Balance sheet ratios Essay Example

Balance sheet ratios Essay The balance sheet is only a snapshot of the business at a particular moment in time. Therefore, any ratios based on balance sheet figures like the liquidity ratios may not be representative of the financial position of the business for the whole year. For example, the stocks and debtors may be low at the balance sheet date, and the liquidity ratios may also be low as a result. Benchmarking practice is a mean to promote continuous improvement in organisational performance. Also, it has stressed the importance of initiating a benchmarking project only after going through a detailed analysis of competitive dimensions and business processes most in need of improvement. In doing that the benchmarking team not only guarantees that the project will be aligned with strategic objectives and needs, it also provides a basis for learning what a companys weakness and strengths are. According to Carpinetti and Melo (2002) that the fist step is to gather information on product characteristics, target customer and markets, competitive priorities, manufacturing and financial strategies and general areas for improvements. This will help to understand what dimensions and activities are most crucial to competitiveness. This step will need to gather information on customer expectations and perceived quality for different categories of customers or products and rank relative importance of requisites for most important customers. Also, gather information on performance against competitors in attending customer expectations. This helps to identify dimensions most in need of improvement. Then, map all the processes and activities belonging to or supporting the value adding chain and understand their relationship with the dimensions most in need of improvement. This process helped by constructing a matrix relating processes to dimensions and focus on the attention on the processes and activities that most impact performance on prioritised competitive dimensions. It this step, conduct a qualitative or quantitative assessment of performance of the critical processes and activities is necessary in order to diagnosis the current situation to realising what areas or activities are the weak points and need to be addressed. We will write a custom essay sample on Balance sheet ratios specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Balance sheet ratios specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Balance sheet ratios specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Quantitative information can reveal areas and dimensions in need of improvement. After performing the analysis proposed in steps 1 to 5, the dimensions and activities most in need of improvements become evident. From this point onwards, the benchmarking project itself can start for those subjects for which a benchmarking application is considered to be adequate. To become a World Class Company, management need to benchmark other world class companys performance to improve current performance for greater achievement in business. But, first, companies need to understand which company to benchmark and what is worth to benchmark, so that when benchmarked can lead own company to become excellent in performances. From there, we can set on new strategies to achieve better performance and win over our competitors. Therefore, a proper selection of the companies to benchmark must include the competitors as well. In juxtaposition, all methods used in this report are useful in many ways in finance decision making. The methods will be used to analyse financial statements and collect as much information as possible to make right decision in the business.

What a Legal Clinic Is

What a Legal Clinic Is A legal clinic (also called a law school clinic or law clinic) is a program organized through law school that allows students to receive law school credit as they work part-time in real (not simulated) legal service atmospheres. In legal clinics, students perform various tasks just as an attorney would do in the same job position, such as doing legal research, drafting briefs and other legal documents, and interviewing clients. Many jurisdictions even allow students to appear in court on behalf of clients, even in criminal defense. Most law clinics are open only to third-year law students, although some schools may provide opportunities for second-year students as well. Legal clinics are generally pro bono,  i.e., offering free legal services to clients, and supervised by law professors. There is usually no classroom component in legal clinics. Participating in a legal clinic is a great way for students to gain hands-on experience before heading off into the job market. Legal clinics are available in many areas of law, including but not limited to: Community legal servicesCriminal lawElder lawEnvironmental lawFamily lawHuman rightsImmigration lawTax law Renowned Clinics at Law Schools Across the Nation Stanford Law School’s Three Strikes Project is a great example of a law clinic dealing with criminal justice. The Three Strikes project provides representation to convicts serving life sentences under California’s three-strikes law for committing minor, non-violent felonies.   One of the many clinics at the University of Texas Law School is the Immigration Clinic. As part of the Immigration Clinic, law students represent â€Å"vulnerable low-income immigrants from all over the world† in federal courts before the Department of Homeland Security. Georgetown University Law School’s clinic offerings have earned it the number one ranking for â€Å"Best Clinical Training†. Ranging from Affordable Housing Transactions to Social Enterprise and Nonprofit clinics, the majority of Georgetown University Law School’s clinics involve extensive engagement with the D.C. community. One highlight of their offerings is the Center for Applied Legal Studies, which represents refugees seeking political asylum in the United States due to threatened persecution in their home countries. Lewis and Clark Law School has an International Environmental Law Project clinic that allows law students to work on real-world environmental legal issues. Past projects have included working with groups to protect endangered species and working to create new laws to protect the environment.   At Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law, students help clients who are appealing their cases in the Seventh Circuit and the United States Supreme Court through the Appellate Advocacy Center clinic. There are even clinics that work solely on cases associated with the highest court in the country: the Supreme Court. Supreme Court clinics can be found at Stanford Law School, New York University Law School, Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, University of Virginia Law School, University of Texas Law School, Emory University Law School, Northwestern University Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Southwestern University Law School. Supreme Court clinics write and file amicus briefs, petitions for certiorari, and merits briefs.   Legal clinic offerings vary greatly in both number and type by school, so be sure to investigate carefully while  choosing a law school. Legal clinical experience is highly recommended for law students; it looks great on your resume plus it gives you the chance to try out an area of law before committing to it in a full-time job.

