Karges Coffee Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Karges Coffee Inc - Case Study Example Assuming no changes to the Home Brewer or Office Deluxe unit sales and unit selling prices, and variable costs will remain same for each model with total fixed costs remaining unchanged. The Office Basic sales units if doubled will result in increase in the overall sales volume, contribution margin and profit of the company. Here we see that by just doubling the sales volume units we see a jump in sales value and contribution margin by more than 150% and the profit has grown by more than 200%. These drastic changes in the sales figure and profit is just because of the extra volumes of the Office Basic model. This means that if we sell 60,000 units of Office Basic we are in a profitable position. The sales volume of Office Basic is the highest among the other models which indicates that increasing the production of Office Basic model will generate far more revenues than if we double the other two models. This analysis helps us in analyzing the revenues and profits on changing a single factor such as sales volume units. If an advertising campaign is implemented costing $150,000 to raise overall consumer awareness of the product offerings and to increase sales, the company will have to attain a profit level of $1,530,000 to maintain the same profit percentage. This means that minimum of $500,000 sales is required to compensate for the advertising cost at the same profit level. In the same year maybe we do not receive the benefits in terms of sales revenue and profits but in the long run it may generate benefits. The new advertising campaign instead of being designed to increase total sales volume will focus on getting customers who would purchase the Office Basic model to buy the Office Deluxe model instead with an assumption of no impact on the sales of Home Brewer model. As per the calculations 1,250 customers should purchase Office Deluxe model instead of Office Basic model to cover the advertising costs incurred. The last option for evaluation is if the compan y chooses to add a new product (Office Plus) to its line of brewers targeted at the office use market, it would have to sell a minimum of 3,933 units approximately to justify its addition to the product line next year. This level of sales stated above is just a break-even point for the product. This product will generate additional profits over and above the units mentioned above. I would like to recommend going with the new product Office Plus in an optimistic view that it would start generating sales revenue higher than the current levels and thereby increase the profitability of the company in the long run. This product would also add to the current varieties of product and is a mid-priced product between the Office Basic model and the Office Deluxe model. I would also recommend another alternative of implementing an advertising campaign for initiating the sales of Office Premium model which is comparatively lower than Office Basic model which can result in more profitability as because the Profit/Volume ratio is higher than the other two models. The Profit/Volume ratio of Office Premium model is 0.40. The contribution per unit is also highest among the three products that is $120 which signifies that the variable costs are comparatively low

