Thursday, October 31, 2019

Comparative essay of Shakespeare Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comparative of Shakespeare - Essay Example However, this has not been the case, especially in Macbeth. King Duncan had sons who depicted contrasting relations with him. Some, like Donalbain, seem to love his father yet this is not for sure. Malcolm, on the other hand, keeps the relationship between him the father very formal. To him, the father is just a king. However, he does not let it show until his father dies. When King Duncan dies, his sons fail to show their bereavement. None of them shed tears before the public; not even crocodile tears. If they must shed any tear, then they would rather do it in private places. To them, it is just the death of a king. Before the people, Malcolm and Donalbain keep it formal as if to show the relationship with the father was entirely kingship. The sons show further that their relationship with the father was merely kingship by their actions after he has been murdered. The first thing they thought of was how to escape from the anonymous murderer. If they really loved the father at personal levels, they would investigate the homicide first, instead of saving their lives. By the action of escaping and neglecting the case shows that they care much. The sons of King Duncan gave the dynasty first priority. Even as they escaped, their main objective was to save the kingdom of their fallen father. This is clearly depicted when the revenge time came. Malcolm’s revenge on the murderer, Macbeth, seems less personal. He just wants to punish Macbeth for killing a king, not the father. And by revenging, his aim was to restore the throne of the long gone king; not to repay the death of his father. The brave Macduff is, by contrast, a defender of the parents. The relationship between him and the father portrays true love and protection. Even though Macbeth succeeded in wiping out the family of Macduff, he fought tirelessly before his abandoned mother for the honor of his father. In his relentless defense, he dies in the line of duty. However, his death

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The Macroeconomic Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Macroeconomic Environment - Essay Example ons which are differentiated by government deficit or the â€Å"difference between what the government pays out (government expenditure) and what it takes in (tax revenues).† (Weil 2002) The first state is the contractionary or tight fiscal policy wherein the government expenditure is lesser than its revenues or budget surplus. On the other hand, it is called expansionary or loose fiscal policy when government spending is larger than its revenues resulting to budget deficit. (Weil 2002) In devising a fiscal expansion policy, the government should consider certain economic indicators and factors that are affected. These are interest rate, exchange rate, trade balance, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and aggregate demand. Weil (2002) and Hemming et al. (2002) observe the possible effects of fiscal expansion on these factors which contribute for economic stability. Richard Hemming et al. (2002) see expansionary fiscal policy as beneficial in stimulating economic activity. They use the events like Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and recessions in Europe and the United States as empirical evidences of the negative effects of contractionary fiscal policy through strong tax systems. Weil (2002) sees beneficial effect of fiscal expansion on managing the economy through the gross domestic product (GDP) or the total amount produced. Fiscal expansion results to increase in demand for goods and services which in effect raises both the output and price. However, the degree of increase on these two factors depends on the state of the economy according to Weil (2002). â€Å"If the economy is in recession, with unused productive capacity and unemployed workers, then increases in demand will lead mostly to more output without changing the price level. If the economy is at full employment, by contrast, a fiscal expansion will have more effect on prices and l ess impact on total output.† (Weil 2002) Weil (2002) states fiscal expansion raises the aggregate demand or the total demand for

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Bullying At School: Causes, Effects and Implications

Bullying At School: Causes, Effects and Implications School Bullying has evolved into a worldwide phenomenon that has received very little or no attention at all. In recent years, it has garnered global attention and, although studies have concentrated on the view point from the victims perspective, recent studies are geared towards studying bullying from a social and cultural view. Bullying is defined as a methodical way of demoralizing a person or a group of people who may seem inferior to a potential bully or group of bullies due to many different factors such as race, gender, intellectual ability or just a way to feel better about themselves. Throughout this paper, we will look at the many different areas that have been identified as critical functions in remedying an age old problem that has been a staple in schools across the entire world for many years. Contributing Factors and Family Types Now we have to have a good understanding of some of the contributing factors that makes up the components of the bully, the bullied and the bystander. Although bullying is a learned behavior, a major contributing factor is derived from what is learned in the home. Studies have shown that there three types of families that contribute to bullies. The first one dubbed The Brick Wall family demonstrates the belief that power equals control. This type of environment proves to be a great training ground for a potential bully. Various factors figure into the equation like one parent demonstrates absolute authority, rigid enforcement of rules by use of threats or imagined violence, use of humiliation and being taught What to think, Not how to think (Barbara, Colorosa). The second type of family commonly referred to as The Jellyfish Family tend to promote the virtues of a child to become a bully, a vulnerable target or bystander by not setting boundaries and structure for children, the parent physically and psychologically abandons the children and second chances are routinely given. The last family The Backbone Family is not demanding at all. They do not demand respect; they model and teach it, rules are clear and simply stated and mistakes are viewed as chances to learn. Clearly, family has a decisive advantage in determining a childs course, but society has become a greater teacher than any home can be due to all the advances in technology such as the internet, cell phones, and peer pressure and the lack of parents being home due to dual income families being needed more now during the current