World Relief jurnal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

World Relief jurnal - Essay Example Its activity is centered on the material and spiritual support of children refugees and immigrants. World Relief is helping over 4 million people a year and its staff of volunteers is nearly 100,000 (World Relief Website). Career opportunities, offered by World Relief are available at a lot of locations, including the benefit of package of employment status, such as insurance of life and heath, retirement programs and so on. Employment services work collaborate adult refugees in order to help them to find full-time work and provide resources and education to remain employment in their workplace. World Relief is like an intermediator between clients and employers, so one can quickly find employment and become useful for community. Personnel of World Relief are caring about their clients staffing needs and interview them during the process of advocating for placement and job search. World Relief`s aim is to place refugees at work during three months after their arrival. They provide a review of education and work backgrounds and skills to determine tailored plan of service. The organization is trying to build long-term relationships with employers, which leads to the zero cost in job searching of the refugee. In the area of medicine World Relief includes five programs that provide medical equipment and supplies throughout the world for the people with low-income at little cost or in free way. These programs are: Local Shipping Program  (It provides such items as dressings, nutritional supplements. It may give blankets, hygiene and school kits for homeless and the poor. World Medical Relief gives medical support and equipment to local clinics other non-profit health organizations) In 2008 feeding centers of World Relief organization provided people with nourishing food. Thousands of children aged before 5 and their mothers were given corn soya blend and plumpynut (World Relief Website). Others

The relationship between theory and practice in a documentary Essay

The relationship between theory and practice in a documentary - Essay Example The concept of horror movies is definitely mysterious but in reality a phobia for ghostly matter does operates. But a documentary is more realistic in approach and there is no willing suspension of disbelieve on the part of  audiences and spectators. It provides an opportunity to peep into the lives of the others and witness their dilemmas and problems from a sociological perspective. The lives of the characters depicted in a documented film are more realistic and they belong to the same historical period of the audiences. However, it is ‘not a reproduction of reality, it is a representation of the world we already occupy’ (Nichols, 2001, p20). The subject matter of documentaries generally focuses on the social, political, economic, educational or environmental issues. In this respect, the documentary- ‘Panorama: British Schools, Islamic Rules’ has succeeded in exploring the rapid growth of new private schools in Britain influenced by the teachings of the extremists  and fundamental groups, It is a documentary to investigate into the act of segregation conducted by the one faith school.  Ã‚   The documentary begins with an investigating spirit. It states in the introductory scene that over 95 percent of the schools in Britain favor communal harmony but there has been noticed the small but rapid growth of private schools ad Muslim state schools. John ware is the reporter for this documentary and aims to find out whether these schools are encouraging acts of segregation or not. In a documentary those issues are brought into notice that is ‘subject to debate’ (Nichols, 2001, p 49). The first Muslim school established in Britain is the Al-Furqan Primary School but it prepares it students to be tolerant towards other religions and faiths. It is evident from the keeping of various idols, beads etc of different faiths in the

Causes and effects of obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Causes and effects of obesity - Essay Example The modern life has become so mechanical that people find it hard to find time for cooking at home. Although the standard of living has improved in general, yet many people have to spend most of their day at the workplace in order to make both ends meet. In such a hectic routine, purchasing ingredients from the market and cooking food at home is not only a time consuming activity, but also proves far more expensive than a burger with coke and French fries at a nearby restaurant. Therefore, most of the working people opt for fast food. Fast food owners sell their business on the theme of upsizing. People do not realize but the fast food adds kilos of fat under their skin in no time. In addition to consuming junk food, people’s lack of tendency to exercise and work out regularly also makes them gain weight. Most people do not have a habit of going on a walk or doing exercise because it feels just too boring and tiresome to adopt as a habit. Whenever people find some time in the busy routine, an obvious choice is to watch a new movie or enjoy ice-cream at the nearest parlor. People eat not because they are feeling hungry. Instead, they eat because they want to kill the time in an enjoyable manner. Also, in the contemporary age, eating junk food has become more of a fashion than a hobby.