Human Trafficking And Sexual Exploitation Criminology Essay

Human Trafficking And Sexual Exploitation Criminology Essay When I was in Holland in August 1999, I was curious to see Amsterdams Red Light District for myself. Then it was the only place I knew in the world where prostitution was legal and have heard that women pose in window inviting customers in. I was with a friend and she started taking pictures of the women in the windows. When my friend took another picture when we were in the middle of the walkway, a prostitute came from behind her window, descendent on us furiously, grabbed the camera and violently removed the film from the camera. We were stunned, apologised profusely and hurriedly tried to make our way. A man came from somewhere and explained that taking pictures were prohibited. At that time I, like most people, have not heard about human trafficking. The issue of human trafficking has received considerable attention in the last ten years from researchers, non-governmental organisations, governments and international bodies the world over. Like most countries, South Africa too is a signatory to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (generally referred to as the Palermo Protocol). We formally consented to the Palermo Protocol in December 2003. Thus, as a nation we are obligated to ensure that our internal laws address the issue of human trafficking. Human trafficking has been called a heinous, monstrous,  [1]  crime against humanity  [2]  . It has also been coined modern-day slavery. Human trafficking can take the form of sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, slavery, illegal adoptions, removal of organs and other body parts, for conveying drugs nationally and internationally. However, as much as the issue has been discussed and debated, it has contributed to the hype surrounding FIFA World Cup 2010 and how human trafficking for sexual exploitative purposes will increase [even though there is no research to draw from] during the soccer world cup. This led to discussions and public outcry on whether or not to legalise prostitution; and whether South Africa need a specific legislation dealing with human trafficking. When I wrote my proposal, I considered several key focus areas. It soon became apparent that due to limitations such as time and length of paper, that I needed to reduce the key focus areas. Consequently I have decided for this paper, to focus on definition of trafficking the causes of trafficking explore prostitution and whether or not it should be legalised explore legislative developments pertaining to trafficking protective measures available to victims of trafficking. Research Methodology The research methodology consisted majorly of in-depth desktop research on trafficking of adults, and not people under the age of 18 years, for purposes of sexual exploitation. Much has been written about human trafficking, but it is still difficult to find reliable studies thereof. Some of these factors include deficiencies in methodology; defining trafficking; high levels of mobility; and the underground nature of trafficking; links to organised crime; victims fears and unwillingness to participate in research; and potential dangers to researchers.  [3]   Gould and Fick wrote that they failed to find a single prostitute who said she was being forced by unscrupulous pimps to sell sex against her will.  [4]  This does not mean that there are no victims of sex trafficking in and around Cape Town. I thought I could draw on an article written by Immelback Interviewing a Victim of Human Trafficking.  [5]  Upon closer look I realised that she did not interview a victim of human trafficking, but interviewed the Victim Assistance team who works with victims of trafficking. As it is difficult  [6]  to set up interviews with victims of sex trafficking due to a host of reasons, including personal, I abandoned interviewing them for this paper due to my limitations. I decided to instead research movies and or documentaries that depict human trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation. I will reflect on one of such movies, namely the movie Taken where Liam Neeson plays the role of a concerned and heroic father, whose daughter and friend have been trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation, and he lengths he went to rescue them. Throughout the paper I will try to avoid preferring to victims in the feminine form, even if the majority of the persons who victims of sex trafficking are women. This is to prevent sexism in my writing.  [7]   A Review Of The Literature Defining Human Trafficking One of most debated issues of human trafficking is the definition of human trafficking. Article 3 of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (Palermo Procol) defines trafficking as: trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include at a minimum the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour of services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs; the consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this Article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set out in paragraph (a) have been used; Most countries have taken the definition verbatim when they drafted their anti-trafficking laws. Kara  [8]  undertook several research trips to investigate human trafficking on four continents. He questions whether the definition is subparagraph 3(a) includes exploitation.  [9]  He opines that the wording only speaks to the movement portion of the chain, which explains why anti-trafficking law focus on movement more than exploitation  [10]  . He argues that trafficking is not about movement, it is about slavery.  [11]  He writes that current anti-trafficking efforts primary seek to crack down on modern-day slave traders, resulting in little more than adjustments in routes, larger bribes to border guards, and the procurement of false travel documents.  [12]  He suggests that a much clearer understanding of sex trafficking is required- wherein the movement and the purpose of the movement are disaggregated as criminal acts- to achieve greater abolitionist effectivene ss.  [13]  He suggests two definitions which could be used to eradicate sex trafficking, namely Slave trading- process of acquiring, recruiting, harbouring, receiving, or transporting an individual, through any means and for any distance, into a condition of slavery or slave-like exploitation.  [14]   Slavery- process of coercing labour or other services from a captive individual, through any means, including exploitation of bodies or body parts. He argues breaking the definition into different parts should be effective when formulating efforts to combat the crime of sex trafficking, and that confusion over what trafficking is results in blunted purpose, diffracted focus and exclusion of important components of trafficking-related crimes.  [15]   The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Tsireledzani 2010 report dealt with the problems of trafficking. They have expanded the definition of trafficking to include trafficking within national borders; forced marriages; child labour; impregnation of a female against her will for the purposes of selling her child when born; and trafficking of body parts.  [16]   In South Africa Gould and Fick created a stir with their controversial research on sex trafficking in Cape Town. They argue that the definition is too broad  [17]  and that there seem to no agreement on what could be considered as exploitation  [18]  . Another criticism of the definition by Gould and Fick is the issue of consent of the victim being irrelevant.  [19]  They opine that by ignoring the fact that the victim consented to be trafficked, is to ignore the specific needs of the victim, especially the victim who do not wish to return home to the same circumstances that led the victim to be trafficked in the first place.  [20]  Gould and Fick conclude that critiques would suggest that the term trafficking may not be a useful lens through which to consider issues of exploitation and abuse in the sex work industry.  [21]   Sex trafficking and prostitution are often perceived as two sides of the same coin. However, it is not. It is important to differentiate between sex trafficking and prostitution. With sex trafficking the person is being exploited to perform sex work; the person is not directly paid, but money might be sent to the victims family; the person is compelled to do the sex work; the person is not in a position to stop working unless the person escape; the person does not have autonomy of movement- it is restricted; the person is not able to negotiate a rate, fee, hours; the person is not able to negotiate the sexual acts; the person is not able to negotiate safe sexual practices; With prostitution, however, the sex worker is paid directly (if the person is based at a brothel, money might be paid either to person self or the person managing the brothel); can decide to stop whenever; choose to do the sex work due personal circumstances; can negotiate sexual acts; can negotiate safe sexual practices; can negotiate the rate, fee and hours; is able to enjoy freedom of movement; can still enjoy life as a person (fall in love, have babies, etc) Why does sex trafficking occur? The root causes of trafficking are complex, the vulnerability resulting from poverty is a major contributor.  [22]  The HSRC list pull factors such as economic inequality, conflicts, adoption trade, the use of organs or body parts in rituals.  [23]  They list poverty and deprivation, persistent unemployment, gender discrimination, lack of information and education, harmful socio-cultural practices and lack of legislative and policy protection as push factors.  [24]  They also cite issues such as disempowerment, social exclusion, and economic vulnerability- the result of policies and practices- marginalise entire groups of people, rendering them vulnerable to being trafficked.  [25]   The general perception is that only men are traffickers. Women are also involved in human trafficking, not only as victims, but also as traffickers.  [26]  It has been found that traffickers are also women, as mainly Mozambican women in partnership with their compatriots and South African men who transport trafficked victims from Maputo to Johannesburg or Durban.  [27]  Victims trafficked to Europe are recruited by Malawian businesswomen.  [28]   Kara argues that sex trafficking occurs because it is a lucrative business.  [29]  He equates sex trafficking with drug trafficking.  [30]  He states that drug trafficking generate greater dollar revenues, but [sex] trafficking is more profitable.  [31]  Unlike a drug, a [human] does not have to be grown, cultivated, distilled, or packaged.  [32]  Unlike a drug, a [human] can be used by the customer again and again.  [33]  34It generates profits through the vulgar and wanton destruction of lives.  [35]   Kara describes several five ways how sex slaves are acquired, namely deceit, sale by family, abduction, seduction or romance, or recruitment by former sex slaves.  [36]  Each of these ways will be briefly illustrated below. Deceit Deceit involves false job offers, travel, or other income-generating opportunity, false marriage offers (mail order brides).  [37]  He opine that in countries where marriage is the only way for a female to secure social acceptance, basic rights, and avoid a lifetime of persecution, false marriage offers are effective ways to acquire sex slaves.  [38]  People living in refugee camps are very susceptible to sex trafficking as they are often not allowed to leave the camp to seek employment.  [39]  Traffickers visiting refugee camps with job offers are usually very successful in getting people.  [40]   Sale by or involvement of family members I first encountered family involvement when I read a news article.  [41]  The article said that police had rescued a seventeen year old teenage girl from Klerksdorp from a brothel in Table View.  [42]  It alleged that the mother of the teenager knew the brothel owner and have promised her daughter that she will be working as a child minder.  [43]  Did the mother knew that her daughter will be expected to do sex work? Poverty, desperation and displacement lead many families to sell a family member into slavery, and that they seldom are sold for greed.  [44]  Parents are often forced by poverty and ignorance to enlist their children, hoping to benefit from their wages and sustain the deteriorating family economic situation.  [45]   Abduction People are rarely abducted into sex trafficking, because it is difficult to transport person without drawing attention. People are also abducted in and from conflict zones and forced to serve as sex slaves to rebel commanders or are sold as slaves.  [46]   Kara says that not only is the abducted victim unwilling to travel, but also will to escape at any opportunity.  [47]  If a person is abducted into sex trafficking, the person is usually also drugged to facilitate easier movement. Seduction or Romance Victims are also lured into trafficking by promises of love and marriage. Traffickers would find attractive and vulnerable people (more often girls), offering them love and marriage, treating them to expensive gifts, seducing them to migrate to a rich country where they can build a life together.  [48]  Once the victim reaches the other country, they are forced into sexual slavery.  [49]   Recruitment by former slaves This too might be difficult to comprehend, but people are also recruited by other victims of trafficking.  [50]  Sex slaves employ adaptive mechanisms to survive their ordeals, including drug and alcohol abuse and the morose acceptance that their fate.  [51]  In East Africa, Ugandan women working as prostitutes in the Gulf States lure young girls from their country because they are usually preferred by male clients.  [52]   Lastly, Kara controversially opines that the United States is more responsible than any other nation for the inimical accretion in human exploitation, trafficking, slavery since the fall of the Berlin Wall. He notes that through the International Monetary Fund and other institutions, the US government rapidly imposed its particular brand of unfettered market economics upon the developing world, unleashing catastrophic increases in poverty, social upheaval, mass migration and lawlessness.  [53]   Should sex work be legalised? When dealing with the issue of sexual exploitation, the question is often raised whether or not to legalised or to decriminalise prostitution. Kara too addresses this in his research. He writes that the argument that prostitution be legalised rests on the premise that women have a right to control their bodies.  [54]  He indicates that legalisation would mean that prostitutes could enjoy the same benefits that other occupations do.  [55]  Legalisation would also allow for state monitoring to ensure that prostitutes were less subject to violence and exploitation and that it would make it more difficult to traffic people for sexual exploitation because victims would have rights under the law, and that criminalising prostitution leads to increased victimisation of trafficking victims.  [56]  Those who are against legalising prostitution argue that purchasing sex and operating sex establishments should be criminalised because prostitution can never be a choice and that the pr ofession is inherently based on a system of male sexual dominance, appropriating the female body for pleasure and reinforcing the subordination and sexual objectification of women.  [57]  He further writes that legalisation gives protection to brothel owners to purchase trafficking victims and inflict greater exploitation behind closed, but legal doors.  [58]  He writes that only governments, organized crime, and pimps benefit from legalisation and women and children suffer state-sanctioned rape and slavery.  [59]  He does not elaborate on how governments benefit from legalising prostitution. Kara investigated two countries, the Netherlands and Sweden legislation regarding prostitution. The Netherlands have legalised prostitution and Sweden has criminalised it. Even though prostitution was legal in Amsterdam, brothels were not until October 2000, when the ban was lifted to enable the Dutch government to exercise more control over the sex industry and counter abuses.  [60]  Brothel owners are issued licences if they are in compliance with certain standards, including panic buttons in work areas, hot and cold running water, and free condoms.  [61]   National Legislative framework Since South Africa signed and ratified the Palermo Protocol, we had to ensure that we enact legislation in accordance. The US Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons 2010 report ranked South Africa as Tier 2. This means that our government do not fully with the Trafficking Victims Protection Acts (TPVA) minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring us into compliance with those standards. Currently our anti-trafficking law is in draft stage, and it is not known if and when the bill will become law. It has been stated that we have several laws that deals with aspects of human trafficking, inter alia the Childrens Act 38 of 2005 (Chapter 18- sections 281 to 291); Films and Publications Board 65 of 1996; Human Tissues Act 65 of 1983; The Corruption Act 94 of 1992; Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998; Infringement of Immigration Act 13 of 1996; Refugee Act 130 of 1998; and Extradition Act 67 of 1962. I will discuss these legislative provisions contained in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act  [62]  as well as the Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Persons bill (2009). The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act The Sexual Offences Act (SOA) can be used in the interim to charge and prosecute traffickers and victims of trafficking. Section 70 and 71 of the SOA are transitional provisions relating to trafficking. Section 70 deals with application and interpretation and section 71 deals with trafficking in persons for sexual purposes. Section 70 states that 70(b) trafficking includes the supply, recruitment, procurement, capture, removal. Transportation, transfer, harbouring, sale, disposal, or receiving of a person, within or across the borders of the Republic, by means of a threat of harm; the threat or use of force, intimidation or other forms of coercion; abduction; fraud; deception or false pretences; the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, to the extent that the complainant is inhibited from indicating his or her unwillingness or resistance to being trafficked, or unwillingness to participate in such an act; or the giving or receiving of payments, compensation, rewards, benefits or any other advantages for the purpose of any form or manner of exploitation, grooming or abuse of a sexual nature of such person, including the commission of any sexual offence or any offence of a sexual nature in any other law against such person, whether committed in or outside the borders of the Republic, and trafficks and trafficked have a corresponding meaning. Section 71 reads 71(1) Any person (A) who trafficks any person (B) without consent of B, is guilty of the offence of trafficking in persons for sexual purposes. 71(2) A person who- orders, commands, organises, supervises, controls or directs trafficking performs any act which is aimed at committing, causing, bringing about, encouraging, promoting, contributing towards or participating in trafficking or incites, instigates, commands, aids, advises, recruits, encourages or procures any other person to commit, cause, bring about, promote, perform, contribute towards or participates in trafficking, is guilty of an offence of involvement in trafficking in persons for sexual purposes. 71(3) For the purpose of subsection (1), consent means voluntary or uncoerced agreement. The SOA elaborates further on the circumstances. It states that 71(4) Circumstances in which B does not voluntarily or without coercion agree to being trafficked, as contemplated in subsection (3), include, but are not limited to, the following where B submits or is subjected to such an act as a result of any one or more of the means or circumstances contemplated in subparagraphs (i) to (vii) of the definition of trafficking having been used or being present; or where B is incapable in law of appreciating the nature of the act, including where B is, at the time of the commission of such act- asleep; unconscious; in an altered state of consciousness, including under the influence of any medicine, drug, alcohol or other substance, to the extent that Bs consciousness or judgement is adversely affected. 71(5) Any person who has been trafficked is not liable to stand trial for any criminal offence, including any migration-related offence, which was committed as a direct result of being trafficked. Any act of trafficking which is not included in sections 70 and 71 of the SOA, such as kidnapping, assault (common, and assault GBH), extortion, slavery, attempted murder, and murder have to be prosecuted under general statutory or common law offences.  [63]   Malachi v Cape Dance Academy International Pty Ltd Others In a recent reportable case of Tatiana Malachi v Cape Dance Academy Others  [64]  , even though the legal question did not deal with human trafficking, I think that it was a case of human trafficking. The facts are cited as follows. Applicant is a citizen of the Republic of Moldova. She was employed as an exotic dancer at a nightclub managed by the first respondent (Cape Dance Academy International PTY LTD) and second respondent (House of Rasputin Properties PTY LTD). On her arrival in South Africa during March 2009, applicant handed her passport to the owner of Rasputin. Applicant was initially informed that her passport would be kept for 30 days in order to have it registered at the Police station. Second respondent subsequently kept applicants passport during the entire period of her employment. The owner of second respondent informed applicant that he would not return her passport unless the applicant paid him $2000 for her air ticket and R20 000 as a levy. The applicant was unable to pay either of these amounts, as she was not earning sufficient income during her employment with second respondent. The applicant was to remain in custody pending the return date, which was to be 30 July 2009. If the applicant furnished adequate and satisfactory security for the total claim of R100 000 plus interest and costs, the applicant would be released from custody and the order for arrest discharged. The applicant had no assets of any tangible value in South Africa and therefore was unable to furnish adequate and satisfactory security. By agreement between the parties, the first and second respondents secured the discharge of the arrest warrant by the third respondent and the applicant was released from the custody on 24 July 2009. Applicant sought and received the assistance of the Consul General of Russia to facilitate her return to her home country Moldova. Prior to her departure from South Africa on 9 July 2009, applicant was arrested and taken into custody at Pollsmoor Prison. The arrest was made pursuant to a court order issued by the third respondent ex parte on 9 July 2009 and warrant of arrest tanquam suspectus de fuga. If we interpreted sections 70 and 71 as is, based on the facts of this case, Ms Malachi arrived in March 2009 and employed as an exotic dancer. It not evident from the facts how she got to be employed as an erotic dancer. Lets for