recession going on in America today (Barbara, Colorosa). Seven Types of Bullies Briefly we have looked at contributing factors to bullies, but we will take a glance at the several different types of bullies. The Confident Bully often has a hefty ego and sense of dominance; The Social Bully is resentful of the optimistic traits of others; The Fully Armored Bully is calm and isolated; The Hyperactive Bully has trouble making friends; The Bullied Bully is bullied by adults or older kids; The Bunch of Bullies usually perceived as nice kids and last, but not least the Gang of Bullies is a group drawn together in pursuit of control, ascendancy and total absolution of power (Barbara, Colorosa). All have different agendas, but they all use the three basics fundamentals of bullying; verbal, physical, and relational. Verbal bullying accounts for 70% of all reported bullying for mainly two reasons (Barbara, Colorosa); It is easy to get away with and if it is accepted by the majority, it degrades the intended target. Physical bullying is actually only responsible for one-thirds of all reported incidents and the bully whom actually results to this form is more likely to move onto more serious criminal offenses in the future. Racial bullying is an area that we have not ventured into; however it is prevalent taking place in climates where differences are deemed as bad and where common bonds are not celebrated. The Victim or the Bullied The Victim or Bullied can become a target for bullying due to a variety of factors. This can be due to the victim being the new kid on the block, the kid who is smaller and younger in a new school, being submissive, gifted or talented, physical or mental disabilities or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time (Barbara, Colorosa). In any case the bullied child becomes isolated from their peers and develops survival strategies rather than social skills. Bullies are often successful due to the fact they are ashamed, afraid of retaliation, they dont believe anyone can or wants to help and society has led people to believing ratting is not acceptable. Even though secrecy is a another significant factor to a bullys success, a child who is the victim of bullying will display warning signs and adults whether a teacher or parent must be mindful in observation of the warning signs. Children speak through their body language, facial expressions, eyes, words and the tone of voice when asked certain questions (Barbara, Colorosa). When children display a certain abrupt disinterest in school or refuses to go, is hungry after school, claims to have lost lunch money, stops talking about everyday activities and peers or completely does something out of their normal character, it can be an indicator there may be a problem. In todays society, most of the above mentioned clues almost describes a majority of kids today especially teenagers, but as we will visit later knowing your children and establishing an open line of communication can be vital in ensuring your children chances of being a victim of bullying are minimized. Education of children will help in reducing the potential of a child becoming a bullying victim. It is imperative that children are taught how to react when they are placed in a situation dealing with a bully or a group of bullies; Assurance is a key instrument, letting a child know that they are not alone; affirm that it is not their fault; establish that there are measures that you as a parent can take and immediately inform school personnel of the bullying issues or concerns. Just as easy as you can reassure your children of all the measures that can be implemented, equal caution must be exercised as not to hinder a childs capability to resolve some issues on their own so as not to be shunned by the other children as an individual who cannot function without their parents direct involvement. Justification of a bullys action can be detrimental to your relationship or trust previously established; educate your child, but let they figure out the best way to exist amongst their peers; avoidance should not be a course of action and by all means violence should only be used if they are in imminent danger by the bully or group of bullies. The next group we will explore is the Bystander (s) who more than often not are just caught in the middle and basically are glad that the bully is not targeting them. Bystander (s) tend to think that intervention will cause greater suffering, they simply do not know what actions to take, dont want to become the focal point of the bully or they dont want to get hurt themselves. The victims of bullying have been identified as suffering from various health problems, including diminished levels of psychological well-being, poor social adjustment, psychological distress and physical symptoms (Rigby, 1996, 2003). Victims have a wide range of issues such as social isolation, truancy, suicidal tendencies and depression. Also, experiencing peer harassment has been linked to depression, loneliness and social isolation. Victims often exhibit low self-esteem, have fewer friendships, school absences and even suicide. Relational bullying has also been related to rejection of peers, loneliness, isolation, depression and social anxiety all proved to be directly related to future psychological difficulties, according to Jacobsen, Kristen. The Bystander (s) Bystander (s) abilities or lack thereof, contribute to their fears and the lack of skills to cope with the issues leads to apathy and due to the fact that Bystander (s) witness first hand bullying tactics, they are apt to becoming bullies themselves. Bystander (s) rationalize why they do not take actions when they observe a bully targeting a child or a group of children; they are friends with bully, its not my problem, he/she is a loser or the fact that they dont want to be labeled as a snitch. Another aspect of bystander (s) perpetuating bully tendencies is through the spreading of rumors. Rumors are easy to start, spread and in lament terms hard to confirm or deny and children are not concerned with facts, they believe what everyone else does. Their ability to decipher the truth whether they want to or not is the real issue; simply they just want to fit in regardless of the truth, thus indirectly they are assisting the bully in tormenting the targeted child or children. Three factors that will empower bystander (s) is the ability to recognize, refuse and report are the steps they will need to be taught in order to not help in the bullying process. Social Experience and School Bullying Social Experience and School Bullying studies have shown that these problems extend well beyond the school and that children are exposed to dangerous situations in their own neighbor hoods on a daily basis. These experiences within the very communities that they live in undermine relationships between students and their teachers and bring to light