Identify, compare and contrast for the CIA Agency Essay

Identify, compare and contrast for the CIA Agency - Essay Example Of our concern is the fact that Directorate of Science and Technology relates to information security standards in the agency (CIA, 2011). Factors like integrity of the personnel, secretiveness of the personnel and the information, and the availability of such information make up information security. In this context, confidentiality dictates that secretive information should stay as a secret and only authorized persons should receive access to such information. On the other hand, integrity relates to the morality, soberness, and the criminal history of the personnel. Then availability of information and information security relevantly serves an important part in the Agency. Furthermore, there are different standards that govern the application of information security. Some of these standards draw certain similarities while others portray divergent characteristics. Such standards may include and are not limited to Personnel Security Standards, Investigative Requirements and Standards , and Reporting Requirements (Tenet, n.y). Nevertheless, the main aim of all information security standards for CIA Agency is to help in fulfilling its mission in U.S. The Director of Central Intelligence oversees the formulation and implementation of the information security standards for CIA Agency. The National Security Act of 1947, as amended, and Executive Orders 12333 and 12968, set all the information security standards for CIA to apply to all US Government civilian and military personnel, employees, contractors, and consultants who seek access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI). The Personnel Security Standards deal with qualification for accessing SCI. They stipulate the criteria for security approval on a person who seeks to know the basis for accessing SCI. According to the standards, such a person access to SCI must be a US citizen and the individuals immediate family must be US citizens.

The life and Legacy of George Orwell Essay Example for Free

The life and Legacy of George Orwell Essay George Orwell, a renowned novelist and essayist, is not only regarded for his multitude contributions to literature, he is well recognized as a â€Å"secular saint. † Fifty-seven years after his death, Orwell is acclaimed not only by thinkers and writers but also by the political left and right and those in between. He is a great story teller of truth and is revered by his moral courage, intellect and diamond-hard prose. Social historian Noel Annan once described him as â€Å"the first saint of our age† (Frankel, para. 2). Orwell, deprived of university training, is â€Å"quirky, fierce, independent and beholden to none. † Early Life and Works Born Eric Arthur Blair, this English author lived most of his life in poverty. He joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927 before he returned to Europe to pursue his writing career (Widmann, para. 1). In 1936, Orwell (his pen name) joined the Republican forces in the Spanish civil war. He was wounded in fighting and later on had to flee Spain for his life. Orwell was always critical of communism and considered himself as a socialist. Over the next ten years, he would make his journey towards becoming famous—under a new name and with an altered identity. As Eric Blair, he experienced injustice and poverty and as George Orwell he began to look for their causes. His early experiences with totalitarian political regimes bore impact on his prose. After the publication of two of his greatest novels—Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, he confirmed his disgust over totalitarianism. In his essay Why I Write, he said â€Å"every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism†¦to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole. † During World War II, Orwell wrote a weekly radio political commentary where he countered German and Japanese propaganda in India (para. 5). His commentary work during the war at BBC gave him a solid taste of bureaucratic hypocrisy. This part of his life, many would later say, was his inspiration for his satirical, political novel Nineteen eighty-four, which had the most profound influence on historical revisionism. Until his death in 1950, Orwell would question almost every â€Å"official† or â€Å"accepted† versions of history. In his book Notes on Nationalism, he writes â€Å"if liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. † Animal Farm and Nineteen eighty-four Orwell became a world literary giant after the publication of the book Animal Farm. He began his masterpiece in the final years of World War II. With this (and later with 1984), he started his â€Å"thematic series† concerning abuse of political power (Pyle, para. 3). In Animal Farm, Orwell exposed the Soviet myth by incorporating it into a story that could be easily understood. It is also the first novel written exclusively for political purpose and by this, Orwell entered into a new realm of creative invention. This slight fable, scarcely longer than a short story led directly back to his first days in Barcelona. It tells of the story of abused and overworked animals in a farm that rebel against their abusive farmer, Mr. Jones. The animals’ paradise, however, would soon be commandeered and betrayed by a pig that bears a fleeting resemblance to Joseph Stalin (Gray, p. 9). The clear anti-Soviet parody did not appeal to a lot of publishers. The Animal Farm was turned down by more than a dozen publishers in England and the United States. But those who took a chance at this satirical fable were very much rewarded. The Animal farm was a hit and has sold dependably for 40 years. The success of the Animal Farm gave Orwell some sense of financial relief. He cut back on journalism and was given the chance to devote more time on his next best-seller, Nineteen eighty-four. This is Orwell’s most final and most famous book. He was already on his deathbed when it was published in 1949. The task of typing and revising the manuscript took their toll on his health and his tuberculosis worsened. The original manuscript that would later on re-surface reveals that Orwell considered different titles for his masterpiece. He planned on calling it â€Å"The Last Man in Europe†, â€Å"1980† and â€Å"1982† (p. 1). Tens of millions, from different generations have read it. It has been translated into 62 languages. Nineteen eighty-four tells of the story of Winston Smith, a minor bureaucrat in the totalitarian state of Oceania. Smith is working for the Ministry of Truth during the wars of the superpowers and constant changes in alliances. He rewrote old newspaper stories to conform to the present party ideology. He uses Newspeak, the official language at that time. Newspeak is a version of English being pared down to make unconventional opinions that are impossible to conceive. There was no privacy and Smith, along with all Party members, worked on two-way tele-screens. Posters that declare â€Å"Big Brother is Watching You† are all over the place. Smith, however, would commit a â€Å"thoughtcrime. † He would live by the phrase â€Å"down with Big Brother† instead. He would also have a love affair with a co-worker called Julia, considered a heinous crime because all loyalty belongs to the Party. He will be relentlessly tortured in Room 101 until he could no longer take the pain. He would then suggest that all punishment would be inflicted on Julia instead. This abolishes his integrity but would make him a good Party member. The terms Big Brother, Ministries of Truth and Love, the thought crime and thought police, the memory hole, Room 101 and hate week have now become part of our vocabulary. Orwell, for his part, became the standard adjective when referring to the gap between political language and moral reality (Frankel, para. 7). Orwell fought the worst tendencies in politics and society, and in his two greatest works, he did so by using fundamental sense of decency (Gray, p. 10). Legacy and Contribution Orwell did not mean for Nineteen eighty-four to be his final work. Reports say that in one of his last conversations before he died, he said he have some more books to write. He even married a woman 15 years his junior while he was confined in a hospital. He believed that when one is married and has a wife, he would have more reasons to live. Orwell had three more months. He was only 47. Orwell’s childhood friend once said that the tragedy in the author’s life is that when he achieved fame and success, he was already a dying man and â€Å"he knew it† (Pyle, para. 2). But his mystical status as the greatest novelist of his time would outlive him. Orwell did not only write two of the greatest novels in history. He laid down the standards of a true classic. A Time Magazine cover story in 1983 described him as a man of letters who attempted to â€Å"change the world by changing the word. † Orwell is laso known for his insights about politics. He decried bureaucratic hypocrisy and totalitarianism for as long as he lived. He invented a different language through Newspeak to be able to shape reality. His friends would always regard him as an intellectual. He was always straight and solemn. He held back every emotion and he rarely smiled (Frankel, para. 15). As a novelist, they say, he hates being edited and no one ever tried mucking his works. After all, they say, his manuscripts do not need editing as they always come in perfectly, even the commas. From the start, his writing was essentially personal (Menand, para. 4). He put himself and his experiences at the center of his non-fiction works and many of his essays. He made use of personal anecdotes and stories and knowledge in political journalism to stress his points. Orwell, however, never intended to make himself a hero. What he has is a rare talent of relating with his audience, not as a literary man or a reporter, but as himself. In short, before he made the readers believe in his works, he made them believe, first of all, in him. In 1984, a new 17-volume edition of his complete works was published in the United States. A wax figure of the phenomenal author has also been installed at a museum in London. Scholars have continued debates on the political implications and literary genius of his novels. Orwell’s two final books immortalized him as one of the best novelists in history. More than half a century since he died, his works are still regarded as must-reads and have cemented their place on popular culture. The relevance of his novels has outlived him. Works Cited: Gray, Paul. â€Å"That year is Almost Here. † Time Magazine. (28 Nov. 1983). 2 Oct. 2007 http://www. time. com/time/covers/0,16641,19831128,00. html. Frankel, Glenn. â€Å"George Orwell at 100: Revisiting a Life Steeped in Contradictions. † Washington Post Foreign Service. (25 June 2003). 02 Oct. 2007. Menand, Louis. â€Å"Honest, Decent, Wrong: The Invention of George Orwell. (27 Jan. 2003). 02 Oct. 2007. http://www. newyorker. com/archive/2003/01/27/030127crat_atlarge. http://www. netcharles. com/orwell/articles/col-revcon. htm. Pyle, Steve. â€Å"George Orwell’s Animal Farm: The Little Book that Could. † The Antigonish Review. (23 Feb. 1999). 02 Oct. 2007. http://www. antigonishreview. com/bi -111/111-pyle. html. Widmann, Richard. â€Å"George Orwell: Background. † 02 Oct. 2007. http://codoh. com/thoughtcrimes/tcportorw. html.