Politics of Piety by Saba Mahmood Essay examples -- islamic women, gend

The book I chose to read for the final paper was Politics of Piety by Saba Mahmood. This book although interesting was very difficult to follow. Mahmood basically broke the book into two parts. The first part goes into detail of the Islamic women’s mosque movement in Egypt. Mahmood explains her 2 years of â€Å"field work† experience and also critically analyzes Islam women in the Islamic culture after 9/11.The second part of the book focuses on the ethics, autonomy, and piety of the women in this culture. Throughout the entire book Mahmood references Foucault which I found really interesting showing his influence and ideals from his own research. The main idea I think Mahmood is trying to get across is stated in the epilogue of Politics of Piety: â€Å"†¦This attempt at comprehension offers the slim hope in this embattled and imperious climate, one in which feminist politics runs the danger of being reduced to a rhetorical display of the placard of Islam’s abuses, that analysis as a mode of conversation, rather than mastery, can yield a vision of coexistence that does not require making others life worlds extinct or provisional.† (Mahmood, 2005, p.199) In retrospect I found that Politics of Piety relates to the concepts of gender and the law, legal pluralism, and finally autonomy and self-determination that we learned throughout the semester. Gender and law are a big part of Politics and Piety. The women’s supposed role to gain any autonomy in this movement need to be subordinate to their female virtues in order for them to gain a more public role in their political and religious life. (Mahmood, 2005, p.6).My impression of this movement is that women involved in Islamic politics and religion are still governed by a patriarchal authority. A... ... influence the laws that are made in regard with these concepts in mind. Gender and law is the whole mosque movement and how Islamic women today are slowly changing and gaining some power. Legal pluralism is all the systems in place and their influence of the Islamic women. Autonomy and Self- Determination is the rights, choices, and freedoms these women are gaining through this movement and the changes after 9/11. Works Cited Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: the birth of the prison (2nd Vintage Books ed.). New York: Vintage Books. Mahmood, S. (2005). Politics of piety: the Islamic revival and the feminist subject. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Merry, S. E. (1988). Legal Pluralism. Law & Society Review, 869-896. Steinbrich, S. (1990). The Social and Legal Position of Lyela Women (Burkina Fas). Journal of Legal Pluralism, 30-31, 869-894.

