Texas Education

Improving Education in Texas United States is known for their freedom of opportunity for education. Our education system has given us a wide variety in choices to what we want to achieve and earn our degree in. Our government has also given us the opportunity to achieve these goals for those who struggle to afford the education with such as loans and grants. So what is such the problem that students really struggle with? It has been recorded that only a little over 50 percent of students who start a four-year degree plan earns their degree in six, and where Texas it is even less.As a student myself, I face the struggles that college students face to complete school. Texas has been known for their excessive number of dropouts. In my opinion, Texas can improve the number of dropouts by understanding the real life struggles of a student that they face to balance their time and labor to manage the expenses for school. As a student myself, I have encounter many students that has either do wngrade their level of education or could not complete school. The many of the few reasons was that they did not have the time or just couldn’t afford the expenses.And the source of reason why student’s did not have the time were because they busy having to work hoping they’ll be able to afford the education. A student I’ve known, that is having to delay his completion in his four-year degree plan was because he is having to spend more hours at work to afford the expenses he has to pay at home. And because the amount of money he makes, he has been ineligible for financial aid. Therefore, school on top was way out of his budget, now he has to continue focusing on building capitol in able to afford and complete school.Although government is providing and offering many opportunities to afford school, we still struggle to find ways to keep students not only to start school, but also to complete school. So far in what I have been impressed by the government is the requirements students must meet in order to be eligible to receive financial aid. Students are required a specific passing rate and GPA to continue receiving money from the government to complete school. Therefore, students are enforced to focus and attend school. If government continues to maintain this strategy, we can see an improvement in he number of dropouts and failure in Texas. Money has seemed to be the source of reasons students struggle with to improve their education. Many of those completing their degrees in universities have to be left with thousand of dollars in debt. It is a fear for many of us to complete and leaving school having to pay unaffordable amounts of debt. This takes back to students struggling to work and afford school at the same time. When students have to spend constant hours to afford their expenses, where is the time they will have to focus and complete school.We can feel discouraged when checking the price for books and school bills. And the r eason why some students may conflict in making the correct amount of money, is because many were not able to afford the proper education to earn the degree for a better paying job. If Texas can create more programs for student’s being able to afford school without stressing the idea of putting out more time and money from their pockets, then I do not see why students would not engage. What government needs to do is create a different path in education where it can be more suitable for every student therefore creating an improvement in education.Kristen Indriago and Nancy Druart in their article Money Isn’t The Only Answer to School Woes, explained that even if we provide some of the best schools in the community, it does not mean it is suitable for a student to achieve in. â€Å"The best thing we can do as a state to meet the needs of every student is create a competitive, flexible education system that equalizes education opportunities regardless of socioeconomic sta tus†, Indriago and Druart stated. Although they have stated strong points in their article for creating the needs of every student, I disagree on the idea of ignoring the socioeconomic status.It is because of our economic status that troubles our students to stay in school. If we can focus on the status of those struggled we can create a better education opportunity. Texas is a national leader state, and to improve our higher education is an image we must focus on. Due to our excessive number of dropouts, we must pay attention to the source of reasons. As a student myself, I have encounter many problems to why students trouble in school. Some of the key reasons has been balancing and affording the time and expenses.If the government and school boards take a harder look at why student’s struggle to complete school we can see an improvement. With the condition of searching for improvement, Texas can provide and promote more cost efficient and time consumable programs for those students that face these conflicts. Therefore, in my opinion Texas can begin seeing progress. Works Cited Indriago, Kristen, and Nancy Druart. â€Å"Money Isn't the Only Answer to School Woes. † Statesman. N. p. , 24 Feb. 2013. Web. Spellings, Margaret. â€Å"Texas Higher Education Could Be Improved. † Statesman. N. p. , 27 Nov. 2012. Web.

How I Would Change The Immigration Healthcare Reform Essay

The debate over a comprehensive healthcare package has continued to rage on even after Obama signed the healthcare reform bill on May 4, 2010. Decades of rift and bad blood had finally culminated in the legislation of the healthcare reform. The stage is now set for the implementation of the long awaited savior of the masses. However, the healthcare reform package is not to be entirely loved, in as much as there is conflict in the aspect of immigration and healthcare provision, and the issue of immigrants and denied access to health insurance cannot be over sighted- at least for the illegal ones. That illegal immigrants would not be included in the federal health insurance scheme is a time bomb waiting to explode, as even documented immigrants were shorn of access to Medicaid in their first five years of residence, in the past. One can argue that it would not be right for tax payers to subsidize healthcare benefits for illegal immigrants who probably contribute less to the national income, but what about those who are earning well and have a secure source of livelihood. Whether â€Å"well to do† illegal immigrants would be allowed to purchase their insurance on the health insurance exchange is another matter to consider. As the keyword of this tenure has been change, there should be no frets when I put myself in the shoes of the president on how I would change the immigration healthcare reform. The fact is that, depriving illegal immigrants’ access to healthcare insurance would only increase numbers in emergency rooms, invariably service provision and pressure on resources. In view of this, I would allow illegal immigrants to access full government healthcare benefits, and if that is so difficult, I would permit those that have the financial capacity to purchase their healthcare insurance outright. After all, good healthcare should be available to everyone.