Biography of Karl Marx Essay -- Karl Marx Communism biographies Essays

Biography of Karl Marx Karl Marx was a professional intellectual and philosopher. Throughout Marx's life, chance meetings with other professional intellectuals and philosophers helped guide Marx to his final destination. Although Marx died in March of 1883, some 122 years ago, his theories are still being studied, and in some cases, used in some governments. In his lifetime Marx explored many different social settings and groups. His final accumulation of work can be found in his Communist Manifesto, which he co-authored with Fredrick Engels. Although very meager at times, Marx lived an extraordinary life. Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 in Trier Rheinish Prussia (Germany). Although his family was ultimately Jewish, Karl's father, Hirschel Marx, changed the family's religion to Protestant to avoid anti-Semitism. Later, to avoid further persecution, Hirschel changed his name to Heinrich 1. Young Karl was raised mostly in Prussia. Once he had graduated from the Gymnasium, today's equivalent of high school, Marx entered Bonn University to continue his education and follow in his father's footsteps as a lawyer. While at Bonn, Karl spent much of his time socializing and running up large debts. Karl was once wounded during a duel, because a debt collector2. After hearing about Karl's attitude towards higher education, Heinrich paid off his son's depts. However the injury involving the duel made Heinrich insist that Karl no longer attend Bonn, but instead move to Berlin and attend the University of Berlin. While in Berlin, Karl met a lecturer named Bruno Bauer. While under Bauer's influence, Marx was introduced to the writings of G.W.F. Hegel, whom had been a fellow lectur... ...y his wife's passing, Marx needed his eldest daughter, Eleanor, to take care of him. In January 1883 Eleanor herself passed away due to cancer of the liver. Marx, left to take care of himself, died three months later in March of 1883. Although Marx and his wife were separated by death for over two years, they now lay side by side at Highgate Cemetery in London. Notes 1 Frank E. Manuel, A Requiem for Karl Marx (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995) 12 2 V.I. Lenin, The Marxists Internet Archive, 16 September 1999, (9 March 2002) 3 Spartacus Educational, 3 March 2002 (9 March 2002) 4 Richard P. Appelbaum, Karl Marx Vol. 7 of Masters of Social Theory (Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, 1988) 5 Appelbaum, 21 6 Manuel, 35 7 Manuel, 37

