Case Study Research Essay

Case One: Barsz v. Max Shapiro, Inc. Ind. Ct. App. 600 N.E.2d 151 (1992) Fact: Marjorie Barsz brought negligence action against Shapiro’s Delicatessen Cafeteria to recover for personal injuries sustained when she slipped and fell, breaking her right ankle and left knee cap. Her husband, Carl Barsz brought action against the restaurant for loss of consortium with his wife due to Mrs. Barsz’s injuries. The Circuit Court of Shelby County granted summary judgment for the restaurant, and the plaintiffs appealed. The Court of Appeals of Indiana, First District held that genuine issues of material facts existed and reversed the summary judgment. Issue: Was Shapiro’s Delicatessen Cafeteria negligent in identifying and remedying the condition of the floor in the restaurant, causing Marjorie Barsz’s accident? Rule: GOLBA v. KOHL’S DEPT. STORE, INC. Ind. Ct. App. 585 N.E.2d 14 (1992) Analysis: To avoid summary judgment, Marjorie Barsz had to show that there was a defective condition in the floor of the restaurant which caused her slip and fall, and that the restaurant unreasonably failed to discover and remedy the hazardous condition. Genuine material facts existed which precluded summary judgment for the restaurant. Summary judgment is generally inappropriate in negligence cases. Trial Procedure Rule 56(C) Conclusion: A restaurant cannot be held strictly liable for a fall that occurred before having a reasonable chance to remove a foreign substance from its floor; restaurant as not the absolute guarantor of customer safety. However, summary judgment cannot be granted when a genuine material fact exists. Case Two: Golba v. Kohl’s Dept. Store, Inc. Ind. Ct. App. 585 N.E.2d 14 (1992) Facts: Plaintiff Stella Golba brought negligence action against defendant Kohl’s Department Store stemming from a slip and fall accident. Ms. Golba stepped on a small object on a glossy floor, causing her to trip and fall. The floor had only been swept once on the morning of the accident. The Circuit Court of Starke County granted the store’s motion for summary judgment, and the plaintiff appealed. The Court of Appeals of Indiana, Third District held that material issues of fact existed and reversed the summary judgment. Issue: Was Kohl’s Department Store negligent in maintaining their floors in a safe condition for patrons? Rule: BURRELL v. MEADS Ind. 569 N.E.2d 637 (1991) Analysis: A land owner is subject to liability for physical harm caused to his invitees by a condition on the land if, but only if, he knows or exercising reasonable care would discover the condition, and should realize that it is an unreasonable risk of harm to invitees, and should expect that they will not realize the danger, or will not protect themselves against it, and fails to exercise reasonable care to protect them against the danger. Normally, determining whether the host has exercised reasonable care to make their premises safe for an invitee is a question of fact for a jury. Conclusion: Sweeping of a floor only once in the morning does not constitute exercise of reasonable care to prevent injury to customers from objects left in the floor. The issue of fact as to whether the store had notice of the object in the floor precluded a summary judgment.

Inventory Management System Essay

He suggests, though, that for the endurance of your business and the future of your applications as a whole, you go with something like PHP that has a good solid community and is in constant development to make it and its features better. The flexibility that PHP offers also means that the possibility for someone to write nasty code that works (for now) goes up greatly. * Adobe Dreamweaver [Heaton (1998)] According to Heaton (1998), he states that,â€Å"I personally recommend Dreamweaver to both learners and seasoned experts’ think Adobe can make is more accessible to people by having various versions of it much like Elements is a poor man’s Photoshop, there should be a cut down version of DW. So in my opinion  no, it is not just an overpriced text editor. Dreamweaver is a powerful and highly applicable tool that every designer should be able to own. * Inventory [Donald Reimer (1989)] According to Donald Reimer (1989), â€Å"Today, maintaining the right inventory levels is a tough challenge. If not properly managed, your inventory can result in a significant expense. Looking over your shoulder is the lender who is concerned about the cost of carrying too much inventory- which can affect profitability. † * Inventory System [Michael Bernacchi (2002)] According to an author Michael Bernacchi (2002),an inventory systems maintain information about activities within firms that ensure the delivery of products to customers. The subsystems that perform these functions include sales, manufacturing, warehousing, ordering, and receiving. In different firms the activities associated with each of these areas may not be strictly contained within separate subsystems, but these functions must be performed in sequence in order to have a well-run inventory control system. According to Godwin Udo (1993), given such developments, it is little wonder that business experts commonly cite inventory management as a vital element that can spell the difference between success and failure in today’s keenly competitive business world. Writing in production and inventory Management Journal, Godwin Udo described telecommunications technology as a critical organizational asset that can help a company realize important competitive gains in the area of inventory management. He noted that companies that make good use of this technology are far better equipped to succeed than those who rely on outdated or unwieldy methods of inventory control. According to Dennis Eskow (1990), automation can dramatically impact all phases of inventory management, including counting and monitoring of inventory items; recording and retrieval of item storage location; recording changes to inventory; and anticipating inventory needs, including inventory handling requirements. This is true even of stand-alone systems that are not integrated with other areas of the business, but many analysts indicate that productivity and hence profitability gains that are garnered through use of automated systems can be increased even more when a business integrates its inventory control systems with other systems such as accounting and sales to better control inventory levels. As Dennis Eskow noted in PC Week, business executives are â€Å"increasingly integrating financial data, such as accounts receivable, with sales information that includes customer histories, the goal: to control inventory quarter to quarter, so it doesn’t come back to bite the bottom line. Key components of an integrated system are general ledger, electronic data interchange, database connectivity, and connections to a range of vertical business applications. † In the latter part of the 1990’s, may businesses invested heavily in integrated order and inventory systems designed to keep inventories at a minimum and replenish stock quickly. But business owners have a variety of system integration options from which to choose, based on their needs and financial liquidity. At the same time that these integrated systems have increased in popularity, business observers have suggested that â€Å"stand-alone† systems are falling into disfavor. A 1996 study by the international Mass Retail Association, for example, concluded that stand alone Warehouse Management System Packages acquired to perform individual functions will soon become obsolete because they do not integrate well with other systems. Another development of which small business vendors should be aware is a recent trend wherein powerful retailers ask their suppliers to implement vendor-managed inventory systems; these arrangements place the responsibility for inventory management squarely on the shoulders of the vendors. Under such an agreement, the vendors obtain warehouse or point of sale information from the retailer and use that information to make inventory restocking decisions. The move toward automation in inventory management naturally has moved into the warehouse as well, citing various warehousing experts, Sarah Bergin contended in transportation and distribution magazine that â€Å"the key to getting productivity gains from inventory management is placing real-time processing in the ware house uses combinations of hardware including material handling and data collection technologies, but according to these executive, the intelligent part of the system is sophisticated software which automates and controls all aspects of warehouse operations. Another important component of good inventory management is creation and maintenance of a sensible, effective warehousing design. A well-organized, user-friendly warehouse layout can be of enormous benefit to small business owners, especially if they are involved in processing large colymes of goods and materials. Conversely, an inefficient warehouse system can cost businesses dearly in terms of efficiency, custom er service, and ultimately profitability. Transportation and distribution magazine cited several steps that businesses utilizing warehouse storage systems can take to help ensure that they get the most out of their facilities.

Journal on Aviation Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Journal on Aviation Education - Essay Example This analysis can take various forms including a variety of models for performance analysis. In this chapter, the "a-ha moment" is associated with the concept of modeling the process of problem solving. It's intuitive that problem solving requires extensive analysis, but the concept of using a "comprehensive" as well as a "situation specific" methodology in unison to arrive at both a high level and an operational approach to critical issues, really makes sense (Rothwell & Kazanas, 1998). The point that seemed most unclear is the process of finding the association of data point metrics required for a valid performance matrix designed. This model for comprehensive problem-solving was exemplified by the Gilbert Performance Matrix, but it was difficult to understand exactly how to associate the data points. In Chapter 5 the concept of assessing relative characteristics of targeted learners is the main topic of discussion. This exercise includes great attention to the detail of describing learner characteristics; identifying those characteristics specifically; developing learner profiles; evaluating and describing cognitive assessment; then judging learner assessment. The "a-ha moment" was based on the specifics of what kind of learner characteristics should be assessed. ... The entire range of learner characteristics provides for a sense of uncertainty in approach, so a template of learner related characteristics worthy of consideration and useful to the design process and in focusing the efforts in the instructional design. Muddiest Point The concept that made the least sense is the theory of "cognitivism" in the instructional design process. The idea that learners develop their own strategies for learning is perhaps misleading, since all learning is based on factors associated with one's own environment and percepts developed from the influence of others (Kemp, 1985). Developing Performance Measurements In this chapter, the development of measurement criteria is suggested as quickly as learning objectives has been established. Measurements are defined as a means to track performance relative to objectives, and as such are a critical component in understanding if the learning process is working as anticipated or needs to be adjusted. A-Ha Moment The breakdown of the value and purpose of performance measurements is the "a-ha" moment in this chapter. It's intuitive that there is an impact, but the correlation to purpose was somewhat unclear. Based on the Table 9.1, the value and influence of each component in the process becomes apparent. For example, the breakdown of each fundamental element assists with the understanding of the ingredients required for success (e.g.: influence of participant reaction; participant learning; on-the-job performance change; and organizational impact). Muddiest Point The process in deciding "how" to measure performance is still confusing. The reason for decisions associated with the selection of a data collection method seems arbitrary, since all the elements described could apply to

Positron emission tomography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Positron emission tomography - Essay Example Isotopes with the tendency to radioactivity refer to atoms with an unstable nucleus. The inner core, which consists of the nucleus, has unbalanced energy. The dense package of neutron and proton makes the nucleus unstable. The lack of stability is the basis for the decomposition process. Therefore, through decomposition, the nuclei transform its configuration and components to a less strength and steady condition. This decomposition obeys the exponential law, which states ‘the number of decomposition per second is always equivalent to the amount of the undecayed nuclei available.' The law is also applicable to the rate of decay (activity). The decay depends on the half-life of the nuclide. Half-life is the duration/time that a nucleus takes to be halved.Positrons refer to the subatomic molecules that are equal in mass to an electron with characteristic of carrying a positive charge. When the positron decay (ÃŽ ²+), its nuclei changes one of the core protons (p) to a neutron (n) , while emitting positron (ÃŽ ²+) to attain a positively charged nature referred to as neutrino (ÃŽ ½).Upon the release from the initial nucleus, the high positron moves across a few millimeters through the tissue until it attains thermalization, during the acquisition of thermal energy, the positrons arrive at thermal energies. They begin connecting with electrons either through annihilation that produce two 511 keV photons to take anti-parallel positrons frame or through development of the hydrogen.