that intervention needs to be extended to the broader community and neighborhood. A vast majority of studies have concentrated on the psychological profiles of bullies and their victims. According to these reports, bullies tend to assume a dominant role in interpersonal relationships and display lack of empathy. They are reported as displaying high self-esteem but also egotistic defensive traits (Salmivalli, Kaukiainen, Kaistaniemi, Lagerpetz, 1999; Smith, 2004). Studies also suggests that like other aggressive individuals, bullies attribute hostile intentions to the people with whom they are interacting and that they are incapable of resolving conflicts without resorting to acts of violence (Crick Dodge, 1999; Dodge, Bates Pettis) . Classroom Management, Bullying and Teacher Practices Teachers play a vital role in the school environment; the enforcement of school policies and ethos and the social interactions within the classroom. The absence of an adult (s) presence often contributes to bullies and their objectives. Studies have revealed that some teachers just dont observe the deviant behavior or they simply do not know how to handle the situation involving bullies. Some cases have illustrated that training is sorely needed in order to help in the ever growing epidemic. In some cases, teachers have intervened in physical bullying cases, but they acknowledge that the aspect of identifying relational bullying is hard to identify. Now teachers and counselors have different roles in the school, but they are inter-related on so many levels. Teachers are primarily educators and have limited experience in counseling, thus enter the counselor. The counselor primary role is to ensure the students success academically, career and socially. Due to the fact that the counselor works with the entire school population, they will have a better understanding on some of the underlying issues that the teacher just may not have time to observe. Teachers can prove to be a valuable asset in the fight against bullies, but training is still required to enhance the readiness of all school staff and administrators. For the most experienced to the novice of all teachers, teaching in todays society has become more challenging than ever. It requires the ability to adapt to new and constant changing demands. Although the issue is not new, a new light was shed on the issue during the Columbine High School shooting in April, 1999 (Vossekuil, Fein, Reddy, Borum, Modzeleski, 2002). In recent years, research has implicated teasing, harassment, and bullying in a number of targeted schools shootings that have taken place in the United States, according to (Kathleen P. Allen). Now in recent years, newer teachers in the profession stated they have felt unprepared for todays classroom management skills when it comes to managing administrative tasks, curriculum and behavior issues. According to (Kathleen P. Allen), additionally, it is a well- established fact that student misbehavior is a factor in teacher burnout and the decision for novice teachers to leave the profession. How Do Teachers Learn Classroom Management and Discipline When you look at this complex issue, classroom management is not what it was in the past. Classroom rules and guidelines were the main points other than course requirements in the past; however in todays culture, teachers have to worry about safety of themselves and other students, being innovative and creative to keep students interested and constantly adapting to changes to the profession. Teachers have to incorporate effective teaching strategies which include meaningful content, powerful teaching strategies and an organizational structure to support productive learning. Successful teachers employ strategies for establishing rules and procedures, organizing groups, monitoring and pacing classroom events, and reacting to misbehavior, according to (Kathleen P Allen). Some teachers may revert back to when they were in school and how their teachers maintained discipline. Although many of these teacher may not be teaching due to retirement, they still may act in a capacity as a mentor to todays generation of younger teachers. Now for up and coming teachers in college, management techniques are being incorporated in the curriculum to help circumvent these issues. Practical experience can only be gained through actual job experience, but they have a foundation to build on. Teachers currently in the business attend working group, field observations, student teaching, seminars and gain valuable experience by sharing ideas and talking with their teacher counterparts. Bullying, Prevalence, Definitions and Issues According to Kathleen P. Allen, in the largest survey of bullying in schools in the United States to date 29.9% of students were found to be involved in bullying demographics: 13% were bullies, 10.6% as victims, 6.3% as bully-victims. This study is a direct indicator that there is a definite problem that must be addressed in the United States school system. In looking into the issue of bullying, it has been discovered that it is a two way street. Now bullying from a teachers perspective in defined as a teacher who uses his or her power to reprimand, control or ridicule a student beyond what would be a reasonable disciplinary course of action. According to Kathleen P. Allen, 45% of 116 teachers surveyed at an elementary school admitted to bullying students. Also, at one intermediate school, 30% of students stated they were bullied by teachers. During another study, it was founded that in the United Kingdom that high school teachers were bullied by 56.4% by students at least once, 35.6% by students sometimes or more and 9.9% by students several times a week. The focal point of this particular part is that this behavior is undermining the sanctity of the education process and promoting reciprocated aggression. In the event, and lack of evidence of adult bullying going on within schools themselves, is probably a direct factor of bullying being perpetuated throughout the masses. Teachers are an intricate part in establishing a positive climate, thus they must maintain a professionalism that is unparallel to none. Teacher Knowledge of Bullying In order for teachers to prevent bullying they have to be educated on how to recognize the signs and most of all they must be aware of what measures to take to reduce this epidemic. What is viewed by most teachers as normal gossip and simply kids being kids is truly the tip of the iceberg. Physical altercations and the communicating of verbal threats is what teachers view as bullying; however through cell phone texting, email and more sophisticated ways of disguising bullying tactics teachers are fighting a losing battle. Students are very manipulative, and due to lack of classroom management abilities and the fact of teachers being overworked, underpaid and stressed beyond the point of no return, some teachers