Project Management – the Importance of the Planning Process

An individual assignment under the topic: „Project Management – the Importance of the Planning Processâ€Å" Teacher: Maria do Sacramento Basilio Student: 2012 Beja Content Content2 Introduction4 Project Management5 The Life Cycles of Projects7 PLANNING PROCESS8 Project Plan Elements11 Project Control13 Project Termination14 Conclusion16 Literature17 Introduction Each organization‘s activity in its own way contributes to organization‘s goals. It is not always easy to assess the impact of the work or the decision to achieve these objectives in the context of a complex organization of activities.Common to assume that what unites all the organizations processes to the general population and focus their efforts on a defined term direction, is a strategy. Project work is one of the extraordinary management forms. Each project is progressing to a certain stage, which is called the project life cycle. Despite the widely different names can be said that all projects are characterized by four main phases: initiation, planning, realization, finishing. An object of the Project: the planning process. The aim: to analize the essential part of Project life cycle – planning process.My essay will consists of two parts. In the first part I am going to introduce the Project Management and Project Life Cycle, in the second part of the project I will analyse the planning process and will make a conclussion about it‘s importance. Project Management In order to understand project management, one must begin with definition of a project. A project can be considered to be any series of activities and tasks that: * Have a specific objective to be completed within certain specifications * Have defined start and end dates * Have funding limits Consume resources (money, people, equipment) Project management, on the other hand, involves project planning ant project monitoring and includes such items as: Project planning: * Definition of work requiremen ts * Definition of quantity and quality work * Definition of resources needed Project monitoring: * Tracking progress * Comparing actual outcome to predicted outcome * Analyzing impact * Making adjustments Successful project management can then be defined as having achieved the project objectives: * Within time * Within cost * At the desired performance/technology level While utilizing the assigned resources effectively and efficiently * Accepted by the customer The potential benefits from project management are: * Identification of functional responsibilities to ensure that all activities are accounted for, regardless of personal turnover * Minimizing the need for continuous reporting * Identification of time limits for scheduling * Identification of methodology for trade-off analysis * Measurement of accomplishment against plans * Early identification of problems so that corrective action may follow * Improved estimating capability for future planning Knowing when objectives canno t be met or will be exceeded Unfortunately, the benefits cannot be achieved without overcoming obstacles such as: * Project complexity * Customer’s special requirements * Organizational restructuring * Project risks * Changes in technology * Forward planning and picking Project management can mean different things to different people. Quite often, misunderstand the concept because they have ongoing projects within their company and feel that they are using project management to control these activities.In such a case, the following might be considered an appropriate definition: Project management is the art of creating the illusion that any outcome is the result of a series of predetermined, deliberate acts when, in fact, it was dumb luck. Although this might be the way that some companies are running their projects, this is not project management. Project management is designed to make better use of existing resources by getting work to flow horizontally as well as verticall y within the company.This approach does not really destroy the vertical, bureaucratic flow of work but simply requires that line organizations talk to another horizontally so work will be accomplished more smoothly throughout the organization. The vertical flow of work is still the responsibility of the line managers. The horizontal flow of work is the responsibility of the project managers, and their primary effort is to communicate and coordinate activities horizontally between the line organizations.The following would be an overview definition of project management: Project management is the planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of company resources for a relatively short-term objective that has been established to complete specific goals and objectives. Furthermore, project management utilizes the systems approach to management by having functional personnel (the vertical hierarchy) assigned to a specific project (the horizontal hierarchy). The above definition requi res further comment. Classical management is usually considered to have five functions or principles: * Planning Organizing * Staffing * Controlling * Directing In the above definition, the staffing function has been omitted. This was intentional because the project manager does not staff the project. Staffing is line responsibility. The project manager has the rigt to request specific resources, but the final decision of what resources will be committed rests with the line managers. Talking about the meaning by a â€Å"relatively† short-term project, not all industries have the same definition for a short-term project.In engineering, the project might be for six months or two years; in construction, three to five years; in nuclear components, ten years; and in insurance, two weeks. Long-term projects, which consume resources full-time, are usually set up as a separate division (if large enough) or simply as a line organization. The Life Cycles of Projects All organisms have a life cycle. They born, grow, wane, and die. This is true for all living things, for stars and planets, for the products we buy and sell, for our organizations, and for our projects as well.A project’s life cycle measures projects completion as a function of either time (schedule) or resources (budget). This is life cycle must be understood because the PM’s managerial focus subtly shifts at different stages of the cycle. During the early stages, the PM must make sure that the project plan really reflects the wishes of the client as well as the abilities of the project team and is designed to be consistent with the goals and objectives of the parent firm. As the project goes into the implementation stage of its life cycle, the PM’s attention turns to the job of keeping the project on budget nd schedule – or, when chance interferes with progress, to negotiating the appropriate trade-offs to correct or minimize the damage. At the end of the project, the PM turns into a â€Å"fuss-budget† to assure that the specifications of the project are truly met, handling all the details of closing out the books on the project, making sure there are no loose ends, and that every â€Å"i† is dotted and â€Å"t† crossed. Many projects are like building a house. A house-building project starts slowly with a lot of discussion and planning. Then construction begins and progress rapid.When the house is built, but not finished inside, progress appears to slow down and it seemingly takes forever to paint everything, to finish all the trim, and to assemble and install the built-in appliances. Progress is slow-fast-slow, as shown in figure: It used to be thought that S-shaped curve of figure represented the life cycle for all projects. While this is true of many projects, there are important exceptions. This is about the project that approaches completion by a very different route that the tradidtional S-curve, as shown in this figure:T o make a conclusion of the topic about product life cycle, there are two different paths (life cycles) along which projects progress from start to completion. One is S-shaped and the other is J-shaped. It is an important distinction because identifying the different life cycles helps the PM to focus attention on appropriate matters to ensure successful project completion. PLANNING PROCESS The most important responsibilities of a project manager are planning, integrating and executing plans. Almost all projects, because of their relatively short duration and often prioritized control of resources, require formal, detailed planning.The integration of a planning activities is necessary because each functional unit may develop its own planning documentation with little regard for other functional units. Planning, in general, can be best described as the function of selecting the enterprise objectives and establishing the policies, procedures, and programs necessary for achieving them. P lanning in a project environment may be described as establishing a predetermined course of action within forecasted environment. The project’s requirements set the major milestones, and the line managers hope that they can meet them.If the line manager connot commint because the milestones are perceived as unrealistic, the project manager may have to develop alternatives, one of which may be to move the milestones. Upper-level management must become involved in the selection of alternatives during the planning stage. Planning is, of course, decision making, since it involves choosing among alternatives. Planning is a required management function to facilitate the comprehension of complex problems involving interacting factors. The project manager is the key to successful project planning.It is desirable that the project manager be involved from project conception through execution. Project planning must be systematic, flexible enough to handle unique activities, disciplined through reviews and controls, and capable of accepting multifunctional inputs. Successful project managers realize that project planning is an iterative process and must be performed throughout the life of the project. One of the objectives of project planning is to completely define all work required (possibly through the development of a documented project plan) so that will be readily identifiable to each project participant.This is necessity in a project environment because: * If the task is well understood prior to being performed, much of the work can be preplanned. * If the tas is not understood, the during the actual task execution more knowledge is gained that, in turn, leads to changes in resource allocations, schedules, and priorities. * The more uncertain the task, the greater the amount of information that must be processed in order to ensure effective performance. Without proper planning, programs and projects can start off â€Å"behind the eight ball† because o f poorly defined requirements during the initial planning phase.Below is a list of the typical consequences of poor planning: * Project initiation * Wild enthusiasm * Disillusionment * Chaos * Search for the guilty * Punishment of the innocent * Promotion of the nonparticipants * Definition of the requirements Obviously, the definition of the requirements should have been the first step. There are four basic reasons for project planning: * To eliminate or reduce uncertainty * To improve efficiency of the operation * To obtain a better understanding of the objectives * To provide a basis for monitoring and controlling work Planning is decision making based upon futurity.It is a continuous process of making entrepreneurial decisions with an eye to the future, and methodically organizing the effort needed to carry out these decisions. Furthermore, systematic planning allows an organization of set goals. The alternative to systematic planning is decision making based on history. This ge nerally results in reactive management leading to crisis management, conflics management, and fire fighting. Effective total program planning cannot be accomplished unless all of the necessary information becomes available ant project initation. These information requirements are: * The statement of work (SOW) The project specifications * The milestone schedule * The work breakdown structure (WBS) The statement of work (SOW) is a narrative description of the work to be accomplished. It includes the objectives of the project, a brief description of the work, the funding constraint if one exists, and the specifications and schedule. The schedule is a â€Å"gross† schedule and includes such things as the: * Start date * End date * Major milestones * Written reports The last major item is the work breakdown structure. The WBS is the breaking down of the statement of work into smaller elements so that better isibility and control will be obtained. Project Plan Elements The project master plan should contain nine elements: a project overview, a statement of objectives, a description of the technical and managerial approaches to the work, all contractual agreements, schedules of activities, a list of resource requirements or a project budget, personnel requirements, project evaluation methods, and preparations to meet potential problems. These are the elements that constitute the project plan and the basis for a more detailed planning of the budgets, schedules, work plan and general management of the project.Once this basic plan is fully developed and approved, it is disseminated to all interested parties. I would like to describe each element. * Overview. This is a short summary of the objectives and scope of the project. It is directed to top management and contains a statement of the goals of the project, a brief explanation of their relationship to the firm’s objectives, a description of the managerial structure that will be used for the project, an d a list of the major milestones in the project schedule. * Objectives. This contains a more detailed statement of the general goals noted in the overview section.The statement should include profit and competitive aims as well as technical goals. * General approach. This section describes both the managerial and the technical approaches to the work. The technical discussion describes the relationship of the project to available technologies. For example, it might note that this project is an extension of work done by the company for an earlier project. The subsection on the managerial approach takes note of any deviation from routine procedure – for instance, the use of subcontractors for some parts of the work. * Contractual aspects.This critical section of the plan includes a complete list and description of all reporting requirements, customer-supplied resources, liaison arrangements, advisory committees, project review and cancellation procedures, proprierty requirements , any specific management agreements, as well as the technical deliverables and their specifications, delivery schedules, and a specific procedure for changing any of the above. Completeness is a necessity in this section. If in doubt about whether an item should be included or not, the wise planner will include it. * Schedules.This section outlines the various schedules and lists all milestone events. The estimated time for each task should be obtained from those who will do the work. The project master schedule is constructed from these inputs. The responsible person or department head should sign off on the final, agreed-on schedule. * Resources. There are two primary aspects to this section. The first is the budget. Both capital and expense requirements are detailed by task, which makes that a project budget. One-time costs are separated from recurring project costs. Second, cost monitoring and control procedures should be described.In addition to the usual routine elements, the monitoring and control procedures must be designed to cover special resource requirements for the project, such as special machines, test equipment, laboratory usage or construction, logistics, field facilities, and special materials. * Personnel. This section list the expected personnel requirements of the project. Special skills, types of training needed, possible recruiting problems, legal or policy restrictions on work force composition, and any other special requirements, such as security clearances, should be noted here.It is helpful to time-phase personnel needs to the project schedule. This makes clear when the various types of contributors are needed and in what numbers. These projections are an important element of the budget, so the personnel, schedule, and resources sections can be cross-checked with one another to ensure consistency. * Evaluation Methods. Every project should be evaluated against standards and by methods established at the project’s inception. T his section contains a brief description of the procedure to be followed in monitoring, collecting, storing, and evaluating the history of the project. Potential Problems. Sometimes it is difficult to convince planners to make a serious attempt to anticipate potential difficulties. One or more such possible disasters such as subcontractor default, technical failure, strikes, bad weather, sudden required breakthroughs, critical sequences of tasks, tight deadlines, resource limitations, complex coordination requirements, insufficient authority in some areas, and new, complex, or unfamiliar tasks are certain to occur. The only uncertainties are which ones will occur and when.In fact, the timing of these disasters is not random. There are times, conditions, and events in the life of every project when progress depeneds on subcontractors, or the weather, or coordination, or resource availability, and plans to deal with unfavorable contingencies should be developed early in the projectâ⠂¬â„¢s life cycle. Some PMs disdain this section of the plan on the grounds that crises cannot be predicted. Further, they claim to be very effective firefighters. It is quite possible that when one finds such a PM, one has discovered an arsonist.No amount of current planning can solve the current crisis, but preplanning may avert some. Project Control The two fundamental objectives of control are: 1. The regulation of results through the alteration of activities. 2. The stewardship of organizational assets. Most discussions of the control function are focused on regulation. Physical Asset Control Physical asset control requires control of the use of physical assets. It is concerned with assets maintenance, whether preventive or corrective.At issue also is the timing of maintenance or replacement as well as the quality of maintenance. Physical inventory, whether equipment or material, must also be controlled. It must be received, inspected, and possibly stored prior to use. Records of all incoming shipments must be carefully validated so that payment to suppliers must also be applied to suppliers from inside the organization. Even such details as the project library, project coffee maker, project room furniture, and all the other minor bits and pieces must be counted, maintained, and conserved.Human Resource Control Stewardship of human resources requires controlling and maintaining the growth and development of people. Projects provide particulary fertile ground for cultivating people. Because projects are unique, differing one from another in many ways, it is possible for people working on projects to gain a wide range of experience in a reasonably short time. Measurement of physical resource conservation is accomplished through the familiar audit procedures. The measurement of human resource conservation is familiar audit procedures.The measurement of human resource conservation is far more difficult. Such devices as employee appraisals, personnel performan ce indices, and screening methods for appointment, promotion, and retention are not particularly satisfactory devices for ensuring that the conservation function is being properly handled. The accounting profession has worked for some years on the development of human resource accounting, and while the effort has produces some interesting ideas, human resource accounting is not well accepted by the accounting profession.Financial Resource Control Though accountants have not succeeded in developing acceptable methods for human resource accounting, their work on techniques for the conservation of financial resources has most certainly resulted in excellent tools for financial control. This is the best developed for the basic areas needing control. It is difficult to separate the control mechanisms aimed at conservation of financial resources from those resources from those focused on regulating resource use. Most financial controls do both.Capital investment controls work to conserve the organization’s assets by insisting that certain conditions be met before capital can be expended, and those same conditions usually regulate the use of capital to achieve the organization goal of a high return on investments. The techniques of financial control, both conservation and regulation, are well known. They include current assets controls, and project budgets as well as capital investment controls. These controls are exercised through a series of analyses and audits conducted by the accounting function for the most part.Project Termination As it must to all things, project termination comes to every project. At times, project death is quick and clean, but more often it is a long process. The process of termination is never easy, always complicated, and, as much as we might wish to avoid it, almost always inevitable. The problem is how to accomplish one of the several levels of what is meant by project termination with a minimum of trouble and administrative dislo cation. A project can be terminated in one of four ways: * by extinction * addition * integration * starvation y Extinction: * The project has successfully completed scope and the client has accepted it. * It has been superseded by the external developments like technological advancement, market crisis etc * It has failed to achieve it’s goal. * It has no longer support from the Senior Management. It is also sometimes referred to as â€Å"termination by murderâ€Å". The important point to notice is that all project activity ceases in this kind of termination. by Addition: * The project is a major success. It becomes the formal part of the parent organization. The transition or   transfer of the resources such as the project personnel, materials and equipment to the newly created unit within the parent   organization. by Integration: * The project is successfully completed. The   project product is integrated to the operations of the client. This is the most common mo de and most complex operation. The resources are   released   and   disturbuted in the parent organization. by Starvation: * The project is terminated by budget decrement. * It is also known as   withdrawal of â€Å"life support†. The reason of this termination is generally to shadow the failure of non-accomplishment of the goals.This can save face of the senior management and avoid embarrassment. The Project Final Report incorporates the process knowledge gained from the Project. In addition to preservation of Project records, the Final Report embodies the experience from which we learn. It should include: Project performance comments, administrative performance comments, organizational structure comments, personnel suggestions, possibly a confidential section. Conclusion Project planning is probably the most time-consuming project management activity.Project planning continues from the initial idea through to the system delivery. Plans must be regulary updated using the new available information. There are many techniques for developing a project plan. They are fundamentally similar. All of them use a systematic analysis to identify and list the things that must be undertaken in order to achieve the project‘s abjectives, to test and validate the plan and to deliver it to user. Planning is an essential function in the success of any project. Planning does not refer simply to pulling out a calendar and recording things to do on random dates.Planning is all about actively plotting a course to meeting goals. Goals are really the start of any discussion about planning in a successful project. Literature 1. Harold Kerzner „Project Management. A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controllingâ€Å" sixth edition 2. Samuel J. Mantel Jr. Jack R. Meredith, Scott M. Shafer, Margaret M. Sutton „Project Management in Practiseâ€Å" second edition 3. Jack R. Meredith, Samuel J. Mantel „Project Management. A Managerial app roachâ€Å" third edition 4. V. Buda, A. Chmieliauskas „Projektu valdymasâ€Å" 2006