Determining Your perfect Position Research Paper - 1

Determining Your perfect Position - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that perfect position would be as such that asks to manifest yourself in the leadership role where you could oversee work without actually doing anything. This would mean that the managers would report and tell what is going on in the workplace but it would not in any way ask me to go out and look at how employees would be doing their tasks and processes. The strengths and weaknesses of the leadership style areas such that he would be soft natured but would not tolerate any misgivings at the workplace. The researcher remains staunch about the work domains that come about under the organizational tenets. He would always make it a point to remain steadfast about his resources and the employees who are there within the workplace realms. He would keep them abreast of the changes that are taking place on an organizational level and would not worry about taking a risk every now and then. The strengths that would embody the basis of the researcher ’s leadership would comprise of my strong adherence to guidelines and rules that have been made in the organization his the weaknesses would be that the author would be sensitive to emotions and sentiments of individuals working in the organization. Hence the researcher believes this would be his perfect position because it would offer him a chance to showcase who he is and what he wants to do when he becomes a leader.

Life in the Antebellum U.S Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Life in the Antebellum U.S - Essay Example The Native Americans were the initial occupants of land in America. They hunted and gathered to sustain their nutritional requirements. President Thomas Jefferson saw the institution of a policy which allowed Native Americans to retain their ancestral lands east of the Mississippi. The only condition attached to this was that the native population was to assimilate themselves with the rest of the population. They were to supplement their hunting and gathering practices with agriculture. As time elapsed, it became impossible for the government retain their policy. The rapid population increase among the immigrants and Whites in America made it improbable for the government to retain this policy. They, therefore, resorted in the displacement of Native Americans from their ancestral land. The president Andrew Jackson signed 'the Indian Removal Act’ on May 26, 1830 (Keegan 72). The acquired land was to be used to set up plantations. These would ensure large-scale production of cro ps that would be used for food and other industries. It would also provide the immigrants with a place to settle in; where they could begin building their lives. Time ensued, and the Whites encroached on Native American’s land outnumbering the native population. They assumed total ownership of the land and established their own institutions and systems. The Natives signed treaties that guaranteed them equal land West of Mississippi in exchange for their original parcels of land. Tribes that did not co-operate faced forceful eviction from their lands by government officials who abused their power. For example, the Cherokee people experienced forceful eviction from their land. This was after signing the ‘Treaty of New Echota’ by a small part of the entire tribe. The tribal leaders missed out of the entire treaty signing process. This led to the death of estimated 4,000 tribe members in 1835. The march came to be known as the ‘Trail of Tears’ (Keegan 27 ). The government justified their actions by claiming that the natives’ presence disrupts the harmony in the region. They also claimed that the land would benefit the American population. However, this was not entirely true. Many of the government officials were greedy and simply desired sole ownership of the land. This led them to act in inhumane ways that led to the death of many Natives. These officials also did not honor the terms of the treaties in which they coerced the natives to sign. The Antebellum period saw increased manufacturing of products in America. Most manufacturers were, therefore, in need of cheap labor to meet their manufacturing demands. This could only be provided by immigrant workers. There were two categories of immigrant workers in the antebellum period. The first lot is the workers who migrated to America left their homes to search for a means to sustain their livelihood without coercion. The others underwent forceful eviction from their countries w ithout their approval. The zeitgeist of that time supported the expansive use of slave labor. The thriving slave market profited from the sale of slaves acquired from conquered states in the African continent (Keegan 33). A variety of factors worked together to contribute to widespread colonialism; and in turn to slavery all around the world. The superior states were always in constant disagreement as they all rushed to acquire colonial territories overseas. The Berlin conference 1885-1886 came up with guidelines of

E-Learning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

E-Learning - Assignment Example According to research, multimedia is the combination of various elements with interactive components (Asian Development Bank 7). These elements can offer the consumer a more stimulating and vibrant web encounter, but like with everything, control is important. However, various multimedia elements need exceptional software development. It is unlawful to use pictures lacking the consent of either the photojournalist or the holder of the pictures. It is thus vital to attain authorization before an image is used for e-learning processes. Line art is the greatest rudimentary growth mass of official examination. It can be employed to develop more multifaceted shapes or to lead the eye of the audience from one location in the composition to another. Vector art element is employed by computers, where images saved take up less computer space. The images kept can effortlessly be inflated without altering the appearance. This, as a result, makes it simple for an e-learning education program to make or edit the image in order to suit the required pictures for learning. In the e-learning setting, interactivity is the communication that takes place between a person and a computer program; it allows the consumers to take part in the process actively instead of being a passive receiver of information. Interactivity is meant to enhance attentiveness, thus improving the learning process. These multimedia elements can be used in various ways in e-learning education program, and they can also be used at any given time depending on the requirements of the given organization. Instructional matters of the multimedia features are that there is deficiency of existing investigation to discourse the serious matters of just how to advance operative multimedia instructional concepts and technology that results into desired learning enactment and gratification. Audio is an element that uses sound to teach the material. Audio can be used as a stand-alone, such as a podcast. Alternatively, it can be used as a supplemental tool, such as providing sound to complement a PowerPoint presentation. The best time to use audio in e-learning is when the majority of learners are auditory. However, it can also be used to supplement text and other visual material. For example, visually a graph can be presented but audio can then explain the graph. The key is to only have it be supplemental, though; as Clark points out, stating the exact same points via sound and text can overload the learner rather than reinforce the material (Kineo, 2013). Audio should also not be used when it is known that learners will not have access to the required technology. One of the biggest technological issues with audio is developing a balance between file size and quality (Vaughan, 2007). It is important to ensure that quality is not compromised and that learners are able to clearly understand the file; however, because different systems, platforms, and users’ computers vary, file sizes need to b e considered in order to ensure that the files are accessible. As Vaughan (2007) points out, the better the quality is, the larger the file will be. Another technological issue involves the balancing of the recording levels; too high and it may be distorted with crackling or other noise, but too low and the sound â€Å"

Describing three examples of activities in health care organizations Assignment

Describing three examples of activities in health care organizations - Assignment Example The immunization activities entail giving children BCG, DPT, polio, and measles immunization (Stahl, 2004). There is also epidemic preparedness and response to epidemics which is crucial to the health care organization employees because they have to start isolation of the people with the epidemic. When there is an epidemic outbreak for example the Ebola outbreak, people-centered management should be applied to give employees chances to suggest on the way forward on whether to isolate the infected people or whether to let them live with the other people. When giving an employee a chance to give a solution, it opens up their minds and makes them think. Supervisors and managers should award employees that show bravery during a difficult time of responding to an outbreak, for example an employee who saves a patient’s life. The reward will be a motivation to the individual and to the other employees who will work hard and be fully dedicated to their work. Fully participation of the employees can also earn their organization world awards. Communication between the supervisors and the employees is important for the growth of a health care organization. Where there is communication, people understand each other’s needs. When an employee’s opinion is taken into consideration, such an employee is motivated to keep on being committed to their work because they feel appreciated and respected. Moreover, meetings help employees to pass their complains and the supervisors and managers’ compliment and critic on the employees work (Carroll, 2001). The managers and supervisors encourage the employees on teamwork. In epidemic preparedness, the employees in different departments should be able to know where their teammates are, to make the daily routine surveillance for the epidemic easier. Furthermore, this aids the teammates to avoid losing a colleague to the outbreak without the knowledge of

Cultural Protectionism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Cultural Protectionism - Essay Example Conversely, other countries’ cultures are portrayed as backward, oppressive and at times, barbaric. Recently, many countries have tried to protect various cultures especially through the film industry. As expected, this has drawn varied reactions with some criticising this move while others in support of the same. This paper will analyse if movies are just like any other goods. Furthermore, it will dig out the various ways countries ought to shield respective film industries. The critics of the cultural protectionism often argue that movies are like any other commodity hence, there is no point to emphasize on the same. According to Sanson (2014), movies are just used as a form of entertainment just like other commodities that are bought by people from different countries. Baughn and Buchanan (2011) made an argument that cultural protectionism especially in the movies is unrealistic. To solidify the argument, a case of France was cited where the government tried to reduce the importation of movies but the local consumers still failed to buy the local content. As a result, it is argued that cultural protectionism is unrelated to movies. Often, in order to ensure cultural protectionism is done, governments employ the tactic of high tax for imported movies. Additionally, local film industry is funded in a bid to enable it produce more of the content the government would prefer. It is here that critics argue that this step does not guarantee protectionism because the industry would then be subjected to manipulation (Heinemann, 2012). Instead of using movies as a way of cultural protectionism, the government is urged to employ other methods. In short, these critics are arguing that the film industry has nothing to do with the issue of culture. Notwithstanding these assertions and examples provided by the critics, the proponents