simply just dont care enough to go the extra mile and the ones who do care simply are just out numbered. Some scholars have looked at bullying as a social phenomenon, bullies tend to need an audience and this adds to the bullys powerbase. From an ecological perspective, students tend to be a product of their society. Since they live in neighborhoods where violence and aggressiveness are prevalent, they adapt to what they learn from society. Unfortunately, the school environment is where the aggression is practiced. Emotional distress has been associated with exposure to neighborhood violence often interferes academic performance and escalates the potential risks of peer bullying. Different variables have a definite impact on the bullying epidemic sweeping the globe at an alarming rate. First, we look at the sense of community-the acuity of belonging to a neighborhood, social relationships that implies to the eagerness to help others. Secondly, the exposure to dangerous and violent events where the young people live on a day to day basis. The perceived safety in the neighborhoods in conjunction with the serious nature of social problems. Lastly, different variables such as school climate, relationships with classmates, relationships with teachers and attitudes towards school. Young people who are exposed to neighborhood violence often find it hard to control their feelings of anger and irritability which contributes to poor academic performance. Students who exhibit the lack of self control find it difficult to concentrate on basic school tasks. They are hyperactive, impulsive and easily distracted and find it difficult to sit still long enough to do typical school work. What Can We Do About Bullying Prevention and Intervention are ongoing studies, life experiences, reading materials, workshops and attending presentations dealing with this topic in depth. Teachers are continuing to educate themselves through schools adopting different programs that has proven to be effective in other schools foreign and domestic. These adopted programs require continual updated training, but in every attempt to reduce bullying it is a sacrifice an overwhelming number of teachers is willing to make. Very often these programs advocate policy development as well as well as realignment of the school or classroom code of conduct and behavior management systems. Goals are obvious with these programs, reduction or the complete eradication in the bullying/victim problems in and out of the school setting and to prevent future problems (Dan Olweus). All attention is normally directed toward the direct bully concept. As previously stated, direct bullying involves relatively open attacks on another student and may include words, gestures, facial expressions or physical contact. Indirect bullying must be addressed as well. A student exposed to this indirect bullying has a hard time making friends within his or her class and is excluded from the peer group. There is a direct link between the two types of bullying; direct bullying victims are rejected by their peers and basically isolated. There is also a lot of students who are isolated and lonely without being a target by their fellow students. Awareness and involvement involve two general conditions; Adults at schools and to some measure at home must become aware of what bully/victim problems exist in their childs school and that parents must take an active part in correcting the problem. Bullying has proven to be a considerable problem in many countries across the world and reassures everyone in the teaching profession that no school is bully proof. A reasonable assumption is that when you have several children together and they cant decide who cannot be included in the group, and then bully tendencies will arise. Mapping the extent of the bully/victim problems at a particular school are a good start for an intervention program Dan Olweus). Should there an insignificant amount of bullying at a school, there must be an attempt to correct the problem altogether. By establishing that these problems exist in schools across the nation, parents and teachers must be persuaded to take aggressive action. Parents must understand that this is not an inevitable part of a childs life. Individual measures that can be taken by the teacher is if suspected bullying is taking place then he/she should confront the bully or bullies immediately. The intent is to let these offenders know that this type of behavior will not be tolerated by anyone. Should it be deemed that it is a group of bullies, and then each student should be handled on an individu al basis. Swift action should be taken so as to prevent collaboration between the groups can be established. In most cases, should the group be allowed to conspire, then the victim will be made out to be the villain. Due to the fact that bullies are calculating, devious, persuasive individuals and often possess leadership abilities which entice others to follow them. After all individuals have been interviewed separately, then placing all offenders in a group and reinforcing the facts that bullying will not be tolerated and inform all parties to include parents of possible repercussions should alleged if not proven behavior should continue.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Tunnel Essay -- Personal Narrative Writing

The Tunnel My unforgettable senior football season was coming to a close. The whole team knew that this was the last game of football we would ever play together. After this game, it would never be the same. I had been waiting my whole life to experience what I was about to face in the next few hours. To me, and to the rest of my hometown, high school football isn’t just a game; it is a lifelong passion. I grew up watching my role models play the same game I was about to play where the football-frenzied town of Mahnomen won four state championships in a row. Since the seventh grade, my team was expected to make it to the state play-offs our senior year, and now we were playing for the state tittle. We didn’t have anybody extremely fast, strong, or even smart on our team. In fact, no senior would go on to participate in college football. We were just a few guys that would never give up no matter what the circumstances. Those guys were my team, like I was the one leading them all into a battle field, even though that was the feeling of half the other guys. My team had been nicknamed â€Å"The Cardiac Kids† because of our ability to pull out a victory by one point, which we had done in six games that season. Critics thought a team that could only squeak out so many victories by one point was bound to lose their composure in the play-offs. Throughout the season we had worked towards becoming the team we now were. We were proud of how far we had gotten. The only thing left to do was to play our hardest and to see how well we matched up against the best team in the state. All of this led up to the moment of the State Championship Game. From the locker room, we walked into the dark tunnel leading to the nervous light of The M... ...at is he didn’t like how he wrote about things he didn’t know about, when he could have been writing about important things that were happening to him because he did know about them. This makes me see the importance of my paper better. I also changed some things around in the paper. As you can imagine, when Dr. Morgan criticized writing about â€Å"The Big Game† I was like, â€Å"Oh Crap, now I have to write it all over again.