Children and young peoples work force Essay

Understand what is required for competence in own work role. 1.1 describe the duties and responsibilities of own work.W  hats in the contract  hours Lines of reporting  specific roles and responsibilities (behavioural support, supporting children and young people with special educational needs, supporting be;inhgual children and young people0  compliance with policies and procedures of the setting (behaviour, children and young people protection, health and safety, keeping up to date with changing procedures, keeping up to date with changes to practice). 1.2 explain expectations about own work role as expressed in relevant standards.  standards relevant to own work role, eg national occupational standards for childrena care, learning and development ( NOS CCLD),  national occupational standars for learning, development aqnd support services ( NOS LDSS)  -in relation to own duties and responsibilities eg role to expectations to meet standards eg CCLD 202 help to keep children safe, see more:explain expectations about own work role as expressed in relevant standards CCLD 303 promote childrens development LDSS 320 support the needs of children and young people with additional requirements, GCU 6 reflect on, develop and maintain your practice  course apprenticehsip notes  coursework starter  hayley  rough notes  guidelines  to use for when get stuck  in starter pack LDSS 320 support the needs of children and young people with additional requirements, GCU 6 reflect on, develop and maintain your practice

A Guide to Installing Microsoft Access 2010

A Guide to Installing Microsoft Access 2010 Due to its widespread availability and flexible functionality, Microsoft Access 2010 is still a popular database software in use today. Access 2010 introduced a version of the ACCDB file format that supported SharePoint, which allowed support for the Mac through a browser for the first time. New in Access 2010 was the Backstage view through which you can access all the commands for an entire database. The ribbon and navigation pane, which was introduced in Access 2007, is in Access 2010.   Benefits of Access 2010 Enhanced securityImproved spell checkerSharePoint supportNew user interfaceImproved data presentation How to Install Access 2010 The Access installation process is straightforward. Verify that your system meets the basic requirements for Access. Youll need at least a 500 MHz or faster processor with 256MB of RAM. Youll also need at least 3GB of free hard disk space.Ensure that your operating system is up to date. Youll need Windows XP SP3 or later to run Access 2010. Its a good idea to apply all security updates and hotfixes to your system before installing Access.Insert the Office CD into your CD-ROM drive. The installation process begins automatically and asks you to wait while the system prepares the Installation Wizard.The next step of the process prompts you to enter your product key and accept the terms of the license agreement.If youd like to install the entire Office suite or youre using an Access-only CD, you can choose Install Now on the next screen. If you want to customize your installation, click Customize instead.When the installation completes, you may be prompted to restart your computer. Go ahead and do so. After you install Access 2010, visit the Microsoft website for video tutorials on the software.

Grotesque, Demeaning, Yet Mean essays

Grotesque, Demeaning, Yet Mean essays A white rapper streams out and bust rhymes as sweat drips down his face. He thrusts his hands in a gangster rhythm and jumps viciously forwards and backwards as his face snarls with intimidation. The audience bounces along to the beat and listens word for word as the lyrics continuously burn over and over in their minds. This is the music created by Eminem, also known as Slim Shady, real name Marshall Mathers. Deep entrenched in Eminems performance styles and values lays his disapproval of societys ignorance toward the violence of man; therefore, he strives to bring attention to violence by being vividly explicit in hopes of prevention. What makes him unique is the controversy that encompasses his music and image. The critics label Eminem as a white male exploiting the misery of the world and vividly drawing pictures of crime, rape, and racial and homosexual hatred to the virgin ears of the youth. His fans and other music moguls view Eminem as having explicit realism in his messages. Those messages are ironically mixed with fantasy in order to bring attention to the crazy actions of imbalanced people and events that have been deemed taboo in the world today. Eminems music expresses a rage against a world that does not care or joke about the inhuman intentions of man or the violent and mentally depressed individuals who haunt the world today. Im like a head trip to listen to cause Im only givin you things you joke about with your friends inside your living room The only difference is I got the balls to say it in front of yall and I dont gotta be false or sugarcoated at all(The Real Slim Shady). Eminems rebuttal in the criticism that he is too violently explicit is that what he is saying in his lyrics are real because people do have evil intentions, and he doesnt have to be nice and sugarcoated in expressing it. You have the r...

Standard State Conditions of Temperature and Pressure

Standard State Conditions of Temperature and Pressure Values of thermodynamic quantities are commonly expressed for standard state conditions, so it is a good idea to understand what the standard state conditions are. A superscript circle is used to denote a thermodynamic quantity that is under standard state conditions: ΔH ΔH °ÃŽâ€S ΔS °ÃŽâ€G ΔG ° Standard State Conditions Certain assumptions apply to standard state conditions. Standard temperature and pressure commonly is abbreviated as STP. The standard state temperature is 25 °C (298 K). It is possible to calculate standard state values for other temperatures.All liquids are pure.The concentration of all solutions is 1 M (1 molar).All gases are pure.All gases are at 1 atm pressure.The energy of formation of an element in its normal state is defined as zero. Sources International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (1982). Notation for states and processes, significance of the word standard in chemical thermodynamics, and remarks on commonly tabulated forms of thermodynamic functions. Pure Appl. Chem. 54 (6): 1239–50. doi:10.1351/pac198254061239UPAC–IUB–IUPAB Interunion Commission of Biothermodynamics (1976). Recommendations for measurement and presentation of biochemical equilibrium data. J. Biol. Chem. 251 (22): 6879–85.

Knowledge and Skills for Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Knowledge and Skills for Managers - Essay Example First, because in both situations, managers head an organization that needs to exercise problem solving, logical thinking, technical knowledge, effective communication, reasonableness and understanding. Joane Fritz explains in an article entitled â€Å"What are the key characteristics of a non-profit organization† published in About.com in 2011, that non-profit organizations and private organizations may differ in their purpose when it comes to income distribution, but in either way, managers in both organizations are directly responsible to their stakeholders. Non-profit organizations are sometimes referred to as â€Å"non-stock† corporations and most often registered as a corporation, an individual enterprise, association, partnership or foundations. WEX article, entitled â€Å"Non-profit Organizations† published in Legal Information Institute of Cornell University Law School cited churches, public charities, public schools, public clinics and hospitals labor u nions, professional associations, research institutes, museums, and some governmental agencies as good examples of a non-profit organization. As compared to private organizations? the non-profit organization belongs to the public as no one person controls the organization. Its assets are assigned to the charitable, educational, literary, scientific or religious purposes of the organizations. Thus, a manager under this set up is guided by the principles of non -profit organization in pursuance of his duties. What makes the non-profit organization distinct from private organizations is their treatment of profit in the operation. Non-profit organization also derives profit from its operations but the profit does not go to the members of the board not even to its founders. In this manner, managers see to it that this policy is followed as he becomes accountable to donors of the organization. As a manner of control, managers are required to render financial accounting report to the Feder al State and government as non-profit organizations are entrusted with funds in accomplishing their mission. Working for a non-profit organization takes a lot of sacrifice. Fritz, in the same article previously cited, said the law requires that board of directors should not be compensated except for expenses for travel and for attending board meetings. Salaries of the five highest paid officers of the non-profit organization are also required to be declared, and that includes salaries of the manager. The manager, too, has to do a lot of corporate reporting aside from the Federal State through its annual income tax return. He is also controlled by the State Attorney’s General Office that makes it a point that non- profit organization follows the laws (Fritz, Joane. 2010). The â€Å"Basic Business Principles of Management† as explained by Raul Thadani in an article in Buzzle.com remain the same whether one is managing a big corporation, a small one and a non-profit organ ization. These basic principles do not isolate usage for non-profit organization and same rules and concepts are universally applied in every situation wherein management is deemed necessary. (Thadani, 2010) The managerial task Thadani of Buzzle.com in same article of Basic Management Principles outlined five basic management principles a manager should follow which I have explained below (Thadani 2010). The first step a manager does in a non-profit organization is to set the goals of the company or the activity to be done. Most often, this is expressed in the mission and vision statements established by the company and the realistic targets set by the managers. The duty of the manager here is to convey these goals to the employees so that