Uniform Crime Report Essay Example for Free

Uniform Crime Report Essay A Uniform Crime Report is a data series published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that has been collected since 1930 and has been widely used by criminal justice researchers to collect data on crime. (Maxfield Babbie, 2012) Law enforcement agencies provide the crime data to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and then the reports are compiled and created. The Uniform Crime Report does not count all crimes that are reported to the police. Part I offenses such as murders and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny theft, and motor vehicle theft are all counted in the Uniform Crime Report. (Maxfield Babbie, 2012) There are a large number of crimes that are not measured in the Uniform Crime Report because they are considered to be Part II crimes. Part II crimes consist of shoplifting, drug sale or use, fraud, prostitution, simple assault, vandalism, receiving stolen property, and other non-traffic offenses. (Maxfield Babbie, 2012) Part II crimes are counted on the Uniform Crime Reports only if that person has been arrested and charged with a crime. These crimes do represent a large number of offenses that occur across the United States. And since they are only reported if a person has been arrested and charged with a crime, this does create some measurement errors in the Uniform Crime Report. In the 1920’s, the International Association of Chiefs of Police formed the Committee on Uniform Crime Reports. (Atlas, 2011) This committee wanted to establish a system of uniform police crime statistics. This committee evaluated various crimes based on how serious the crime is and how frequent that crime occurred as well as the likelihood of it being reported to law enforcement in all areas of the country. (Atlas, 2011) After the studies and evaluations were completed in each state, the Committee completed a plan for crime reporting that became the foundation of the Uniform Crime Report Program in 1929. (Atlas, 2011) Every month, law enforcement agencies across the United States submit results on the amount of Part I index offenses to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The index offenses consists of criminal homicide: the willful non-negligent killing of one human being by another or a death caused by negligence, attempted killings, and suicides; Forcible rape: the knowledge of raping a female forcibly and against her will and attempts or assaults excluding statutory offenses; Robbery: The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the custody or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force; Aggravated assault: an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury with the use of a weapon; Burglary: The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft; Larceny theft: the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another such as bicycles, shoplifting, and pocket-picking; Motor vehicle theft: the theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle; Arson: any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud a house, public building or any other personal property of another. (Atlas, 2011) Arson was not included in the Part I crime index’s originally when the Committee first formed the Uniform Crime Report. It was later added in 1979 to be included on the Uniform Crime Report. Before looking into the Uniform Crime Report statistics, violent crime in Illinois seems to have been on the rise especially the major metropolitan areas like Chicago. Just based on the news reports and changes in the communities that I have seen over the years has led me to believe that violent crime has increased tremendously. But after looking into the statistics more and reviewing the Uniform Crime Reports for the state Illinois I was able to really determine how violent crime was measured and recorded in Illinois. I will be reviewing violent crimes consisting of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault from the years of 2006 through 2010. I have included a table showing the crime reporting statistics for the state of Illinois from 2006 through 2010. Table 1, State of Illinois The statistics that appear in table 1 from the Uniform Crime Report show that in the categories of aggravated assault, robbery, forcible rape, and murder and non-negligent homicide, the number of violent crimes overall has decreased or stayed approximately the same from the years 2006 through 2010. Aggravated assaults in the years 2006 and 2010 had noticeably dropped while robberies stayed approximately the same throughout the five years with the biggest drop in the years 2006 and 2010 as well. Aggravated assaults in 2006 were reported at 40,858 and 32,042 in 2010. Forcible rape also stayed consistent during the five years with the exception of years 2006 and 2010. In 2006, forcible rape was reported at 4,078 and 3,033 in 2010. Murders and non-negligent homicides were surprisingly reported approximately about the same from 2006 through 2010. That category also had the biggest change in the year 2006 and 2010. Overall, the crimes reported show that crime has had its biggest decrease in the year 2010 in all four crime index categories. There isn’t a significant amount of differences amongst the numbers reported for violent crimes, but there still shows some improvement from the years 2006 through 2010. When looking at other states violent crime statistics between the years of 2006 through 2010 in comparison to Illinois, I reviewed Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. These three states were similar to Illinois in population. Violent crime trends in Illinois did not mirror these states at all. Tables 2, 3 and 4 show the crime rates between Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania between the years of 2006 through 2010. Table 2, State of Michigan Table 3, State of Ohio Table 4, State of Pennsylvania Although the Uniform Crime Report numbers for these states above are very different from one another, there were some noticeable changes within all four states. While Michigan and Illinois had similar aggravated assaults, Ohio had a significant amount that was less. The biggest difference is shown in the year 2006 where Illinois had 40,858 aggravated assaults, and Ohio only had 15,973. Forcible rapes were pretty consistent in decreases in the four states, but Ohio had the highest reduction from 2006 through 2010. Robberies is also an area where the statistics reported were shown to have decreased consistently in all four states throughout the same years. This was a major similarity between the four states with Illinois reporting the highest robbery crimes amongst Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The last crime offense what was looked at was murder and non-negligent homicide. This is another area where it showed a consistent decrease amongst all four states with Ohio having the lowes t amount of murders and non-negligent homicides reported in the year 2010 compared to the other states. Most of the areas in each state showed trends of a consistent pattern even though the numbers reported and shown were different from year to year. Overall, there is a pattern that shows in all four states that violent crimes appear to be decreasing starting from the year 2006 through 2010 which is good. There were some discrepancies that were reported with the forcible rape offenses in the state of Illinois. According to the Uniform Crime Report in the year 2006, Illinois data include arrests made for rapes of male victims. Therefore, Illinois figures for forcible rape include only forcible rape offenses from Rockford, Illinois that had female victims. (Justice, 2007) In other words, Rockford, Illinois is the only part of the state that is submitting data for female victims of forcible rapes whereas the remaining area is not. Therefore the national Uniform Crime Report did not include all of the arrest data. There are other crimes that are not reported in the Uniform Crime Report suc h as drug sale or use, vandalism, simple assault, prostitution, and all other non-traffic offenses. Because of this, a large number of crimes reported are not measured in the Uniform Crime Report. (Maxfield Babbie, 2012) The hierarchy rule is also another measurement error in the Uniform Crime Report that is used by police agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to classify crimes. Under the hierarchy rule, if multiple crimes are committed in a single incident, only the most serious is counted in the Uniform Crime Report. (Maxfield Babbie, 2012) This is what was seen in the crime statistics for Illinois. According to the Uniform Crime Report for Illinois, valid counts for murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault were available only for agencies in cities 100,000 and over in population. (Justice, 2007) The only available data generated by the Illinois State Program were totals based upon an incident-level system without indication of multiple offenses recorded within single incidents. (Justice, 2007) Therefore, the Uniform Crime Report hierarchy rule could not be applied in order to convert the state’s data to Summary format. (Justice, 2007) To arrive at a comparable state estimate to be included in national compilations, the Illinois State Program’s totals were reduced by the proportion of multiple offenses reported within single incidents in the National Incident-Based Reporting System database. Data for cities 100,000 and over in population were excluded from the reduction process. (Justice, 2007) Even though there are many measurement errors in the Uniform Crime Report, I still believe that the report is very useful throughout the United States. It gives an estimated figure on violent and property crimes from state to state. This is important because based on the measures of accurately assessing these crimes, more tactical ways to minimize crime amongst police agencies can be developed based on what is being reported in the Uniform Crime Report. We all want our communities to be as safe as possible and this is a great way to start along with monthly meetings about what is being reported in each area of the cities. Works Cited Atlas, N. (2011, January 26). Summary of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Retrieved October 5, 2012, from Summary of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program: http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/people/a_crimereport.html Justice, U. S. (2007, September 1). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 10 05, 2012, from Crime in the United States: http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_05_dd.html Maxfield, M. G., Babbie, E. R. (2012). Basics of Research Methods. In M. G. Maxfield, E. R. Babbie, Basics of Research Methods (p. 90). Belmont: Cenveo Publisher Services.

Critical Appraisal of Ansel Adams

Critical Appraisal of Ansel Adams There is an open question that defines photography theory as much as it plagues it: does a photographer take or make a photograph? Ansel Adamss 1935 book, Making a photograph: an introduction to photography could well be considered the definitive response. A photograph remains an abstraction, even in its most primitive state as a sort of document or record and Adamss skill lies in his ability to conceal his role as contriver, abstracter, imaginist, within the rhetorical apparatus of scientifically objective reality. He shuttles, perpetually, between the reality of texture and the affectation of emphasised texture; his is a statement about the difference between something existing and something being noticed, which partly accounts for his famous privileging of black and white. When unnecessary distractions arise from ranges of colours are removed, the impact of an image can be multiplied. In efforts to define- or perhaps contain it, the practice of photography has been laboriously distinguished from other visual forms and practices, particularly painting and film. Adams is interesting because he refuses the forces of classification, not static enough for photography, too theatrical and contrived for regular representational convention. In the article â€Å"Looking at Photographs,† Victor Burgin writes: The signifying system of photography, like that of classical painting, at once depicted a scene and the gaze of the spectator, an object and a viewing subject†¦. Whatever the object depicted, the manner of its depiction accords with laws of geometric projection which imply a unique â€Å"point of view†. It is the position of point-of-view, occupied in fact by the camera, which is bestowed upon the spectator†¦. Even more emphatically than painting, photography maps an animated, infinitely subjective and ever changing world into a two dimensional, static image of a finite moment. Classical and highly stylised black and white images, such as those that have made Adams most famous, take the abstraction one step further by removing all colour from our inescapably multicoloured world. The use of colour in photography has been shunned repeatedly by many purists working to a realist agenda. Compared to black and white it is considered more superficial, crassly realistic, mundane, less abstract, ultimately less artistic. Altering light and shade in the darkroom enables a degree of artistic dishonesty. The camera may not lie, but the photographer very frequently does, especially the photographer with an artistic agenda. Whenever he dodges shadow detail and fires up highlights, increasing contrast or altering tone, Adams exercises and demonstrates a contrivance that amounts to a sort of visual poetry. Adams is on record confessing to severe manipulation of Moonrise over Hernandez, (below) but more significant still is probably his interest in subjects which lend themselves so well to monochrome representation. The night scene is extraordinarily affecting, partly because, as a genre, it is most famous for high contrast monochrome. It is the only time in our world really does seem black and white, so the image is almost an accurate representation, but not quite. It is the slightly alienating quality of this image, the slight lack of fit between representation and mental expectation, which makes it so beautiful. Many of Adamss images are arresting because they are tuned to the timing of our mental calculations: they are ready to predict and confound our expectations by subtle acts of artifice and they play constantly, and good-naturedly, on the moment of our realisation. The monochrome of Adams is not a symptom of self-aggrandising pride in his iconic artist status, but a device to play with emphasis and expectation, a way of forcing us to look at the world in different ways. As both teacher and technician, Adams is probably most well known for testing Edwin Land’s Polaroid film technology and assisting aspirant artists with the workings of his own Zone System of photography, something he developed while teaching at the Art Centre School in Los Angeles in 1941. The Zone System was designed to assist photographers with manipulating the range of grey-scale tones in their negatives, through the use of a light meter. The system accounts for Adams enchanting range of distinct shades of grey, and use of black and white in his 1958 photograph, Aspens (below). As an artist, Adams encouraged photographers to manipulate the tones of their work during the developing and printing stages. Very significantly, he often compared printmaking to a musical performance, noting similarities between the tonal values of a negative and the notes on a musical score. As with musical scores, prints were opened up the interpretation and change once they had been produced. Ada ms vision seems to have been a democratic one; he promoted an open attitude in the arts- not jealously guarding his techniques but teaching and sharing them- and his openness and humility is surely reflected in his unusual preference of natural subject matter. Nevertheless Adams’s technical accomplishments often distract from his original intentions- he hoped that many of his photographs would be expressive of his radical aesthetic and political ideals. Aesthetically, Adams was profoundly influenced by Alfred Stieglitz. Stieglitz promoted a photographic philosophy of the â€Å"pure†, asserting that his photographic prints represented â€Å"equivalents† of his feelings. Similarly, Adams claimed that art photographers created â€Å"a statement that goes beyond the subject† and captured â€Å"an inspired moment on film.† Art photographers were compared favourably to regular photographers. If a photographer from each party came out with an identical image of a scene, the art photographer would be preferable, in Adams eyes, by virtue of his philosophy- his attitude- simply more authentic. To Adams, ordinary photographs were mere â€Å"visual diaries† or â€Å"reminders of experience,† While the landscapes that I have photographed in Yosemite are recognized by most people and, of course the subject is an important part of the pictures, they are not â€Å"realistic.† All my pictures are optically very accurate – I use pretty good lenses -150; but they are quite unrealistic in terms of [tonal] values. A more realistic, simple snapshot captures the image but misses everything else. I want a picture to reflect not only the forms, but [also] what I had seen and felt at the moment of exposure.