† As you can see, I decided to stay with my original idea, but just focus on it at a different point. Instead of telling what happened, I focus more on why it affected me. Like when I wrote, †Because of what I learned that moment, I will be able to see when teamwork is needed and how to pursue it. You might not think that this is such an important quality, but this connects with me every day of my life.† I think this helps fit the assignment better.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Management Control Systems 4-6

Management Control group 1| Main Case Study 4-6| Mini case study 5-2| Tom Breteler – 930228 | Max Leigh Norman – 910904 Hanway Tran – 831226 16/11/2012| | | Main Case Study 4-6: Grand Jean Company Introduction This case study covers case 4-6 of ‘Management Control Systems’, written by Robert N. Anthony and Vijay Govindarajan (2007, 12th edition). The case discusses Grand Jean Company, a jeans manufacturing company, and describes several processes and issues in their organisation and management.In this report, we will we review and discuss the main problems that Grand Jean Company faces, analyse and propose solutions to these problems. During the course of this report, we will often refer to theory from the aforementioned literature, as well as external sources where needed. Explanations of concepts, theories and jargon will be given where necessary, but references will be provided in the end of the report easy reference. Lastly, we realise our soluti ons have their limitations and are unlikely to be implemented easily, or immediately effective.But we believe that our proposed changes will allow the company to reap the benefits from knowledge sharing and increased efficiency, as both plant managers and contractors can cooperate to find the best practice to accomplish their tasks at hand. Background Grand Jean is a clothing company with a long history, having been founded in the mid 18th century it has survived several great economic crises such as two world wars, the great depression in the late 1920s and the 1970s oil crisis.Having survived so many economic shocks and still be working as a profitable company, it is possible that this has caused top management in Grand Jean to believe that the business model they are employing is a sturdy model that always works. The scientific management model that was developed in the 1910s where cost efficiency and cost analysis was prevalent then; is something that we perceive is still preval ent now in Grand Jean (Anthony & Govindarajan, 2007). Their usage of key metrics is very old fashioned: * Focus on production quota for the factories. Budget estimating a plant’s future production by looking at historic production and add a little more for the following year * Using historic supervisor:employee ratio There seems to be a lot of territorial mentality between the different departments in that each department focus on their own performance, and are willing to intervene in another department to satisfy their own goal. The company also seemed to treat the management and employees at the headquarters more favourably than management and employees at production plants.Problems In this section, we shall further discuss the processes and circumstances at Grand Jean Company and lay out the problems, and more importantly we will explain why they are problems. Firstly, we feel that the company in overall is overly traditional and outdated, resulting in a general lack of fl exibility. The company’s processes and regulations are often strict and overly simplified, which has a negative effect on the realistic day-to-day operations. One of these regulations is the relationships Grand Jean Company has with its ndependent contractors. Grand Jean has 25 company-owned manufacturing plants, which are responsible for about two thirds of the total production; the rest is done by roughly 20 independent manufacturers. Some of these contractors have long-standing relationships with Grand Jean, whereas some are very new and short-term. Contract agreements are made by the production operations’ vice president, Tom Wicks, and a ceiling price is set for each individual type of pants.If a contractor complies with Grand Jean’s quality and reliability standards, they get paid the full ceiling price, but if Grand Jean is unsure, a lower price is paid until the contractor has proven himself. This leads to a high turnover rate for contractors, considerin g the intense domestic and foreign competition in the garment industry. Strict demands combined with lower financial (as well as non-financial) support can be incredibly taxing for new contractors, resulting in them not reaching the desired quotas.Grand Jean then immediately terminates the relationship, and does not try to aid its contractors in any way that we have noticed. This is a waste of invested time and resources in the relationship, which could be easily avoided by closer collaboration and communication, combined with more a more flexible framework. The existing facilities are not used for a period of time; which is an additional  waste of resources. The key metrics that Grand Jean use to evaluate the company’s performance are very outdated.The main focus throughout the company is to focus on production output and metrics that affect or can be derived from focusing on production quantity e. g. production/year, standard hours/pair. However, there seems to be no cons ideration of metrics that affect the overall performance of the company. As mentioned before, the contractor’s that failed to meet expectations were usually just replaced by a new contractor in the same existing facility, this is an activity that impacts the company’s overall performance, as time and money has to again be spent re-negotiating terms of agreement, setting up and starting production lines.Overall the key metrics do not focus on activities that can have a more profound impact on the company’s performance. The heavy focus on production quota causes the company to miss other aspects that could generate improvements e. g. in plant efficiency, gross profit margin, overhead- and back office costs. The heavy focus on production also caused some plant managers to hoard goods to be able to meet production quota. Grand Jean makes use of 5 separate marketing departments, this is motivated