Employee relations Essay

The conviction that there exists a power imbalance in the employment relationship which gives employers a prejudicial benefit over employees takes its existence for several centuries. Karl Marx known for his theories and contributions related to the employment relations field, became famous through his literatures and ever since his popularity remains. Firstly and primarily, the lives of most men and women are subject of work. The large majority of individuals who work are simply employees only few are employers. Therefore, the terms and conditions in which individuals perform this work are crucial for everyone. These agreements are characterized by the relationship between employer and employee. Again, employee relations suggest notion of fairness and equity in the remuneration of labour. At the basic level, employee relations tend to create active group collaboration in the place of work rather than conflicts which give to employees the impression in some way to be separated from employers and organisations for which they work. Employee relations take into account many factors related to a good quality of work such as remuneration of labour, bonuses, promotions as well as the corporate culture and the work environment, training and development programs for employees. Recognizing the achievements and contributions made by the empl oyee, this is an important part of employee relations, as the demands of the employees are more or less respected. Numerous scholars and authors have written lot of theories related to employment relationship field. Edwards defines Employee relation as â€Å"all forms of economic activity in which an employee works under the authority of an employer and receives a wage in return for his or her labour†. (Edwards, 2003) However, new approaches have emerged with the influence and recognition of trade unions in the midst of 60’s and the male breadwinner mainly considered  as industrial relationships. According to Blyton and Turnbull, more factors to be considered; â€Å"wages and profit, authority and compliance† ,the need of â€Å"work being a source of dignity, a ‘living wage'† and â€Å"social cohesion, employee voice and participation in decision making†. (Blyton and Turnbull, 2004, p.7) In this essay, I will briefly talk about the unitary and pluralist perspectives on Employee relations. I will also discuss the applicability of the radical or Marxist perspective to the analysis of employment relations. Early in the twenty century, before the advent of industrialization and globalization, industries and organisations operated in a context in which all the aspects related the work was largely ruled by employers and the employees had no power and no right to express their views, therefore they were submitted and had to comply with the compulsory rules and regulations on them by employers. For a very long time, the interests of employers have overcome the interests of employees. During the period of post-war, the phenomenon called globalization hardly was not existent and technology had not reached its climax, these factors have not play a predominant role in the industrial world. Employees were forced to complete the entire amount of work required which included intellectual and physical effort. In return, they had limited support from employers due to managerial styles set. By comparing the post modernization epoch and the current context of work, there has been a huge progress between relations of employees and employers. Today, a large number of factors have be taken into account, which have an impact on Employee relations such as the politico-economic system, new legislation, globalisation, technological advances, trade union, professional organisations, Training and development. Fox found two basic views expressed about the basis of relationship between management and trade unions in particular or employees in general, the unitary and pluralist. Thereafter, a radical or Marxist view came up as a third perspective, which was totally different and opposed from the others two frames of management. These perspectives are not essentially focused on the nature of the employment relationship but rather by conflict (Fox, 1966). The unitary view on one hand, this theory considered as one of the earliest theories. The unitary perspective takes into account the nature of work of employees as well as the technology. For the unitary, the organisation must be a united group of individuals with single authority, loyalty structure sharing common objectives. The employers have the right to make decisions; those decisions are considered as legitimate, rational and are not opposable. The assumption is within the unitary organisation system, basic harmony and conflict is needless and exceptional. According to Howard, conflict is seen by your boss as both unnatural and unnecessary. (Howard F, 1993) Therefore, many managers see trade unions a disturbance within organisation from external which contests unfair decisions for the loyalty of workers. Therefore, if conflict still pending, the management suggests it should be dealt with by their authority: management coercion. As example, this perspective was the case of many organisations during the 1980 in the UK while Margaret Thatcher was prime minister. This clearly demonstrates that there was a strong inequality and an asymmetry between the workers and the employees and the voice of the workers were not taken into consideration. The pluralist view on the other hand, Pluralist theory is deep-rooted in interests’ conflicts between employers and employees which co-operate in imperfect labour markets. The employment relationship is perceived as a matter of negotiation between stakeholders with opposing interests, the employment outcomes depend primarily on several environmental factors that determine the bargaining power of each party. Pluralist view distinguishes that both employees and employers have divergences in their opinions, and following this, a power struggle or a conflict may rise within the workplace. However, pluralist view claims that it could be better for the sake of the interests of the organisation if the views of all parties in conflict could be taken in consideration and reconciled. Pluralist views was essentially founded on an convenient situation and did not take into account certain factors such as the flexibility or changes taken in the world of the industry, this due to the evolution of the technology, fast expansion of business, environmental issues. Conflict resolution is branded by the necessity to make agreed actions and institutions which attain collaboration via comprehensive, codified negotiated settlement systems. Marxism was established through the observation of Marx recognized as one of the famous scholar who have advanced many theses opposing to capitalism. To Marx employee relations was a significant way to understand the theory of capitalist production. Marx explained how organisations were working, of how and why the history has extended, and particularly an account of the nature of capitalism. Capitalism was seen by Marx as extremely inacceptable and his concern was to end up with this system through violent revolution and shape a communist society. According to Hyman, â€Å"capitalism constitutes a complex of work and social relations of production†. (Hyman, 1975:96-97) The main characteristics of the capitalist structure of employment relations are constituted as follow: private ownership of the workers, the small minority control the ownership, mandatory method for the majority of society to sell their labour power as a product, the dominance of profit as the purpose of the e conomic. Although, the capitalist structure of employment relations reflects an exploitative relationship. For instance, wages remunerated to the employees consists essentially a small part of the collective value produced by them, in other words wages would be minimized to a substantial level. However the rest of the gain from production is allocated to the employer as a benefit. Therefore, the capitalist environment is fundamentally being seen as a conflicting class relation. On the basis of the capitalist perspective on employment relations, Marxists believes that capitalist organisations are gradually dominating as prescribed in their economic status by two main opposed classes, which are the ruling class or capitalist and the workers considered as subject class. The ruling class owns and controls the mean of production, distribution and trade, in certain ways the means of political domination. Contrary to the ruling class, subject class is subordinate; workers have not control on property and are subject of servitude of the bourgeoisie interests. Therefore, workers are exploited and ruled politically and socio-economically. This competition between the ruling class and the subjected class would be in argument to gain ground and impose the persistent challenge, therefore fight will be obvious. The asymmetric distribution of power in the presence of private information and opposing between the ruling class and the workers interests  is obvious. Although, it is possible that private information and opposing interests give rise to opportunism of both parties to the employment contract in most cases, However, The Marxists believe that the negative consequences experienced by the workers are possibly more thoughtful than consequences encountered employers because of the power of the employers based in the ownership of the organisation. The main noticeable risks related to imbalances in bargaining power are paying low wage compared to the output that workers have produced and the risk that could arise in the investment decisions of the organisation. As an example of imbalances in bargaining power to illustrate, we can refer to the case study of Nike firm; Nike has been the subject of many criticisms. It has been shown that the conditions of work were inhuman in many factories of Nike in Asia and a strict requirement of standards level needed to be achieved by all workers. How Nike has exploited its workers for financial gain with low wages. (www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/trade_environment/wheeling/hnike.html, last seen 06/02/14) This unacceptable situation is a good example to illustrates how unfairly the capitalist system operates. Therefore, all these inequalities and all of these issues within organisations have given rise to conflict. For John Kelly, The Marxist approach to industrial relations accepts that conflict exists but that at present there is little balance between organised labour and capital, especially in an era of globalisation. (John Kelly, 1998) A big gap of power between the workers and the Employers within an organisation creates imbalance, the ruling class with more power compared to the workers rarely tend to use it. This is because the use of the excessive power usually turns into a kind of dictatorship in the minds of employers who want to control it. The current situation comes to be genuine, and workers must comply and accept any unfair decisions taken against them. Therefore, for the Marxist perspective, it was crucial to seek the need to settle conflicts of interests via some forms of job regulations. Contrarily to the unitary and pluralist perspectives, the Marxist perspective has go in depth in term of developing a series of elements related to industrial relations such collective bargaining, trade union regulations and workplace legislations. According to Flanders, industrial relations are a study of the  institutions of job regulation. (Flanders, 1974) In order to understand why there is asymmetry of power between employees and employers, it will be relevant to look closer at the three major actors who play a significant role, which are the collective bargaining and trade union, and the state. However, Marxism has given birth to the collective bargaining and trade unions on the basis of anxieties relating to the negotiation between management and the workforce. According to Gunnigle et al, collective bargaining gives redress the imbalance of power between individual workers and employers. ( (Gunnigle, 1995)) It is for the fundamental reason that collective bargaining is implemented in industrial relations, and basically gives an objective purely politic to collective bargaining which is the balance of power. As soon as his purpose is accomplished, collective bargaining is utilized principally for financial reasons. Collective bargaining allows managing in tactical way how to deal with employees fairly. The collective bargaining’s process may also provide legitimacy to trade unions within organisations. Purcell states that this legitimacy can give trade union members a sense of belonging to the organisation. (Purcell, 1979) However, collective bargaining has also its imperfections and disadvantages as far the capitalism is concerned. Collective bargaining may result to irrational and groundless demands which may lead to serious conflicts. Marx has modelled the historical significance of union fight strongly in his book `The Poverty of Philosophy†. Marx was not indifferent to the conditions of workers to make their lives better; they were concerned on how they were struggling to unionize themselves. Marx argues that higher wages simply set up prices and strikes were a dead end. For Marx, the unions could play a political role in the real civil war to pay higher wages to workers. Marx argued that capitalism had operated a physical minimum, which maintained people alive, but that is a social balance of power between capital and labour. Trade unions are naturel response of workers who have been exploited by the capitalist system; it gives to employees a voice. Within the trade union the workers have the role that the management occupies; this role consists to affect the demand of the union service and union memberships.  The establishment of union has been encouraged since the workers are feel frustrate with the style of work or management. When there is a strong presence of union, there is a balance within the employment relations. For instance, the case of John Lewis employees, there is a strong democratic structure where partnership is also encouraged. Workers are less exploited and are less dissatisfy about the style of work. This is a good example to illustrate when we think in term of benefit of the trade unions. Marx argued about the role played by the state, which he thinks is serves only the interests of the dominant class within organisations. The state appears more as the instrument of the ruling class, because it tries to maintaining its control over employees who are already exploited. Marx claimed that the state reacts as dictatorship for proletariat. The executive of the modern state is essentially a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.† (Marx and Engels,1948, p.11.) Again in the instant case, we see that the state plays an adverse and inequitable role the balance of power on employers over their employees. Having critically assessed some facet of the Marxist perspective on the asymmetry of power between employees and employers, we can come to the conclusion that this perspective leads a concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Marxist perspective focuses more on the structure and nature of the organisation rather than the current workplace in the society and Marxists argue that the conflict in the industrial relations is a reflection on how the society is structured. Marxism puts a particular emphasis on the division of interest between the employers and the employees. The Marxists considered the conflict as unavoidable and trade unions are a seeing as an alternative solution of workers to exploitation by owners. Within the Marxists perspective, employers are continued to exercise their unfair power over employees even thus the presence of trade unions which are powerless. The state is also considered as an instrument of the bourgeoisie. For the Marxist, trade unions and collective bargaining may increase but may not limit of the employers’ power because they are subjected to the persistence of capitalism instead of challenge it. However, The Marxist perspective is seen to be out-of-date as the entire nature of the class conflict has  changed, as a result of modern organisations, ‘as well as its mixed economy and welfare state, which is currently more open and on a social basis mobile. Reference: Blyton, P. &. (2004). _The Dynamics of Employee Relations Basingstoke: Macmillan._ Bukharin. (2003). _Imperialism and World Economy._ London & Sydney: Bookmarks. Engels, M. &. (1948). _The Communist Manifesto, International Publishers._ _Fox, A.(19660. Industrial Sociology And Industrial Relations (Research Paper 3, Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations), London._ Hyman, R. (1975). _Industrial Relations: A Marxist Introduction._ London: The Macmillan Press Ltd. _http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/trade_environment/wheeling/hnike.html_ _Bukharin (2003) Imperialism and World Economy._ (n.d.). London & sydney: Bookmarks. Kelly, J. (1998). _Rethinking Industrial Relations: Mobilization, Collectivism and Long Waves._ London: Routledge. Marx, K. (1964). _Early writings._ New York: McGraw-Hill. P., E. (2003). _The employment relationship and the field of industrial relations._ oxford: Backwell. Palmer, H. F. (1993). _British Industrial Relations._ London: Routledge. Purcell, K. (1979). _Militancy and acquiescence amongst women workers. Burman (ed.), Fit Work for Women, London, Croom Helm._ _Gunnigle, P. (1995). Collectivism and the management of industrial relations in greenfield sites, Human Ressources Journal._