Project Management Plan Employee Essay

Attracting skilled employees is often important and often difficult. Employers face major challenges when they consider the increasing difficulty of finding skilled people every company should have an employee incentive program if it is sales and especially for university enrollment advisors because they are the ones that bring business into the university. The project scope of Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 strict accreditation regulations and laws prevent the university from offering bonuses to employees who enroll students. The work breakdown structure for the employee incentive program consists of activities/attributes, milestones stakeholders, stakeholders needs, tools and techniques. Activities/attributes Create a list of creative ideas Have employees take a survey once a year Boost employee morale and set a goal for employees Provide a positive working environment Retain employees Diversity of activities Develop skills and potential Employees need to be more invo lved and engaged Communication to employees Milestones Approval of incentive program Incentives must follow rules/regulations Responsibilities Personal growth Stakeholders University, Student, Employees Rewards are financial and non-financial Submit ideas to stakeholders because then they will know what works best Recognize and reward employees Days off Company outings Paid vacations Stakeholders needs University needs money Employees need incentives rewards, appreciation Students need education Tools Techniques Direct approach networking Employees plus number of students who enroll Merit Increase Salary increase is based on the number of students the employee enrolls Use of an organizational chart to understand roles responsibilities Tell your employees how well they are doing Employee parking for the month The employer and the employee have to have a balanced practical reward strategic model to improve business results and align employees behavior. The employer should have organization capabilities, business strategy and organization structure that leads to an employment deal for competencies, demographics, and values. With that employment deal it leads to a total reward strategy with pay, benefit, learning and development, and a good work environment. The basic salaries of the project team members will not be changed. However, special compensation will be given for their overtime and travels related to the project. After the  project is completed, all team members will be evaluated and those who will receive satisfactory and very satisfactory performance appraisal result will be given financial rewards. The total reward policy should state that although contingent rewards play an important part in the reward policies of the organization other forms of non-financial reward are regarded as being equally important. The reward system is an important means of communication. The effective reward strategy consists of well-defined g oals and objectives, well designed pay and rewards programs according to the needs and an effective and supportive human resources department. The performance related pay can be based off score driven bonus, customer satisfaction surveys, shareholder returns profitability versus target, process excellence, learn and grow. These rewards can bring in some conflict with employees if some or one employee does not get any customer satisfaction surveys, absence of learning and development, lack of customer service awards, lack of relationship between pay and performance, pay levels and benefits entitlement strongly related to the length of service, and lack of variable of portion of pay. This is something that will have to be explained to all employees from the first day of hire. The considerations for rewards are the level of rewards, the relative importance attached to market rates and equity, attraction and retention, the relationships of rewards to business performance, and total reward policy, the scope for the use of contingent rewards related to performance, competence, contribution or skills, assimilation policies, the de gree of flexibility required, the role of line managers, involve employees in the design of reward system, communicate the reward policies to employees, transparency. Market rate and equity policy needs to be formulated on the extent to which rewards are market driven rather than equitable. Should obtain and keep high quality staff and response to market pressures. Market considerations will derive levels of pay in the organization. Attraction policies should have career prospects, training and development, intrinsic interest of the work, flexible working arrangements, and work life balance. Retention policies should consist of Talent management (attraction and retention of quality employees). Talent management policies are to attract employees, to develop employees, rretain employees, and mmotivate employees. Talent management process is wwork life balance, lleadership qualities of line managers,  recognition, cconducting talent audits. Assimilation policies is how existing employees should be assimilated into revised pay structure such as red circling (identifying and dealing with overpaid people) and Green circling (identifying and dealing wi th underpaid people). The three performance measurement practices to be compared in this presentation are written, confidential evaluation non-confidential evaluation, and oral evaluation. Written, confidential evaluation can be conducted by a project manager. Since it is confidential, the results are not shown to the employee being evaluated. The use of confidential forms is not preferred because it may be contrary to government regulations and it does not provide the necessary feedback for an employee to improve (Kerzner, 2013). Non-confidential evaluation is preferred by project managers and functional managers because the results can be seen by the employees allowing them to have feedback to improve. However, it could also be difficult for the project managers when the employee is assigned to the same project after the evaluation. It could create biased results because the PM might avoid a bad working relationship with the employee or that he or she does not want to be blamed for the employees below-average merit for pay increase. Oral evaluation is also one of the commonly used performance measurement practices. It is commonly used but not preferred by project managers and functional managers because of the lack of documentation which is necessary for monitoring employee progress. It could also result to lack of feedback for employee to improve. Human resources (HR) staff often struggles to obtain the resources they need to effectively manage people in the workplace. HR staff is spending more time recruiting, hiring and training replacements. The HR plan is that the policy applies to all staff. Reward policies provide guidelines for the implementation of reward strategies and the design and management of reward process. HR Plan – Employee Recognition Award – Criteria for the award should be determined in consultation with the HR Office. Discretionary Bonus – A division/department should consult with the HR office and obtain the necessary approvals Incentive – Payments predefined in an approved plan document should be confirmed by the Plan Administrator and HR office. Tax treatment of bonus payment – Employee recognition awards may be grossed up to cover taxes if the documented award plan provisions indicate that such  payme nt will be grossed up Reason for policy This policy provides managers and supervisors with guidelines and procedures for bonus and incentive pays. Procedures Approvals are needed for individual payments Sanctions Managers, supervisors and employees who violate this policy are subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination. A company who truly invests in their employers by analyzing the all benefits that each function of HR provides to its business, a company can identify assets, in the form of employee support systems that most efficiently increase the value that high-potential employees provide to the university. Companies who increase employee productivity and contributions to their organizations will have a great outcome at their university. Resources Kerzner, PhD., H. (2013). Project Management A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling (11th Ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey John Wiley Son, Inc. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), Fifth Edition by Project Management Institute.

