullying, blackmailing, and identity hacking due to users’ displaying lots of personal data. This has led many people believe that internet privacy does not exist at all and is impossible to control. Others believe that the issue of internet privacy is not that important and should be regulated by the market. In my view, internet privacy exists once it is protected by the law. Many people believe that maintaining privacy on the internet and particularly while visiting social networking web sites is their basic human right. So they suppose that the basic thing they need to do to prote ct their privacy is to simply adjust the privacy settings, Steven Rambam and other interested authors think that privacy does not at all exist on the internet. Rambam, a private investigator and director of Pallorium Investigative Agency, expressed these ideas in a series of talks at U.S. conferences. His basic idea is â€Å"Privacy is Dead – Get Over It†. ... in a few hours about an individual unfamiliar to him (Rambam, â€Å"Privacy is Dead – Get Over It†) At the Last HOPE Conference, Rambam discussed the process of searching for necessary information on the internet via intrusion into privacy, which as the investigator notes â€Å"is out of the bottle† (Mills, â€Å"The Internet – a Private Eye’s Best Friend†). Rambam argues that each new search through Google, every blog post, and each new photo posted online mean further losing the battle led for privacy protection. This can be explained by the fact that â€Å"anything you put on the internet will be grabbed, indexed, cataloged, and out of your control before you know it† (Mills, â€Å"The Internet – a Private Eye’s Best Friend†). Rambam specifies that every kind of information online is digitized, with older information scanned and placed online. Afterwards, this mixture gets aggregated into special databases which are later sold to government agencies, marketers, and practically anyone capable of purchasing it. Twitter, cell phones, taking photos by iPods, etc are effective tools for identifying individual’s location, preferences in buying and similar information is collected by special marketing databases that are usually bought by the government. Due to the use of the information supplied by consumer databases, individuals are tracked down by the police, different collection agencies, and the U.S. Marshall’s Service (Mills, â€Å"The Internet – a Private Eye’s Best Friend†). The question arises then: what to do about this? It seems Rambam’s advice is to just â€Å"get over† the reality that privacy is dead on the internet. Next, many researchers acknowledge that privacy is under threat on the internet and suggest how to protect it. Specifically, the

Local Area Network Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Local Area Network - Essay Example Software can take the form of a centralized database, distributed application or can be a collection of simple utilities, which might be shared on a computer with in the domain. Similarly hardware can be a printer or a centralized storage device. LAN offers the fastest data transfer rate up to 10 Mbps. Stair & Reynolds (2001) suggest that usually, LAN is wired into office buildings, factories, school buildings, etc and are built around personal computers (PC). When a PC is connected to a LAN, a network interface card (NIC) is required which is placed in a computer's expansion slot to allow it to communicate with the network. A wire or connector from the network is then plugged directly into NIC. (Stair & Reynolds, 2001, p. 138) In order to install and configure a LAN setup in a school, the topology should have to be selected. Out of the three topologies, i.e. ring, bus and star, star topology is the most feasible one, as due to the failure of a computer or a segment of wire or a node, the other network nodes would not be affected at all. For star topology the basic hardware required for connectivity are as follows: For a smaller LAN with a maximum of 10 computers Hub works fine but for a larger LAN a switch gives better efficiency compared to a hub. The reason is that the hub broadcast the data packet to every node, hence all other nodes except the destination node thereby ignoring the broadcasted data packet where as the switch store the MAC addresses of each node and would send the data packet only to the destination node. UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) cable: This type of cable is the most feasible one as it is cheaper and it gives a data rate of 10 Mbps. Further more in a larger LAN setup, if the distance between two switches or between switch and a terminal (computer) is more than 100 meters than we have to use a repeater device, which enhances the signal strength so that it can reach the destination. Hence for every 100 meters we have to use a repeater device. Apart from these network components, all the computers, which are going to participate as a node in the network must have a LAN card. Every computer must have to be joined directly to a switch by the help of single twisted pair cable. In case of larger number of computer, then the switches should have to be connected with each other by the help of cross twisted pair cable connection. When all the computers are physically connected with each other to form a LAN setup, then the network operating system should have to be installed and configured on every computer so that they can communicate with each other. Since a LAN must have at least one domain server so in order to make a computer to act as domain server, we have to install a server operating system like Windows 2003. After that install and configure ADS (active directory services) on that server computer. Create user accounts and register every network resource within the ADS. Further more in the ADS, privileges can be assigned individually to every user account, so that when a user logins from a client computer, he can access only the allowed resources. For rest of the client computers, we have to

Mentorship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Mentorship - Essay Example Most of the fields in healthcare, law, teaching, social works, army, and others are now actively engaging in this form of education. Its objective is to provide the protg a learning opportunity to integrate the theoretical knowledge gained from the classrooms and develop it in practical setting with the advice and support from the mentor. The advice and support may be job related or even personal matters. As the relationship progress, it aims to create the interest and confidence of the protg in carrying out the actual scope of the career. In 1999, Department of Health recognize the value of nurses, midwives and visiting health professionals and one strategic intention is to strengthen pre- and post-education and training. Since it is believed to be an important part of the education process, it will be expected that every practitioner will be responsible enough to support, teach, coach and advise the next generation nurses and midwives. It is aimed to provide high quality medical education and better practical skills by combining teaching and patient care. The importance of clinical practice is further emphasised by the DOH and gives four key areas of practice placements as follows: Providing practice placement Practice learning environment Student support Assessment of practice The United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) as endorsed by the NMC, requires the programme to enable students to apply knowledge, understanding and skills to perform the standard for competency and to provide the patients with the healthcare they need under the supervision of the mentor. Mentorship is a special and complex relationship between the mentor and the protg wherein the mentor assumes the role of a parent, teacher, role model, adviser, counsellor or a confidant and the protg as the student or a descendant, so to speak. The success of mentorship, therefore, lies on the relationship of the mentor and the protg. There are factors affecting the mentoring programs that should be attended to. Some of these factors are the attitude of the protges, culture, race, religion and hidden agenda. The protge should be open to new ideas and give his trust to the mentor. Being close in accepting new information, ideas and suggestions makes the attitude a blocking factor for the success of the mentorship objective. In this case, a mentor who has the expertise of dealing with such kind of protge is needed to approach the concern accordingly. The mentor should also have the broad understanding of intercultural awareness. Studies showed that the culture plays a vital role in any relationship such as the mentor-protge relationship. These factors may also be true in the part of the mentor in addition to availability of time.

Examine the main determinants of Foreign Direct Investment location Essay

Examine the main determinants of Foreign Direct Investment location and strategies employed by Transnational Corporations to maximise the net advantages of the - Essay Example Globalisation is also considered as a primary contributor to the methods used to develop foreign direct investments. In addition, the continuous change in technology also pushed for firms penetrating other markets. For most trans-national corporations (TNCs), the schemes associated with maximising foreign direct investment (FDI) are intricate. These processes are developed through time considering the environmental changes and other circumstantial elements. Logically, the methods in which FDI is maximised by TNCs can be attributed to their nature and existence. Holistically, focusing on TNCs in discussing FDI requires the profound understanding of the two concepts. It is imperative to establish relationships and determine useful trends regarding the subjects. In this process, the extraction of empirical evidence is a necessity and has to be manifested with high level of credibility. Moreover, in-depth analysis will be provided to ensure that the desired outcomes will be realised. The most qualifying description of a firm to consider as a trans-national is its operations. Accordingly, corporations that function in two or more countries are defined as TNCs. Moreover, the general view of TNC is divided into three subgroups. First, horizontally integrated TNCs administer production in different locations to manufacture similar products. Second, vertically integrated TNCs use other countries as inputs for their production. Finally, diversified TNCs operate in different firms that manage production in a manner neither explained by the previous two sub-groups. McLean and McMillan (2003) stated that TNCs became popular in the 1890s. Usually, TNCs are based in highly industrialised countries and expand in different economies. It is being contended that TNCs are influential in the policy making of host countries. This is because TNCs have the capacity to boost an economy and move capital from locations to the other. In addition, some firms control

General Fact Finding Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

General Fact Finding - Assignment Example Bloomberg Company has a global type of business because its investment is present across many countries. It uses Bloomberg government, Bloomberg BNA, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance to provide news, analytics, and data to decision makers across industries beyond finance. The Bloomberg provides more than 2400 news that covers multimedia professionals at one hundred and fifty bureaus across seventy three countries. The product of the company is marketed through television, mobile, Bloomberg business-week, Bloomberg professional service, Bloomberg pursuits and Bloomberg markets. The television network is available across 340 million homes worldwide. Its radio programs and reports are nationally syndicated to two hundred radio affiliates. In addition, it has a circulation of 375000 markets magazines and a global circulation of approximately 980000 business weeks (Turban & McLean, 1999). The Bloomberg Company is made up of teams that determines its success in the global market. These teams include: the tech and business innovators who create Bloomberg’s products; the news makers responsible for innovating and displaying stories; the sales drivers; and the culture and customer champions responsible for understanding the needs of Bloomberg’s clients. However, the teams are managed by two crucial bodies of leaders. The first one is the CEO called the Daniel L. Doctoroff. He is also the president of the Company. He is a great provider of financial information appointed as the president in 2008 and eventually as a CEO in 2011. The second one is the chief information officer called Paul Wood. He is responsible for overseeing all risk, client data security, and corporate compliance. Paul Wood also ensures that Bloomberg Company is protected from future risks by enhancing internal procedures (Turban & McLean, 1999). Apart from the Chief Information Officer, Mr. Paul, the Bloomberg