Effect of Middle level managers on Employee Turnover

Effect of Middle level managers on Employee Turnover Abstract Management at any organization can be classified into three levels and they are Top level, middle level and low level management. Each level of management has its roles and responsibilities to be executed for the better functioning of the organization. Middle level mangers play a key role in any organization. They are point of contact for many of the resources across the top level and low level management. There were many cases where high level management contacts the middle level mangers for several operational issues with low level management and even low level management has made the middle level managers as the single point of contact in order to resolve their issues. Usually the job profiles in middle level management differ based on the organization structure and number of employees operating in a particular division. There were many research and theoretical aspects, that has proved middle level management has nothing to do with turnover of an organization. This particular turnover is not and no where related to revenue terms and this entire discussion is based on the turnover of employees and their work done. Here, we can review an article â€Å"Effect of Middle level managers on Employee Turnover† published by Mr. Morgen S. Johansen. In this particular article author mainly concentrates on High level and middle level manager and their impact on the overall employee satisfaction that results in the turnover of the organization. This review is published in â€Å"Department of Political Science, Texas AM University†. The results and their impact are discussed in the public management literature. Introduction Public management is a vast subject and if any one is interested in studying this particular subject, the most important area to be concentrated is the relationship and level of interactions between mangers and workers, and the result of work done which is affected by their levels of interactions.(Frederickson and Smith 2003, p98 ). After much research, the most important aspect came in to light is that, maximum study of public management is concentrated on the relationship between management activities and output of work and has neglected the relationship between management and workers (Meier and OToole 2002, 2001; Goerdel 2006; Brewer and Selden 2000; Walker and Boyne 2006; Moynihan and Pandey 2005; see also Lynn, Heinrich, and Hill 2001; although see Ingraham, Joyce, and Donahue 2003). This particular negligence of management on employees has become the main drawback and is affecting the organization performance a lot. The management should understand this effect of performance on organization turnover and proper steps are required to get rid of these activities. Lack of attention on workers may definitely affect the employee performance. A deep focus on relationship between management and workers is required to understand the few aspects like whether management is effecting the employee performance or employee performance is effecting the management. To concentrate more on this, the basic management activity like Human Resource can be considered, as it is the core functionalitys of any management (Daley 2005). Typical management activities include providing better workplace needs, recruiting right resources, training them to develop their skills and finally motivating and encouraging them in many aspects (Ingraham, Joyce, and Donahue 2003). In simple words Human Capital can be considered as biggest asset of any organization. Short Literature Review As per the previous discussion, Human Resource can be considered as the biggest asset of any organization and maintaining it effectively will always result a positive impact on both employee and organization performance (Ingraham, Joyce, and Donahue 2003;Daley 2005). According to Author, for better understanding of relationship between management and work outcomes, one should concentrate on the missing term i.e. Workers. Thus, in determining how management matters, the question becomes, what effect does management have on workers? In order answer these questions, author mainly concentrated on the effect of management on the turnover of street level. Turnover has a major role in building the organization performance. As per author, turnover is directly related to work satisfaction and this particular work satisfaction from workers side is essential for any organization for its effective operations and performance. Workers may not perform well and in some cases, they may leave the org anization, if the work or job satisfaction is not up to the level. All these factors make turnover as a bad thing for any organization and should be managed properly (Mobley 1982). Consequences and causes of Turnover As per author reviews, high turnover always poses a negative impact on organization performance (Meier and Hicklin 2008; Brill and McCartney 2008). Turnover has much importance, as it could be considered as the main factor that affects the costs in many aspects like lost recruiting, interviewing, training, and socialization investments (Mobley 1982). Apart from all these factors, turnover can also affect the morality of any company (Rainey 2003) and can cause a huge of scope of disturbance is in the smooth flow of the organization like social and communication platforms (Mobley 1982). Economy, inflation and labor force composition can be considered as external cause, that cant be controlled with in management. Several organization factors also effects the turnover and few of them are size of organization and each department, work pressures and salary (Mobley 1982). The compensation workers receive is a strong predictor of turnover (Mobley 1982; Moynihan and Pandey 2008; Selden and M oynihan 2000; Theobald 1990). Workers should be at a satisfaction level of their pay. This particular satisfaction can be measured with respective to their cost of living and the work place conditions. Even the fiscal resources of the organization affect the turnover. The fiscal resources of an organization matter because an organization with more resources is more likely to provide supplies, training, and other resources that better enable workers to do their jobs. Apart from these, there were many individual factors that effect the turnover and one among them is the work satisfaction (Nigro, Nigro, and Kellough 2007 ), for all these managers are responsible for building up the confidence levels and turnover too. Methodologies and drawbacks The basic methodology implemented by author is to study the relationship between management and workers and their total effect on the turnover. He has collected data from many aspects and concluded that middle level management poses a negative impact on the turnover. Turnover and Management Turnover is something that must be managed (Mobley 1982). The impact study of Human resource management can be considered as the best among the methodologies used by author to explain the turnover. HR management is directly related to job satisfaction and it strongly influences the organization performance (Mobley 1982; Riccucci 2005). In simple words, management can impact the job satisfaction, as mangers are the key persons who can make the workers not to dissatisfy (Riccucci 2005). Job satisfaction can be considered as a typical measurement factor, that how an organization body behaves and treats the employees (Mobley 1982; Morrell, Loan-Clarke, and Wilkinson 2001). Hiring the right persons, who can adjust to the organization environment and worker, is the primary task of any manager. Moreover, the support workers have from management (Parker 2002; Moynihan and Pandey 2008) also matters. Apart from HR management, budgeting also effects the job satisfaction of employees (Donahue et al. 2004). As per author