Cybernetics and the Security-State :: Wiener Government Mechanics Papers

Cybernetics and the Security-State The mastery of nature, so the imperialists teach, is the purpose of technology. But who would trust a cane wielder who proclaimed the mastery of children by adults to be the purpose of education? Is not education above all the indispensable ordering of the relationship between generations and therefore mastery, if we are to use this term, of the relationship and not of children? And likewise technology is not the mastery of nature and man. Men as a species completed their development thousands of years ago; but mankind as a species is just beginning his. In technology a physis is being organized through which mankind's contact with the cosmos takes a new and different form from that which it had in nations and families. . . . The paroxysm of genuine cosmic experience is not tied to that tiny fragment of nature that we are accustomed to call 'Nature'. In the nights of annihilation of the last war the frame of mankind was shaken by a feeling that resembled the bliss of the epil eptic. And the revolts that followed it were the first attempt of mankind to bring the new body under its control. -- Walter Benjamin, One Way Street, 1925-26 Garry Kasparov lost to Deep Blue on May 11, 1997. The event itself had almost no affect on the daily life of the general populace in and of itself, and in fact had been considered inevitable for some time. Even so, commentators read awful portent into the fact that the chess grandmaster, dubbed "Humanity's Champ," was beaten by the IBM computer. USA Today was not alone in asking, "Are computers backing humans into a corner?" With rare exception, after the initial hype died down the media reassured us that we were in no immediate danger of computers turning against us and taking over the planet, at least not actively. Chess, we were assured, is susceptible to the type of "simple" brute force calculations a computer can do. Understanding natural language, recognizing speech and handwriting, and analyzing images require work of a different sort, a "common sense" that has so far eluded most artificial intelligence researchers. Unlike human babies (an admittedly loaded example) , computers have trouble interacting with and learning about the "real world" except within strictly defined parameters.

Intramural Sports Essay -- Essays Papers

Intramural Sports Intramurals are an organization of sports teams created for students who seek the opportunity to play sports. Those who participate in intramurals range in age, ability, and gender. These sports teams allow students to play a sport they enjoy without committing to a varsity team. Intramurals are designed for everyone to have fun but still have a competitive edge. It is easy to get involved and learn about intramurals at the University of Dayton. There are many possible ways as a student at Dayton to get involved in intramurals. Involvement in intramurals gives the chance to not only play sports that are enjoyable, but also the opportunity to meet new people and develop a relationship with them. One way that many people get involved is through people they have met or already know. For example, someone you met the other day, or a friend from high school could ask you to sign up for their team. Another popular way to get involved is through the residence hall, and play on a team with the other people in your hall. After talking to people ...

a building that I love Essay -- Free Essay Writer

My family lives in a detached house located in a cosy suburban neighbourhood in Vantaa. The building stands on a modest hill surrounded by mostly detached, but also by semi-detached and terraced houses. The altitude provides us with a magnificent view over a nearby valley and makes our own house look massive and very impressive indeed – almost monumental. We have a spacious garden and a private driveway. Judging by these facts you might think that our home is just another catalogue house of a fairly wealthy middleclass family. The building has, however, gone through various, more or less painful phases before eventually reaching its current unconventional structure. The house was originally a wooden cottage with no modern facilities whatsoever and a muddy yard serving as a paddock for pigs and sheep. My parents were looking for a suitable detached house to buy, saw this tiny cottage and fell in love with it instantly. Whatever possessed them, I do not know. Perhaps they were amazed by the fact that such idyllic smallholdings (or more accurately horrible dumps) could actually be found in a mere 25km radius from the centre of Helsinki. My own theory is that both of them, in some strangely twisted way, saw the cottage as a challenging and interesting adventure instead of a livelong working camp which it ultimately turned out to be. This was fifteen years ago and we are still renovating. My parents decided to expand the cottage by building a separate house next to it. Being a ...

Obama Immigration Reform Essay

Currently, 11 million illegal immigrants inhabit the United States. This number will continue to augment without proper regulation of these aliens. Ever since his first inauguration, it has been President Barack Obama’s mission to improve America’s mediocre immigration system. Since Obama’s reelection for his second term, he has constantly stressed the fact that the new ideas for immigration reform are on the top of his list. Not only will these new reclaims help both the legal and illegal immigrants, and American citizens, but also they will benefit the US economy. It has been a controversial argument whether Obama’s reform ideas will either positively or negatively affect the US economy, but according to the bipartisan group of democrats and republicans, it is agreed that the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. After the bipartisan meeting on January 28th, 2013, in which both parties’ principles were announced for comprehensive immigration reform (CNN Political Unit, CNN. com), Obama presented a speech on January 29th, 2013, which consisted of numerous solutions to the troubled immigration system presently used in the United States. This speech not only contained these ideas, but also his plan of action to pursue them during his next four years in office. Obama proved to America that he would attempt to fulfill these reforms as soon as possible by saying, â€Å"It is time to fix the system that has been broken for way too long,† (CNN Political Unit, CNN. com). The first, and arguably the most imperative, immigrant reform plan is to strengthen the US-Mexico border’s security, strictly correlating with illegal immigrant crossings. Since Obama has been in office, the number of illegal crossings has shrunk down to about 80% from their peak in 2000 (CNN Political Unit, CNN. com). Some specific methods that are considered being used to strengthen the US-Mexico border are: increase protection and number of border patrol agents, add 350 miles of fencing, add 290 miles of vehicle barriers, invest in more cameras and radar towers, and finally, end the â€Å"Catch & Release† Policy (USA Immigration Reform, USAimmigrationreform. org). Secondly, Obama desires to increase the enforcement efforts on illegal immigrant criminals who endanger the country’s communities. Thankfully, with Obama in office, the deportation of undocumented criminals is at its highest level than it has ever been before (CNN Political Unit, CNN. com). The third angle for this project is to reinforce the already-formed DREAM Act, which stands for â€Å"Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. † The main purpose of this addition to the bill of reforms is so the minors that travelled with their parents or guardians over the border (in this case, they are not responsible for being an illegal alien) are ensured opportunity, safety, and equal rights (Zuckerman-Bernstein, policymic. om). Providing conditional permanent residency to certain illegal minors of good moral character who graduate from high schools in the United States is the platform of this act (CNN Political Unit, CNN. com). The fourth contribution in Obama’s speech discussed worksite enforcement. It is strongly suggested that we implement a new national system that enables businesses to rapidly and accurately verify one’s employment status, and even more emphasized, heighten and ramp up the penalties deserved by the businesses that still hire illegally (CNN Political Unit, CNN. om). Actions to be accounted for in this effort are: moderating the number of documents accepted to verify identity and work eligibility, ensuring that all workers must hold legal status in the United States, increasing the fines and consequences for those continually hiring illegal workers, and lastly, to surge investigation of these employers (USA Immigration Reform, USAimmigrationreform. org). This topic is a bit more accentuated because the employment of illegal workers generates an unbalanced and unfair workplace for American citizens. The companies that hire illegally create a battlefield for companies that do proceed to follow the law and pay decent wages, causing those of which to suffer. Not only are these loyal companies and businesses affected, but also is a majority of general working Americans. Their wages and working conditions are threatened, but Obama demands to protect each worker’s rights and clarifies this motion by stating,† We will make sure that every worker and business in America is playing the same set of rules,† (CNN Political Unit, CNN. com). The fifth input could hold the most considerable amount of influence on illegal immigrants currently living in America, and for those who wish to come to America legally but unfortunately have a hard time doing so. Obama’s idea of laying out a pathway to citizenship has caught the eyes and ears of many. This pathway consists of various forms of tests and agreements that attain to both present illegal immigrants and legal ones wishing to move, such as: a background check, paying taxes, learning English, paying a penalty upon illegal entry and getting in back of the line behind the people who have waited to arrive legally (illegals only). Obama claims this is only fair (CNN Political Unit, CNN. com). There will be a revised naturalization test, with a focus on American democracy, US history, and what is expected of a US citizen. Also, a rise of immigrant coach training will help applicants through the immigration process. Finally, it’s planned to enhance the development of web-based learning tools to increase English language skills (USA Immigration Reform, USAimmigrationreform. org). Congress stresses that this pathway to citizenship is mainly focused on the 11 million undocumented aliens in America, but it is equally vital to deal with future immigrants, as well, or the country may find itself housing more illegals and not progressing to a better America (Fox News, The Associated Press, foxnews. com). Lastly, Obama’s final aspiration is to break our old fashioned system and bring it to the 21st century. The president’s opinion about visa card laws was that they are â€Å"outdated† and â€Å"make no sense,† (Fox News, The Associated Press, foxnews. com). He hopes to join family members with those who have come to earn a living already and to avoid the prolonged wait of future immigrants. Having to wait years before being able to send one’s family to America is absurd to the President and surely to a majority of others (CNN Political Unit, CNN. com). These plans, ideas, and desires for a higher quality national immigration system will be assorted into a bill. Witnesses largely appealed to congress’ disposition to pass the bill because not only will this bill ameliorate the lives of immigrants and their families, but also the US economy (Fox News, The Associated Press, foxnews. om). Correspondingly, there is a plethora of reasons why a substantial immigration reform would positively impact the US economy. To begin, immigrants start businesses. The Small Business Administration says immigrants are 30% more likely to start a business compared to a native, and 18% of small business owners today are immigrants (Gray, Furman, thewhitehouse. gov). In addition, this reform would create an annual increase of 0. 8% points to the economic growth rate, presently stuck at a frustrating 2% (CBN News, CBN. com). Additional boosts to the economic growth could potentially come from rising wages for newly legalized workers and higher productivity levels from the arrival of new, highly-skilled workers from abroad (Krudy, NBCnews. com). To even further express the benefit of immigration reform, just in 2008, the Congressional Budget Office projected an acquired $48 billion in revenue from 2008-2017, simply caused by a more efficient, modernized national immigration system (Krudy, NBCnews. com). Continuing on from the point above, immigrant-owned businesses create jobs for Americans. The Fiscal Policy Institute stated that small businesses owned by immigrants employed about 4. 7 million people in 2007. These businesses generated over $776 billion annually. With this statistic, it only makes sense to assume that this ratio will continually grow in the future since more businesses will be started. Also, the Center of American Progress affirmed that comprehensive immigration reform would create jobs — 900,000 people got jobs within 3 years from the increase of immigrant consumer spending (Gray, Furman, thewhitehouse. ov). Yes, immigrants will aid the US in creating jobs for its native citizens, but it is also true that immigrants are more likely to create their own jobs as well. The Department of Labor claimed that 7. 5% of foreign born people in the United States are self-employed, while only 6. 6% of native born are self-employed (Gray, Furman, thewhitehouse. gov). Immigrants are also a great contributor to the economy because they have and probably will co ntinue to create cutting-edge technology and companies. Big businesses like Google, Yahoo, Intel and eBay were all produced with the help of immigrants, and 25% of public US companies were started by them (Gray, Furman, thewhitehouse. gov). Alone, these booming businesses create an influx of earnings for the American economy. The earnings developed from these businesses wouldn’t reach their full potential without the help of immigrants. Between 1990 and 2004, an accession of immigration correlated with increased earnings of about 0. 7% annually, recorded from studies at University of California (Gray, Furman, thewhitehouse. ov). Oddly enough, it is proven that immigrants earn greater degrees than non-immigrants. Surprisingly, with all of America’s exceptional education programs, only 16% of the resident population holds a bachelor’s degree. Immigrants represent 33% of America’s engineers, 27% of mathematicians, statisticians, and computer scientists, and 34% of physical scientists (Gray, Furman, thewhitehouse. gov). Another reason to implement this bill immediately is because reform legislation would reduce the deficit. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that if the 2010 version of the DREAM Act was used, the federal deficit would be abated $2. 2 trillion over a course of 10 years because of accumulated tax revenues (Gray, Furman, thewhitehouse. gov). The consensus among economists said the new reform would maximize housing demand, encourage entrepreneurship, and raise tax revenues, which in total would sufficiently aid the budget deficit (CBN News, CBNnews. com). So basically, the consensus among economists has determined immigration reform as a net benefit. Economist Giovanni Peri plans to utilize a â€Å"cap-and-trade† visa system, which would induce a profit of $1. 2 billion a year (Krudy, NBCnews. com). Finally, immigration reform would increase America’s gross domestic product. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office asserted that even under low investment assumptions, immigration reform would raise the GDP by 0. 8%-1. 3% from 2012-2016 (Gray, Furman, thewhitehouse. gov). As one can see, President Barack Obama has put forth a much needed effort in the mission to create a noteworthy national immigration system. With all of these fair and effective plans and ideas, not one foreigner should have to think twice about becoming an American citizen, considering it is for the benefit of themselves, their family, the United States and its economy. The National Council of La Raza, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the International Secretary of the Service Employees International Union, all of these tied in with immigration policies, issued a joint statement saying â€Å"The time to act is now,† (Zuckerman-Bernstein, policymic. com).