Scholarship letter for Summer Energy School Essay

Scholarship letter for Summer Energy School - Essay Example I feel that I will do justice with the honour of being granted the scholarship since I shall be able to perform admirably well in the program. My confidence comes from the fat that I have already studied various aspects of the respective field with commitment and focus. Baku Summer Energy School will provide me opportunities to learn about environmental issues, laws, economic aspects etc that are related to the field and still have not been explored by me to a great extent. My present knowledge about the field comes from my Bachelor degree in the field of international relations and politics. I am currently pursuing my Masters education in the field of politics, security and integration. Numerous courses are predicted to help me in the anticipated program, some of them are; Peace, conflict and security Legal aspects of international relations The missing dimension Human rights in global politics Gender, justice and environment. A strong inclination towards the study of energy made me opt for energy related topics for my dissertations in Bachelor and Masters programs. I have also passed IELTS with a 7 score. Apart from my commitment to my academics, I have also attended Model United Nations Conferences for students in the UK, Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, as well as ASAIF conference in Strasbourg. These conferences proved to be great learning experiences and have taught me the relevance of this field on an international level. I was able to acquire professional knowledge about the field and the latest developments that are taking place in the world. The interactive nature of the Baku Summer Energy School will give me another opportunity to interact and learn from the public and private sector leaders from around the world. I highly value such opportunities and experiences that are offered by colleges to train their students for their professional careers. I have even had the opportunity to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Azerbaijani Republic for two years as an interpreter and Press Service officer. I feel that my exposure to the professional line, as well as working experiences in the public sector will help me contribute valuable insights during the program. My peers shall be able to enhance their knowledge due to my professional exposure, just like I will be able to benefit from their achievements. My frequent travels to different countries with my parents have directed me towards another area of interest- learning about different cultures and origins. The passion for learning about different cultures and customs has derived me to learn three languages. I enjoy analyzing the differences among different nations of the world and their histories that direct them to follow their specific lifestyles. The nature of relations amongst different countries and nations has always attracted my attention and has provoked me to study deeply into the subject. I believe the global nature of the economy in the present world requires a comme ndable understanding of the field of international relations, especially in the energy sector. The field of energy of one country cannot be studied in isolation from the world; the global implications, laws and environmental impacts have to be discussed as well to present a logical perspective of the prevailing situation. I feel that the multi-faceted nature of my academic records will make me face the challenges and achieve objectives of this course in a commendable manner. I belong

Human Resources Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resources Management - Case Study Example This outlet has more permanent employees and less of casual workers and this requires at least 80 workers to be laid off. This raises significant questions about the manner in which redundancy should be handled by the human resource department in Wordsmiths. There are certain legal issues that she has to consider before making a strategic plan on redundancy. ... had been charged with making workers redundant by discrimination on the basis of age.3 HRIMS and workforce data HRIS helps in storing and reviewing data with respect to effectively manage the workforce. Prior to configuring the HRIMS, Gemma should strive to understand the requirements, opinions and concerns of the workforce.4 The HRIS system should be configured to have maximum possible information about the workforce. Some critical information which Gemma needs to configure would be the information about the workforce in Mainly Books including payroll (payroll accounting and time reporting), managing workforce (commencement, termination and exits of employees), system integration and maintenance (managing software updates and system regulations, managing the interfaces of the system).5 The workforce data can include a plethora of information about the employees in Mainly Books. The information on employees has to start from simple aspects like employee name, address, family details, qualifications, attributes, joining date to highly complex aspects which helps in easing decision making. Such complex aspects may include restructuring, training, internal promotions, on-boarding, performance management, external hiring (in this case for payroll), outsourcing details, succession planning, talent analytics and workforce planning, leadership development, career development and employee retention and engagement . One of the main challenges faced by Gemma is that the company acquired did not maintain any information on human resources. Hence, she will have to speak to the store managers for getting data with respect to payroll. Most of the employee personal data will be found from the store managers. After careful discussion with store managers certain training gaps need to

How americans negotiate and how europeans negotiate Research Paper

How americans negotiate and how europeans negotiate - Research Paper Example Negotiations can be also considered from another point of view. There are many opinions concerning the issue how cultural differences influence the process of negotiations. Some scholars state that there are common rules for behavior during the negotiations, special frames, which dictate how people should act (Foster, 1992). Thus, according to such point of view there are should be no connections between the negotiations and cultural backgrounds as everybody should follow common rules no matter what country he/she may be from. At the same time other researchers insist on the important role of cultural differences, because in different countries there are different rules of behavior, which influence negotiations. In order to reveal how the cultural peculiarities affect the negotiations, it is essential to compare the peculiarities of conducting negotiations in two different countries and investigate the distinctive features of the both. The cross-cultural studies can help resolve the issue connected with the controversy. In such a way you will be able to see and analyze the nation’s strong and weak sides and predict negotiations’ perspectives of this or that side. The main mission of cross-cultural studies lies in the comparison of likenesses and differences of the countries or nations. This research is very useful and can bring beneficial results. By means of cross-cultural studies we can compare and understand different values, patterns, attitudes and methods of the negotiations, which belong to different cultures. In order to create the hypothesis that refers to the influences and interferences of negotiations, it is necessary to consider and compare different cross-cultural studies. It is proved that every culture has its own unique method of negotiating. Some use direct or simple method of communication, and others apply typical indirect and complex way. It is important to take into account that every nation is unique and every nation has its own outlook. The same things and concepts can be understood differently by the representatives of different countries and this aspect should be taken into account. â€Å"the methods of negotiation vary with culture. Some people may adopt a more direct or simple method of communication, whereas others may adopt a method that is more indirect or complex. Each culture has its own standards, and one behavior that has a certain meaning in a certain culture could be interpreted differently in another† (Chang 2006: 135). For example, people may address each other differently. To call person by the family name can be considered rude in such countries as France, Japan, Egypt while in the U.S. and Australia it is pretty acceptable form of communication. One should remember that if you are going have to negotiate with a person or a group of people from different states you have to learn about their culture and traditions beforehand not to spoil the impression at once. If the impression is spoiled because of cultural differences, the results of negotiations may not be positive and desirable. Every culture has its principles and beliefs and they play an important role in the process of negotiating. If cultural differences influence or even program the behavioral peculiarities, it is clear that there is a barrier in communication process of people with different cultural backgrounds. There are a number of factors that suffer from communicative difficulties such as attitude,

Organizational Structure Essay Example for Free

Organizational Structure Essay This research focuses on the job satisfaction level of employees at Emirates Technical Thermal Systems (ETTS), a construction company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The data collected was examined in relation to the existing organizational structure within the business, which is primarily a hierarchal one. The study includes information collected from three employee levels at ETTS, which include management, employees, and laborers. The relationship between position in the work organization and job satisfaction for every level of the hierarchal distribution has been studied carefully; both primary and secondary research has been conducted in order to best indicate where the problems lie, and the best ways of improving the current situations. The outcome and findings from this research have indicated a clear imbalance across the current structure of the company. Job satisfaction is high amongst management, and consistently decreases at the lower levels of the employee ladder. Job satisfaction plays an important role in the overall productivity of any given industry. Given the growing concern within ETTS regarding the aspect of performance, quality of work, and workforce issues, little attention has been paid to workers at the lower levels of the organization hierarchy. Introduction: There are many aspects of an organization and job role which come into play when analyzing the contributing factors to job satisfaction. In this research paper, a focus was placed on company structure, and the contribution of hierarchal distribution in an organization to job satisfaction. Research Aims and Objectives: The aim of the research was measuring job satisfaction, in all its aspects, across the various segments within the organizational structure, in order to gain better understanding of where the gaps lie, the factors contributing to dissatisfaction, and the best ways of reconciling the issues. The reason why ETTS was selected is due to perceived issues in the organization in regards to communication and harmony across the various levels within its hierarchy, and perceived job dissatisfaction in lower levels. In conducting the research, job satisfaction at ETTS was examined, and primary research was segmented to include sample groups from every level of the organizational structures hierarchy. Key Variables The research paper will analyze the issue by discussing the dependent variable (Job Satisfaction) in relation to the contributing independent variable (Organizational Structure). Job satisfaction will be measured by discussing contributory aspects, including employee engagement, job involvement, organizational commitment and perceived organizational support. The levels which were examined in relation to the organizational structure are: management, employees and laborers. Company Background: ETTS is a company specialized in electro-mechanical contracting. The company offers a full range of services related to all types of heating, ventilating, air conditioning, refrigeration, electrical and plumbing systems. The company was established in 1995, and has a definitive hierarchal structure. As detailed in the company’s profile and stated hereunder: Management: The board of directors of the company, general manager, operations manager and managers of all departments, branches and projects form the core management group. Employees: Personnel who conduct various tasks in different disciplines and report to the above-mentioned managers. Labor force: Consists of the manpower that carries out physically demanding work at construction sites. Hence, a definitive hierarchal structure is in place. At the top of the pyramid are those holding management positions, followed by employees, and finally laborers. Report Structure This report will primarily delve into the literature review, which will detail the findings from secondary research on the topic of structure in relation to job satisfaction. A thorough description of the primary research findings will follow, in order to give an insight on issues that exist at ETTS, and a comparison of these, and previous findings from secondary sources, on the issue will be made. Next, a detailed conclusion based on the findings of the research will be discussed. Recommendations will be given in order to map the best ways of dealing with the existing issues within the organization. Methodology: The research methodology required gathering relevant data from both primary and secondary sources in order to analyze the material and arrive at a more complete understanding of the effect of organizational hierarchy at ETTS on overall employee job satisfaction as illustrated below. Secondary Data The bulk of the secondary data used to conduct this research was collected from the UOW online database. A Total of nine scholarly research articles were derived from the university library database, adding to three which were obtained from the internet. One example of the articles used was published in the African Journal of Business Management in 2009 and is titled â€Å"Job satisfaction: Does rank make a difference?† by S. Z. Eyupoglu and T. Saner. This study was used to relate job satisfaction to employee ranking. Another example is research which was published in the Career development international journal in 2010 titled â€Å"Impact of career plateau and supervisory support on career satisfaction† by V. Wickramasinghe and M. Jayaweera. This research was examined to reflect the effect of supervisory support on the overall job satisfaction. Besides the scholarly research articles listed in the reference section, the textbook â€Å"Organizational Behavior† 15 th edition by S. Robbins and T. Judge was utilized as a general guide.