Goverment & Funding In the State of North Carolina Personal Statement - 1

Goverment & Funding In the State of North Carolina - Personal Statement Example The paper will involve an analysis of supporting and contrasting views on the federal law. The supporters of the federal law believe that it will ensure affordable health care to all the citizens. Governor Bev Purdue has stated that ‘innovation’ can help in curtailing the health care costs and improve health care in North Carolina. The governor had consulted several health leaders in Raleigh in the state health directors’ conference. Governor Purdue stated â€Å"The work being done at the local level, through health departments, educators, schools, non profit organizations and the business community combined with the support of all state agencies is essential to inspire people to action†. A special drive to improve the health of all the people of North Carolina has been adopted through certain objectives stated in the â€Å"Healthy North Carolina 2020 Plan†. The primary focus of this plan would be on the use of tobacco, unsafe sex, nutritional and physical activity, environmental risks, communicable diseases, mental health, infant and mother’s health, chronic diseases and dental health to name a few. The health ranking of North Carolin a is 35th in the country. The healthy North Carolina 2020 plan emphasizes on concerted efforts of the state, locality and regions to improve health in North Carolina against certain targets. Several evidence-based strategies are being adopted as for example, biking. The public health division has to meet various goals against resource constraints, set in healthy NC 2020 (NC Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). The Patient Protection and Affordability Act were enacted to introduce health care reforms. On March 23, 2010 a comprehensive health reform was signed by the President Mr. Barrack Obama, which converted the act into a law. This act addresses the issues related to the

CPT and ICD-9 Coding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CPT and ICD-9 Coding - Essay Example The International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) manual, is used by patients. For instance, when a patient wants to find the codes, one is required to input the keywords and the codes are presented on the screen. 3. Describe how to use the HCPCS manual? The Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) are numbers that are assigned to medical practitioners who provide diagnostic services. Therefore, the HCPCS manual is used in the identification of the medical practitioners and their payment after diagnosis. One inputs the number of any particular medical practitioner and the details are displayed. 4. Define upcoding and explain why it should be avoided? Upcoding is a provider’s use of the CPT codes so as to invoice a health cover customer for providing a higher-service than the actual. This should be avoided since it is illegal, and it is a fraud. Furthermore, it is more costly to the taxpayers and

Manifest Destiny and Mission by Frederick Merk Essay

Manifest Destiny and Mission by Frederick Merk - Essay Example Writing in Democratic Review, on December 27, 1845, he used the term â€Å"Manifest Destiny†, to urge the United States to annex geographical areas, then under Britain and Spain, through out north of America. In the essay titled, â€Å"Annexations†, O’sullivan argued that God had destined the United States, to spread republican democracy, (â€Å"the great experiment of liberty†) through out North America. But O’ Sullivan can claim authorship only to the term, and not to the idea. The idea or concept was a general political sentiment campaigned for by the Democrats then. 2) EFFECT: Like its meaning , the effect of this concept in the history of the United States was also mono dimensional and expansionist, leading to the territorial expansion of the country during 1815 to 1860.The War of 1812 fought between the United States and the British Empire came to an end in 1815, with neither side gaining much. The period after the end of the war, up to 1860, had been called the â€Å"age of Manifest Destiny†. After this futile war, the United States adopted a new strategy for annexation of bordering territories. Settle down, out number the natives, index the boundaries—this was the new strategy. A typical example was the Mexican Cession. Mexico was a Spanish colony that got liberated in 1821.The new Mexican Empire inherited, Alta California, New Mexico and Texas from Spain. The new Government, virtually bankrupt and weak, was unable to control the northern territories of the country. These areas were thousands of miles away from the capital of Mexico City. Hence, the Mexican Govt. allowed a few American families to cross over and settle. What followed were huge American settlements in Texas, which became an American majority area. The Texans wanted to accede to the United States. This lead to the Texas revolution, (1835- 36) and Texas was declared as an independent republic. During the war, that

Information on DBMS of Microsoft SQL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Information on DBMS of Microsoft SQL - Essay Example Other users can read and modify the record anytime while the main user is performing operations on the output displayed. Shared locks allow concurrent users to read data. They are released when the data is read. Exclusive locks do not allow concurrent transactions on the data. Update locks are used to prevent deadlock where if a transaction updates data, it becomes exclusive lock else shared lock. Intent locks signify which granular level the SQL server wants to acquire lock. This technique uses logs to record the updates. The update log defines a single write on the table. This log contains the identifier for the transaction, the data item, the old and the new value updated. Once a transaction performs a write, log record for it is created. This log helps in recovering the data. This method also uses log to record the data but the write action is deferred until the transaction is partially committed. Once the transaction partially commits, the data on the log is executed in deferred writes. In case the system crashes, the data on the log is ignored. Two page tables (Current page table and shadow page table) are maintained in this technique. Each time a write occurs in the current page, it points to a page in the disk and a copy of it is made in the shadow table. When a system crashes, data is recovered from shadow table. It is a point where all the transactions are updated to reflect the data in the log. This updates the data properly to all the transactions ensuring no conflicts occur. This checkpoint ensures that all the data is committed in the SQL

Manifest Destiny and Mission by Frederick Merk Essay

Manifest Destiny and Mission by Frederick Merk - Essay Example Writing in Democratic Review, on December 27, 1845, he used the term â€Å"Manifest Destiny†, to urge the United States to annex geographical areas, then under Britain and Spain, through out north of America. In the essay titled, â€Å"Annexations†, O’sullivan argued that God had destined the United States, to spread republican democracy, (â€Å"the great experiment of liberty†) through out North America. But O’ Sullivan can claim authorship only to the term, and not to the idea. The idea or concept was a general political sentiment campaigned for by the Democrats then. 2) EFFECT: Like its meaning , the effect of this concept in the history of the United States was also mono dimensional and expansionist, leading to the territorial expansion of the country during 1815 to 1860.The War of 1812 fought between the United States and the British Empire came to an end in 1815, with neither side gaining much. The period after the end of the war, up to 1860, had been called the â€Å"age of Manifest Destiny†. After this futile war, the United States adopted a new strategy for annexation of bordering territories. Settle down, out number the natives, index the boundaries—this was the new strategy. A typical example was the Mexican Cession. Mexico was a Spanish colony that got liberated in 1821.The new Mexican Empire inherited, Alta California, New Mexico and Texas from Spain. The new Government, virtually bankrupt and weak, was unable to control the northern territories of the country. These areas were thousands of miles away from the capital of Mexico City. Hence, the Mexican Govt. allowed a few American families to cross over and settle. What followed were huge American settlements in Texas, which became an American majority area. The Texans wanted to accede to the United States. This lead to the Texas revolution, (1835- 36) and Texas was declared as an independent republic. During the war, that

Building and Sustaining Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Building and Sustaining Strategy - Essay Example Establishing good customer relations has helped learn the importance of feedback in the business (Langdoc, 1998). The feedback reception helps an entrepreneur to plan and make necessary changes in the product and services approaches. Innovation is a very important part of building and sustaining strategy. As an entrepreneur I have also learnt the basic skills of nurturing an innovation protecting it and making the best out of it. For any business to be successful there must be a good communication network. Lack of feedback was major issue at the organization (Coyle, 2003). The management never responded to the points of concerns raised by employees. Effective feedback usually helps in dealing with the emerging challenges. The management is the policy translator to the employees and therefore continuous feedback should be available. I have also been able to learn the importance of good communication with other employees. The proper communication network helps in solving problems that we may encounter while conducting business. Good communication is also important with the customers (Business Forecasting, 2011). Management is a continuous process of synchronizing an organization with its market throughout while tackling the competitors and regularly collecting feedback within the organization itself (Buchanan, 2000). It examines external and internal factors affecting a particular organization together with the skills, information and strategies put in place to effectively manage the change and consequent improvements. I have a feeling that management is an effective tool for decreasing motivational and environmental constraints while improving organizational structure. I learnt that lack of organized information (lack of an integrated framework) in an organization is a potential drawback. Organizations have departments, which at most times cause distortion of information hence influencing the decisions made by the executives. Information in an organization can b e organized in a process-based manner (Pitak, 2000). The process-based manner ensures that the organization is viewed horizontally regardless of the departmental boundaries. In addition, intangible (making of decisions, leadership, and innovation) and tangible should be Organization communication is the movement of knowledge and information amongst people in the organization in order for efficiency and effectiveness to be attained. Both the management and staff should share the goals of the organization. In the past, application aspects (writing and speaking) were the major concerns of communication but it later changed to character-based aspects. Since that time, organizational communication has developed and undergone various modifications. When changes or challenges occur in an organization, ways and means are identified to counter the changes effectively spread equally within the organization fraternity. For any entrepreneur the ability to maximize and optimize profits is an ess ential part while building and sustaining strategy. Application There is need for development of an overall plan on the integration of the various departments and staff. The management should insist on teamwork and establish an environment within the company that practices respect and diversity. The management should make a decision on the points of responsibility interdependence by assessment of the joined responsibilities. After