Advertisement Effectiveness

Introduction: Advertising is a form of communication used to encourage or persuade an audience to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behaviour with respect to a commercial offering, although political & ideological advertising is also common. The purpose of advertising may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful.Advertising messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various traditional media; including mass media such as newspapers; magazines; television commercials, radio advertising, outdoor advertising or direct mail or new media such as blogs, website or text messages. Definition: Advertising is bringing a product(or service) to the attention of potential & current customers. Advertisement is typically done with signs, brochures, commercial, direct mailings or e-mail messages, personal contact etc. The importance of advertising is â€Å"steadily on the increase in mod ern society†.Just as the media of social communication themselves have enormous influence everywhere so advertisement using media as its vehicle, is a pervasive, powerful force shaping attitudes & behaviour in today’s world. The field of advertising is extremely broad & diverse. In general terms, of course an advertisement is simply public notice meant to convey information & invite patronage or some other response. As that suggest, advertising has two main purposes: To inform & To persuade. These purposes are distinguishable-both are very often simultaneously present Objectives of the study: To study the effectiveness of advertisement of mobile phones. * To analyze & compare the consumers attitude towards advertisement regarding mobile phones. * To know the buying behaviour of the consumers with regard to the advertisement. * To show the true values of the advertisement regarding mobile phones. Statement of the problem: The effectiveness of advertisement which plays a crucial role to identify the target customers and the target market segment for every companies & firms. It is worth noted that, the effectiveness of dvertisement should thoroughly scrutinized by every organisation. Thus there are various issues involved in the advertisement & measurement of its effectiveness. The problem here is how many consumers buy mobile phones by seeing advertisements? Is advertisement really motivating the public to buy the product? The study relates with the influence of the advertisement towards them the researcher has the curiosity to know about how advertisement effect through various brands of mobile phones. Scope of the study: Theme is the subject matter of advertisement.An advertisement copy should bridge the gap between the advertisers & readers if it is to be effective. To achieve this the advertisement has to provide the audience the information that is of interest to them. Undertaken to know the effectiveness of advertisement in the minds of consum ers and also to know the factor which attracts more from it. This will help to identify the role of advertisements. The present investigation has been undertaken to know and analyse the factors influencing the mobile phones & the role of media which influences them to prefer a particular product.Methodology: The research is descriptive in nature. Both primary & secondary data have been collected for the study. Primary data were collected through questionnaire schedule from a sample of 25 respondents at the random. The secondary data was collected from magazines, books, websites. Sampling of the study: A sample design is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population. It refers to the technique or the procedure the researcher would adopt in selecting items for the sample (i:e) the size of the sample.Sample design is determined before data are collected. Simple random sampling method is used for selecting the respondents in order to collect the required data. Sources o f data: Sources of data are mainly classified in two: Primary data & Secondary data. Primary data are those which are collected a fresh and for the first time & thus happen to be original in character. The primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire prepared with respect to the objective of the study.Simply primary data refers to the information got directly from the sampled respondents. Secondary data are those which have already been collected by someone else and which have already been passed through the statistical process. The secondary data are based on the documents available in the form of: Books Journals Published papers Internet Data Analysis and Statistical tools: The data collected were analysed and tabulations were made regarding the responses given by the respondents.No statistical tools were used in this project to measure the effectiveness of advertisements. Limitations of the study: 1) Sample size is small as compare to universe. 2) Respondents are b iased towards their personal preferences and they might have not answered the questions correctly. 3) Due to simple random sampling there may be large deviation from that of universe. Chapter Scheme: Chapter 1: Introduction, objectives, statement of the problem, scope of the study, methodology, limitations of the study.Chapter 2: Contents and review of literature. Chapter 3: Company profile. Chapter 4: Data analysis and Interpretations Chapter 5: Findings, suggestions and conclusions Contents & Review of Literature: Meaning of Advertising: The word advertising is derived from the latin word,†advertero†. â€Å"Ad† meaning towards and â€Å"verto† meaning â€Å"to turn†. Definitions of Advertising: Philip Kolter says â€Å"Advertising is ant paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor. † William J.Stanton,†Advertising consists of all the activities in presenting to a group a non-personal, or al or visual, openly sponsored message regarding a product, service or idea. † Features of Advertising: * Advertising is one of the methods of promotion mix. * It is a paid mass communication, not aiming at a specific individual. * It is a form of publicity, i. e dissemination of information regarding a product, service or idea. * It is salesmanship in writing or printed salesmanship. * It is a mass non-personal communication. Functions

Global Food Production essays

Global Food Production essays The present world population exceeds 6 billion people. Incredibly, of those 6 billion about half suffer from malnourishment. In the past, people viewed malnutrition as a problem of hunger and famine amongst poor countries. However, the definition of malnourishment has broadened to include a deficiency in a persons intake of nutrients and other dietary elements to live a healthy life, as well as an excess in the intake of nutrients. For the first time in history the number of people that are over-consuming food rivals the number of people that arent eating enough. Over-consumption is a problem of industrialized countries with the United States leading the way. Also, there are profound misconceptions about malnutrition. For example, there is often enough food to go around in countries like Africa where hunger is severe. Also, in U.S., the wealthiest nation in all of history, hunger still persists. The biggest misconception of all is that global hunger is a result of scarcity of food. For more than 40 years the world has produced regular and often bountiful food surpluses. So why then does malnutrition affect half of the worlds population? Delving into this problem we find that malnutrition is only the tip of the iceberg to a much more intricate global problem. As we analyze the problems of worldwide malnutrition we find it is interconnected to global food production systems, land and water degradation, poverty, and the political-economy of globalization. We find that malnutrition is only the face to a whole body of problems. It is the first visible symptom of our present day food production system. It directly affects populations which we easily identify with. Looking beyond the immediate effects of malnutrition, we find connections to the degradation of the environment on a global scale. Malnutrition leads to another problem, and another to another, and so on and so forth. As our perspective widen...