Human Resource Accounting and Indian Practice

Human Resource Accounting and Indian Practice Abstract Traditional acting practice treat expenses incurred on procurement, development, and maintenance of human resource as revenue expenditure and debit this to profit and loss account but now it is being increasingly realized that this expenses are incurred to get future benefit and as such should be capitalized and reflected in the balance sheet. This can only be achieved through introduction and implementation of human resource accounting. The study focuses on how human resource accounting has evolved over the period and how human resource accounting is used in today business application particularly in the Indian context. In addition the study also assesses how human resource cost is treated by the accounting standard and try to discuss alternative treatment. Through the study of Indian companies, the paper will propose ways through which human resource accounting can be introduced in India and become more popular than the current application. Introduction The world has witnessed a transition from manufacturing to service based economies. Before 1960s most economies relied on manufacturing sector to sustain growth but the past few decades have witnessed growth in service based economies. The fundamental difference between manufacturing and service sector lies in the nature of their asset. In manufacturing, physical assets like material, plant, equipment and machinery are very important (Johanson and Mabon, 1998). On the other hand for the service sector altitude and knowledge of employee is of utmost significance. For service firm such as information technology (IT), value of physical asset is considered less worth compared to skill and knowledge of its personnel. Similarly, in academic institution, hospital, audit firm, accounting firms etc the strength of the firm depends on skill and services offered rather than physical asset. Therefore the success of service organization depends on the quality of the work force i.e. competence, kn owledge, motivation, and skills. People in the business world today cite human resources as the common greatest asset. However employee value is rarely reported on the financial statements. This may have resulted from capitalist system that tends to glorify capital resources with a lukewarm emphasis on human resources. For this reason management of business enterprises have been rewarded on the basis of their utilization of capital asset without reference to value of workers. In fact business valuation has been a manifestation of this system. The common measurement of return that are used to value business include return on investment, return on asset or return on capital. In these cases there is no reference to the value of human resources. In service based economies it is important for employee to be recognized as part of the total worth of a firm. In estimating the worth of human capital it is vital to employ some method of quantifying human knowledge, skills, motivation and contribution of human aspect in organization process. Human resource accounting represents this process of measuring or quantifying human resource. Definition of human resource Leon. C. Megginson defined human resource as the total knowledge, skills, creative abilities, talent, altitudes and belief of an organization workforces as well as values, altitude and belief of the individuals involved. Definition of human resource accounting One of the definitions of human resource accounting comes from American Accounting Associations Committee on Human Resource Accounting that defines human resource accounting as the process of identifying and measuring data about human resources and communicating this information to interested parties. Therefore human resource accounting involve measurement of all cost associated with recruitment, selection, induction, training and development of workers as well as the economic value of people in a firm. Flamholtz has a similar definition as he define human resource accounting as the measurement and reporting of the cost and value of people in organizational resources. Human resource accounting has also been defined as the system of recording of transactions relating to the value of human resource i.e. the cost of acquisition of their knowledge and utilization of the energy for production of goods and services in the most profitable manner and thereby achieving the organization goals (bassi, et al 1997). In general human resource accounting may be defined as the process of identifying data about human resource, recording investment made in them and measuring their cost and value. It also involves presenting the information in a significant manner in the financial statement to communicate their worth with changes over the period and result obtained from their utilization to users of financial statement. There are no statutory requirements which demand companies to furnish human resource accounting related information in their final statement. The company act of 1956 had no provision for HRA. The subsequent accounting bodies such as Institute of Chartered Accountants of India have not yet drafted standard or measurement dealing with accounting and reporting of human resource accounting. While most organization give qualitative pronouncement on importance of human resource very few make effort to give quantitative information about human resource. Currently some organizations are furnishing additional report beyond what is required by statute. One notable statement that has gained wider acceptance among many firms is the corporate social responsibility report. This is due to recognition that the traditional financial reporting does not give sufficient information about organization performance. In India some companies have recognized the value of human resource and include related inf ormation in their annual report, they include Infosys, steel authority of India (SAIL), Bharat Heavy Electrical ltd (BHEL), Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation of India Ltd, Mineral and Metals Trading Corporation of India, Hindustan Zinc Ltd, Associated cement Companies Ltd, Madras Refineries Ltd, Oil India ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, and the Cement Corporation of India (Punita 2007). Historical development of human resource accounting Human resource accounting can be traced back in the medieval European practice of calculating the expected future earning of a prisoner versus the cost of keeping him. At that time a prisoner was considered as the general property of capturing side and therefore after a victory a decision had to be made on whether to capture a prisoner or kill him depending on cost benefit analysis. If expected benefit outweighed the cost the prisoner was capture but if cost were greater than benefit he was killed. For instance in 1964 Sweden and Austria agreed upon the following price list (figures given in taler) Field marshal 20,000 Colonel 1,000 Cavalry captain 200 Infantry captain 150 Non-commissioned officers 16 Private 8 Though this was a rough measure, it highlights the fact that human resource has value and such value can be measured using appropriate basis. Development of human resource accounting as a detailed and systematic activity began in 1960 by Rensis Likert. Likert defends long-term planning by strong pressure on human resources qualitative variable, resulting in greater benefit in the long run. He defined human resource as to include all such assets as a firms human organization, its customers, loyalty, shareholders loyalty, supplier loyalty, its reputation among the financial community and it reputation in the general society (bowers, 1973). William potty made the first attempt to value the human beings in monetary terms. He was of the opinion that labor was the source of wealth and must be taken into consideration when making an estimate of wealth. From 1960s the behavioral scientist started a real work of studying about human resource accounting (Flamholtz, 1969). This development can be dividend into five stages according to Flamholtz. Stage one (1960 1966) during this era there was increased academic interest in the area of human resource accounting. At this time most people focused on deriving human resource accounting concept from other theories such as psychological theory and economic theory of capital. Stage two (1966 1971) at this stage the focus shifted to developing different models for human resource accounting. The model developed covered monetary, non-monetary value and cost of human resource. The objective of developing such model was to help the firm in managing their human resource and assessing human resource asset in a realistic manner. The main contributor to the study at this era was Roger Hermanson. During his ph.D studies, he studied the problem of measuring the value of human resource as an element of goodwill. Thereafter researchers who were inspired by his work continued to develop methods and concepts of accounting for human asset. Stage three (1971 1976) there was rapid growth in research in the area of human resource accounting. The field gain more acceptance and wide spread interest. During this era most researchers tried to evaluate how human resource accounting could be applied in businesses. A notable experiment was that of R.G. Barry which gave substantial contribution to researchers (Boudreau, 1996). Stage four (1976- 1980) during this era there was minimal research in the field of human resource accounting. This was due to the fact that there were complex issues that needed further exploration and deeper empirical research than the simple model developed earlier. The other reason for slow growth in human resource accounting at this time was unwillingness among many organizations to offer sponsorship for research in this area. Stage five (1980 onward) the shifting from manufacturing to service economies in many developed countries renewed the interest in the area of human resource accounting. In addition the realization of the usefulness of human resource in facilitating growth, profitability and survival of the business contributed to the renewal of interest in the field. Unlike in the previous studies where the main interest was academic with few practical application but since 1990s the focus shifted to application of human resource accounting to business management. Various models which incorporate both tangible and intangible asset have been developed to suit the specific need of the organization. At this time most organization began using human resource accounting as part of financial and managerial accounting practice. Objectives of HRA systems Its basically adopted to treat human resources as assets, to generate human data about names, to assign value to human assets in the balance sheet. The objectives include: Provide information for making management decisions about acquiring, allocating, developing and maintaining human resources in order to attain cost effective organization objective. To develop methods of ensuring human resources cost and value and to allow management personnel to monitor effectively the use of human resources. Provide a system of asset control i.e. whether assets are conserved, deflated, or appreciated (Boedker et al 2008). Aid in the development of management principals by classifying the financial consequences of various practices. Develop a theory that will explain the nature and determinants of the value of people to enterprises. Significance of human resource accounting A well defined human resource accounting can help the management to become more efficient, in addition it is useful in internal reporting and to external users of financial statement. Usefulness in internal reporting Helps in planning Human resource cost acting provides cost information required in human resource planning process thereby facilitating preparation of future forecasts and budget (booth 1998). Help in decision making human resource accounting provides data in areas where alternative option exist e.g. whether to acquire a trained employee or develop one from within, or whether to retrench or retain an employee. Instead of applying non-monetary measures of potential ability, the economic value of recruits will be better criteria for selection and optimization of the expected value of the organization human resource and subsequent valuation of adequacy of return on investment in human resource. Helps in capital budgeting the present technique used in capital budgeting decision consider the human dimension as a qualitative factor. This is not realistic in the present scenario where huge investment is being made in development of employees and therefore human resource accounting system would justly assess the impact of capital budgeting on human and non-human asset. Helps in control human resource accounting help to ensure that human resource objective are attained objectively and efficiently as it provide information necessary to implement the control function. The standard cost of acquisition and development is compared with actual cost incurred and the variance if any is analyzed to identify the possible lapses in personnel management function (Scarpello and Theeke, 1989). Helps in performance evaluation the present convention of measurement of return on investment ignores the changes in human resources and this encourages mangers to use their human resource to include their short term objective. Inclusion of human resource input would be a good performance measure as it would reveal the return on human asset. It helps in activity analysis measurement of human resource value would provide top management with new set of financial ratio for effective organization activities analysis e.g. ratio of human and non-human resources indicate the degree of labor intensity. Higher labor intensity could be used as a result of outdated technology requiring the utilization of high proportion of labor or employment of unwarranted existing labor (Tang, 2005). Usefulness in external reporting In business creditors and other external users of acting information would find data in human resource useful as it would measure change in asset value over period of time thereby reflecting the correct measure of corporate growth. Capitalization of expenses relating to development of human resource also reflects a correct financial position and performance of the organization. The market value of share may reflect changes in value of human resource thereby enhancing the companys image among the competitors while increasing the confidence of shareholders. Usefulness in management of human resources Acquisition of human resource human resource accounting provide information for budget preparation for cost involved in recruiting, selecting and hiring human resource. Besides in selection process personnel executive needs data about economic value of a candidate in order to choose the one with the highest economic value. Allocation of human resource human resource accounting provide quantitative information about capabilities, skills and other personal attribute of employee which will help management in attaining a perfect allocation of organization human resources whereby employees are assigned jobs perfectly matching their own abilities in order to fully utilize their skills and capabilities. Maintenance of human resource presently organization use turnover rates to measure the extent of human resource observation. However such parameters are not adequate