with the fact that they sell to different customers.We consider the dep artment structure of marketing in the current state to be obsolete, because it doesn’t make efficient use of the knowledge that can be obtained by having cross-departmental communication or by unifying the marketing department into one big unit. Having such similar functions in 5 departments creates a lot of overhead when it comes to research and demand forecasting. The 25 company-owned plants are treated as expense centres, implying their only goal is to reach a quota at a price as low as possible. If the focus is purely on getting the lowest cost per product possible, quality is likely to fall behind.Additionally, the plants are run on a tight regulatory system based on time-and-motion systems resembling Taylor’s scientific method; making it obviously outdated, made worse by the odd use of fixed learning curves: implying learning curves are a system to be applied instead of an ongoing process. Entire budgets are made extrapolating the production time for a single pai r of jeans, and mass scale benefits are religiously pursued; resulting in an extreme lack of flexibility which severely harms the collaboration and communication with the marketing department.A major problem as well is the restrictiveness of the production quotas. Like the budgets, the quotas too are extrapolated from individual production time per pair of jeans, and administered relentlessly: the budgets are pre-made monthly one year ahead of time, and there is no indication of any adaptation being made during that year. This obviously leads to an inability to react to changes, and is overly simplistic to say the least. Additionally, the bar of budgets and quotas is raised monthly (! , because â€Å"we expect people to improve around here† (Anthony & Govindarajan, 2007). Shockingly, these decisions are made arbitrarily without regard to external circumstances. If a plant reaches the quota, it is decided to have performed well, regardless of delivered quality, and if not, the plant is considered to have been working at a sub-reasonable level of speed and efficiency. Grand Jean acknowledges worker turnover and absenteeism are big problems in the plants, yet they do not show any awareness of any link from those problems to the strict quotas.Feedback is given monthly via phone, instead of in person, to see if the plants met the allowed standard labour hours compared to the actual labour hours, which is an accounting related principle that is often unsuited for practical issues such as production. This has negative consequences, the most disturbing being the plant managers retaining a safety stock when they exceed the quota, in order to make sure they can reach the quota again next year. This is done because production over the quota is not rewarded, and production is expected to increase from the year before, no matter how high the figures are.Considering Grand Jean has to turn down orders every end of the year, this is a shame when it comes to the usage o f resources, production and profit potential. Still, Grand Jean claims to look for other things but the quota as well when evaluating plants, such as the quality of the community relations and employee satisfaction. There are no concrete standards shown in the case for these measurements however, making the rating and bonus allocation system very arbitrary and subjective.This resulted in the finance and marketing departments being rewarded higher ratings than the production plants; which is particularly questionable considering most top-managers are from finance and marketing backgrounds. To us, this smells of favouritism, which is never a basis for a proper rating system, which should of course be objective and fair i. e. have procedural justice. Also, it was issued in the case that offices are often understaffed because Mr. Wicks consistently adheres to the traditional supervisor/worker ratio of 11:1, although the fact simply is that that ratio is insufficient and outdated.Plant m anagers feared to deviate from that ratio due to the fact that Mr. Wicks managed a plant with that ratio. This causes the plants to run with a supervisor/work ratio that doesn’t adapt to the changing external environment (Anthony & Govindarajan, 2007). Lastly, the company does not properly acknowledge the differences in technology and equipment and age of the plants, instead Grand Jean demands equal performance from them all. This is obviously not prudent, and results in the older plants having more difficulties in reaching the quota.Proposed solutions The company needs to improve the communication channels between the marketing and production departments. It seems as though these departments are working completely independently from each other which is concerning as their relationship is one of the most important within the organisation. Production relies on quantity targets set by the marketers, by having much more regular meetings, face to face rather than on the phone, th ere should be a reduced risk of drastic changes in quantity needed.It is more likely that a closer relationship between these departments will cause incremental changes in production which is much easier and cheaper to manage. Consequently there will be much less wastage or excess goods being produced. Continuing with the theme of collaboration, the 5 marketing departments need to work as parts of the same unit, rather than individual units with the same name. The text refers to some departments going about their own business in order to meet aims and objectives, even if these actions have negative consequences for other departments.All departments in the organisation are trying to add value to the end product but this should not be done by trampling on others who are trying to achieve the same goal. The managers or each marketing department need to meet and ensure that no actions taken by their individual units have a negative impact for another. This is not to say there shouldnâ⠂¬â„¢t be a competitive nature within the firm but it should be regulated so as not to cause harmful repercussions. At present, the rating system and bonus allocation system seems quite subjective and inexact.Firstly, the bias that occurs in favour of the financial departments needs to be eradicated. This could be done by outsourcing the task of rating the departments. As long as the external firm knew the industry and had a set of strict guidelines as to how to rate the performance of each department, there would be no bias and ratings between departments should be more evenly spread out. Currently, there is no incentive for plants to produce at maximum efficiency because if they happen to go over quota, they do not get rewarded for doing so.This ties in nicely with the second aspect of the ratings system. The case provided no exact guidelines to which each department was being assessed. Mr Wicks would call the departments