The Top Prep Books for ACT English

The Top Prep Books for ACT English SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You’ve decided to use a book to study for ACT English, but do you know which books out there will actually help you reach your goals? In this article, I will give you an overview of the best ACT English prep books on the market today, and which ones you should choose depending on what score you're aiming for. These books can be found at bookstores, the library, or online. Focus on using these books with high quality practice and review, and you'll be sure to improve your English score. Who Should Use These Books? Books are a great way to study – but only if you are a certain kind of student. Before you start studying or buying anything, you should take some time to consider how you study best. Can you track your own progress and understand where you've made mistakes?Can you keep yourself motivated to study a certain amount every week? Ordo you tend to need reminders for study sessions and want answers explained in different ways? In order to make good progress studying from a book, you need to be serious about your prep and be able to motivate yourself. You will need to be able to understand brief explanations and be willing to put in the effort to find answers on your own to fill in any knowledge gaps. You'll also need to make a serious time investment. Remember that just buying a book isn't enough – you actually have to use it! Most students will need at least ten hours of prep on just ACT English to fully master this portion of the test. So if you're looking to invest a good deal of time and want to make a significant improvement in your ACT English score, read on to see which books can help you! Foundational Books There are two books that all students should have before taking the ACT. I call these books â€Å"foundational† because they're the best books on the market for practice questions and ACT strategy. However, neither of these books is sufficient on its own for ACT English prep, which I will explain in more detail below. You should combine these two books with at least one of the other books listed, depending on what kind of score you're aiming for. The Real ACT Prep Guide from the makers of the ACT Price: $11.99 on Amazon It’s very important that when you study, you're using real questions that have actually appeared on the ACT. Why? Many test prep companies have people who don’t really understand the test writing their practice questions. There's a good chance that if you only study questions written by prep companies, you won't be seeing questions that test grammar the same way that the ACT does. Furthermore, many test prep books will only give you isolated grammar questions. To get the real ACT English experience, you should be working with passage-based questions. This book provides those in abundance. The Real ACT Prep Guide provides you with 5 full-length practice tests with answer explanations. For the English section, that’s 375 multiple choice questions to practice with. Additionally, many of the books I'll mention below make references to the questions in this book as examples. However, this is not a complete prep book on its own. This book is not the best at explaining concepts or strategy, which is why you should pair it with one of the books listed below. After all, the makers of the ACT don’t want to give away all their secrets, or the test would simply become too easy! ACT Prep Black Book by Mike Barrett. Price:$19.79on Amazon. This book is critically important because it teaches you how to think about the ACT. The Black Book takes apart the exam on a fundamental level to teach strategy. It teaches students that they can always figure out the answer without guessing. Importantly, it emphasizes that ACT English is a standardized test, and asks the same kinds of questions about the same grammar concepts over and over again. Instead of teaching tricks, this book teaches students how to think like the makers of the ACT so that they can effectively attack each question. For the English section, this book gives good explanations for questions from The Real ACT Prep Guide and also includes a useful grammar appendix that explains basic concepts found on the test. Unfortunately, this book is also not a complete guide on its own. First of all, the Black Book must be used alongside The Real ACT Prep Guide because it has no practice questions of its own. Also, many students will need more detailed grammar instruction. While this book is great for strategy, you will need to pair it with both Prep Guide and one of the books below for the full prep experience. So what books should you use to learnall the detailed grammar you need to master ACT English? That depends on what kind of score you're hoping to get. The Best ACT English Books for High Scorers (29 - 36) The Complete Guide to ACT English by Erica Meltzer Price:$22.00 atAmazon. Meltzer is great at explaining grammar, and in this book she goes into detail on each concept that appears on ACT English. She starts at the beginning by explaining parts of speech and builds from there, so it’s good even for students who need to review the basics before mastering the complex ideas. There are a lot of things that I like about this book and that make it a great pick. Meltzer teaches grammar from the beginning. This guide is extremely comprehensive. Have you forgotten the grammar you learned in English class last year? How about what you learned in 8th grade? With Meltzer, this isn’t a problem. She holds your hand through the most basic concepts if you need it, and progresses logically through every grammar concept that you will need to know for ACT English. After introducing each grammar rule, she also gives good example sentences, in which she shows both the correct and incorrect ways to use the grammar rule. This is very helpful for students because it shows how common mistakes can be corrected. The practice exercises are varied and useful. At the end of every lesson, Meltzer gives ample practice â€Å"drills† to just test one or two concepts. I like these because she does them in the style of short passages, which makes them very similar to the questions that you will actually see on the ACT. These are followed every few lessons by combined drill passages. Therefore, she covers all the bases: you get to practice each concept individually to test comprehension, but also get a lot of practice testing multiple grammar concepts at once, which will help you learn to recognize different grammar concepts out of context. This skill is vital for doing well on ACT English. The end of the book has two very well-written tests with longer passages that are very similar to the passages that you'll see on the ACT. These are great extra practice you can use in addition to the tests inThe Real ACT Prep Guide. Meltzer also givesdetailed explanations for the answers to each of the questionsonthese tests. It gives useful extra study tools. Meltzer doesn’t just stop at teaching grammar. She also gives great tricks and strategies for approaching questions, and teaches students the easiest ways to find answers. For example, she points out that the answer choices will often give away a question about subject-verb agreement. Finally, the book includes an extremely useful appendix, which breaks down the questions in The Real ACT Prep Guide by grammar concept. This is a great resource for students, who can use this as a guide for understanding what kinds of questions they are missing on the practice tests. Also, if you need extra practice on a certain grammar concept, you can use this appendix to easily find practice questions in the official tests. Though this is a great and very thorough book, there are some ways that it could be improved. First of all, at over $20, this book is going to be expensive for many students, especially considering that it only covers one section of the ACT. Meltzer’s writing is very thorough, but it is also very dense and it could be difficult – or downright boring – for many students to read. This book is definitely aimed at high scorers. Those who only need or want a mid-range score will probably find this book too detailed and may have problems figuring out what is most important to learn. Barron’s ACT 36: Aiming for the Perfect Score by Alexander Spare et al. Price:$3.99 onAmazon. This book actually covers all sections of the ACT, but it really shines in the advice it gives for ACT English. ACT 36 assumes that you are already a high-achieving test taker and that you're shooting for a perfect score. To that end, it focuses on reviewing concepts and strategies that will help students attack the most difficult questions on ACT English. This book takes a very different approach to Meltzer’s guide, but there is still a lot that I like about it. It doesn't waste time teaching what you already know. First, it gets straight to the point about what strategies are most useful to achieve a high score. The test-taking advice is great for students who have already pretty much mastered the grammar, and need to refine their strategy to get a great score. While this book does teach some grammar concepts, it doesn’t do so in the comprehensive – and at times exhausting – way that Meltzer does. ACT 36onlydiscusses the difficult grammar points that students struggle with the most, such as diction errors and prepositional idioms. It also highlights important strategic tips on how to recognize different types of questions and how to approach the test, including talking about what kinds of questions you will never see. It's easy to read. Unlike Meltzer’s book, ACT 36 is written in a style that most students will find engaging and to-the-point. The practice questions prepare you for the toughest test questions. Finally, many students like this book because the practice tests are designed to be more challenging than those you will find on the real ACT (all the questions have detailed answer explanations). The practice tests just focus on the most difficult question types, whereas the normal ACT has questions that range in difficulty. If you get the book with the CD, you’ll get an additional full-length test that’s quite similar in difficulty levels of the ACT to practice with, as well as additional high-difficulty practice questions. Once again, this can be a great benefit to students who want a perfect score and only need to practice the most difficult question types the ACT has because they have already mastered everything else. Keep in mind, though, that this book will not be for everyone. One problem this book has that could create a big issue for some students is it frequently encourages students to â€Å"use their ear† to see if something is correct or incorrect. In general, this is very bad advice on ACT English, because most students have poorly-trained ears for grammar. ACT 36 is assuming that you already have a very solid foundation in grammar. Going along with this, there is very little coverage of the most frequently-tested concepts on ACT English. Because the most common grammar concepts are relatively simple ones, this book assumes you will have already mastered them. If you need help with the basics, this would be a very poor choice. As mentioned above, the practice questions you will see will on the whole will be more difficult than what appears on the ACT. This is good for some students who only need to practice difficult questions, but it can be very bad for other students who are trying to get a general idea of what ACT English is like. This book presents a very skewed view of the question difficulty and content. In conclusion, you should only use this book to refine your knowledge of difficult grammar concepts, not as a general guide to ACT English. Best ACT English Book for Mid-range Scorers (16 - 28) Barron’s ACT English, Reading, and Writing Workbook by Linda Carnevale Price:$11.78 on Amazon This book is good value because it covers both the English and Reading sections of the test, and also gives good tips for the optional Writing test. There are several reasons I think this is a solid choice for students who want a mid-range score. A well-written diagnostic test prepares you for study. First, it starts with a diagnostic test. You can easily create a diagnostic test on your own, but this one has pretty good questions with explanations for every answer. Using it will save you some time and will help you understand what kind of questions you are struggling with. It explains the structure of the test. Barron’s gives a good overview of the ACT English test, including how it is structured and formatted, and gives tips on pacing your timing per question and how to practice. This will be very helpful for students who are less familiar with the test and need a good overview before they begin to master the details of the grammar. It clearly teaches the grammar and concepts that you need to know. This book also gives concise explanations of the most commonly-tested grammar and punctuation concepts that will appear on ACT English. This should cover everything that you need to know for a mid-range score. Because it doesn’t focus on the more obscure and complex subjects, students will be able to focus in on the ideas they are most likely to see over and over. It also includes a great list of concepts that you will not be tested on. While other test prep books include this, many don’t do it as clearly. This is great for students to limit their studying to just the concepts that matter. Each grammar concept is drilled individually first, and then they are tested together with a complete English practice test. As with the Meltzer book, this means that you can see how your comprehension of individual concepts is, and then can test your ability to spot different grammar errors in the full test. Finally, in addition to the grammar concepts, it has a good section on how to interpret author tone and mood. But this book is not ideal for many test takers. Here is why: You should have at least a basic understanding of grammar before using this book. It doesn’t go into a lot of background detail on things like parts of speech, so if you’re lacking fundamental grammar knowledge, you may want to work on that before using this book. There are not a lot of practice questions, so you should use this grammar guide in conjunction with The Real ACT Prep Guide in order to get the best results. This would be a bad choice for students who are aiming for a high score because it does not cover complex grammatical concepts. So only use this if you are aiming for something mid-range, or you may end up being disappointed. Best ACT English Books for Low Scorers (15 and below) If you're getting a very low score on ACT English, it may be because you're a non-native speaker of English, or are otherwise missing a fundamental understanding of how English grammar works. It’s important to understand the basics of grammar before moving on to study the specific grammar concepts that are covered in ACT English. I recommend using a book that is not specifically aimed at the ACT to give you this kind of basic knowledge. English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy Price:$23.20 on Amazon This book gives considerable attention to different verb tenses and their uses and special constructions. It also includes lessons on trickier subjects such as â€Å"may† vs. â€Å"might," idiomatic preposition use, relative clauses, and participles. Each illustrated one-page lesson is written in easy-to-understand English, and is followed by a page of exercises. This book is praised by students who are learning English as a second language, but would be great for any student who struggles with basics such as exactly when to use which tense. Easy Grammar Plus by Wanda C. Philips Price:$26.99 onAmazon This book gives a thorough overview of the parts of speech and how sentences should be structured. Where it really stands out is the extensive amount of practice exercises that are given for each concept (several pages for each). The book is written with a 4th grade vocabulary, but covers complex grammatical concepts, so it is ideal for people who find the wording of other grammar books to be difficult to understand. How to Use These Books Mid-range and high scorers should start out by reading the Introduction and English sections in the Black Book. (You don’t have to read through the answer explanations, though – save those for later!) This book is great for getting you in the mindset for taking a standardized test, and will also specifically teach you a lot of the tricks and logic behind the design of the ACT. After you've started to build your test-taking strategy, move on to take a diagnostic test. You can either take one in the prep book you have chosen (if it includes one) or you can create your own. To do this, take a practice English test from The Real ACT Prep Guide. Score your test, and make a note of every question you either got wrong or had to guess for. When you go through the answers, mark down what kind of question it was and what grammar concept it was testing. You can use the answer key or Meltzer’s book for this. Focus your studying around the concepts that you missed in your practice test. Use your chosen prep book(s) to beef up your grammar knowledge where you need it most. Also take some time to go over the concepts you feel comfortable with to see if you can improve on them any further or if there are any test-taking tips or strategies you hadn’t thought of before. While it’s never a good idea to rush, you want to feel as comfortable as possible with the easy material so that you can save time for the more difficult questions. Keep in mind that ACT English has 75 questions in 45 minutes, and many students struggle with timing! Keep taking practice tests in The Real ACT Prep Guide to check how you're improving. If you're a low-range scorer, start studying a long time in advance (at least 6 months). Ideally, you should cover the material in the foundational books and then move on to one of the other books that focuses specifically on the ACT. Once you've given yourself time to get the basics down, follow the steps above. What’s Next? If you're not sure that book studying is for you, check out our test prep program. PrepScholar starts with a diagnostic test and then helps you focus your studying on what you need the most work on. Also check out our free resources to start prepping for the test. Start with our complete guide to ACT English, which will point you to articles onevery grammar concept you will find on ACT Englishas well as general strategies for each section. Aiming high? Look at these 9 strategies to score a 36 on ACT English, written by a perfect scorer. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this English lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Acclimate vs. Acclimatise