as they do not fully reflect the impact of turnover. With inclusion in human resource accounting the management may monitor the investment cost through human resource replacement cost which provides the economic magnitude of turnover rate as well (Drake, 1997). Evaluation and reward for employees as human resource accounting can provide management with changes in value of human resources over time both in monetary and non-monetary term, the figures will not only make possible the determination of salary and wages on the basis of employees value but will also provide a criterion to both the management and unions in negotiating any increases in compensation and reward payment. Training of human resource organization invests heavily on human resource development program without evaluating expected payoff of return because this outlay cost is considered as expenses rather than investment. Since human resource accounting involves treating this expense as asset the information about this cot and the benefit of this program would be evaluated on a rational basis. Case for and against human resource accounting Argument against human resource accounting Incase of high employee turnover rates there may be no basis for capitalization since there is no future benefits to carry asset status. If the definition of asset is future economic benefits the rights of which are owned or controlled by the firm then one may question whether human resources indeed are assets. Unless one is working in a slave society human resource are not owned in the convectional sense of the world, and therefore employees may be opposed to the capitalization because of the connotations that goes with it. The development of human resource accounting is necessary to provide a firm with accurate financial reports to guide its decisions. Its also needed to increase the validity of criteria of measurements used in organizations research. According to asset recognition criteria, an asset is the future economic benefits the rights of which are owned or controlled by an enterprise. Therefore as long as future benefits are expected to come from these training costs, they can be treated as assets. However, as Cea Garcia observes, this does not hold true in reality; There is a clear absence of correspondence between the real assets in the present firms and those recognized in the balance sheet, in front of a pure economic approach where assets is every instrument or way that can be used in production -distribution of a firms process or, in general, every category of economic value which can be transformed into goods or services or any instrument at the service of the firm or that the firm uses, regardless its juridical state, and also all those goods and rights that the firm does not own now but used to own or will own later on, by virtue of collateral contracts or agreement which may induce it. It may be argued that the rate of amortization and the rate of capitalization may coincide and therefore the net effect on the income statement may be as under convection human resources cost expense treatment. The period with which the employee will work for the enterprise is uncertain and therefore the amortization is subjective. Marvin Weiss (1972) discussed the argument for and against Human Resources Accounting argue that there is inability to determine the period of future benefits, the ownership status of such assets and inability to amortize such assets on an objective way. As Ebersberger (1981) argues, even where the logic of HRA is a plausible one must confront the issue of measurement. How does one place a value on an individuals head? How can one value commitment to an employer or ones ability to work as a team. The management may use human resource accounting to manipulate the workers. The manager may reduce the value of a worker as a way of punishment for perceived or real differences. There is an immense amount of power placed in the hands of the valuers of human resource. Any value placed on an employee may have irreparable damage on employees attitude. Managers may also transfer some workers near the end of the period to clean up their balance sheet. Employee may demand to be paid in accordance to their reported value particularly if they believe this would lead to a higher pay HRA may have a disastrous effect on the morale of the employee if his or her value reduces through depreciation. Moreover human beings grow, learn and mature at different rates and therefore a standard depreciation rate is inapplicable. Case for Human Resource Accounting Whereas there may be workers turnover, this may not be justification for expensing the cost of human resources. Failure to capitalize may negate the going concern concept. If an employer were to expect such high turnover then he would not incur expenditure on employee training and development in the first place! On average it is expected that workers will remain long enough for the firm to recoup its investment costs. Workers may not be owned as such but the convention of substance over form argues that what matters in transaction is the economic substance not the legal form. Leased assets are recognized in the books despite the fact that they are not owned. Human resource expenditure like training and development are incurred for workers who are in the process of learning and therefore they do not benefit the operations of the year in which the costs are incurred. For that reason it is inconsistency for charging such costs in the year of expenditure. Instead they should be capitalized and amortised over the years expected to benefit from the employees services. In pension cost accounting armotisation or accrual of expenditure related to employees is required. Such accrual methods take into consideration length of service and turnover rates. Whereas it is agreeable that armotisation rate are subjective, it must be noted that depreciation rates for the tangible assets are mere estimates based on assumptions. It is therefore no justification to prohibit capitalization and armotisation of human resource expenditure. Measurements in human resource accounting The main reason why human resource accounting have taken a long period to be incorporated in the companys final report is the difficulty or challenge of assigning monetary value to various human asset cost, investment and employees worth. There are mainly two methods that are used in assigning monetary value to employee cost, investment or worth. This includes: the cost approach the economic value approach The cost approach is based on the actual cost incurred by the company in relation with employees. The economic value approach considers human resource as asset and tries to identify the future earning resulting from use of human asset. The cost approach Cost is the amount of cash or equivalent given to acquire property or services. If property other than cash is given to acquire property or services the cost is the cash equivalent of property given. When property or the services acquired are sold or consumed the cost are matched with related revenue to determine the amount of net income or net loss. The cost of property or service that are acquired and are still on hand at any particular time represent asset. Such costs are also called unexpired cost. As asset are sold or consumed they become expired cost or expenses. Therefore in accounting cost incurred are recorded in the financial statement as either asset or expenses. Costs which are recorded as expenses in the current period include those which provide benefit during the current accounting period (Schwarz Murphy, 2008). for instance when machinery is purchased the portion of cost recorded as expenses include depreciation for the year (i.e. the benefit accruing from the use of asset in that particular year) while the portion of cost recorded as asset in the net book value (cost accumulated depreciation). Under costing approach various techniques that can be used to value human resource include Historical cost approach The actual cost incurred on recruiting, selecting, training and developing the human resources of the organization are capitalized and written off over the expected useful life of the human resource. Under this method the cost of acquisition i.e. recruitment, selection, hiring and training employees are capitalized and written off over the expected useful life of the employees (Flamholtz, 1999). If the employee decide to leave the employment before anticipated period of service then the amortized portion of cost remaining in the companys book is written off against the profit and loss account in that year. If the employee stays beyond the expected term of service then amortization of cost is rescheduled. According to Caplan (1974) the basic theory behind the historical cost method is that human resources value can be determined by accumulating the cost of investment. Human resource accounting in this respect involves a decision to capitalize rather than to expense costs incurred in t raining and development of employees. When referring to training cost, historical cost means the sacrifice necessary to hire and train people. The training concept is generally used to define three different issues which are difficult to distinguish in practice; they include capacitating, training, and development. Capacitating is the workers acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary for his job. Training better adapts the worker to the job while development mainly focuses on promotion to higher job levels (Guzman 1996). Once capitalized the resulting balance should be amortized as an expense in the periods when the employee became a productive member of the organization and unamortized balances should be written off when the employee leaves the organization. Merits Easy to work and simple to understand. It follows the traditional concept of matching cost with revenue. It is favored because it is most similar to convectional accounting It can provide a basis of evaluating a companys return on its investment in human resources. Limitations Suffers from problem of historical costs accounting. The users of accounts may view these values as a measure of the potential usefulness of an employee. Difficulty in estimating use of human resources. One cannot tell when an employee may quit a job. The economic value of human resources may increase with experience, but armotisation reduces the reported value. It is difficult to reconcile the two. Ignores the aggregate value of employees potential services. People may learn things outside the organization which will be useful in their jobs yet these may not be taken in account. Training and development cost that are capitalized do not guarantee employee increased performance. Opportunity cost approach The value of the human resource is determined according to its alternative use. An estimate of alternative use of the human resource is required. The value of the human resource is the price that the alternative use is ready to pay for it. Opportunity costs are considered as an asset value when [they are] the target of an alternative use [Hekimian and Jones, 1967]. The alternative use is the alternative department. As a result, only scarce resources would have an alternative use. This approach suggests competitive bidding for scarce employees in an organization i.e. opportunity costs of employees linked to scarcity. The approach proposes the capitalizing of additional earning potential of each human resource within the company. The opportunity cost approach requires at least two departments or cost centers both desiring the services of the same person or a group of people. Limitations It cannot value employees who have no alternative use. The valuation of employees on alternative use and competitive bid is inaccurate and misleading. One may not have values in the alternative use but perfectly useful in one department. This valuation restricts alternative use within the organization. In real life there is alternative use outside the business and moreover alternative use within the business may not be identifiable because of constraints in an organizational environment. Standard cost approach The method was developed by David Watson. The approach advocates for a standard cost per grade of employees updated every year. Replacement cost can be used to develop standard costs of recruiting, training and developing individuals. Such standards can be used to compare results with those planned. Any resource produced should be analyzed and would form a useful basis of control. Under this method, standard cost of recruiting, hiring, training and developing per grade of employees are determined annually. The total standard cost for all personnel of the company is the value of human resources The problem is that the determination of the standard cost from each grade of employee is a ticklish process (Moore, 2007). Economic value added approach This approach utilizes the concept of present value. The value of human resource is considered as the present value of future benefit expected to be received from employees service (Lev and Schwartz, 1971). Various scholars have suggested a number of valuation techniques under the present value approach. The technique varies in terms of recognition of benefits. Some argue that the benefits to be discounted are the expected stream of payments that the firm will make to the human resource. In either case the human resource in it is seen as a future stream of benefits up to the date of death or retirement, discounted at an appropriate discount rate. This method is perhaps the most appealing because it incorporates the entire stream of benefits. However, present value approach suffers from the following limitations It ignores the possibility of a human resource leaving employment in the given organization other than through death or retirement. Having many reasons as to why people may leave an organization. Difficult to establish the actual benefits from employment because some of the determining factors like trade unions are out of organizations control. Teamwork is a thing more than the sum of the values of individuals. Present value approach does not reflect the contribution of the team as a whole. It ignores the organizations effect on the value of a human resource. The economic value of human resources may be of group, individual or the whole organization. The method for calculating economic value of human resource may be classified as either monetary or non monetary Monetary measures of human resource value Flamholtz model The Flamholtz model considers the value of human resource as the present worth of services likely to be rendered by an employee in future. When an employee moves from one position to the other at the same level or to different levels the profile of services offered will be different. The value of individual will therefore comprise of the present cumulative value of all possible services to be offered by the employee his career at the organization. The value of individual cannot be determined with certainty and is considered to have two dimensions. Conditional value of individual This is the amount that organization expects to realize from employee service during his productive life in the firm. It is mainly composed of three factors namely Productivity this include various services that employee is expected to undertake in his current position. Transferability this include a number of services that the employee is expected to offer in different position at the same level.