Trolley Dodgers Case

Executive Summary The Trolley Dodgers was exposed that it had internal control problems existed. The other hand, found that employees embezzlement. The first part of this report identify and explain the characteristics of employee fraud indicated in Dodgers case. such as perpetrator must gains the trust or confidence of the person or company being defrauded. etc And then, the second part is explain the internal control weaknesses and understanding internal control objectives . The third part based on the understanding of the Committee of Sponsoring Organisations ‘internal control. Final part is recommendation for Dodgers internal control problems. Table of Contents Introduction3 Characteristics of the employee fraud in Trolley Dodgers case3 The internal control weaknesses in the Dodgers` payroll system4 The critical evaluation of the internal control problems in the Dodgers` payroll system5 Recommendation for Dodgers internal control problems7 Reference List:9 Introduction In this report, I will be divided into four parts. The first part will cover Identify and explain the characteristics of employee fraud . The second part is explain the internal control weaknesses that were evident in the Dodger’ payroll system . the internal control weaknesses include: no independent check and Dodgers don't have separation of duties, etc. The third part is to understanding the Committee of Sponsoring Organisations ‘ internal control framework to evaluate internal control problems. The COSO's internal control framework have five interrelated components. the five components includes: Control environment ,Control activities, Risk assessment , Information and communication and Monitoring. The final part is recommendation for Dodgers internal control problems. Characteristics of the employee fraud in Trolley Dodgers case Employee fraud is an employee within the company to improperly deceptive means to obtain the company's money or other property. Through understand to Romney and Steinbart for the employee fraud has a number of important characteristics. However, the analysis and interpretation in this case related to employee fraud Characteristics. One basic characteristics of employee fraud is perpetrator must gains the trust or confidence of the person or company being defrauded. In the case mentioned Edward Campos is operations payroll Chief. He is longtime working for the Dodgers . He was known not only for his work ethic but also for his loyalty to the club . However, His boss think Campos was on vacation ,He will came back to company and did the payroll. Dodgers Trusted him. The facts have proved that perpetrators has gained the trust of the company , His behavior is consistent with employee fraud of characteristics . Many employee fraud cases are the characteristics of perpetrators and employers to establish a good relationship of trust. Other case about Bess is cashier supervisor at the campus student health services(SHS)? she is trusted employee? she was able to commit this fraud undetected for nearly 13 years? why? But the answer is simply: Because don’t anyone suspected the SHS cashier supervisor because she was a trusted, well-liked employee. â€Å"Fraud research finds that most members of the general public fit the profile of the typical fraud perpetrator†(Peterson and Gibson 2003). But Dodgers’ case and Bess case similar, so to meet this characteristics of employee fraud. The fraud perpetrators use false or misleading information to obtain asset or money is the fundamental elements of employee fraud. This element is required no use other violent offenders, Other employee fraud is they the hide their tracks by falsifying records or other information (Romney and Steinbart 2009). Because he false wage income of workers, He registered about $ 2000 weekly wage employees. However, the real wages of workers earning $ 7 per hour. His salary more than 55% false. On the other hand, He completely controlled the payroll system for filling out the weekly payroll cards for the employees of the Dodgers. Because, He designed and implemented to payroll and only himself understand full payroll system. Other case admitted to manipulating work samples, falsifying records to cover up its poor performance as a Medicare contractor(Healthcare Financial Management 1998) . Demonstrate through their privileged position to falsifying records is general public fit the profile of the characteristics fraud perpetrator The internal control weaknesses in the Dodgers` payroll system Internal control refers the process implement by the corporate board of directors, managers and other staff, and provide reasonable assurance . The purpose of internal control is to ensure the reliability and accuracy of financial reporting, efficiency of operations, and compliance with laws and regulations. The internal control weakness in the Dodger’s payroll system include: 1. The Trolley Dodgers don't have independent check and performance . Because, Campos controlled the system so completely that he personally filled out the weekly payroll cards for each of the 400 employees of the Dodgers. 2. Trolley Dodgers should have must vacation for senior managers. Because, A management position working in a long time, then he will be more familiar with the internal control vulnerabilities, the possible implementation corruption. 3. The Dodgers don't have separation of duties, Campos is operations payroll chief. He designed and implemented of a new payroll system,. However, this is only himself understanding of all system operations. He was the trusted employee who got trusted too much, However,that Campos took advantage of his authorization. He came back during vacation to do the payroll. On the other hand, Camps routinely inflated the number of hours worked by several employees and then split the resulting overpayments fifty-fifty with those individuals. These employees pay $ 7 per hour, but these employees weekly wage approaching $2000. He did not ensure the integrity of assets and reliability of financial reporting. This information is also proved that the internal control failed to arrived goal of the segregation of duties. Enterprises to integrity and strengthen the internal organization, it is the economic activity of firms for planning, directing and controlling the organizational basis, the core problem is a reasonable segregation of duties. Under normal circumstances, Dealing with each business or the economy in the whole process a few important aspects, Companies need to be up to the two departments or two or more departments, two or more staff for the purpose of mutual control. The critical evaluation of the internal control problems in the Dodgers’ payroll system What is internal control ? Different people have different interpretations. General people to understand the internal control for the organization to reduce work of the decision-making errors and defects in the implementation of the control, These controls may be internal oversight, it may be management manuals, rules and regulations. These theories are not wrong, but not comprehensive. In accordance with the internal control theory, these are only part of the internal control, but not all. Internal control theory suggests that internal control is a systematic framework, It is built on the basis of risk management. The five elements include: Control environment ,Control activities, Risk assessment , Information and communication and Monitoring . (Romney and Steinbart 2009). We call this architecture as Committee of Sponsoring Organisations’ (COSO) internal control framework. The internal control integrated framework has been widely adopted as the principal way to evaluate internal controls. Will through the five elements to evaluate the internal control problems with the Dodgers’ payroll system. The control environment is the establishment, Strengthen or weaken the specific policies, procedures and their impact on the efficiency of the various factors, mainly refers to the major factor. Control environment have a direct impact on the implementation of internal control and execution of business objectives and related to the overall strategic objectives. Control environment, including the values of employees, personnel competence, management's business model, the allocation of rights and responsibilities. In this case have found problem is Trolley Dodgers no reasonable structure and clear division of responsibility approach. Because, Campos is payroll chief. However, Campos completely controlled the payroll system for filling out the weekly payroll cards for the employees of the Dodgers. Therefore, the formation of a single department, resulting in no mutual constraints of the internal control system. The control activates is Instruction is to help executive management policies and procedures. It throughout the organization, at all levels and functions, including a variety of activities such as approvals, authorizations, confirmed that adjustment, business performance evaluation, asset protection and separation of duties. The Trolley Dodgers don't have separation of duties, However,that Campos took advantage of his authorization. He came back during vacation to do the payroll. Risk assessment is to identify and analyze the process of achieving goals related risks, which with the economy, industry, regulatory and operating conditions are constantly changing, the need to establish a mechanism to identify and deal with the corresponding risks. Dodger’s case cannot be any problem in this regard. Information and communication is surrounding the control activities are information and communication. From internal and external information must be a certain format and time interval to confirm the capture and transfer to ensure the company's employees to perform their respective duties. Effective communication is a broad communication, including the enterprise from top to bottom, bottom-up and horizontal communication. Effective communication includes the relevant information with parties outside the enterprise effective communication and exchange, such as customers, suppliers, administration and shareholders. Dodgers does not have very good communication, so senior managers do not understand the financial statements of a problem. Monitoring is the entire business process must be monitored. Through the normal management and control activities and staff activities in the course of his duties to monitor, to evaluate the quality of operation of the system. Evaluation of different steps depending on the scope and implementation of risk assessment and monitoring program effectiveness. By understanding the Dodgers case can determine a great part of this monitoring problem. Dodgers not have normal company monitoring department. Lead to administrator can’t find employee fraud. Recommendation for Dodgers internal control problems Based on understanding of the COSO' internal control framework and the Dodgers facts, I recommend Dodgers to strengthen its internal control system. Internal controls perform three important point, segregation of duties , strengthen the monitoring and Must ensure that the accounting documents and accounting records of the completeness and correctness. All of those three are suitable for Dodgers’ situation. Three proposals are as follows: 1. When these functions are combined in one individual, it is possible to the misappropriation asset and conceal the crime by manipulating the related records ? such as overpayment 55% with those employee. So, When the economic activity of firms for planning, directing and controlling the organizational basis, the core problem is a reasonable segregation of duties. Under normal circumstances, dealing with the whole process of business of each economy, Must two department or more than two departments, two or more two employees take responsibility, its purpose is to restrict each other. Therefore, Separating the incompatible functions of cash recording and cash custody, independent check of cash received and cash deposited, The mandatory vacations with other personnel performing duties during the employee's absence. 