Feminism in the Handmaids Tale Essay Example for Free

Feminism in the Handmaids Tale Essay Some would argue that Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a book that pulls its ideas and beliefs about women and their place in society from the Bible. But based upon the novel, the Bible, and some writings by Christian writers, that is true, but highly skewed. Let’s begin by taking a look at how society is setup in The Handmaid’s Tale so we can have a clear understanding where the author is coming from. The whole premise is that women have lost all power, freedom, choice, and equality and are instead deemed either suitable for slave/maid type work or bearing children. Girls are taken to Rachel and Leah Re-education center, or the red center, as the girls living there knew it, and â€Å"indoctrinated† or brainwashed into the ideologies of the government and taught that their only role is to conceive children. They are also told that the structure of this society (Gilead) is better for women, more respectful and safe. Offred, the main character in the novel has a very monotonous and strict routine everyday that consists of shopping for the commander, the man of the house, and visiting the doctor frequently to be checked, and then undergo the ceremony. This ceremony is the emotionless, speechless sex that she has with commander in order to bear children because of the sudden drop in reproduction in the past society. Now that we have the groundwork laid, lets look at a couple ways they skew the role of women from what it is meant to be according to the Bible. The ceremony that they participate in includes reading from the Bible before engaging in sex. The only problem with that whole idea, is that they only read a small passage of one book every time, that speaks about a barren women urging her husband to lie with her servant so they may have a child. The problem with this is that it’s taken completely out of context. The backstory to Rachel, the barren woman, is that Jacob was supposed to be married to her after working for her father for seven years, but instead Laban, the father, gives his older daughter Leah to lie with Jacob. When he discovers he was tricked he tells Laban he will work another seven years if he can have Rachel as his wife. Because God saw that Rachel was much more loved than Leah, he made Rachel barren and blessed Leah with four children. This is why Rachel asked Jacob to lie with a servant girl; she was envious of her sister Leah (The Holy Bible ESV, Gen. 29-30). The way it is portrayed in the novel is just as a source of reason. The commander and the government need a way to convince women of society that what they are doing is good and it is what they are designed to do. The Bible also speaks in Genesis how man and woman were created in God’s image and how both are equally valuable. Women in Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale are not at all treated equal. Wayne Grudem says it well in his book Bible Doctrine, †¦and Paul emphasizes, â€Å"In the Lord, woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for woman was made from man, so now man is born of woman† Both men and women are equally important; both depend on each; both are worthy of honor† (201). This quote really shows how incorrect the society of Gilead has interpreted the Bible and also how poorly they have viewed women. They claim the safest way to protect the women is to restrict all their rights and give them the opportunity of one of three positions in society, which of those three, they do not even get to select. There are few instances in the novel that represent love, affection, or care; and this would be in the previous world and then between Offred and Nick and even that is a lot of physical affection more than true love. The Bible clearly states in Ephesians 5, â€Å"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church† (Eph. 5). This whole idea is nowhere near represented in The Handmaid’s Tale. The commander is married to the wife almost as a status. He has total authority over her and because she is barren they do not even sleep together. To bare child, he lies with the Handmaid, and to have pleasure, he visits Jezebels, which is a strip club. Which brings up another point in which prostitution and pornography were two of the major staples in the State’s philosophy of keeping women protected, yet they still have clubs that the men visit to enjoy themselves. Some may argue that there is biblical text to support everything that was done, such as Titus 2:5, which states â€Å"†¦women are to be submissive to their own husbands† (Titus. 2. ). This verse is said amongst many other actions women should portray towards their husbands, but it is originally meant, all out of love for their husband and ultimately for their love of Christ. Gilead believes having authority over everyone’s lives and particularly complete control of women. This just one more example of the misconstrued biblical reference portrayed how they see fit. This whole concept of people pulling verses out of context and twisting them to what they want is why so many people have a hard time believing in the truth. It has been so misinterpreted to what people want to believe or how people want others to believe. Gilead’s focus is on reproduction, order, control, and power. They have just found a way to use religion as a tool for their own plans, and in doing so have butchered the entire meaning of the device they are using. One more example of this is through other biblical references in the language. The entire book uses a variety of religious or Biblical language which includes but is not limited to: soldiers being called angels, the domestic servants are called Marthas, the store Milk and Honey, and even vehicles carry religious terms such as behemoth or chariot. These terms are used to help solidify the State’s justification for their actions. Using Biblical terms allows them to continue to preach that everything they do is to protect and serve according to the Bible. Again the problem is that they pull what they want from context and don’t use it according to how the original author intended it for the original audience, or how God meant for us to live. Margaret Atwood wrote a great novel describing what life could be like; if suddenly all women were subject to men’s rule and forced to live under such rigid conditions due to society’s prior downturn. Although the basis of Gilead, and it’s ideas and beliefs were high misinterpreted passages and references of biblical text. As previously stated, if someone is going to use biblical and historical references to support a cause or form a governing society, they must have the facts straight. This means using them in context, and for the original intended purpose. Not changing them or falsifying them to fit your ideas and beliefs.