Awareness Of Culture And Language Teaching Cultural Studies Essay

Awareness Of Culture And Language Teaching Cultural Studies Essay This project aims to outline the main principles of cultural awareness like also its potential advantages and disadvantages in the language teaching. There are many definitions of culture, because culture means different things to different people. The well known definitions include one made by Hofstede, who said that culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another, like also stated by Wederspahn, culture is the set of shared assumptions, values and beliefs of a group of people by which they organize their common life. Literature Review and Principles of Culture Awareness This project will focus on Cultural Awareness, although it is worth mentioning that Language Awareness is used for language teaching as well. In fact, according to Byram (1989), Cultural Awareness and Language Awareness have in common a dual purpose which aims at supporting language learning and extending general understanding of the nature of culture. Cultural and Language Awareness are both connected with specific and general learning. According to Hymes, language plays an important role in the social life of the community and lack of cultural understanding among members of some communities leads to social inequality that has been recognized. In order to communicate well with the second language speakers, students need to establish a good connection with the target language and its culture. Cultural Awareness helps learners broaden the mind, increase tolerance and achieve cultural empathy and sensitivity. According to Tomalin and Stempleski (1993), Cultural Awareness contains three qualities, such as awareness of ones own culturally-induced behaviour, awareness of the culturally-induced behaviour of others, and ability to explain ones own cultural standpoint. Culture takes a crucial part in teaching and learning foreign language. Every culture has its own cultural norms, for instance, when speaking to somebody the person can use formal or informal styles which differ from one culture to another. Some of the norms might be completely different, such as in many countries when you nod it means yes and while you shake your head it means no while Bulgarians do it the opposite way. It is very important that the learner while learning a foreign language needs to become aware of such norms within the target culture in order to avoid the communication problems. Cultural awareness teaching should involve both points of view, from the learners point of view, like also from the point of view of the other culture. It should allow learners to gain a perspective through comparison which is neither entirely one nor the other.(Byram, 1989). According to Hinkel(1999), developing cultural awareness means being aware of members of another cultural group. Factors, such as their behaviour, expectations, values, beliefs and perspectives should have been taken into account. Help and encouragement from teachers is needed in order to realize how to learn about cultures. In order to achieve it learning skills might also include learning how to learn from one to another, especially in multicultural groups (Nelson, 1995). Teaching a language can be seen as imposing elements of another culture into the students own life space. For example, in order to learn Polish, students need to develop a Polish identity, in other words they need to learn to think Polish and although only partially and temporarily become a bit like Polish person. As cited in Dà ¶rnyei(2001) , according to Douglas (1989) every person is part of a culture and everyone uses a language to express that culture, in order to operate within that tradition. Therefore, in order to carry on some sort of communication with people who speak or write a target language, the person needs to understand the culture out of which the language emerges. According to Sapir (1920), a language and a culture of its speakers cannot be analyzed in isolation. Barth(1969) as cited in Byram( 1989)stated that treating cultures as if they were isolated from each other is to miss a significant dimension. Kramch(1993) stated that second language learners become learners of the second culture because a language cannot be learned without an understanding of the cultural context in which it is used. These statements support the situations in which students for some reasons do not like the second language community and refuse to incorporate elements of their culture into their own behavioural repertoire. For instance, when some Polish people were forced to learn Russian in the time of communism and now they even cannot recall the basic sentences. It leads to conclusion, that language belongs to a persons whole social being :it is part of ones identity and it is used to convey this identity to other people. The learning of a second language involves apart from learning grammar and vocabulary the adoption of new social and cultural behaviours and ways of being , and has an important impact on the social nature of the learner ( Williams, ( 1994) as cited in Dà ¶rnyei, (2001). On the other hand, Byram and Morgan (1994) claimed that learners cannot easily forget their own culture and step into another, because their culture is part of their identities and created them as social beings. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Learners are committed to their culture and to deny any part of it is to deny something within their own being. Culture Awareness in published materials There exist different criteria for textbook evaluation. One of the lists of criteria belongs to Byram(1993), which focuses on the cultural context, such as social identity and social groups. Other involve social interaction and national history; social interaction; belief and behaviour; social and political institutions; socialization and the life cycle, stereotypes and national identity. Byram(1989) cites Huhns criteria (1978) for evaluating the treatment of cultural content of textbooks. These criteria involve avoiding stereotypes by raising awareness like also presenting a realistic picture; presenting phenomena in context rather than as isolated facts. Unfortunately, very few published materials include these criteria. Advantages and disadvantages of Culture Awareness in language teaching Developing Cultural Awareness in English language classes in not native countries of English may be influenced by a number of constraints, such as the teachers cultural knowledge. The second language learners will depend on teachers own cultural knowledge as the main source of learning about the target culture. The availability of native English speakers, and the system of education in a particular country could be other constraints. On the other hand, students are now able to get access to many cultural resources and explore the target culture themselves. Native English speakers are also available in many countries to come and teach English. There should have been made some changes to the educational system, for example, in Poland there is a strong emphasis on examinations, which should be changed so people would be more interested in gaining new experiences by speaking another language and perhaps not so much obsessed with the assessment of their language proficiency. Conclusion and Suggestions for further research Development of peoples cultural awareness leads them to more critical thinking. Teachers can try to raise cross-cultural awareness by focusing on cross-cultural similarities and not just differences. Supplementing the course book with authentic materials and encouraging learners to discover interesting information about the countries where the second language is spoken on the Internet and to tell them to prepare the presentation might be a great idea as well. In the future research the assessment of students acquisition of cultural knowledge could be interesting. Potential ways of assessment may include interviews in other to measure the extent of effect of intercultural language learning on their second language learning.