Acclimate vs. Acclimatise Acclimate vs. Acclimatise Acclimate vs. Acclimatise By Maeve Maddox In my line of work, I’m used to comments that blame American speakers for usage that British speakers find annoying. For example: How is it possible for Americans to create acclimate from acclimatise? The effect on me is far worse than hearing math or off of. I share the commenter’s feelings regarding the redundant and ugly â€Å"off of,† as in â€Å"He fell off of the wagon† but fail to understand why math should bother him. In the case of maths vs math, both are clippings of the â€Å"real† word mathematics. Unlike the ridiculous â€Å"open-mic,† which is presumably intended to be pronounced â€Å"open-mike,† both math and maths conform to English spelling conventions. As for acclimate, the form is not an American creation. The earliest citation of acclimate in the Oxford English Dictionary- from a British printed source- is dated 1792. The earliest OED citation for acclimatize (not acclimatise) is dated 1802. Although acclimate is now labeled â€Å"chiefly US usage,† both forms have a long history in British English. The Ngram Viewer set to â€Å"American English† indicates that acclimatize and acclimate were in about equal use until the 1970s, when acclimate began its rise. Set to â€Å"British English,† the Ngram Viewer shows the two forms in equal use until the period of the American Civil War (1860s), when acclimatize gains ascendancy in British printed books. Set to â€Å"English,† the Viewer shows acclimatize as the dominant form until the 1950s, when it begins to decline. The form acclimate overtakes acclimatize and surpasses it in frequency in the 1980s. Of the spellings acclimatize and acclimatise, the former is more frequent, no matter which Ngram setting- â€Å"English,† â€Å"British English† or â€Å"American English†- is used. The OED entry for the word is not treated like analyze, for example, with British analyse placed first and American analyze second. The only word in red for the entry in the OED is acclimatize. Oxford Dictionaries online acknowledges the s spelling with the note, â€Å"also acclimatise.† The Cambridge online dictionary headword is acclimatize, with a note in parentheses: (UK  usually  acclimatise). A Google search brings up the following results: â€Å"acclimate† 857,000 â€Å"acclimatize† 500,000 â€Å"acclimatise† 424,000 I am not advocating the use of acclimate over acclimatize. Although I am an American speaker, I rather think that acclimatize is the form I would use to talk about something or someone having to become accustomed to new conditions. My intention is simply to point out that this so-called â€Å"Americanism† isn’t one. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Format a US Business LetterWriting the CenturyOne "L" or Two?

Fractal Geometry Relating To Dance and Leaves Essay

Fractal Geometry Relating To Dance and Leaves - Essay Example This can be illustrated by geometrical concepts using drawings on flat space. This essay discusses this, the intriguing ubiquity relating to the sequence 1, 1, 2, 3†¦ the golden ratio, Phi, in the aesthetic of natural as well as creation of art to our life. The fractals started with George Cantor, German mathematician, in 1883. One of the easy ways to watch the division similar to the whole after being magnified. One of the most famous fractal is Mandelbrot set. The mathematician who created that is Benoit Mandelbrot started study self-similarity in 1960 was interested by many people in graphing some complex numbers. He applied the formula zz^2+c, which c is some real numbers and z, is a complex number, for example, â€Å"a+bi†. The computation of fractal program is based on a well known non-complex iterative some equation such as f(z)=z2+c, where z and c are complex numbers. Fractal geometry is crucial in studying complexity for many reasons. That I will explain it and relate it to the real life by dressing the fractal to dancing movement. First reason is almost all natural objects have irregular shapes and hence require more general dimension than Euclidean geometry allows. The natural shapes have more dimension than the Euclidean geometry. Also, that shows the natural shapes can be showed with different styles and different length. For example, the movement for the dancer cannot be count or knowing the next movement how is going to be or which style going to be dressing. Dance Company used a movement to midi converter to produce midi some sounds in respect to the motion of the dancer. This picture I’m using shows how we are not able to measure their body’s axis. Furthermore, to relate this to our nature there is a perfect example that the leaves. A leaf axis is extremely complex and has too many axis that inform to us witch is not easy to count them or measure them, based on our two detentions Fractal

Aviation Maintenance Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Aviation Maintenance - Article Example With the use of X2 technology to trounce the design related challenges in the aircraft industry.The aircraft keep up with the advancing technology by being designed in a way that it can be flown by wire. So far the electronic control of the aircraft has shown superb performance than the human-directed, this is despite the fact the system has been in use for a short period. At the same time, there is increased acceleration and deceleration speed which is of the essence in the military planes more so for the fact that the aircraft at some point may be subjected to sudden landing and taking off for the security purposes. The new innovative ways of production and employment of the innovation in the aviation industry give room for more advanced and reliable products that meet the advanced needs of the clients. The aircraft in its form flies faster and for longer distances than the less technologically advanced planes in use. At the same time, there is increased the higher limit of the loa d.However, with increased technology and production of new technologically advanced aircraft, there is a need also to have an increased number of the maintained technology experts. With an increased surge of the new aircrafts, the world over with few people to maintain the same has made the industry and the maintenance of the modern aircrafts unbearable in terms of maintenance costs. Therefore, must a company to roll out technicians as well now that there is a shortage even for the present workload.

Contemporary Issues in Corrections Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Contemporary Issues in Corrections - Assignment Example Developed in 1990, the theory of RNR incorporates criminal conduct psychology into an understanding of reducing recidivism (Andrews & Bonta, 2006). From this concept, four principles are derived on which the evaluation and treatment of offenders are guided towards rehabilitative objectives and also reduce the risk of recidivistic crime to the society. Two of the principles are the risk principle and the need principle (MacKenzie, 2006). This paper will compare and contrast the risk principle and need principle and determine which offenders between the high risk and low risk the probation officers should spend most of their time with. It will further elaborate on what the need principle says about high risk and low risk offenders and show whether there are risk and need tools that may assist probation officers in determining risk levels of offenders. Reviewing literature on offender rehabilitation has shown that program services provided to offenders has reduced recidivism by a mean of 10% in the past two decades (Andrews & Bonta, 2006). Recidivism is understood to be the repeating of undesirable behaviour by offenders even after experiencing its negative consequences. In this sense, it is also in reference to the percentage of rearrested former prisoners for indulging in similar offenses. As stated by the risk principle, programming must be matched to the offenders’ risk level. This implies that high risk or moderate risk individuals need to be prioritized in order to receive more intensive and structured control and treatment programs to optimize outcomes. Similarly, low risk offenders must be prioritized when their criminogenic needs are high. Criminogenic needs are dynamic factors that produce crime and are correlated strongly with risk (MacKenzie, 2006). They are referred to as dynamic because they can be changed and they include an individual’s employment status, use of substances, company kept, antisocial

Boiled Vulteres and God's Middle Finger Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Boiled Vulteres and God's Middle Finger - Essay Example Sierra Madre is a drug-driven location where security forces have little or no say. On the other hand, Fox’s reading is based in Christiania, a locale in Denmark. The events in Christiania are characterized by internal social conflicts within Christiania and stiff relations between the people of this Free Town and the Danish government. The two social settings presented in the two readings are far apart, but the unfolding events and the way of life in Sierra Madre and Christiania Free Town are relatively convergent. The two readings depict critical similarities amid their diversity and differences. Drug production, use and trafficking is a dominant undertaking presented by the two readings. Production of drugs that outside societies regard as illegal is rampant in both societies accounted for by Grant and Fox in their relative texts. In Sierra Madre, drugs constitute the primary source of income (Grant 9). Drug lords have dominated this practice, gaining the full support of th e society due to the economic benefits and social impacts that drugs have brought about in this region. Regulation of this practice is a difficult task due to the complexities of governance and law setting in Sierra Madre. In Christiania Free Town, drug production, sale and use are a social norm. This locale enjoys social autonomy, a scenario that is evidenced by Fox by quoting, â€Å"They called the eighty-five-acre district Christiania Free Town, drew up a constitution, printed their own currency, banished property ownership, legalized marijuana, and essentially seceded from Denmark† (Best American Series 233). The Christiania micro-nation’s practice of self-rule promotes the use and sale of drugs. As it appears, the social and economic pillar of this Free Town is based on drug production. The engagement of legal aspects in drug production provides a critical backup to a practice that highly exacerbates crime and related practices. Personally, the Christiania drug un dertakings are preferred. Although both Sierra Madre and Christiania Free Town are deeply rooted in drugs and related practices, the Christiania aspect is relatively organized in comparison to Christiania. The legal aspect of marijuana in Christiania captures personal interest because it is least expected that drug production could be legal in any given social setting. However, as Fox’s text points out, the autonomy enjoyed by Christiania people has integrated a legal drug (marijuana) into the society’s normal system. The social setup in both Sierra Madre and Christiania is characterized by similar aspects in relation to the way things are run in these two different societies. Sierra Madre is characterized by lawlessness, and antisocial behaviors are highly evident. Grant (43) says, â€Å"The rules of law and society have never taken hold in the Sierra Madre, which is home to bandits, drug smugglers, Mormons, cave-dwelling Tarahumara Indians, opium farmers, cowboys, a nd other assorted outcasts†. This locale lacks a straight form of governance, meaning that the society is self-ruled, based on aspects that can hardly constitute social behaviors, practices, morals or norms. Anarchism is evident due to the fact that any organized authority is highly opposed. The people seem to enjoy their own autonomy, with hardly any organized making efforts to reverse