methodology, there is a very tight relation between pay of the organization and turnover (Mobley 1982; Moynihan and Pandey 2008; Selden and Moynihan 2000; Theobald 1990). Managers are responsible here because, they were the key persons t decide the word on budgeting and many other aspects like distributing the available budget to several departments, employee salaries and reserves etc (Gulick 1937; Mintzberg 1979; Donahue et al. 2004). Drawbacks and un-answered questions on this methodology Author has given an excellent discussion, on the relationship between mangers and covered all important aspects of management activities. Apart from the positive aspects, there were many aspects author could not cover and few questions that were un-answered, and few of them are discussed below †¢ Author has missed to clearly explain the exact level of management that was affecting the turnover and job satisfaction. He always refers that it the responsibility of management, but no where he mentioned that middle level mangers are responsible and this does not fit as per the article title. †¢ Human resource management is directly focused in this article. Even there were many cases, where HR is not morally responsible for job satisfaction. The best example could be, even there exists a separate policy to motivation and job satisfaction, the attitude of any single employee can effect the entire division. †¢ There were no special case studies included, where the author can support that budgeting can effect the job satisfaction. Even a good budget can meet the requirements of workers. Multi-level management The second methodology considered by author is the important aspect and is Multi-level management. In a multinational organization, there could be always a scope for multi levels of management. At each level there are different managers with their own roles and responsibilities (Riccucci 2005; Lynn, Heinrich, and Hill 2001). Thus, to really determine if management affects workers, we need to look at managers at more than one level and their effect on street level bureaucrats. So, they can directly effect the salaries and the respective job satisfaction with respective to the pay outs. Organization goals are also set by top level management and as per first hypothesis of author â€Å"Hypothesis 1: Upper level managers will have an impact on turnover†. Apart from Upper level manger, middle level mangers are also responsible for many factors that directly affect the turnover. This is because; middle level mangers are the key persons, with whom the low level managers and workers are in contact (Mintzberg 1979; Barnard 1938). As middle level managers are close to workers, all the issues related to worker job satisfaction are directly influenced by middle level managers and thus author concludes his second hypothesis as â€Å"Hypothesis 2: Middle level managers will have an impact on turnover †. Drawbacks and un-answered questions on this methodology Author has justified the classification of levels in management in an organization and their respective impact on the job satisfaction and turnover. Apart from these, there were many points that were missed and few of them are highlighted below: †¢ Author could have classified the roles and responsibilities of different management levels, but failed to explain their respective level of impact on the overall job satisfaction. †¢ There was no percentages sort of things, like what percentage of upper management affects the turnover when compared to middle level management. †¢ Again the focus has been divided among upper and middle level mangers, but there is no special theory that could explain the view of author, that only middle level management has imposed negative effect on turnover. Organization size The third and most important methodology considered by author is the Organization size. Organization size badly affects the turnover of any organization and this is due to the reasons that big organizations are designed in a critical and more complicated manner (Rainey 2003). Considering all these reviews, author concludes that smaller organization pose more negative results on turnover when compared to larger organizations and came up with his third hypothesis on this as â€Å"Hypothesis 3: Management will have an impact on turnover in smaller organizations but not in larger organizations.† But when inner details are considered and also in ideal cases, even there exists many issues that effect the turnover with HR managers and this does not support the third hypothesis and author has came up with his fourth hypothesis as â€Å"Hypothesis 4a: In large organizations, upper level management will have an impact on turnover †. As already discusses by author, upper level ma nagers are always responsible in setting high level standards like budgeting and financial issues. But if a smaller organization is considered, both the upper level and middle level managers are responsible and author came up with newer version of his hypothesis as â€Å"Hypothesis 4b: In small organizations, upper level and middle level management will have an impact on turnover †. Drawbacks and un-answered questions on this methodology In this particular methodology, author has came with good hypothesis on the organization size and its relation with upper and middle level management, apart from these, there are many issues with his and few of them are discusses below †¢ As per author, organization size effects the turnover and here he could not explain the how the organization size is effecting the job satisfaction of employees. †¢ Author has mixed his hypothesis with the previous methodologies and could not justify the hypothesis as it was done in the previous case. †¢ Again upper level and middle level management were brought into picture, but no justification was done how, only middle level managers are responsible for turnover of employees. Review and critics on methodologies followed When the employee turnover does become complicated? Author could not to able to explain the intensity of effect caused by the employee turnover. As per the review of author, he could not explain the range of turnover tolerable in any organization. There were cases, where employee turnover can positively affect the organization performance and author could not cover the positive side of this article. (http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/hrpract/turnover/empturnretent.htm) How to measure employee turnover? Author is successful in explaining the levels of management and their effect on turnover, but failed to explain the methodologies adopted to measure the employee turnover. The best way to measure this employee turnover is as below (Total number of leavers over period/Average total number employed over period) * 100 (http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/hrpract/turnover/empturnretent.htm) Author could not justify the reasons for which the employees leaving the organization and special definition is derived for this. How employee turnover does effects the cost to organization? Author could not explain the effects of employee turnover on the cost perspective of any organization. As per this article, middle level mangers are posing negative employee turnover rates, and let us the actual ones as below The following are the cost terms to be measured †¢ recruiting costs †¢ training cost †¢ administrative costs †¢ induction costs If one can observe these cost factors, all these are related to middle level managers and at the same time, cost cutting activities are no where related to middle level management and directly related to upper level of mangers, as they are responsible for budgeting issues. Thus even HR activities and their impact on employee turnover are related to upper level management indirectly and could not justify the authors review