The Use of Chiasmus to Highlight the Irony of Slavery in Narrative of t

The Use of Chiasmus to Highlight the Irony of Slavery in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass According to Barton and Hudson's Contemporary Guide to Literary Terms, a chiasmus is a rhetorical scheme that is "particularly effective in creating irony through the reversal of accepted truths or familiar ideas" (189). Frederick Douglass uses the chiasmus throughout his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave to highlight the irony of slavery's existence in a country that was built upon the ideals of freedom. Throughout his autobiography, we find several specific instances of chiasmus that cause the reader to pause and focus on the point that Douglass is trying to make. Each chiasmus is placed in an important point of the text (and, therefore, an important point of Douglass' life) and calls attention to that passage's significance. Let us begin with what is, perhaps, the most famous Douglass quotation: "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man" (64). This sentence serves as the turning point, the climax, of both Douglass' narrative and his life. Up until that point, throughout his entire life, the world had been busy making him a slave. From the moment he was born to a slave mother (even though his father was white), the forces of slavery had been suffocating his humanity. When he was forcibly separated from his mother, he lost the human closeness of family. When he helplessly witnessed his aunt being brutally beaten and was subjected to repeated beatings himself, he lost the human sense of pride. And, when he was denied education and literacy, he lost the human ability to obtain knowledge. In all of these ways, society turned Frederick Douglass, a man, int... ...ee nation. Douglass marks his transformation from slave to man with a chiasmus just before his fight with Mr. Covey. He used two more to highlight events that led up to that climactic afternoon: one contrasting the will of the master and that of the slave, and other contrasting the freedom of the ships with Frederick's own bondage in slavery. Finally, Douglass uses a chiasmus to highlight the disparity between the free, near-utopian North, and the slaveholding, harsh South. His masterful use of the rhetorical tool of chiasmus allowed Frederick Douglass to expertly exhibit the irony of slavery to an entire nation. Works Cited Barton, Edwin J. and Glenda A. Hudson. A Contemporary Guide to Literary Terms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003.

Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie Essay -- Williams Glass Menage

Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie If The Glass Menagerie were performed without the effects Williams wrote into the script, then the play would barely have a plot. Williams' use of music, lighting and a television screen add depth and meaning to the play. He uses effects to portray the feelings of the characters, rather than their words or actions. In Tom's opening speech he states that'The play is memory.' Because it is about his memories of his mother and her memories. They both spend the play living in the past. Tom is obviously living in the past because the play is based around 'post-war Tom's' memories of his life prior to the war when he was living with Amanda and Laura. Amanda seems to be divided between her world as an abandoned mother of two, and her youth back in Blue Mountain. When Amanda first appears in the play, so does the legend on the television screen 'Ou sont les neiges' and later, 'Ou sont les neiges d'antan?' which means 'where are the snows' and 'where are the snows of yesteryear?' this emphasises the idea that Amanda is longing for the past. She then begins to tell her children- and judging by Tom's reaction, for the hundredth time- of her youth and her many gentlemen callers and how wonderful her life was. The Glass Menagerie is a very static play, the audience do not leave the two rooms of their apartment and the characters lives are so uninteresting the highest point of the play is when a gentleman comes to the house for dinner. The family have become so consumed by the pressure and worries of the American depression, that their lives have become monotonous and lacklustre. Their struggle for survival is so apparent, that their dreams and life have been oppres... ...s played to express Laura's silent fears but other music is played in other scenes to express general feelings. For example in scene five, dance music called 'The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise', this is used to show society's general lack of motivation not just the family's. The last scene of the play is when Tom storms out of the apartment and he is standing on the stairs telling the audience what he then went on to do. In the background is Amanda comforting her daughter, and it is not a side that the audience has witnessed of Amanda before. This final moment is obviously a very important moment for Amanda and Laura because they are bonding, yet Williams has this scene in silence. This silence does not devalue this moment between the two at all, but makes it more powerful, because acts speak louder than words, hence 'A play is not just language...'.

McDonald’s Case Study Essay

Strengths Largest Food service business in the world, 34,000 local restaurants serving nearly 69 million people in 118 countries, a $40 Billion dollar brand worldwide, Universally recognized brand name with a large advertising budget Partners with other high value brands Dannon Yogurt, Kraft Cheese, Nestle Chocolate, Dasani Water, Newman’s Own Salad Dressings, Heinz Ketchup, Minute Maid Juice The majority of the retail locations are owned by independent franchisees, The company is able to grow while minimizing large capital expenditure Recession Proof – Low price menu items allow McDonald’s to survive when the economy is low as there are few economic situations where most consumers cannot afford McDonald’s. Massive buying power- 34,000 locations allows McDonald’s to control pricing on its core menu items Highly trained management staff well versed in Customer service skills (hamburger University) Positive company social-image (Ronald McDonald House) Impressive core competencies in franchising and logistics Target market is children and teens Weaknesses Fast Food is viewed by many as poor quality and unhealthy, often associated with â€Å"cheap and greasy,† especially the baby boomers who built the brand in the 50’s and 60’s less than 6% of the over 100 item entrà ©e menu is less than 200 calories more than half the entrees are high in sodium Large size of the business makes growth more difficult to achieve Commodity costs can quickly erode profit margins Low differentiation with other similar fast food companies such as Burger King, Wendy’s High Employee turnover at the local level Market saturation Negative publicity, such as the movie Super-Size Me. Opportunities Adapting to fit the changing lifestyle of the largest population sector by adding healthier food options Fast food will never be completely viewed as healthy but efforts in this direction could aid in customer perception Parents would appreciate the convenience when selecting a family dining option Remodeling of older restaurants Changing customer habits and new customer groups Adding premium menu items Entry into new product categories (coffee) Provide optional allergen free food items, such as gluten free and peanut free. Sugar-free products for diabetics, and healthier beverage options. Internet applications to order in advance Threats Modern society views Fast food as unhealthy Government agencies are enforcing healthier menu regulations such as posting of calories Commodity food price fluctuations – droughts and similar cost fluctuations cut into margin as it is hard to raise prices on most menu items Competition. Regional or Local fast food restaurant chains Being a market leader forces McDonald’s to shoulder more burden regarding research and innovations, copycat competitors can quickly implement any success without incurring the cost of a failure. Competition and saturation in emerging markets Needs to be more environmentally friendly with packaging Scandals/ Bad publicity. Ex. Heroin happy meals Minimum Wage rising Employee health insurance issues What alternative action should be considered? The company should diversify toward additional healthy offerings. Perception is reality, if a consumer perceives McDonald’s as attempting to change to a  healthier option that is sufficient. No one fools themselves into believing anything purchased at a fast food restaurant will be the healthiest item, but it can assist in showing efforts are being made. A company can highlight their ongoing concern for their consumer’s well-being. McDonalds should focus on healthier options, such as freshly tossed, made to order salads, featuring quality healthy ingredients. Expanding their healthy food menu by adding a variety of healthier breads and beverages. Other healthier food items can be incorporated into the menu such as panini’s, wraps, and healthy soups. Other changes would include, internet ordering, and home delivery. List all resources required for the selected action. Find vendors for the additional menu items and required packaging Equipment purchases, ex. Panini press, fresh salad chiller and display Train the staff to implement these changes Target the advertising campaign towards a healthier image. Partner with local produce markets, to purchase vegatables,etc. What controls would be recommended to measure the selective action? Point of Sale reports showing restaurant activity per product Customer survey Profit and loss statements Meet & Greet by management Comment boxes Advertising & promotion of the new healthy menu.