2. Dodgers need to strengthen monitoring. However, it is necessary to establish an internal audit department. Internal audit is to strengthen the internal control system is a basic measure. Internal audit responsibilities include the review of accounts, It also includes inspection, evaluation of internal control system is perfect. Through the company's financial report of audit. The audit report submitted to the Board of Directors. Thus ensuring the company's internal control system more perfect. 3. Must ensure that the accounting documents and accounting records of the completeness and correctness. Because in this case found that the perpetrators falsified accounting documents. Conclusion Through the analysis of the Trolley Dodgers’ case, we found internal control have weakness It don't have separation of duties and don't have independent check and performance. Also, Dodgers had internal control issues according to the Committee of Sponsoring Organisations’ (COSO) internal control framework . Analysis of the case of internal control, and finally gives three suggestions. Recommendations include segregation of duties , strengthen the monitoring and Must ensure that the accounting documents and accounting records of the completeness and correctness. Reference List: Book references: Romney, MB & Steinbart, PJ 2009, Accounting information systems, 11th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River. Academic Journal articles references: Bonita K Peterson and Thomas H Gibson. ‘Student health services: a case of employee fraud’ In Journal of Accounting Education 2003 21(1):61-73 HFM (Healthcare Financial Management); ‘ Illinois Medicare carrier guilty of fraud, agrees to a $144 million settlement. ’ September 98, Vol. 52 Issue 9, p10, 1/4p LIN LIN Trolley Dodgers Case CASE STUDY: THE TROLLEY DODGERS 1. Identify the key audit objectives for a client’s payroll function. Comment on both objectives related to tests of control and those related to tests of control s and those related to substantive audit procedure. The key audit objectives for client’s payroll function in this Trolley Dodgers Case are: i. Occurrence ii. Completeness iii. Accuracy iv. Posting & Summarization v. Classification vi. Timing i. Key Audit Objective : Occurrence Dodgers must recorded payroll payments for existing employees only and should have separation of duties for each task. Test of Control: Examine internal control to see if the payroll payments are for exiting work and existing employees. The test could be examining all the workers time cards, personnel files and review organization chart. They also can discuss with employees and observe duties being performed. The tests would examine printouts of transactions rejected by the computer as having nonexistent employee numbers. Substantive Test of Transactions: The test to see if the right dollar amount in the payrolls were recorded and paid properly. They also test to review large dollar amount in the journal entries, general ledger and payroll earnings. Examine cancelled checks for proper endorsement could be compare with a personnel record. ii. Key Audit Objective : Completeness Dodgers must record all existent payroll transactions. Test of Control: The test is to see if the existing payrolls are recorded. If employees do not get any payment, so they can directly report to the employer. They also test to review the renumbered payroll check to find the missing one. Substantive Test of Transaction: They can compare the book and payroll bank statement. Therefore, they will prove the bank reconciliation and can look for unmatched dollars amount. iii. Key Audit Objective : Accuracy Dodgers recorded payroll transactions are for the amount of time actually worked and at the proper pay rates accuracy. Test of Control: The test is to see if the right hours and right rate are recorded and tax withholding is correct. Batch totals are compared with computer summary reports. Auditors could examine authorization in payroll records and personnel files. Substantive Tests of Transaction: To test for exact dollar amount, auditors could recalculate gross and net pay. They also can compare pay rate with the industry, review cancel check withholdings by referring to tax tables and authorization forms in personnel file. iv. Key Audit Objective: Posting and Summarization. Dodgers recorded payroll transaction properly included in the master file also properly summarized. Test of Control: When payroll master file totals are compared with general ledger totals, auditors should examine initialed summary total reports indicating that comparison has been made. They also must examine indication of internal verification. Substantive Test of Transaction: Test clerical accuracy by footing the payroll journal and tracing postings to the journal ledger and the payroll master files. v. Key Audit Objective : Classification Dodgers classify all payroll transaction properly and efficiently. Test of Control: They should review charts of accounts. If the account classifications are internally verified, then they can examine indication of internal verification. Substantive Test of Transaction: They can review time cards and job ticket, and trace through to labor distribution. They should compare classification with chart of accounts or procedures manual. vi. Key Audit Objective : Timing Dodger must record all payroll transaction immediately, on the correct date and right amount. Test of Control: Auditors should examine procedures manual and observe when recording takes place and examine indication of internal verification. Substantive Test of Transaction: The auditor compare date on checks with date in the payroll journal and compare date on check with date the check cleared the bank. 2. What internal control weaknesses were evident in the Dodgers’ payroll system? Internal control is a process, affected by an entity’s board of director, management and other personnel, designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of objectives in reliability of financial reporting, effectiveness and efficiency of operations and compliance with laws and regulations. Internal control weakness in the Dodgers’ Payroll System are from the design of internal control, no independent check and performance, no separation of duties, the weakness of work environment, and required vacation for senior manager. . Design of internal control Campos, the operations payroll chief have designed the internal control by himself and implemented a new payroll system that only can be fully understand by him. As we know, the purpose of design the internal control is to prevent or detect material misstatement in the financial statement. Due to this case, Campos can easily commit fraud because there are no other people that can understand the design of the internal control. ii. No independent check and performance Campos controlled the system so completely that he personally filled out the weekly payroll card for each of the four hundred employees. He can record any fraudulent statement because there is no evidence that shows whether the record is reliable or not. iii. No separation of duties Campos took advantage of his authorization because he was the trusted employee who got trusted too much from Dodges’. When he was on vacation, he came back and did the payroll. There is no separation of the custody of assets from accounting. A person who has temporary or permanent custody of an asset should not account for that asset. This is because by allowing one person to perform both function increases the risk of that person disposing of the asset for personal gain and adjusting the records to cover up the theft. As we can see in this case, Campos was the only one who responsible for every task. iv. Weakness of the work environment There is collusion between employees and management. This showed that both Campos and his cohort have low work ethic. Campos routinely inflated the number of hours worked by several employees and then split the resulting over payment fifty-fifty with those individuals. In addition to this, Campos also embezzle several hundred thousand dollars from his employer. 3. Identify audit procedure that might have led to the discovery of the fraudulent scheme mastermind by Campos. Audit procedure is the detailed instruction for the collection of a type of audit evidence that is to be obtained at some time during the audit. i. The auditor must understand clearly the flow chart Auditor should go through the Dodger’s payroll flow chart. The auditor must understand clearly the flow chart. From that, the auditor can trace how the payroll system is going on actually. Then, the auditor would see there are no independent checks that have been done by Campos. The payroll department also does not have segregation of duties and all that work is done by Campos only. ii. The auditor can interview employees in payroll department. The auditor can interview employees in payroll department. The auditor can ask whatever question that they think it’s very important and need to know. Like, how much Campos pay for daily operations works for every level of staff, and how Campos manage the time card. The auditor will know more detailed about the payroll process. ii. The auditor test for nonexistent employees For make sure the all transaction that have recorded by Campos and payroll department is really exist and they make payment to the non fictitious employees, the auditor compare names on cancelled checks with the time card have created. The auditor can scan the endorsement on cancelled checks. Furthermore, auditor also can make comparison on personal fi les of employees with time card that created. Other than that, the auditor can run test of control by selected transaction in the payroll with Human Resources department. The auditor can select a week check transaction and examine the first fifty checks, select the fifty checks with the largest amounts, select the checks randomly or select those checks the auditor thinks are most likely to be in error or a combination of this method could be used. Besides that, the auditor request surprise payroll payoff from payroll department. When the auditor requests for payroll payoff suddenly, for sure the payroll department do not chance and do not have enough time to make correction on their system. So, Auditor will see the real transaction that have make by that department. Finally, the uditor can trace the misstatement, fraud and error easily. iv. The auditor tests for fraudulent hours Other than that, the auditor also can reconcile the total hours paid in the payroll records with and independent record of hours worked. Auditor would see, if payroll record transaction is true based on the time card or not. The auditor can trace if the record keeping employee s have intention to do that fraud. v. The auditor compare pay rates with the same positions in other baseball team in the league. The auditor also should understand business nature and make comparison with another similar business nature. From that result, the auditor will know how much is exactly pay rates usually paid to the professional baseball. After done that activity, the auditor is able to identify the pay rates that put by Campos to the every level worker is it relevance or not. vi. The auditor examines the large payroll checks. Last steps, that auditor use to discover the fraud is by examine the largest payroll checks out. The auditor reconciles the checks between the payroll record, time card, and all relevance data. Auditor would see which one fictitious transaction that has been made by Campos.