PepsiCo Buyer Behaviour Analysis

PepsiCo Buyer Behaviour Analysis Buyer Behavior for Consumer Market Introduction In the summer of 1898, In New Bern, North Carolina, a young pharmacist named Caleb Bradham began experimenting with combinations of spices, juices and syrup trying to create refreshing new drinks to serve his customers. He succeeded beyond expectations by inventing new beverages know as Pepsi-Cola. Nowadays, Pepsi is a well known soft drink in all over the world. From its humble beginnings over a century ago, Pepsi-Cola has grown to become one of the best-known, most-loved products throughout the world. And the company behind it PepsiCo has grown as well, standing today as the premier marketer of refreshment beverages, juices and snack foods. They have consumer in over 200 countries in the whole world. The company offers more than 500 beverages and snack that appeal to every age of consumer age group and demographic category. Today, PepsiCo is a $29 billion company, employing more than 150,000 people speaking more than 40 languages around the globe. The company is consistently recognized for its corporate citizenship, philanthropic efforts and diversity programs. It is the worlds fourth-largest food and beverage company and is staking its claim as the global leader in convenience foods and beverages. PepsiCo has a strong plan to continue to expand with an enormous lineup of convenience foods and drinks that provide great taste, nutrition and fun around the clock. Here is the list of Pepsi Co brands and products. Mirinda, 7UP (International), Pepsi Limà ³n, Kas, Teem, Pepsi Max, Pepsi Light, Starbucks Doubleshot (Partnership), Starbucks Doubleshot, Energy (Partnership) Starbucks Iced Coffee (Partnership), Tropicana Twister, and Mountain Dew. Model of Consumer Behavior Consumer makes many buying decision every day. Many large companies do some research about consumer buying decision in great detail to answer questions what will customer buy, where they buy, how much they, when they buy and why they will buy those product. According to Principles of Marketing, Kotler (2008) Consumer Buyer Behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumer which are individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal consumptions. The entire final consumer combines to make a consumer market. Many big companies did a lot of marketing effort to attract the consumer to buy their product. For example, Pepsi Company. The company did a lot of marketing effort to attract the consumer such as advertising, survey, promotion and apply the 4 Ps to make the consumer aware about their product. The question here is, how did the consumer respond to the various marketing effort that Pepsi company use? Model of buyer behavior consist of Marketing and other stimuli, Buyers black box and Buyer Responses. Marketing and other stimuli will enter the consumers black box and produce certain responses. So marketers need to figure out what is in the buyers black box. Marketing stimuli consist of the Four Ps which are Product, Price, Place and Promotions. Other stimuli included major forces and events in the buyers environment such as economic, technological, political and cultural. All the inputs will enter the buyers black box, where they are turned into a set of observable buyer responses. Under buyer responses there are product choice, brand choice, dealer choice, purchase timing and purchase amount. Consumers do not make their decisions in a void. Their purchases are highly influenced by cultural social, personal, and psychological factors. Here some of that influence the behavior or the particular market: Cultural Factor Cultural factor divided into three sub factors Culture, Sub Culture, Social Class. Culture is the set of basic values perceptions, wants, and behaviors learned by a member of society from family and other important institutions. Culture is the most basic cause of a persons wants and behavior. Every group or society has a culture, and cultural influences on buying behavior may vary greatly from country to country. Based on the case study, we are doing a Pepsi brands in Malaysia. Malaysia has many races of people such as Malay, Chinese, Indian and many more. Now days many people choose to drink Pepsi because it is Halal and did not contain any alcohol. It is because most culture in Malaysia did not allowed them to drink alcohol. So for teenager of adult who cannot drink an alcohol drink, they can choose to drink Pepsi. Other than that, now day culture in Malaysia more shift towards greater concern about health and fitness. This had brought a lot of huge industry for health fitness services, more natural foods and variety of diets. So for Pepsi company which serve soft drinks, they had come with a new products known as Pepsi Max which has less sugar and gas to fulfill the new culture of Malaysian people. Sub Culture is a group of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations. Each culture contains smaller sub cultures a group of people with shared value system based on common life experiences and situations. Sub culture includes nationalities, religions, racial group and geographic regions. Many sub culture make up important market segments and marketers often design products. For Pepsi company, sub culture is very important in influencing the consumer to buy their products. They need to target consumer based on their nationalities, religions, racial group and geographic regions. For nationalities, Pepsi must aware about any country that did not allowed their people to take soft drinks. For example, India. They had once ban Pepsi in their country because of the sugar contain in Pepsi. According to Marketing, Kotler (2008), Many subcultures make up important market segments, and marketers often design products and marketing programs tailored to their needs. Pepsi should not make an advertisement which can touch the sensitiveness of any religions, nationalities and others. Social Class Almost every society has some form of social structure, social classes are societys relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests and behavior. Social class did not determined by a single factors such as incomes, but it measured as a combination of occupation, income, education, wealth, and other variables. Marketers are interested in social class because people within given social class tend to exhibit similar buying behavior. Social Factors A consumers behavior also is influenced by social factors, such as the Groups, Family, Roles and status. Groups are two or more people who interact to accomplish individual or mutual goals. A persons behaviors are influenced by many small groups. Groups that have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership groups. Some are primary groups includes family, friends, neighbours and coworkers. Some are secondary groups, which are more formal and have less regular interaction. These include organizations like religious groups, professional association and trade unions. For groups, it is much easier for Pepsi to attract them to buy their products. Because a single member of the groups can influences almost all the group member to follow them. For example, a leader in one group can influenced the members to buy Pepsi as part of the group activities. Family members can strongly influence buyer behavior. The family is the most important consumer buying organization society and it has been researched extensively. Marketers are interested in the roles, and influence of the husband, wife and children on the purchase of different products and services. In this social class, Pepsi need to target the children because they are the people who will consume more Pepsi. But of cause they will ask their parents to buy the products. So Parents is the customer and Children is the consumer. Roles and Status is a person belongs to many groups, family, clubs, organizations. The persons position in each group can be defined in terms of both role and status. For example, Mdm Airis plays the role of Mother, in her family she plays the role of wife, and in her company, she plays the role of manager. A Role consists of the activities people are expected to perform according to the persons around them. Personal Factors Personal factors consists of Age and life cycle stage, Occupation, Economic situation, Life Style, and Personality and self concept. Age and Life cycle Stage is People changes the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. Tastes in food, clothes, furniture, and recreation are often age related. Buying is also shaped by the stage of the family life cycle. Here Pepsi cannot target the all age of people to buy their products. They should target consumer from children, to teenagers and finally the adults. Because nowdays many people concern about their health. So they will try to avoid any soft drinks that have a lot of sugar and gas. This will affect their health. Occupation is a persons occupation affects the goods and services bought. Blue collar workers tend to buy more rugged work clothes, whereas white-collar workers buy more business suits. A Company can even specialize in making products needed by a given occupational group. Thus, computer software companies will design different products for brand managers, accountants, engineers, lawyers, and doctors. From here we can conclude that only working people can purchase Pepsi products. But not every one of them will purchase Pepsi. So Pepsi need to find a thing or a person to influence them. For example, advertisement is the best tools to influence them or for parents, children are their best factors to influence them to buy Pepsi products. Economic situation is a persons economic situation will affect product choice. Life Style is a persons Pattern of living, understanding these forces involves measuring consumers major AIO dimensions. For example, activities such as Work, hobbies, shopping, support. Other than that interest, Food, fashion, family recreation and opinions about themselves, Business, Products Personality and Self concept each persons distinct personality influence his or her buying behavior. Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to ones own environment. Psychological Factors Psychological factors consist of Motivation, Perception, Learning, Beliefs and attitudes Motivation. Motive drives a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction of the need. Perception, The process by which people select, Organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world. Learning is Changes in an individuals behavior arising from experience. Beliefs and attitudes. Belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something Attitude, a Persons consistently favorable or unfavorable evaluations, feelings, and tendencies towards an object or idea. Marketing Research Technique INTRODUCTION According to Malhotra (1996), Market Research can be defined as a key element within the total field of marketing information. Its links the consumer, customer and public to the market through information which is to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions while improved the understanding of marketing as a process and of the ways in which specific marketing activities can be made more effective. This is for the reason that its always incorporates some form of the data collection whether it is secondary research (often referred to as desk research) or primary research which is collected direct from a respondent. While based on the case study we know that Pepsi Co is one of the most famous company that produce soft drink and some other product. Subsequently to get the information about Pepsi Co we need to do the market research so that we will know how far the customer or consumer is satisfied with the Pepsi product as well. This is because without the market research they might be tough for Pepsi Co to know about the level of satisfaction of their customer towards their product that has been produce by them. Consequently to get the work become more efficient we will follow the step on market research which is the first step is we will apply the web site method to get the first condition and perception about the Pepsi Co. This is because through the web site method we will get extra information such as the impression, background, financial and so on about the Pepsi Co. Next we will make some preparation on preparing the questionnaire about Pepsi Co which is in the questionnaire include some of the question about how society get know about the Pepsi Co and how much they spend to buy Pepsi product. On top of that the 20 sheet of questionnaire has been distributed towards the people around the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center (KLCC) which is the trendiest place that all people knew bout it. The data analysis will analyze by 20 people around there with the different age and occupation. Finally the data that has been collected will be prepared and presented in the best way. Primary data collection can be considered as one of the extra sources because is needed when a researcher cannot find the data needed in secondary sources. Market researchers are interested in primary data about demographic, socioeconomic, characteristics, attitudes or opinions or interests, awareness or knowledge, intentions, motivation, and behavior. Three basic means of obtain by primary data are observation, surveys, and experiments. The choice will be influenced by the nature of the problem and by the availability of time and money. SURVEY According to Business Dictionary.com (2009), Survey can be defined as the collection of data from a given population for the reason of analysis of a particular issue. Data that frequently collected from a sample of a population, knows as a sample of survey. As we already informed surveys is one of the ways that are used widely in research, especially in market research to find some information or any feedback from others towards some product. Besides that there have 4 types of survey which is include personal interview, self-administrated surveys, telephone interviews and direct observation. In order to collect the information of Pepsi Co we were applying 2 types of survey which is personal interview and self administrated surveys which are made by us as well. Personal Interview According to Business Dictionary.com (2009), Personal Interview can be defined as a market research technique for gathering information through face-to-face while contact with individuals. Personal interviews take place in a variety of place like settings-in homes, at shopping malls, in a business office and so forth. One of the personal interviews is face-to face interviews which is this interview are conducted between a market researcher and a respondent. Then the data is collected on a survey. Some surveys are very rigid or structured and use closed questions. So that the data is easy to compared with others. Further about face-to-face interviews is more in strength, and depend upon more open forms of questioning. The research will investigate and develop points of interest. While based on the case study, we were takes place in KLCC to do the research up about the Pepsi Co which is the trendiest area in the Kuala Lumpur. We chose this place because on a daily basis there is more people visit that place and most of them are from people around the Malaysia. Consequently we use the face to face interview because easy to get feedback from them and we can get the information on the spot. On