Pressure Ulcers

Feature Strategies to improve the prevention of pressure ulcers Judy Elliott describes a project that sought to improve tissue viability during the patient journey from admission to discharge Summary This article outlines the actions taken by one acute trust to implement evidence-based, best practice recommendations for pressure ulcer prevention. Initially, an exploratory study identified specific areas for practice development, particularly improving early risk assessment, intervention and focus on heel ulcers.Further actions included recruiting tissue viability support workers to promote a pressure ulcer campaign. Prevalence audit results demonstrated improved prevention and reduced prevalence of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers by 6 per cent and heel ulcers by 4. 9 per cent. Further work is required to ensure prevention strategies are consistent and documented. Keywords Best practice, evidence base, pressure ulcer prevention ( Institute for Innovation and Improvement 2009), there fore it is important to seek further initiatives to eliminate avoidable pressure ulcers from NHS care.Tissue damage A pressure ulcer is defined as (European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) and National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) 2009): ‘†¦ localized injury to the skin and/or underlying tissue usually over a bony prominence, as a result of pressure, or pressure in combination with shear. ‘ Healthy individuals are continuously moving and readjusting their body posture to prevent excess pressure and shear forces. Reduced mobility or sensation interrupts this natural response, rendering an individual vulnerable to tissue damage.Eurther susceptibility is influenced by an individual's intrinsic risk factors reflected by their tissue tolerance (Bonomini 2003). Individual risk factors include immobility, malnourishment, cognitive impairment, acute and chronic ulness (National Institute for Health and CUnicad Excellence (NICE) 2005). Pressure ulcer preventio n involves the modification of an individual's risk factors by the whole multidiscipUnciry team (Gould et al 2000). Risk assessment Identification of vulnerable individuals can be challenging.Designated risk assessment tools have been found to lack reliability and validity with a tendency to overestimate risk (Pancorbo-Hidalgo et al 2006). The NICE (2005) guideline emphasises the importance of early assessment, within sbc hours, using clinical judgement. Vanderwee et al (2007a) found skin inspection more reliable compared with an assessment tool, with 50 per cent fewer patients identified as requiring intervention cuid no significant difference in patient outcomes. The skin should be assessed for early signs of tissue damage, which November 2010 | Volume 22 | Number 9PRESSURE ULCERS have potentially devastating consequences for patients, hospitals and the overaU hecdth economy. An estimated 5 to 10 per cent of patients admitted to hospital develop pressure ulcers, resulting in incre ased suffering, morbidity and mortaUty (Clark 2002, Redelings et al 2005) and depleting NHS budgets by 4 per cent, or more than ? 2 billion ? mnually (Bennett et al 2004). Prevention is a complex, multifactorial process and although it is accepted that some pressure ulcers are unavoidable, most are considered preventable.Acknowledging the difficulty in establishing national comparative prevalence data because of variances in methodology and settings (Calianno 2007), a prevalence of 21. 9 per cent of patients affected was reported in a pilot study of UK acute hospitals in 2001 (Clark et al 2004). Pressure ulcer prevention is a nursing quality indicator and high impact action for nursing and midwifery (NHS NURSING OLDER PEOPLE Feature Figure 1 I Illustrations showing a correctly fitting chair to ensure sufficient I pressure redistribution and poor sitting posture 1.The patient should be seated with hips and knees at right angles, feet flat on the floor and arms/shoulders supported. Th e patient's weight is evenly displaced through the feet, thighs and sacrum. 2. The chair is too low; the patient's upper legs are not supported, and weight is increased onto the buttocks leading to greater risk of pressure damage. include observable discolouration and palpable tissue changes such as localised bogginess, heat or cold (NICE 2005). International guidelines (EPUAP/NPUAP 2009) advise a structured approach to risk assessment using a combination of all three techniques.Ecirly intervention Once risk is identified immediate action is imperative to minimise risk of pressure ulcer development. As evidence is weak for specific interventions a number of areas should be addressed, involving ecirly initiation of preventive action, improving tissue tolerance and protecting from the adverse effects of pressure, friction and shear (Calianno 2007). Nutrition and tissue loading are two areas of nursing influence. Strategies to ensure optimal nutrition should be used and the provision o f oral nutritioneil supplements has been associated with reduced tissue breakdown (Bourdel-Marchasson et al 2000).Tissue loading may be addressed by manual and mechcinical repositioning, mobuisation and exercise. Strategies to minimise shear forces include addressing posture, moving and handling techniques and use of electric profiling beds (Keogh and Dealey 2001). Positioning and repositioning Research has not established an optimeil frequency of patient repositioning (Defloor et al 2005). Repositioning should be undertaken on an individual basis in Une with ongoing skin evaluation, avoiding bony prominences (NICE 2005).The skin shoiUd be closely monitored to ensure effectiveness of the regimen and further actions taken if ciny signs of tissue damage occur. November 2010 Volume 22 Number 9 A flatter position distributes body weight more evenly. Semi-Fowler (semi-recumbent) and prone positions yield the lowest interface pressures with sitting cind 90-degree side-lying the highest (S ewchuk et al 2006). Repositioning using the 30-degree tuted side-lying position (alternately right side, back, left side) or prone position is advised (EPUAP/NPUAP 2009).The repositioning regimen should be agreed with the patient and will require adaptation to ensure concordance with comfort, symptoms and medical condition. Prolonged chair sitting is impUcated with greater risk of pressure ulcer development (Gebhardt and BUss 1994). Chair sitting should be Umited to less than two hours at ciny one time for the acutely ul at-risk individual (Clark 2009). A correctly fitting chair is important to ensure sufflcient pressure redistribution (Figure 1).Poor sitting posture may cause posterior pelvic tilt (sacral sitting) or pelvic obUquity (side tUting onto one buttock), with the ideal chair allowing feet to sit flat on the floor, with hips and knees at 90 degrees and arm/shoulders supported (Beldon 2007). Support surfaces High specification foam mattresses have demonstrated improved perf ormance in pressure ulcer prevention (Defloor et al 2005), leading assessme Low risk †¢ Use static foam mattress. †¢ Reassess if patient's condition changes. Medium risk †¢ Use static foam mattress. †¢ Implement repositioning regimen. Check skin at least daily. †¢ If any signs of pressure damage request dynamic (air) mattress. †¢ Reassess if patient's condition changes. High risk (contraindicated if patient weighs more than 39 stone (refer to guidelines), has a spinal injury (refer to trauma and orthopaedics) or unstable fracture). †¢ Use dynamic (air) mattress. †¢ Implement repositioning regimen. †¢ Check skin at least daily. †¢ If any further signs of pressure damage increase repositioning programme. †¢ Reassess and step down onto static mattress as patient's condition improves.Remember to apply heel protector boots for patients at risk or with heel pressure ulcers. NURSING OLDER PEOPLE Feature to replacement of standard mattr esses by most hospital trusts. There has also been considerable investment in mechanical (dynamic) support surfaces, where air is pumped through the mattress via alternating pressure or low air loss. However, the benefits of these devices remain unclear in terms of clinlccd and cost effectiveness (Reddy et al 2006). Pressure ulcer incidence rates of 5 to 11 per cent have been reported in studies, with longer use associated with greater risk (Theaker et al 2005).These devices should be considered m conjunction with other support surfaces as delayed or inconsistent use may negate the benefits. Multiple strategies A number of studies have attained favourable outcomes using multiple interventions. Examples include introducing a multidisciplinary working party, improving management of pressure-relieving equipment, educational programmes and developing new guidelines (Gould et al 2000, Catania et al 2007, Dobbs et al 2007). Variations in approach suggest the commitment of practitioners is vital to success. For example, a support surface . howed improved outcomes only when used In conjunction with an educational programme for registered nurses (RNs) (Sewchuk et al 2006). Factors identified as impeding pressure ulcer prevention include lack of time, staffing levels and staff knowledge (Moore and Price 2004, Pancorbo-Hidalgo et al 2006, Robinson and Mercer 2007). Skill mix may also influence outcomes. Horn et al (2005) investigated staffing levels in a nursing home and found fewer pressure ulcers were associated with more direct RN care for each resident. heels' protocolj Apply heel protector boots to patients at high risk of heel ulcers when on bed rest.Assessment criteria include limited mobility and: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ I Is patient immobile, heavily sedated or unconscious? Can patient lift his or her leg up in bed? Is there any evidence of heel tissue breakdown, blistering or ulceration? Does the patient have diabetes, vascular or renal disease? experie nces highlighted the challenges in delivering timely, optimal preventive care. Opportunities to improve preventive care during the patient journey from admission to discharge were identified. These processes were influenced by the level of communication and collaborative care.Practice development recommendations included: †¢ Improve early risk assessment and intervention. †¢ Direct resources to the start of the patient journey. †¢ Prevent heel ulcers. Further actions were taken during 2009/10 to develop practice in line with these recommendations. Method Tissue viabUity support workers were recruited for each hospital site to focus on pressure ulcer prevention, in particular managing pressure-relieving equipment. They reclaimed dynamic mattresses and recurected them to admitting areas to enable immediate access ‘at the front door'.They were entrusted with keeping a ‘float' of mattresses in a clean library store and helping with maintenance, decontamination eind training. In September 2009 a trust-wide pressure ulcer campaign was launched. This focused on three Interventions: support surface, positioning and repositioning and heel offloading: 1. Risk assessment within six hours and appropriate support surface (Box 1). A simple flow chart was disseminated highlighting a structured patient pathway, based on NICF (2005) best practice recommendations.Initial risk assessment was encouraged using clinical judgement to help early assessment in the emergency admitting areas. A more detailed assessment was requested during the following 24 hours using the Waterlow assessment tool (Waterlow 1988) to provide risk status confirmation and identify individual risk factors. Patients were assessed as low risk (fuUy mobile and minimal risk factors/Waterlow score 20). All trust static mattresses consist of high specification foam offering protection to all admitted patients. The trust has purchased November 2010 Volume 22 BackgroundAn exploratory study of pressure ulcer prevention was undertaken in the project hospital trust during 2007/08. The trust includes three acute sites covering a large geographical area consisting of more than 1,200 beds and serving a predominantly ageing population. A case study meth(3dology was used to consider the topic from a range of perspectives using quantitative zind qualitative data (Yin 2003). A reduction in overall and hospital-acquired pressure ulcer prevcdence since 2001 was found. Steady reduction in sacral ulcers was observed with the heel emerging as the most common site for hospital-acquired pressure ulcers by 2008.Increased prevalence observed in 2009 reflected revised data collection methods and improved reuabuity with thorough skin inspection. Data were also generated from focus group interviews with multidisciplinary clinicians. Their NURSING OLDER PEOPLE Feature more than 350 dyncimic mattresses and local recommendations prioritise patients at high risk, unless contraindicated. 