Education and Social Mobility Essay

Historically, due to our post-colonial background, that of the plantation society, education was only afforded to the white, upper class individuals. In order to establish and reinforce a hierarchy of power and ownership, wealthy capitalists ensured first-rate education for their children, while actively excluding members of the lower classes from this luxury. Due to the caste system, students or individuals are stratified, where individuals from non- traditional school have less opportunity for social mobility, solely due to fact that students or individuals from traditional schools are of such social class, that their opportunity is based on their ascribed characteristics, which influences them in a profound way. Nonetheless, it is my view that this is a fact, due to the differences in class and culture, students will have varied access to resources with regard to education, and therefore, there will be different opportunity for education and social mobility within our society. Firstly, while conducting the research on this thesis, it was found that the functionalist theory was not applicable, as the functionalist view studies the ways in which education aids society, as such, this sociological perspective did not support any of my points being made within this research paper. However, this research proved that the main views are supported by the Marxist conflict theory, which studies the ways in which education manages the imbalance of power in our society. Due to socioeconomic background of individuals, those from low-income backgrounds are less likely to graduate from high school, less likely to go to university and even if Comment [A1]: Very good they do graduate, they are less likely to complete university if they enrol. Consequently, the gap between children from the lower socioeconomic strata and those from the middle and upper strata tends to increase with the level of school. This relates to social class; where the higher the social class, the more likely parents are to hold high expectations, and positively influence the child to attain a high degree of education. This suggests that schools contribute to educational inequality, where children who are deprived by their social background when they enter school become even more disadvantaged as they progress through school, and as such at a greater difficulty for social mobility. Comment [A2]: Good This is supported by an article taken from the Jamaica Gleaner, by contributor Michael Waul, who agrees with this notion. Students from marginalised socio-economic backgrounds, giving rise to disparate educational experiences is greatly evident in the preparatory/primary and traditional/ non-traditional high-school divide. Where access to quality education remains largely determined by societal class, a fact evident not only in the differential resources available to schools but also the background of students entering better-resourced institutions. Comment [A3]: What does a conflict perspective say about this issue? This helps to perpetuates historical societal divisions, that of our post-colonial plantation society, where rewarding those from higher social classes while placing those from lower classes at an increasing disadvantage. This results in low CXC pass rates, increasing number of high-school dropouts in regards to non-traditional high schools, therefore leading to a decrease in the number of students attending university for tertiary education. Subsequently, with regard to primary and/or preparatory schools, a great majority of students are passing the GSAT examination; however with the majority of the passes, students are being placed into non-traditional high school, where only a minority of students are being placed in traditional high schools. This only proves to further the division between the upper class and the lower class, while other students are placed into non- traditional schools solely because of the environment in which they live. Even though some students may excel in their examinations, due to where they reside, they are placed in schools that are close to their homes, and as a result their chance for social mobility diminishes, as they are not able to have access to resources Comment [A4]: Issue of screening and facilities, that are available at traditional schools, and as such greatly disadvantage from the start of their education, and as such there is social inequality. This is supported from an article from the Jamaican Gleaner, by Michael Waul, noting that access to tertiary education is a difficult option for the poor. As such, poverty prevents economic freedom and choice, and so despite ones willingness, this circumvents many realities of their experience, where the poor is held in the vicious cycle of continuous poverty, and as such at a great disadvantage for social mobility for those students from non-traditional schools which are mostly individuals from the lower socioeconomic background. Another element which affects the social mobility of students from traditional school versus students from non-traditional schools is that of the neo-Marxist reproduction theory, which involves what is known as â€Å"tracking†. This involves the assignment of students according to class and basic work roles. This grouping by ability, or tracking of students, has been common in non-traditional schools. In fact, as students progress through school, they tend to take classes that ensure they will remain in the same track, where they are at a disadvantage for social mobility. So instead of promoting democracy, social mobility and equality, schools reproduce the ideology of the dominant groups in society. This is supported by theorist Pierre Bourdieu, where each individual occupies a position in a social space, by his or her habit, which include beliefs or mannerism and also by cultural capital, where belief and mannerism are in some cultural settings, however, not in some. This is evident between the cultures of traditional schools and non-traditional school. Similarly, another aspect which affects, and illustrates my notion of the inequality of traditional school versus non-traditional schools is referred to as the hidden curriculum. This system includes values and beliefs that support the status quo, thus reinforcing the existing social hierarchy, which include the books we read and various classroom activities that we participate in. On the other hand, theorist and other individuals will disagree with my argument, and contest that students from non-traditional schools do have a great opportunity for social mobility. Others believe tracking systems does allow for some mobility, and the effects of tracking depend upon the way the tracking is organised according to Gamoran. This view is supported by an article in the Jamaica Gleaner, by Micheal Waul where students in traditional schools, such as preparatory schools are not inherently more intelligent than the other students from non-traditional school. However, due to disparity in performance, what differentiates them is largely a matter of economics. This suggests that wealthier parents are better able to fund the private schooling of their children in institutions which are better equipped to meet the students’ learning needs. Likewise, parents who lack financial support are more likely to enrol their children in the non-traditional schools, which is limited to government-provided resources. However, this is not sufficient in allowing student from non-traditional school to acquire the necessary resources needed to be best able to perform at their maximum capacity. Contrary to this perspective, there are the rare occasions that occur when students from non-traditional schools strive against all the odds, and actually excel in their examination. Thus allowing them to be placed in traditional schools, which in turn provides them with the necessary resources needed to move upward on the social ladder. This is evident as I have read in the Jamaica Observer, that the top performing boy and girl in the GSAT examination in 2013, are from non-traditional schools, and as such are the rare cases. Another view, contrary to my belief, is from an article from the Jamaica Gleaner, by Robert Buddan, in which individuals from poorer or less-advantaged communities and households can achieve and while poverty hinders, as previously stated. Also individuals from lower class society and single-parent families can achieve given good personal and institutional guidance. However, the students have to be dedicated and committed, and teachers who have confidence in each other can make up for the lack of financial support and other disadvantages which may arise. This is evident in the case of traditional schools such as St. Georges College and Kingston College. The founders of the institutions could have established the school ‘uptown’ instead of ‘downtown’, as other institutions such as Campion and Ardenne High School have done. However, they built their school downtown, and as such the founders did the opposite in all respects. The schools were established downtown, and as such opportunities were offered to great numbers from all classes in order to make education affordable. However, contrary to the beliefs of the conflict theory, the interactionist theorists believe that students from non-traditional schools can achieve social mobility. This is possible through social interaction with peers. Due to the fact that not all upper class students are placed in traditional schools, there are the few that are placed non-traditional school. This allows a mix of social class, and as such, some children will push themselves to achieve more, to that of the standards of the upper class. This outcomes allow students from traditional school to be able to interact with other students from upper class society, thus the student would be shaped in such a manner. This intern allows the student to gather and grasps the different cultures and values from that of the elites of society, on how to behave in our modern society, and thus becoming more affluent in relating to individual from the upper class of society. This will allow them increased opportunity for social mobility, due the fact that student would interact with their peers from their school, allowing them the opportunity to different aspects of the social world, and thus have a different view from that of student from non-traditional school This is evident as students from a lower socioeconomic background, when placed in a traditional school, due to interaction with other students from that school, there attitude and values gradually tend to start changing. Due to this interaction, these individual strive to be similar to those higher economic background, and as such are at a greater position for social mobility. Nonetheless, it is evident that students from non-traditional school have increasing opportunity for social mobility, as our society is gradually changing, where the need for skilled labourer are becoming more necessary. It is in non-traditional school, where the more technical skills are being offered such as mechanical engineering and technical drawing. As such, these students from non-traditional schools are being offered more opportunities for social mobility, as the employment sector has become more diverse, and has changed from the past, where mostly teachers and government employees, had prominent positions for social mobility. However this has not bridged the gap in social classes in entering top level positions. In conclusion, with regards to my thesis statement, the most important sociological perspectives of this research are both the Conflict theory and Interactionist theory. The Functionalist theory did not support the points being made in this research, as the functionalist believe that education is equal, where my belief completely contradict this view. After detailed reading and research I found that the gap between social mobility between students from traditional school versus non-traditional school have greatly decrease over the last 40 years, and now traditional school, does not necessarily ensure social mobility of it students. However, there is still a great gap present, but it is gradually becoming closer. 12/15 While the functionalist theory does not support your point, it would have been good for you to mention some of their key issues and how education reinforces social norms and then you can then refute some claims. Very good attempt overall – very astute in your thinking and writing.