When an American Meets an Arab Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

When an American Meets an Arab - Essay Example Moreover, I also intend to evaluate these experiences of mine in the light of the knowledge and insights extended by the theorists like Hofstede and Hall. I would specifically like to narrow my personal experiences around the communication approaches and the accompanying differences that turned out into a mutually funny and humorous situation, when we had the first meeting with a group of US business delegates, at UAE. I worked as a junior manager with a UAE based Telecom Company. From the very start, it was obvious to me that our guests were not conversant with the Arab cultural orientation. Things were not so conducive on our side also. Most of our managers were expecting the Americans to be straightforward, task-oriented and punctual, based on the cursory experiences they had acquired on their short vacations to the US (Klein & Kuperman 2008). The meeting took place in a hotel and the initial interactions were marked by the customary exchange of pleasantries. Our team comprised of seven members with a senior manager acting as the team leader, while the American delegation comprised of six people, two of which were women. The meeting was meant to discuss the issues pertaining to a proposed technological collaboration between the two firms. The American head extended his hand to our senior manager and I must say his handshake was firm and strong. In contrast, our manager’s handshake was gentle and prolonged. It was obvious that the guest intended to end the handshake, but our manager kept on gently holding his hand for a few more seconds while exchanging courtesies. The consternation was quite obvious on the faces of our guest and the American delegates. To me who was aware that the Americans doubted the sexual orientation of my manager, going by his prolonged and gentle handshake, it was getting difficult to hold laughter.

Sports Nutrition Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sports Nutrition Project - Essay Example For those performing intense training of 2 hours or more, the carbohydrate requirement is 3-4 grams per pound per day. According to sports nutrition experts, an average male performing exercise and strength training workouts of regularly must consume atleast 400-600 grams of carbohydrate per day to maintain high muscle glycogen stores (Quinn, 2011). 2. Take moderate protein intake: After vigorous exercise, athletes need protein to rebuild and repair the muscle tissue that is broken down during intense exercise. Since protein is the basic building material for muscle tissue, increased protein intake must be there to increase muscle size. The recommended protein intake for an athlete is 0.6-0.8 grams of protein per pound per day. Adequate protein intake can be gained by eating health diet that includes eggs, low fat dairy, lean meat like chicken and fish, fruits, legumes and nut. Some athletes prefer to increase their protein intake by taking protein bars and energy drinks. The protein intake must not exclude 1 gram per pound per day (Quinn, 2011). 3. Fat is also an essential nutrient, but the intake must be less than 30 percent of total daily calories. The intake must come from lean meats and fish, olive oil, seeds, nuts and avocados (Lambert et al, 2004). 4. Water intake must be adequate and fluids lost through exercise must be replaced. In order to make sure that fluid intake is adequate, 2 cups of water must be consumed 2 hours before exercise and 4-8 ounces must be taken every 15-20 minutes during workout sessions. After exercise, 16 ounces must be taken (Quinn, 2011). 5. It is important to consume some protein and carbohydrate after exercise to help muscle growth and replenishment of glycogen stores in the muscle. The optimum ratio of carbohydrate and protein is 4:1. It is important not to eat more protein than required because it can slow the replenishment of glycogen stores and also delays rehydration (Quinn, 2011). Recommendations to increase muscle bulk (Australian Institute of Sports, 2009): 1. Since muscles need good stimulation to grow, exercise training, especially aerobic exercises are essential for the muscles to grow. 2. A positive energy balance of 2000-4000 Kilojoules per day is necessary. Thus, the dietary intake must be increased. The first to focus on is the carbohydrate. Excess protein can get oxidized and get converted to saturated fat. Increased intake of fatty foods can result in increased gaining of fat mass rather than muscle mass. 3. Athletes must eat and drink frequently, rather than increasing the quantity consumed during each meal. Snacks containing high energy foods must be carried. Useful foods for snacking are fruit smoothies, milk shakes, liquid meal supplements, sports bars, cereal bars and favored dairy foods. 4. It is important for the athlete to be consistent and patient and aim at increasing body mass by 2-4 kg per month. Diet plan for 3 days Day-1 Quantity of food required to provide high carbohydra te and high protein needs for the athlete Amount of carbohydrate (g) Amount of protein (g) Breakfast 2 cups cereal 300 ml milk 2 slices toast 2 tablespoons jam 1 cup juice 39 16 30 36 19 6 12 8 0 2 Lunch 2 bread rolls each with 50 g chicken + salad 1 banana 1 fruit bun 250 ml flavoured low fat milk 78 20 34 17 41 2 6 13 Dinner Stir-fry with 2 cups pasta + 100 g meat + 1 cup vegetables 1 cup jelly + 1 cup custard 100 82 50 13 Snacks 750 ml sports drink 1 carton yoghurt 1 piece fruit 1

When an American Meets an Arab Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

When an American Meets an Arab - Essay Example Moreover, I also intend to evaluate these experiences of mine in the light of the knowledge and insights extended by the theorists like Hofstede and Hall. I would specifically like to narrow my personal experiences around the communication approaches and the accompanying differences that turned out into a mutually funny and humorous situation, when we had the first meeting with a group of US business delegates, at UAE. I worked as a junior manager with a UAE based Telecom Company. From the very start, it was obvious to me that our guests were not conversant with the Arab cultural orientation. Things were not so conducive on our side also. Most of our managers were expecting the Americans to be straightforward, task-oriented and punctual, based on the cursory experiences they had acquired on their short vacations to the US (Klein & Kuperman 2008). The meeting took place in a hotel and the initial interactions were marked by the customary exchange of pleasantries. Our team comprised of seven members with a senior manager acting as the team leader, while the American delegation comprised of six people, two of which were women. The meeting was meant to discuss the issues pertaining to a proposed technological collaboration between the two firms. The American head extended his hand to our senior manager and I must say his handshake was firm and strong. In contrast, our manager’s handshake was gentle and prolonged. It was obvious that the guest intended to end the handshake, but our manager kept on gently holding his hand for a few more seconds while exchanging courtesies. The consternation was quite obvious on the faces of our guest and the American delegates. To me who was aware that the Americans doubted the sexual orientation of my manager, going by his prolonged and gentle handshake, it was getting difficult to hold laughter.

Modern variations of the Panopticon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Modern variations of the Panopticon - Essay Example Bentham’s idea is that a panopticon, where the observed internalizes the presence of an unseen observer, enforces those rules via a psychological self-policing on the part of the observed. The panopticon prison, where prisoners are always within view of an observer hidden in a tower that sees all, is a very good representation of Bentham’s ideal panopticon. It is an examination of the ideas on the panopticon as it is applied in some paired relationships, exploring how checks and balances come into play in them, so that the two sides in effect are forced to play according to the rules. In effect, in this dyad relationship, the panopticon becomes a two-way mechanism, with implications that are particular to the parties in the pairing. This paper demonstrates this via a discussion of the Internet as a reciprocal modern panopticon. The internet fosters an arena where the observed follows the rules imposed on them by the law and by the authorities, and where the authorities, in their turn as ordinary users, are likewise compelled to follow the rules, and to make sure that the rules do not go too far in infringing on their personal rights under the law (Foucault 228). This first part of the essay talks about the writer's understanding of Foucault's Panopticon as a disciplinary power mechanism. The heart of the panopticon is the internalization of a power mechanism on the part of the observed, in a system designed in such a way that the observed knows that he is perennially being watched, and where the observer is forever hidden from view from the observed. This can be a paired process with both parties being observer and observed for each other. That is, the panopticon also a situation where two sides play mutual roles at the same time. In this sense it is reciprocal system that enforces the rules of the game via its very mechanism. The means of enforcement is the observed internalizing the rules, and acting in such a way as to enforce the rules, and to make the system self-perpetuating and stable. In a two-way system both have to play the role of the observed, and both internalize the rules (Foucault 228). In other words, the panopticon as a disciplinary power mechanism instills in the both parties the very rules of the game, and makes it in the best interest of both, in a way, to follow the rules without being told. What affects one affects the other in equal measure. The mechanism has within it the power to enforce. The knowledge that one is being watched at all times forces the observed to act in ways that do not violate the rules, or else face the consequences of the violation. It is self-perpetuating and becomes more effective the more it is internalized too. This is because both parties, as the observed, by internalizing the rules and the idea that he is being perpetually watched, go into themselves and look into all areas of their lives: thoughts, behavior - and seek compliance with the rules in all of those dimensions of his life. Both censor each other and are forced to follow the law as the observed, and as the observers enforcing the law (Foucault 226-228). In pairs where observation is reciprocal, the two parties balance each other's