2. Im plementation of revised positioning cind repositioning documentation. Revised documentation included a visual care plan/ regimen, repositioning chart and skin evaluation for all vulnerable patients. 3. F*revention of heel ulcers.The ‘hecilthy heels' project ran concurrent to the Ccimpaign cind was undertaken from October 2009 to March 2010. Funding was procured for regular provision of heel protector boots that ‘float the heel' and offload pressure to augment the repositioning and positioning programme. A protocol was disseminated aiming to protect patients with high risk factors such as diabetes or early signs of tissue damage located at the heel (Box 2). The annual prevalence audit methodology was revised to improve reliabUity of data collection cind undertciken in Februcuy 2009 and repeated in February 2010.Data was collected by tissue viabibty nurses at the bedside including skin inspection eind related preventive interventions. Previously, ward nurses supplied the d ate using vcirious collection methods. Data analysis was undertaken by the trust's clinical audit team. ulcers as some patients hav e more than one pressure ulcer. Audit results from Februciry 2010 showed a reduction in hospital-acquired pressure ulcer prevcilence by 6 per cent and a reduction in total pressure ulcer prevalence by 4. 7 per cent (Table 1). Prevalence of patients with pressure ulcers had reduced from the previous audit by 2. per cent to 13. 4 per cent (Table 1). More than half of the total inpatient population was assessed as vulnerable to pressure dcimage. This information enables comparison with similar populations and indicates a 2 per cent increase in the population at risk from the previous year. There was also a reduction in all grades/ categories of hospiteil-acquired pressure ulcers (Table 2). The grade (category) of ulcer is used to assess depth of tissue damage, with grades 1 to 2 affecting the top skin layers and grades 3 to 4 including the deeper underlyin g tissues (EPUAP/ NPUAP 2009).The origin of some pressure ulcers was not fully established, mainly because of lack of documentation and appearance of the ulcer (Table 2). There were observable improving standards in best practice and patient comfort and care on the wards. Repositioning care plcinning documentation had improved by 7 per cent but ongoing documented repositioning had reduced by 1 per cent (Table 3). Further improvements are required to meet best practice standards in both cases. Although the heel remained the most common site for pressure dcimage, there was a reduction in hospital-acquired heel ulcers by 4. per cent. Results Benefits beccime apparent during the campaign with observable improvements in patient access to equipment cind eeirly intervention. The results were analysed in terms of patient prevalence (percentage of patients with one or more pressure ulcer) and pressure ulcer prevcilence (percentage of pressure ulcers). The prevalence of pressure ulcers is usu ally greater than the prevalence of patients with pressure Prevalence of pressure ulcers Discussion The tissue viability support workers were instrumental in raising awareness of prevention 009 Number Number of patients Population at risk Prevalence of patients with pressure ulcers Prevalence of pressure ulcers Pressure ulcers acquired in hospital Pressure ulcers present on admission Origin not known (unsure/not completed) Percentage Number 2010 Percentage Change Percentage 976 497 151 242 132 930 51 15. 5 24. 7 13. 5 492 125 186 53 13. 4 20. 0 7. 5 6. 8 5. 7 T2. 0 i 2. 1 J. 4. 7 J. 6. 0 i 0. 8 I2. 2 70 63 53 75 35 7. 6 3. 5 1 November 2010 Volume 22 Number 9 NURSING OLDER PEOPLE Feature in the admitting areas and improving early access to dynamic mattresses.Previously, dynamic systems were often a late intervention, once pressure damage was appeirent, cind competing demands from the wards impeded availability. A structured approach supported fairer allocation, prioritisation by pat ient need and improved availability. The support workers also improved processes by fostering good teamwork with support staff, hospital management teams and nursing departments. Their presence in the ward areas improved preventive care, related protocols and provided a link with the tissue viability nurses.Our experiences suggest that further education and communication are essential to reach a staff. The ‘healthy heels' campaign demonstrated the effectiveness of heel protectors in a prevention strategy. These devices were used for prevention and treatment to ‘float the heel', with resolution of superflcial tissue damage often achieved through continued use. This included the treatinent of superficial necrosis (black heels), which in many cases were kept dry cind allowed to slough off retaining viable deeper tissues, as recommended by EPUAP/NPUAP (2009).The audit results mirror previous reports of less than 10 per cent of hospiteil patients having documented adequate pr eventive care (Vanderwee ef al 2007b). Some nurses expressed concems over time constrEiints and extra paperwork, which may have contributed to a reluctance to adopt revised positioning and repositioning documentation. Communication and education Achievement of best practice standar Best practice standard quired pressujmJceyar^ajeiKe by grad Grade of pressure ulcer Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Total 2009 Number 59 54 7 12 2010 Number 35 24 6 5 70 Percentage Change Percentage Percentage 6,0 5. 3,7 2,5 0,6 0,5 i 2. 3 4-3. 0 0. 7 1. 2 i 0,1 1 0,7 132 Origin not known (unsure/not completed) Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 16 15 2 2 1. 6 1. 5 0,2 0. 2 23 23 7 0 2,4 2. 4 0. 7 T0. 8 i 0,9 IO. 5 _ Total 35 † 1 issues were other possible factors. The trust operates a link nurse system for tissue viability education that may limit dissemination to all nursing staff. In an audit of 44 UK hospitals Phillips and Buttery (2009) also found a lack of documentary evidence of risk assessment on admission and C2ire planning, together with the need to improve immediate allocation of appropriate resources.Early risk assessment and immediate intervention may also be hcimpered by the focus on emergency care in admitting areas. Robinson and Mercer (2007) identified contextual barriers to pressure ulcer prevention in emergency departments as use of a stretcher and a lack of basic care provision for older Patients having a documented pressure ulcer risk assessment within six hours of admission. Patients with documented risk assessment at time of audit. Patients nursed on appropriate mattress.Patients with a high or medium risk of developing a pressure ulcer with documented evidence of a positioning and repositioning regimen. Patients with a high or medium risk of developing a pressure ulcer with documented evidence of repositioning. Use of heel protectors and offloading techniques (of total number heel ulcers). Ulcers with resolving/treated infection. Prevalence of patients wit h hospital-acquired heel ulcers. 75 79 88 13 T9 11 33 2 7,9 10 4. 1 36 0. 2 3,0 I3 Improved by 1. 8 i 4. 9 NURSING OLDER PEOPLE November 2010 Volume 22 adults.The improvement of resources and processes in admitting cireas is crucial to prevention. Technological advances may cdso have created a culture focused on dynamic systems as the primary intervention. Eurther difficulties may cuise in maintaining individual repositioning schedules in busy hospital Wcirds where competing demands often require a more immediate response. Hobbs (2004) demonstrated improved outcomes when regular repositioning schedules were re-established. Eurther work is required to place the emphasis on patient mobilisation and prevention and away from equipment and treatment.Education and leadership are peiramount to generate this culture shift and rebalance these nursing priorities. Conclusion A comprehensive review of previous and current prevention activity was invaluable in identifying appropriate areas for i mproved intervention. The recruitment of tissue viability support staff assisted with early risk assessment and intervention, particularly in terms of pressure-relieving equipment. A pressure ulcer campaign was useful in raising awareness of three interventions: early risk assessment and intervention, positioning cind repositioning regimens eind ‘healthy heels' project.Audit results from Eebruary 2010 showed a reduction in hospital-acquired pressure ulcer prevalence by 6 per cent and a reduction in total pressure ulcer prevalence by 4. 7 per cent. Heel offloading using heel protector boots was an effective strategy for prevention and treatment of heel pressure ulcers. Although the heel remained the most common site for hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, there was a reduction in prevcilence by 4. 9 per cent. Improvements are indicated in the provision of documentary evidence to support prevention, particularly in terms of risk assessment, positioning and repositioning programme s.This project has demonstrated that responding to organisational specific factors can produce encouraging results in pressure ulcer prevention and identify' areas for continued effort. Dedicated leadership, education, teamwork and commitment are fundamental to continue to improve standards and ensure best possible patient outcomes. Online archive For related information, visit our online archive of more than 6,000 articles and search using the keywords Find out more Copies of the positioning and repositioning regimen can be obtained by emailing the author at: Judy. [email  protected] nhs. ukThis article has been subject to double-blind review and checked using antiplaglarism software. For author guidelines visit the Nursing Older People home page at www. nursingolderpeople. co. uk Judy Elliott is lead tissue viability nurse. East Kent Hospitals NHS University Foundation Trust, Canterbury References Bcldon P (2007) Silting safely to prevent pressure damage. Wound Essentials. 2, 10 2-104. Bennett G, Dealey C, Posnetl J (2004) The cost oi pressure ulcers in the UK. A^e and Ageing. 33, 3, 230-235. Bonomini J (2003) Effective interventions for pressure ulcer prevention. 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