Reflective Paper Essay

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Organization in the business and industrial setting is like a very interesting organism worthy of effort and time for study. The behavior of people and the environments with which they are in constant interaction is a ceaseless source for curiosity and fascinating research. This is so especially during this particular century when technology sparks the many changes that take place. This generation is in the epoch of organizational reform and innovation. The time is marked with rapid changes in the demography of workforce, changing corporate culture, and changing institutions. In the light of the rapid shift in today’s organizations, the skills required of managers, beginners in the profession and even aspiring students in the discipline, rest on the foundation of knowledge on the whole gamut of organizational development. Corporate America is not without its complications. When the company â€Å"succeeds,† there is with it (the success) a corresponding notion of responsibilities and liabilities. Organizations thrive today because of the policies and guidelines they have managed to fixed firmly in their set-up and translated into their day to day affairs. Big businesses have the competitive edge over others – i.e., over small entrepreneurs, because they have arrived at their positions in the market place by securing certain parameters in the many facets that comprise their organizations. This is especially true on government laws and regulations (McKenna, 2000).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is imperative that organizations in industry and business compete with the changing times. To fail to do so may spell substantial loss in both the financial and human capitals; two major components necessary in an organization. Being competitive in today’s business jargon is not as simple as it sounds; it involves a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the whole gamut of organizational behavior and the complex changes that are dynamic in nature (Mangelsdorff, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper attempts to express in prà ©cis the various facets of the nature of organization with specific intentions to elaborate on the student researcher’s understanding, insights and learnings regarding how quality management and control systems relate with human motivation. It takes into consideration the importance of how all these concepts are of significance in one’s individual relationships as well as their relevance of the person’s (especially the student researcher’s) professional plans and actual work situations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Organizational change though oftentimes unpredictable and incomprehensible to many, still goes through a cycle; the nature of which makes it possible for concerned people to study with the hopes and intentions of ultimately, implementing revisions or remodeling. These serve to enhance and improve systems and discover excellent procedures of handling things or procedures and people (Mangelsdorff, 2007). Problem Statements   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To be specific, the following questions are addressed in this paper: Define what is meant by â€Å"strategic planning.† Distinguish this from long-range planning and other forms of planning. Planning can lead to organizational change. What do the text writers feel are the issues that face the managerwho plans to bring about organizational change? How should a planner go about the process of identifying strengths, weaknesses, and distinctive competencies in an organization? What is the impact of the findings on planning? Discuss the relationship between mission statements, planned change, and unplanned change. Use Discussion – Define what is meant by â€Å"strategic planning.† Distinguish this from long-range planning and other forms of planning.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bruffee, author of Collaborative Learning: Higher Education, Interdependence, and the Authority of Knowledge (1993), explains the need for a more efficient, economical and equitable management of the people in the industry or organization has never been as pronounced as it is today. This need has never been brought about by factors which inevitably affect not only the established structures and ways of doing things within the personnel area but also by the more meaningful and substantial task of managing the organization’s most important asset – the human capital. Among these factors are: stiffer competition in business; rapid changes in technological, competitive and economic environments; the explosion of technical and managerial knowledge; spiraling wage and benefits cost and so many others. These factors have no doubt been responsible for the emergence of the personnel function as a vital area in the implementation of corporate strategy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Demick and Miller (1993) places in context first what an organization is like and settles how it can affect behavior in general and when that is established, proceeded to explain leadership and management in this context. In organizational behavior which is basic to the management of human resource, it points to the inquiry and application of learning about how people, individuals, and groups perform, operate, and work in organizations. It accomplishes this by means of adopting a system approach. Explicitly, it infers people-organization affairs in terms of the entire person, group totality, complete organization, and total social structure. Its intention is to put up enhance relations by attaining human goals, organizational purposes, and social goals. In such a milieu, the goals to effect change are influenced by several significant factors which are crucial to the overall results. Hence, there are expected leadership behaviors that maintain momentum during the change process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Effective strategic planning is a process of analyzing an organization’s assets and its needs under changing conditions and developing the activities necessary to satisfy these needs. It is essentially a two-step process. The emphasis is on techniques or systems to be applied. The forecasting of needs allows determining of priorities and allocating of resources to where they can do the most good. Analysis of needs leads to program planning. The planning approach defines human resource needs in relation to the organization’s overall needs and defines a strategy to satisfy them. In this way, individual development, training programs, recruitment, compensation and other activities become integral part of a dynamic process. There are different types of planning aside from strategic type of plan. These include the alignment type, the goal-based type, the self-organizing type, and the scenario-based type (McNamara, 2006). The goal-based type of planning is involved with tailoring the process of improving and enhancing the system of operation of an organization with the focus on the organizations’ goals which may be further specialized according to each of that organization’s departments. The alignment type bases its planning strictly on the organization’s mission and tailors all activities according to that specific aspect of organizational flow. In particular, the scenario type of planning, however, makes use of the critical areas of the organization’s set-up which nay be experiencing problems and issues that may emanate from the external environment such as changing laws and problems outside the firm or establishment which may affect the life, continuity and effective productivity of the organization.   Lastly, self-organizing type of planning is centered on the organization’s core of values and that any or all of the various problems or issues encountered have to be evaluated according to the values of great importance to the members of the organization (McNamara, 2006). -Planning can lead to organizational change. What do the text writers feel are the issues that face the manager who plans to bring about organizational change?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Organizational behavior is actually a complex and dynamic mechanism. It includes the application and integration of theoretical perspectives from the social and behavioral sciences to shed light on how and why individuals behave in a variety of ways in organizations. Included in the study are the ways the individuals carry out their tasks, the structure, design and operation of human persons in simple and complex organizational set-ups (Mangelsdorff, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is accomplished utilizing the systems approach or systems model. The latter is meant as interpreting people and organizational relationships in reference to the whole individual, â€Å"whole group, whole organization, and whole social system† (Knoster et al., 2000). The objective is developing improved and enhanced relationships by attaining individual aims, organizational goals and social aspirations (Mangelsdorff, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Specifically, any student who pursues the study of the concepts involved in the matter will examine how individuals work in groups; acquire insights into human strengths and interpersonal relationships. Intertwined in the study is to delve into theories or principles of motivation of personnel, effective leadership with the goal of formulating a sound thinking and values of management and leadership. Moreover, organizational behavior investigates scientific data and utilizes a variety of research traditions to further understand how individuals work and function efficiently in diverse forms of structures (Shortell et al., 2000)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The concepts that are pursued in organizational behavior include the following: the evolution and organizational and management theories; the rich historical background of management, organizational theories and the development of management thought, are adequately covered in this particular aspect (Robbins,1997).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Organizational behavior, when scrutinized closely, thus far covers a lot of topics. It embraces the understanding of structure, design of the organization itself. It also includes the study of the work design, policies and practices of the human resource, job design, and decision making as an organization. Furthermore, it also examines the organizational culture, its dynamics where change is aimed to be implemented (Revans, 1982) – How should a planner go about the process of identifying strengths, weaknesses, and distinctive competencies in an organization? What is the impact of the findings on planning?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Working relationships are a central portion of a person’s life.   Motivation and dedication to any endeavor (e.g. work) and the pleasure from it are collective concerns of the organization and the individual. There are definite factors that generate satisfaction, the so-called â€Å"motivator† factors according to Herzberg. These factors push the worker to the highest levels of accomplishment possible. They are an inherent part of the work itself and consist of the nature of the work, the person’s sense of achievement, level of responsibility, and individual development and improvement. These motivator needs can only be rewarded by stimulating, challenging, and absorbing work. Consequently, the goal of motivation should be to enhance individual growth and advancement, develop sense of accomplishment and liability, and provide recognition (Franken, 1994).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Psychology recognizes different perspectives of motivation. One of these viewpoints pertains to the idea of â€Å"motivational inducements,† otherwise known as incentives. Incentives are referenced from either the vantage point of internal, or that of external motivation. An inducement coming from within the individual is called intrinsic or internal motivation. It is, according to Morris and Maisto, about the â€Å". . . desire to perform a behavior that originates within the individual.† An inducement coming from outside the individual is called external or extrinsic motivation. It is the aspiration to do or achieve a goal in order to acquire a type of incentives or escape or steer clear of punishment (Morris and Maisto, 1999, p.316). People are often induced by the presence of external incentives to perform expected tasks or avoid incurring punishment. For motivation experts, however, a person developing the internal type of motivation will reap more lasting and beneficial effects compared with external motivation (Morris and Maisto, 1999).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For instance, in taking care of a medical surgical unit and handling newly hired nurses with a few years of experience only, myriads of problems are not remote possibilities. From issues of tardiness during call of duty, in irresponsibility in dispensing of medicines and relational clashes, to grave misconduct within the workplace such as sexual harassment between employees, these are all stark realities that are potential complex problems. Initiating the Herzberg idea can probably be useful. I will groom first the few expert nurses and those who will be directly supervising others that they practice and execute specific agenda for increasing motivation, one of which is Management by Objectives (MBO). It entails having faith in involving the employees in goal-setting and in decision-making. MBO works by integrating goal-setting into individual participation in decision-making in order to establish individual work goals to which the employee feels reasonably committed. At the motivational level, it is theorized that resistance to change is decreased if individuals participate in decisions regarding change and that individuals accept and are more committed to decisions in which they have participated in making. To further encourage and increase involvement, the hospital provides suggestion boxes and hold monthly contests where they give monetary rewards for the best three suggestions. These give the employee a sense of achievement and responsibility for its success. For this workplace in particular, the employees receive incentives in the form of Ladder promotion, general salary increase annually plus performance rating salary increases, CBA – employees can expect a minimum of 15% increase in salary annually within three years; and welfare benefits which include group insurances, medical insurance, accident benefits among others (Baron, 1983). A set-up like this goes to such great lengths at least to assure that it does something for sustaining employees’ morale and motivation. -Discuss the relationship between mission statements, planned change, and unplanned change. Use illustrations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The elements of organizational behavior lean upon management’s plan and philosophy, vision and objectives. Basing on this foundation springs the organizational culture where the formal and informal types of organization and the social environment are best understood (Knoster et al., 2000).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Every person in direct supervision of employees or workers knows the intricacies of leadership and management of people under his/her care. Whenever possible, it is to the best interest of the organization and employer in general that the workers perform their respective jobs efficiently and on a continuous or consistent manner. This is the aspiration of every owner of a company or those delegated to deliver their/his/her goals. However, this will only work so long as the individuals in their various places or positions know and understand what they want and where they want to go in the context of the overall goals of their organization. Intertwined in this idea is the fact that individuals are motivated to work not only for them but that the vision and mission, goals of the corporate world where they belong must be their own also. Ownership as a motivational factor is critical for the survival and sustainability of both the individual worker and the organization as a whole. Studies reveal that how an organization runs depends upon every human person within the workplace functioning as he/she should be in order that productivity is achieved. This is actually a cyclical picture; both the organization or employer level and the rank and file levels must understand the team and group dynamics that must work to achieve their own objectives. However this seemed to be easy to understand, the applications of which are complex involving multiple disciplines (Mangelsdorff, 2007). Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The problem of employee motivation is critical in all kinds of organizations today and is responsible for the shoddy products we buy and the careless service we receive. It was thought that all that was necessary to produce high motivation in workers was to pay them more; this idea may no longer be valid for a large portion of the work force (Adams, 1965). Modern workers demand jobs that satisfy their inner needs for fulfillment, expression, and self-actualization. Traditional values involved loyalty to the company and a strong drive for money, status, promotion and security. The new breed of workers focuses on self-fulfillment and self-actualization and demands jobs that are challenging and that allow participation in decision-making (McClelland, 1976). They have little loyalty to the organization and less concern with money, status and security.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Psychologists have proposed several theories of motivation. The need for achievement by McClelland posits the existence to be the best in whatever they undertake. Studies show that good executives are higher in Ach than poor ones. High in ability and take calculated risks and set moderate achievement goals. These individuals constantly need feedback on their progress (Halonen & Santrock, 1996).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These theories deal with content of motivation, with internal needs that arouse and guide behavior. Process theories of motivation focus on the psychological processes involved in making decisions and choices about work. This is illustrated in the goal-setting theory, which argues that employee motivation is defined by our intention to achieve a particular goal; and equity theory, which deals with our perceived ratio or outcome to input and how equitably that ratio compares with those co-workers (Halonen & Santrock, 1996).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The workplace today considers any of the perspectives mentioned in this paper. However, what are more reflective at many organizations are their strategies in enhancing the life of the average worker. The understanding of the needs or drives that motivate people is therefore critical in the choice of what â€Å"motivator variables† that the management may employ to encourage their people to do or sustain an excellent job or an efficient performance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mentoring and its application is very much the vogue today in corporate America. 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