discussion. (http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/hrpract/turnover/empturnretent.htm) Why do people leave organization? Usually employees resign, to the job because of many reasons like getting a good offer and may be due to many personal reasons. All these are missing in authors discussion, where he just concentrated on the management defects. How to retain employees? Author is successful in explaining the bad affects of employee turnover, and failed to give methods to retain the employees. When coming to management side, even they are responsible to retain the employees and this part is completely missed in authors review of the article. (http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/hrpract/turnover/empturnretent.htm) Lack of any survey reports Author has missed the practical implementation of things. He could have managed to explain the hypothesis derived by him, and failed to submit any practical reports on his discussions. The actual survey reports may not be in synch with authors discussion and few of them can be downloaded from the below referred URL (http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/hrpract/turnover/empturnretent.htm) How to prevent turnover? Author could not explain and suggest any preventive mechanisms for low employee turnover rate and few of them can be found under (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnover_(employment)) Arent Middle level managers employees in an organization? Author has concluded that middle level managers are more responsible for high employee turnover. Here, he has just failed to explain, if the job satisfaction of middle level mangers is low, even there are chances, where they may skip the organization and he could not suggested how upper level managers are responsible in retaining the middle level employees. Conclusion Employee turnover, which is rate of gaining or loosing the employees in an organization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnover_(employment)) has become major disadvantage for many organizations and there were many factors to cause this. The most important aspects to be considered are the management issues (Riccucci 2005). Different levels of organization have their own impact on employee turnover these days. As per discussion on the review part, it the middle level mangers, who effect the employee turnover of the organization. There were multi-level organization and each of them has their own standards to measure the turnover. Upper level management is responsible for high end activities like budgeting and designing organization size. Middle level management is mainly responsible for typical HR acts like hiring, training and development. The main focus is done middle level managers as per the title of the article, but fewer topics were covered to explain the same, as per author. Proper set of standards while hiring the employees can be the best solution for this situation. The quality in training and motivation to employees can stop them in jumping here and there. Good development opportunities and job satisfaction for employees can make middle level managers more confident in reducing their part in turnover aspects. If author could have covered inner details of management, this article could be the best. Author has given excellent justifications for many aspects like, level of management and organization size and their effect on turnover. All the methodologies covered by him are much qualitative approaches and could have suggested methods for less employee turnover rate. Examples could have helped for better understanding of the article. References Aldrich, Howard and Ellen R. Austere. 1986. â€Å"Even Dwarfs Started Small: Liabilities of Age and Size and Their Strategic Implications.† Research in Organizational Behavior 8: 165-198. Bamboo, Thomas, William R. Clark, and Matt Gilder. 2006. â€Å"Understanding Interaction Models: Improving Empirical Analyses.† Political Analysis 14: 63-82. Brewer, Gene A. and Sally Coleman Selden. 2000. â€Å"Why Elephants Gallop: Assessing and Predicting Organizational Performance in Federal Agencies.† Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 10(4): 685-711. Brill, Sam and Abby McCartney. 2008. â€Å"Stopping the Revolving Door: Increasing Teacher Retention.† Politics and Policy 36(5): 750-74. Daley, Dennis M. 2006. â€Å"Strategic Human Resources Management.† In Public Personnel Management: Current Concerns, Future Challenges, 4thed. Ed. Norma M. Riccucci. New York: Pearson Education. Donahue, Amy K., Willow S. Jacobson, Mark D. Robbins, Ellen V. Rubin, and Sally C. Selden. 2004. â€Å"Management and Performance Outcomes in State Government. † In The Art of Governance, Patricia W. Ingraham and Laurence E. Lynn, Eds. Georgetown University Press. Ehrenberg, Ronald G., Richard P. Chaykowski, and Randy A. Ehrenberg. 1988. â€Å"Determinants of the Compensation and Mobility of School Superintendents.† Industrial and Labor Relations Review 41: 386-401. Frederickson, H. George and Kevin B. Smith. 2003. The Public Administration Theory Primer. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Goerdel, Holly. 2006. â€Å"Taking Initiative: Proactive Management and Organizational Performance in Networked Environments.† Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 16(3): 351-67. Hayes, William. 2004. So You Want to be a Principal? Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefield. Ingraham, Patricia W., Philip G. Joyce, and Amy Kneedler Donahue. 2003. Government Performance: Why Management Matters. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Jencks, Christopher and Meredith Phillips. 1998. The Black-White Test Score Gap. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. Johansen, Morgen S. 2008. â€Å"Measuring Middle Manager Quality and Its Effect on Organizational Performance.† Paper presented at the Third Conference on Empirical Studies of Organizations and Public Management, College Station, TX, May 2-3. Meier, Kenneth J. and Alisa Hicklin. â€Å"Employee Turnover and Organizational Performance: Testing a Hypothesis from Classical Public Administration.† Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 18(4): 573-90. Meier, Kenneth J. and Laurence OToole, Jr. 2002. â€Å"Public Management and Organizational Performance: The Effect of Managerial Quality.† Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 21(4): 629-43. - 2001. â€Å"Managerial Strategies and Behavior in Networks: A Model with Evidence from U.S. Public Education.† Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 11(3): 271-93. Mobley, William H. 1982. Employee Turnover: Causes, Consequences, and Control. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Moynihan, Donald P. and Sanjay K. Pandey. 2008. â€Å"The Ties that Bind: Social Networks, Person-Organization Value Fit, and Turnover Intention.† Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 18(2): 205-228. Nigro, Lloyd, Felix Nigro, and J. Edward Kellough. 2007. The New Public Personnel Administration. 6thed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadwsorth. Parker, Victoria A. 2002. â€Å"Connecting Relational Work and Workgroup Context in Caregiving Organizations.† Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 38: 276-97. Rainey, Hal G. 2003. Understanding and Managing Public Organizations. 3rded. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Riccucci, Norma. 2005. How Management Matters: Street Level Bureaucrats and Welfare Reform. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Selden, Sally C. and Donald P. Moynihan. 2000. â€Å"A Model of Voluntary Turnover in State Government.† Review of Public Personnel Administration 20(2): 63-74. Theobald, Neil D. 1990. â€Å"An Examination of the Influence of Personal, Professional, and School District Characteristics on Public School Teacher Retention.† Economics of Education Review 9(3): 241-50.