top of that Pepsi Co can get directly more explanation from them because they can through out what they felt about the product that has been produced by Pepsi Co. Self-Administrated Surveys A self-administrated survey is one in which the respondent completes the survey on his or her. While as we know Questionnaires are usually printed on paper, but they might be in other ways like programmed into computer and places on the internet and ask for the respond. However, Self-administrated questionnaires present a challenge to the marketing researcher because they really on the efficiency of the written word rather than the skills of the interviewer. Self-administrated surveys are attractive because they are low in cost, and they avoid interviewer evaluation apprehension or worry. While based on the case study, when we do the survey about Pepsi Co we would just used pen and a paper to make the survey complete. Instead of that the people that has been ask for complete the survey questionnaire will directly respond on the questionnaire. Consequently we can get the result of the information directly of the questionnaire which is has been complete by the respondent. Telephone Interviews Telephone interviews also can be consider as one of the techniques that can be done to make our survey complete which is telephone interviews is also one of the key under the survey method. Telephone interview can be defined as an interview that gathers information through telephone contact with individuals. This means that the interviewers will call their respondent to get the feedback or respond from their customers. As a result the information that gathers would help us as well to make changes towards our product that has been survey. Direct Mail While surveys also can be made by using the direct mail which is the interviewers will send the questionnaire through the email so that the respondent can give the feedback form there using the mail responded .Example like company A which is the interviewer and in order to evaluate their performance towards society they will try to make and Direct mail interview which is they will send some question that will be in questionnaire and may be might ask about their company services that has been provided to society and they will sent the questionnaire to Company B which the interviewee. On this cases the company will receive the questionnaire form in direct mail from the Company B. So as the respondent Company B will return the answer also in mail form which is they will send back to Company A Through this method its give lots of pros towards the company which is can save cost in order to prepared the questionnaire because through the direct mail its the company can save cost OBSERVATION The market research technique is not just only based on the survey method, this is because Observation also one of the method that can be used to collect the information on the level of satisfaction towards Pepsi product. Observation can be easily defined as the systematic process of recording the behavioral patterns of people, object and occurrences without questioning or otherwise communicating with them. Observations can be divide into two types which is having as human observation and mechanical observation. As a Marketing Research officer for Pepsi Co we were use both types of observation to know what behavior of people or society towards the Pepsi Product. Observation as a methodical process of recording the behavioral patterns of people, objects and event without questioning or else communicating with them. Observation can be divides into two types which are as the chart show above two types of observation is Human observation and Mechanical observation which is can be implementing by Pepsi Co in order to observe their customers. Human Observation Human observation can be defined as self explanatory, using human observers to collect data in the study. We can do the observation by human observation. It means that we use human as the observers which is we can just look and interpret what they do, what feeling are they, or else from their body languages. We can know what their feel now such as happy, enjoy, bored and so forth towards the product of Pepsi. Other than that through the human observation the best technique that can be implement by the Pepsi Co to evaluate their customer feelings is through facial reaction of the customer which is can be in their smiles, raised eyebrows an head nods as well. As a result we can automatically analyze how the customer sense towards the product of the Pepsi. Besides that Pepsi Co also can used the direct observation in order to observe the customer of their product. Which is they can straightly observe the customer behavior towards the Pepsi product Mechanical Observation Mechanical observation involves using various types of machines in order to gather the information, data, which is then interpreted by researchers. On a daily basis we are already know that with the continuing improvements in technology, there are lots of mechanical ways that can be used in order to capturing data in observation studies however, these new gadgets tend to be extremely expensive. The most commonly used and least expensive means of mechanically gathering data in an observation study is a video camera. A video camera offers a much more precise means of collecting data than what can simply be recorded by a human observer. Based on the case study we know that in order to observe the customer we can implement the other ways which is like Mechanical Observation as a Marketing Research Officer we try to look forward on the ways of implementing the mechanical observation this is because they will make our work become more easily with the observation for employees or customers of the Pepsi Co. Otherwise Pepsi Co can used the CCTV which is to get the information without knowing by other people. Example that can be stated at here is like Pepsi Company in order to observe their employees in all departments like marketing department, chemical department which is this entire department were play and important role while producing and made the product Pepsi. Consequently we can see the action that shows by them is humble, lazy, and friendly and so forth. Indirectly, Pepsi Co can manage or take an action towards the employee which is not performing effective and efficient towards their work. Other than that we also can used the Video in order to observe the behavioral of the customer while the purchase the Pepsi product and we can see how they felt either satisfy or not which the number of purchase. Conclusion While based on my point of view the conclusion that can be made at here is survey is a type of research which is comparatively costly, because it requires a staff of interviewers, but it provides the best opportunity to obtain information through probing for clearer explanations. Consequently, we can know what people in KLCC feel about the Pepsi product. This is because the respondent can tell us what they feel. Ultimately, we can know either they satisfy or not about the performance of the Pepsi product or not. Besides that the personal style (tone of voice, rewording of a question) and biases of each interviewer can affect how the participants respond and how the responses are recorded. As a result, we can get information from our recorded such as from video recorded. While from mechanical observation, we must spend more time to get the information. At the same times, we cannot observe the feeling of people in this campus because we cannot ask then but just take their photo or vide o. On the whole, for us, survey is the best technique to use early on in the research process when the researcher is not yet sure which questions need to be asked, because new and better questions can come out of the dialogue. SWOT ANANLYSIS Introduction According to Businessdictionary.com (2009), secondary data is an existing primary data that was collected by someone else or for a purpose other that the current one. It depending on whether the data come from inside and outside the organization needing to research. In secondary data, it divided into two parts of sources such as internal and external secondary data. Internal secondary data are data that have been collected and exits inside the business firm or other organization. External secondary data is data from outside that firm. According to Business Dictionary.com (2009) SWOT is a tool that identifies the strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of an organization. Specifically, SWOT is a basic, straightforward model that assesses what an organization can and cannot do as well as its potential opportunities and threats. The method of SWOT analysis is to take the information from an environmental analysis and separate in into internal such as strengths and weaknesses and external issues such as opportunities and threats. Once this is completed, SWOT analysis determines what may assist the firm in accomplishing its objectives, and what obstacles must be overcome or minimized to achieve desire result. Based on case study, to be comes a strong business strategy, Pepsi Co can used SWOT analysis that helped it become stronger competitor in other way Pepsi Co must identify which is their strength, weakness, opportunity and threat? SWOT Analysis of PEPSI Co The Pepsi Company is a leading manufacture, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, in the world. Pepsi has a strong brand name and brand portfolio. Business-week and Interbrain, a branding consultancy, recognize Pepsi as one the leading brand in their top 100 global brand ranking in 2006. The business week-interbrain value Pepsi $67,000 million in 2006. Pepsi ranks well ahead of its close competitor Coco-Cola which has a ranking of 22 having brand value $12,690 million the companys strong brand value facilitates customer recall and allows Pepsi to penetrate markets. On the other hand, the company is threatened by intense competition which could have an adverse impact on the company market share. Strengths Strong brands allow the company to introduce brand extension such as Pepsi max, Pepsi Cola, Pepsi Twist, Pepsi Diet, Pepsi Light over the year; the company has made large investments in brand promotion. Consequently, Pepsi is one of the best recognized global brands. The companys strong brand value facilitates customer recall and allows Pepsi to penetrate new market and consolidate existing ones. Pepsi has been a complex part of world culture for a very long time and they take a good qualities control of their product by take important on qualities processes n also procedures to maintain their customer satisfaction. They have a unique product image and the products image is loaded with over-romanticizing and this is an image many people have taken deeply to heart. The Pepsi image is displayed on T-shirts, hats and collectible memorabilia and many more. This extremely recognizable branding is one of Pepsis greatest strengths. It allows them to conduct business on a global scale while at the same time maintain a local approach. The bottling companies are locally owned and operated by independent business people who are authorized to sell product of the Pepsi Company. Because Cola does not have outright ownership of its bottling network, its main source of revenue is the sale of concentrate to its bottlers. Weaknesses Weaknesses for any business need to be both minimized and monitored in order to effectively achieve productive and efficiency in their business activities, Pepsi have no exception. Even though domestic business as well as many international market are thriving volumes in Latin America were up 12%, Pepsi has recently reported some decliners in unit case volumes in Indonesia and Thailand due to reduce consumer purchasing power. According to an article in Fortune magazine, in Japan, unit case sales fell 3% in the second quarter of 1998. Consequently we can determine the Pepsi Weakness which is can be improve and can be make sure that in future they will never happened again. Besides that, Pepsi on the other side has effects on the teeth which is an issue for health care. It also has got sugar by which continuous drinking of Pepsi may cause health problem. Being addicted to Pepsi also is a health problem, because drinking of Pepsi daily has an effect on your body after few years. Because its contain chemicals which could cause cancer, damage the nervous and reproductive system and reduce bone mineral density. Such negative publicity could adversely impact the companys brand image and the demand for Pepsi product. This could also have an adverse impact on the companys growth prospects in the international market Negative publicity The company received negative publicity during September 2006.The Company was accused by the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) of selling products containing pesticide residues that contained a hazardous pesticide residue. These pesticides included chemicals which could cause cancers, damage the nervous and reproductive systems and reduce bone mineral density. Such negative publicity could adversely impact the companys brand image and the demand for Pepsi products. This could also have an adverse impact on the companys growth prospects in the international markets. Opportunities Brand recognition is the significant factor affecting Pepsis competitive position. Pepsis brand name is known well throughout 94% of the world today. Its mean that the primary concern over the past few years has been to get this name brand to be even better known. Packaging changes have also affected sale and industry positioning, but in general, the public has tended not to be affected by new products. Pepsi bottling system also allows the company to take advantage of infinite growth opportunities around the world. This strategy gives Pepsi the opportunity to service a large geographic, diverse area. Pepsi is such an experienced powerful global company, which has a basic of a great fund. So it has the ability to place an idle sum of money to the promotion. We can see that the advertisement of Pepsi-Cola is so attractive. It also invited the top famous people to advertise for it. The advertisement is so elaborate and attractive so that Pepsi gained the special prize of the advertisement Granny. Threats Currently the threat of new viable competitors in the carbonated soft drink industry is not very substantial. The threat of substitutes however is a very real threat. The soft drink industry is very strong, but consumers are not necessarily married to it. Possible substitutes that continuously put pressure on both Pepsi and Coke include tea, coffee, juices, milk, and hot chocolate, even thought Coco-Cola and Pepsi control nearly 40% of the entire beverage market, the changing health-consciousness of the market could have a serious affect. Of course, both Coke and Pepsi have already diversified into these markets, allowing them to have further significant market shares and offset any losses incurred due to fluctuations in the market. Consumer buying power also represents a key threat in the industry. The rivalry between Pepsi and Coke has produce a very slow moving industry in which management must continuously respond to the changing attitudes and demands of their consumer or face losing market share to the competition. In addition, consumer can easily switch to other beverages with little cost or consequence. Intense competition Pepsi competes in the nonalcoholic beverages segmen