and have a conversation about whether or not they met their production quota and generally ‘how things are’. The managers need to have face to face meetings and joint plant inspections in order to really gauge how production is performing; this will give a much more accurate picture and enable bonuses to be allocated more precisely.Contractors produce around a third of Grand Jean Company’s stock and as such, are an integral part of the production process. Instead of initially offering a lower price, Grand Jean could reduce uncertainty by allowing their contractors time to move up the learning curve by allowing them a lower quantity to be produced, which would be gradually increased once product quality and production reliability is delivered. Thus building Grand Jean’s relationship with their contractors, and avoiding resource destruction, despite the existing facilities being re-used.The reduced contractor turnover would increase the utilisation of the plants which will lend itself to increased production in the long term. As has been mentioned previously, some of the plants are up to 30 years old whereas some are as new as only 5 years old, however, there seems to be no allowance for this is the targets set by the company. It stands to reason that 30 years old technology is much more likely to; breakdown, be more costly to maintain, and be less efficient than 5 year old technology.Therefore, the quotas and maximum output of each plant should be heavily related to how new the plant and the technology is, presuming the staff are of equally skilled between the plants. Therefore, plant managers need to work more closely with market departments because they will be able to work out what targets are suitable for each plant rather than a ‘one size fits all’ quota system which at present, isn’t working particularly effectively. These new targets could be achieved through an initial meeting and assessment of the factory and review meetings every month to make sure the targets ar e being met.The current budgeting system is extremely primitive. The departmental managers review figures from the previous year and ‘add on a few’ because they assume the efficiency has increased and the staff ‘should’ have gotten better at their jobs. Whether these sweeping statements have some truth or not, it is obvious Grand Jean need to have a more specific budgeting and planning strategy. Using a more realistic budgeting system with more stretch would create actual learning curves instead of artificial, fixed ones.Due to more flexible targets and specific information from each individual plant capacities being used, coupled with the prospect of being rewarded for going over quota production, there should no longer be any need to hoard safety stock in order to meet targets later on in the year. Conclusion To conclude, it can be said that current affairs at Grand Jean Company are rigid and outdated, specifically in the areas of contracting relationship s, internal communication, budgeting, and reward systems. Our paper has described and explained the main issues at hand, and provided possible solutions to these problems as well.With these fixes in place, we as a team feel that Grand Jean could greatly improve its way of doing business. Mini Case Study 5-2: North Country Auto, Inc. It is prevalent that in North Country Auto, Inc. (NCA) the separate business units operated more as independent companies than subdivisions within a company. The business units’ managers themselves were aware of the problematic dilemma that the focus on their own profitability caused to the overall result of the company; even being fully aware that there were recurring situations that would have benefited the company had one department accepted a lower profit.The company lacks goal congruence between its business units, and Mr. Liddy’s endorsement of the current company structure doesn’t do anything to remedy the current friction. In stead of focusing on activities that create true value towards its customers, the company is engaging in accounting activities that do nothing to remedy the lack of goal congruence. We think Mr. Liddy should abandon the current structure for the new car-, used car- and service department, and instead structure it up with main business units, new and used car sales as one and body shop as the second one, with the service- and parts department operating as support.The new and used car sales and body shop would operate as profit centres with the service- and parts unit operating as an expense centre. To create goal congruence within the company, the department performance dependant bonuses should be removed. Instead NCA should implement a two tiered bonus program, the company’s performance should account for the larger part of the bonus program, to make sure that the department managers aren’t only thinking of their own performance.A suggestion would be to have a 20% depa rtment dependant and 80% company dependant bonus system. This would still allow a department with excellent performance to get a good reward for their above standard performance. This would increase the probability that the now different departments strive to work together to keep overall profits up and overall expenses down. Such a reward system would shift the personnels’ focus on the company’s total performance.The company should implement on one unified IT-system to make it easier to share information and hence promote inter departmental communications, thereby increasing the possibility of achieving synergy effects from the collective knowledge within the organisation. Restructuring the workflow, IT-systems and organisational structure itself won't achieve any positive effects, if the employees and managers themselves don’t embrace the new organisational structure, the whole reform will just end up being a new organization on paper.Hence why Mr. Liddy will have to be prepared to put in considerable effort to show that top management is supporting the new organisation that we propose. While it is possible to estimate a time frame for implementing a new workflow and information system, it is more difficult to estimate a time frame for when peoples’ behaviour will actually change. Without a change in behaviour, there is very a low possibility to gain any synergy effects from the new organisational structure.To implement this new organisation we propose a parallel multistage process; this requires top management to work on designing a new workflow, information system, organisational structure. And educate and involve department managers and employees to gain support for the new organisation to secure a working implementation. Bibliography Anthony, R. N. ; Govindarajan, V. (2007). MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEMS. 12th Edition. Net MBA website. [Online] Consulted on the 12-11-2012. URL: http://www. netmba. com/mgmt/scientific/ Appendix Pr oposal for new organisational structure for NCA.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Patient monitor based on IP-services