Essay --

Witness, A Classic Novel Witness, a Newbery Medal awarded novel, was one of the many novels created by Karen Hesse, a wonderful author who has taught kids and children about the past, has made a very interesting book about life that exists on a foundation of segregation and hatred. Racism as we all know it is very disturbing, annoying, and is not tolerable. This story is based on life on a foundation of segregation and dangers of racism. This one novel is placed in a small, under-populated city of Vermont, where a family of three, the Sutters, another family of 3, the Hirsch's with a caring person, named Sara Chickering, and some people face many problems and solutions in their lives. As racism continues on to thrive in the town, Esther Hirsh, becomes a young girl who also faces discrimination only because she was a Jewish. In the same school as Esther, was a young African-American girl named Leonora who faces bully about almost every day, and everywhere, just because of her race. Her family is very well in poverty, and her mother is badly sick. She died later that month. In one quote,†Why can’t white folks leave me alone?†(P7), explains how excruciating racism was. As the storyline progresses into the center of the story, Leonora saves Esther from a passenger train, everybody knows it as the â€Å"Heaven Train.† Esther wanted to meet her mother on the train who died when she was just a tiny little young girl, perhaps at the age of four or five. Leonora understood her but she didn’t want her to go because Esther was perhaps her only best friend. Back in the transition from the beginning of the story, Esther also saved Leonora’s life from the chilling winter cold. Sara Chickering, the caretaker of Esther, fina... ... the bridge to convince Johnny to get back down. â€Å"I’m afraid of the Klan,† he said. Then he surprisingly†¦ just jumped. All these scenes were all real, it all happened from 1920-1927. Karen witnessed a lot of horrors, but also some happiness. She did that by just simply writing books, novels and poetry. She mostly writes her novels in poetic form, what everybody does not usually do. This book inspired me and a lot to perhaps write a lot about the past, and admire and appreciate the present and what will happen in the future. It also taught me many lessons about the important things, like the history of the KKK and what they did, also the history of segregation and how this country was broken up into pieces and how they were sawn back together. So this book is a very useful tool in learning and understanding and should be brought down from generation to generation...

Website Development on Product Price

Elements Determination Sample Preparation Conclusion _ Recommendations The problem of getting exact price information on several stores is quite a big concern towards middle income citizen, and much for lower, especially during the economic crisis which caused the increase of goods price as a whole. The presence of big retail stores drowns the smaller stores in terms of discount, advertising, and convenience of the building. But actually the price is more or less the same or the price at smaller stores and eventually cheaper than the big retail stores.Small retail tores seem to be camouflaged by big company, and at the end of the day, the small stores will shut down. On the other hand, people who really concern about money, everything to purchase needs to be calculated precisely, so that they do not over budget. The above phenomenon seems to cause this group of people having no choice, but to purchase at the so-called big convenience store at higher price. Besides, those who are more energetic, they might visit one store to another, Just to do the price comparison.Thus, this study provides solution by developing website on goods price and information from several retail stores. This will be done by gathering and publishing price information from participated retail stores in selected area into the integrated service broker website. This website will act as a service broker by connecting the businesses with the people. This study believes that by providing information of goods to the people through website, this will make people's life easier and effective, and cost saving.

What Techniques are Involved in Green Computing Essays

What Techniques are Involved in Green Computing Essays What Techniques are Involved in Green Computing Essay What Techniques are Involved in Green Computing Essay Green computing can be thought of as an environmentally conscious effort to make long-term computing sustainable by using energy efficient methods. The goals of green computing are similar to those of green chemistry, which try to minimize hazardous material use, maximize efficiency and enhance recyclability. Yet all this extra effort put into designs has a negative impact on system throughput. Therefore the question is posed, is the extra overhead involved in designing superior data centers, optimizing software algorithms, improving power management and recycling materials worth the benefits in the field of green computing? I believe they are as we are slowly running out of resources. Yet others take a stance that this will negatively affect system performance while computers are only a small percentage of the problem compared to vehicles which should be addressed first. Generally, data centers have an energy density of 100 to 200 an equally sized office building. (U. S. Department of Energy, 2011) Although most datacenters have a small design window which prevents new ideas for being used in favor of proven methods, taking the time to select a more efficient design can help immensely with the long term operating cost. U. S. Department of Energy, 2011) As IT loads account for around half the facilities energy consumption, choosing more expensive high efficiency machines will help reduce the necessary cooling and operating cost. (U. S. Department of Energy, 2011) Rack mounted servers are usually underutilized running around 20% of their working capacity yet consuming close to the full running energy. (U. S. Department of Energy, 2011) The Energy Star helps distinct regular servers from a high-efficiency machine; they will on average be 30% more efficient. (U. S.  Department of Energy, 2011) Power management which is referred to as Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) is used by manufacturers to allow software to interface with the underlying hardware and alter the power settings. This system allows the computer to go into sleep, hibernate and power off monitors. The processor’s power management techniques such as Intel’s †SpeedStep† and AMD’s â€Å"Cool’n’Quite† allow the clock speed to be altered to different predefined states (known as P-states) which decease power consumption at the expense of speed during periods of low activity. It is generally advisable to run tasks in blocks and turn off systems after to extend component life. (Roy Bag) Power management can possibly cause system failure, yet that must be assessed against the energy savings it can provide in non-mission critical applications. Multi-core processors allow significant energy savings on both the processing end and on the cooling end if the software is capable of taking advantage of the hardware. (U. S.  Department of Energy, 2011) Multi-threaded applications are become common with the advances in hardware, as more programmers focus on making more efficient programs it will be viable to upgrade older hardware for newer systems. An industry leader in server processors Sun Microsystems is focusing on multi-core chips for the future. (Roy Bag) The Niagara 1, Ultrasparc 1 has an average 60 watt power consumption while running 32 threads, while the Niagara 2 will have 64 threads at 80 watts of power. Roy Bag) The power savings compared to an Intel Pentium 4 with 2 threads consuming 89 to 103 watts clearly show the improvement in technology. (Intel Pentium 4 3. 4 GHz RK80546PG0961M (BX80546PG3400E)) Providing one power supply per server rack instead of one per server can offer savings around $2,000 to $6,000 per rack, these estimates take into consider the cooling system and interruptible power supplies. (U. S. Department of Energy, 2011) Blade servers are the key in this field. Blade servers are space and energy conscious design that allows common components such as power supplies and the cooling system to be common to a set of machines. Although they require an initial investment of the blade enclosure and compatible blade modules which are proprietary to each manufacturer the savings are considered to be worth it. (U. S. Department of Energy, 2011) Virtualization allows multiple independent operating systems to run on a single physical computer via the use of a hypervisor. (U. S. Department of Energy, 2011) Virtualization permits better use of hardware, instead of running multiple servers at a low utilization state, it is possible to run multiple â€Å"guest† operating systems on a virtualization cluster which can significantly decrease the required hardware. Although the hardware needs to super support hardware assisted virtualization, many free open source solutions exist for the hypervisor. However some overhead is required to run the hypervisor that controls the guest operating systems, it is trivial compared to the energy savings. (U. S.  Department of Energy, 2011) The efficiency of an algorithm has a significant effect on the resources it consumes, be it CPU time or memory, this is called the space-time tradeoff. Linear search algorithms have always been considered to be slower than indexed searches. Although an index table must be maintained, the efficiency gains on a large scale operation can become substantial for only a few more lines of code. Loop unwinding is a common technique to optimize programs for speed, when programs are written in a space saving mindset; loops are used to make code smaller. When optimized for speed, some unrolled loops will allow for multiple parts to be executed in parallel making better use of processing power. Storage space increases exponentially cheaper than processing power the cost in space can be considered minimal. Extending the life of hardware devices from a 3 year window can save considerably as most of the energy is spent on manufacturing. (Earth Care Tech, 2012) Recycling of computers by donating them to charities and non-profit organizations will help lengthen the life of devices with no cost to the end-user. On the other hand, taking the device to a recycling center where it can be properly dismantled and have the materials re-used can save harmful materials such as lead, cadmium and mercury from ending up in landfills. Experts say computers sometimes contain 4 to 8 pounds of lead. (Roy Bag) For printers, investing in long-life printer drums reduces e-waste for a small increase in the purchase price while inkjets can have their cartridges refill for a fraction of the cost of buying a new cartridge.

Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy Essay Example

Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy Essay Example Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy Paper Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy Paper The Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy addresses the needs of upper high school students, undergraduate researchers, teachers ND professors, as well as general readers by examining the philosophical and ethical issues underlying contemporary and historical environmental issues, policies, and debates. More than 300 peer-reviewed articles cover concepts, institutions, topics, events and people, including global warming, animal rights, environmental movements, alternative energy, green chemistry, industrial ecology, and echo-sabotage. Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy joins the suite of other Macmillan applied ethics titles: Encyclopedia of Bioethics and the Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Additional features include 200 photographs and illustrations, thematic outline, annotated bibliography, and a comprehensive index. While Gale strives to replicate print content, some content may not be available due to rights restrictions. Call your Sales Rep for details. Ђ?Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including the non-human world. It exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including environmental law, environmental sociology, ichthyology, ecological economics, ecology and environmental geography. There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. For example: Should we continue to clear cut forests for the sake of human consumption? Why should we continue to propagate our species, and life itself? 1] Should we continue to make gasoline powered vehicles? What environmental obligations do we need to keep for future Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the extinction of a species for the convenience of humanity? How should we best use and conserve the space environment to secure and expand life? 4] The academic field of environmental ethics grew up in response to the work Of scientists such as Rachel Carson and events such as the first Earth Day in 1 970, when environmentalists started urging philosophers to consider the philosophical aspects of environmental pr oblems. Two papers published in Science had a crucial impact: Lynn Whites The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis (March 1 and Garrett Hardens The Tragedy of the Commons (December 1968). CA] Also influential was Garret Hardens later essay called Exploring New Ethics for Survival, as well as an essay by Aledo Leopold in his A Sand County Almanac, called The Land Ethic, in which Leopold explicitly claimed that the roots of the ecological crisis were philosophical (1949). 7] The first international academic journals in this field emerged from North America in the late sass and early sass the us-based journal Environmental Ethics in 1979 and the Canadian based journal The Trumpeter: Journal of Choppy in 1983. The first British based journal of this kind, Environmental :here are several ethical standards that seem to apply across cultures. The idea of a parents duty to his/her child, a prohibition against ailing useful members of society, and prohibition against incest are all examples of th ese universal morals. Most cultures also have some version of the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. [2]A practicable Code of Universal Ethics was proposed by Eon Hinkler =universal Ethics is a set of principles which apply to all humans, whether secular or religious, independent from any particular faith. The compilation of Universal Ethics is not the base for a new religion: in particular it does not say anything about metaphysical or liturgical concepts of any kinds. That means that it does not give any explanation for the existence of the Universe (including the existence of man). It does not prescribe any particular ritual. It does not deal with the concept of God. It does not contain any myths, stories or immutable dogmas. Most importantly, Universal Ethics does not prescribe any formal changes for any existing or future creed. Universal Ethics are a sort of Moral Constitution which is articulated as a set of specific ethical principles acceptable to all human beings. Under this constitution all religions or secular groups can develop (or maintain) their own additional ethical principles. 1 . Worldviews and Ethical Perspective Presented by: Earner O. Riviera 2. 3. 4. There will be a time when you will have eyes but cannot see Have ears, but cannot hear Have a heart, but cannot feel Have a tongue, but cannot speak Have a mind, but cannot think And your ancestors will not recognize you 5. What are Worldviews? It refers to our personal feelings about issues regarding the environment. This includes our perspective on how the earth and its resources should be used. It is heavily influenced by the fundamental vision of reality we hold, the collection of values, perceptions and practices that organizes our lives. . Factors that influence our world views: Beliefs and practices of our family and the society Personal experiences Education 7. Dominant Worldviews Expansionist Worldview Ecological Worldview Sustainable Development 8. Expansionist Worldview Materials on earth are resources to be used to enhance human lives. The universe is a human machine that can be understood and manipulated to serve human lives. Endless material growth is necessary for human happiness. 9. Ecological Worldview The earth IS a finite system and no subsystem can exhibit endless growth. Neither the population or resource use can grow indefinitely and to behave as though it can is a threat to the natural, social and economic system. 10. Sustainable Development: Development can be achieved without compromising the environment. Incorporates parts of the two worldviews.