Introduction:The technological sweetening refering to measurement and information transmittal has led to more inclusive public presentation and Secure characteristic of the patient monitoring merchandises. In the earlier period, the taking merchandises manufactured by medical device makers are chiefly those for individual parametric quantity measuring. Nowadays nevertheless multi-parameter patient proctors are more extensively and normally used in our infirmary system. Multi parametric quantity Patient proctor is usage for critical physiological marks of the patient to convey the critical information. Therefore patient proctor has ever been busying a really important place in the filed of medical devices. The uninterrupted betterment of engineerings non merely helps us set out the critical physiological marks to the medical forces but besides simplifies the measuring and as a consequence addition the monitoring effectivity and now a yearss patient proctor is really flexible and it can supervise multiple physiological Signals.CLINICAL USED IN HOSPITAL:The patient proctors are normally used in some clinical countries such as ICU, CCU, operation room and exigency room because the proctor can supply many physiological parametric quantities of the patient to medical forcesPhysical PARAMETERS OF PATIENT MONITORSSome of physiological mark I mention in below are as follows.Electro Cardio Graph ( ECG )Respiration RateHeart Rate ( HR ) .Non-Invasive Blood Pressure ( NIBP )Oxygen Saturation in Blood ( SpO2 )Invasive Blood Pressure ( IBP )Temperature TEMPELECTRO CARDIO GRAPH:The ECG proctors classify little electromotive forces of about 1 millivolts that appear on the tegument as a consequence of cardiac gesture. Three/five electrodes prearranged in standard constellations called leads are positioned on the tegument to feel these electromotive forces. At lease two electrodes are required for an ECG lead ; a 3rd electrode is used as a mention to cut down electrical intervention. Each lead presents a bosom, Producing ECG wave form P waves, QRS composite, and T moving ridges vary in amplitude and mutual opposition. The signals from the different leads provide the heart specialist with a complete presentation of the electrical activity of the bosom, including the Heart rate, which is interpreted as the R~R Interval. The timing and wave form of ECG Provide Information on whether the patient ‘s bosom rate is characterized by arrhythmia or other altered maps necessitating intervention.Parameter FOR RESPIRATION Rate:The method for usage for Respiratory rate by the technique of electric resistance pneumography. Pass a low current with high-frequency bearer signal between two ECG electrodes side of the chest wall the electric resistance of the lungs alterations as the lungs expand and contract and as the volume of air in the lungs alterations. The alteration in electric resistance creates a alteration in electromotive force across the bearer signal, which is interpret as breathe and from this phenomenal manner we get respiration rate of a forces.NON-INVASIVE AND INVASIVE BLOOD PRESSURE:Non Invasive Blood Pressure ( NIBP ) :Blood force per unit area proctors by and large measure arterial Pressure, This is produced by the contractions of the bosom and continually alterations over cardiac rhythm. Three blood force per unit area values, articulated in millimetres of quicksilver above so atmospheric pressure.Systolic force per unit area is the maximal rhythm force per unit area occurs during ventricular contraction. Diastolic force per unit area is the minimal rhythm force per unit area, happening during the ventricle ‘s make fulling stage between contractions of bosom chamber. Arterial force per unit area is the average value of the blood force per unit area over the cardiac rhythm.Invasive Blood Pressure ( IBP ) :Invasive blood force per unit area is measured by agencies of a catheter insert straight into the circulatory system. Pressure transducer connected to the catheter converts the mechanical force exerted by the blood into an electrical signal by this mean of technique we can acquire the IBP value.Parameter FOR OXYGEN SATURATION OF THE BLOOD ( SPO2 ) :Oxygen impregnation technique is based on the soaking up of Pulse blood O to ruddy and infrared visible radiation by agencies of utilizing finger detector and SpO2 mensurating unit. Electronic transducer in finger detector converts the pulsation ruddy and infrared visible radiation modulates pulse blood O into electrical signal. By this agencies of technique we calculated value of SpO2.Parameter FOR TEMPERATURE Detection:Temperature of the organic structure is measured by agencies of a thermal resistor investigation. This investigation is made by semiconducting material whose opposition alterations with temperature. By the agencies of temperature alteration get the accurate temperature Value.STANDARD MODULE of PATIENT MONITOR:In footings of its functionality, the proctor is made up of following Faculties:Application FacultyMain Processing ModuleMan-machine interface ModuleLAN, WLAN, Bluetooth, RJ45 Connector, USB Port EtcPower supply ModuleParameter Measuring Part:Patient Monitor mensurating the physiological signals of ECG, RespirationNon-invasive blood force per unit area ( NIBP ) , Oxygen impregnation of the blood ( SpO2 ) , Temperature ( TEMP ) , Invasive blood force per unit area ( IBP ) , cardiac end product ( CO ) , CO and Anesthetic gas ( GAS ) . In this Measuring portion it can transform physiological signals to electrical signals, and procedure and reassign the values, wave forms and dismay information to Main Board, and so expose them by Interface Board.Main Control Part:Main board consists of Interface board and Core board. It has CPU/memory, show circuit web circuit and I/O interface. Main board of the integrated board is used to drive man-machine interface, manage parametric quantity measuring and supply other specific maps to the user such as constellation storage, wave form and informations callback, etc.Interface Part:The man-machine interfaces are board consists of Screen show, Recorder, Speaker, Indicator, Keys and knobs. The high-resolution show Screen is the most primary end product interface, exposing real-time current informations and recorded informations of different patients, Speaker gives bosom round tone and audio dismay Indicator provides extra information about power supplyPower Supply Part:Power supply is an of import portion of the system, dwelling of power board, power patchboard Battery and fanDifferent Auxiliary Partss:RJ45 online upgrade port is available on the proctor, which allows the service applied scientist to upgrade the system package without needfully opening the enclosure of the proctor. This larboard connexion is for usage as Internet map