Innovation in management services in supply chains(SCM) Essay

Innovation in management services in supply chains(SCM) - Essay Example Importance of innovation Innovation is best described as the development and creation of unique possibilities for making value added contributions in a particular industry. The entire process of innovation goes beyond the traditional method of implementing new manufacturing processes or developing innovative products because it comprises of much broader aspects such as innovation in the market, organization and input resources (Kim, Kumar, & Kumar, 2012; Ozturen & Sevil, 2009). Innovation in tourism and hospitality industry In the last few years, the researchers such as Boon-itt and Pongpanarat (2011), Martinez-Ros and Orfila-Sintes (2009) and Spekman, Spear and Kamauff (2002) have done extensive studies on the role of innovation in service sector especially tourism and hospitality industry. Tourism and hospitality industry consists of many areas and dimensions and the study is catered across different elements. As the world has become global, travelling to different destinations wor ldwide is now the favorite leisure activity of majority of the consumers of any society. It has been reported by many countries such as France, USA, UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, China and Canada that the number of tourists is increasing at a faster pace than expected (Nassiry, Ghorban, & Nasiri, 2012). In order to provide exceptional tourism experience to the visitors, the tourism and hospitality industry of each country has to introduce innovative products and services that will meet the expectation level of the customers (Anthony, Johnson, & Sinfield, 2008). This industry is mainly made up of tour operators, travel agencies, hotels and accommodation service providers and airline companies. One of the key areas of focus by the players in the respective industry is the development of an effective Supply Chain Management (SCM) that ensures that the tourists are provided the most satisfying level of services (Zhang, Song, & Huang, 2009). Real life examples of SCM initiatives and i nnovations Since the demands of customers change at an accelerating pace in each market, it is required by every company to closely monitor the changing patterns of innovation requirements in the products and services. The customers of tourism and hospitality industry are looking for open service innovation which was the concept introduced by FedEx. Almost all the firms existing in the industry have ensured that they employ the latest technology in their services so that they have a strong presence in the market (Gunasekara, 2006). The consumers need to know about the tourism and hospitality industries so that they develop an interest in trying out the services. Some of the initiatives that have been observed in the Tourism supply chain (TSC) are integration of supplier and buyer relationship (Rizova, 2006), taking the suppliers on board when developing new products so that the feasibility of the project can be effectively designed (Handfield & Lawson, 2008) and eliminating the unne cessary intermediary steps so that the cost can be saved to a much larger extent (Miles, 2008). Such types of initiatives is a necessary act to be conducted by the organisations as

Organizational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Organizational Behavior - Essay Example From the start of its operation, the business organization has recognized that importance of their workforce in the attainment of their organizational goals. As one of their executives put it, â€Å"employees are at the heart of our results† (Newing 2007). In order to pursue employee excellence, the company commits its resources in ensuring the continuous communication between leaders and their staff. American Express strongly believes that it can uphold its tradition of excellence by enabling the staff to learn from the experience of their leaders. Thus, training programs include pairing up a newly hired staff to their business managers who will not only gear him with the skills that he needs in order to fulfill his tasks but will also oversee his growth and development within the organization. Aside from this, the company has also established larger group forums which invite employees to hone their skills. Higher level managers are often responsible in leading these groups. It should also be noted that even managers from another line of business participate in these activities. American Express also employs mentors which are usually executives in another line of business. Staffs are benefit from this coach as he â€Å"provides a strategic perspective on the organization and long-term support through their careers.† The company’s leaders have been active on this noting that constant communication between them and the staff will not only equip employees with the necessary skills but will help the business organization in the fulfillment of its goal of maximizing shareholder wealth. In order to gain feedback in the efficiency of these programs, American Express conducts an anonymous annual survey. The company’s programs appear to be successful indicated by the high participation rate of employees. The business arena has evolved pressuring business organizations to treat their employees as significant resources which