Effect of Television on Delivery of News Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Effect of Television on Delivery of News - Essay Example This information needs to be fair, precise, and just. The public relies on this information to know what exactly is going on around them, and the world at large. Media is what enables the passage or storage of information. Without it, the world and freedom would be something that people could only whisper about with fear of consequences and/or repercussions. Over the years, the media has been responsible for highlighting all the things that happen truthfully. They spearhead the campaigns against injustices and crimes. This provides them with the correct channels to use in order to find the proper manner in which this information is transferred from one medium to another. The media’s credibility depends on how accurate their information is, and how it may affect the public. It is a cause for worry if the information is biased, lacks neutrality, or is wrong. This may lead to wrong perceptions about the media and all it stands for in today’s world. This paper will examine the effects that television and other media have had on the delivery of news. Neil Postman’s: Amusing Ourselves to Death According to Postman, the rise of electronic media has led to the change in reality. Many people cannot put reality into context because the media is shaping the world into something that was not there. He goes on to insinuate that the media has changed the way in which people view politics, their immediate social setting, the economic standing, among other things. He believes that the media manipulates information for people to have some way of relating to it, even though they did not want to in the first place. In his book, Postman claims that the public’s priorities are altered with uncomplicated forms of entertainment rather than the use of violence, cruelty, and brutality when they want to fight against totalitarian authority. Postman also shows of how the media is responsible for manipulating the public’s social, economic, and political standing by presentation of fictitious information, and facts. All these are methods devised by television and other electronic media to divert the public’s attention away from matters that affect them. The public’s money and energy is directed toward such manipulation, and eventual subjugation through the media without them realising what is happening. This book and all its findings have created the state in which many continents are in today. It is, therefore, only right to say that communication brought through television and other media is biased and provides information which is destructive to the rational minds of individuals. After long periods of television watching, one gets to question and be suspicious of discussions, and arguments. These effects are growing and will continue to mature provided the media is involved in contextualising the lives of people. Matt Quayle’s article; ‘The Method of the Medium is in the Motion.’ In this article, Quayle argues that Postman’s conclusions, though somewhat true, were a little premature. He did not take the time to correctly evaluate all the factors that came into play when writing his book. Today, according to Quayle, many factors contribute to the growth of the medium used to communicate to the public. This is unlike how they did twenty-five years ago. He reiterates the fact that Postman did an exceptional job in finding out what affected the media during that time, but a lot of things have changed. Quayle insists there is a possibility of increasing the public discourse in this modern age of technology. A lot has changed since the last time Postman wrote the book on the media. Quayle asserts that the television news space has fully-grown, and there is more to look for in the

Death and Afterlife Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Death and Afterlife - Essay Example In the Epic of Gilgamesh called Enkidu's Dream written around 2000 BC, the bleak concept of death being an express outcome of sins committed in life, there is a very apt reference to kings' "crowns put away forever" and the ones who stood at any worldly position on Earth "stood now like servants". This depicts how the Mesopotamian had an acute belief that the afterlife was merely suffering and distress to say the least and the dead were both pitied and feared. Furthermore, the references to "vampire foot", "lion's foot" and "eagle's talon" all illustrate the fears that the people of this time had and how they associates all that they feared with the dismal possibility of death and what they figured would happen afterwards. Contrary to this dreary outlook to life after death of the Mesopotamian people, the Greeks were more optimistic about the afterlife. Although they believed that the people who did wrong on Earth will be punished severely by the gods in the afterlife, they also believed that the good doers will have an eternally peaceful life; modern researchers believe that the concept of heaven and hell originated from this era. The Myth of ER which is the concluding part of Plato's dialogue called The Republic, talks of a man called ER who dies in battle but remains un-decomposed even after ten days when his body was recovered. Waking up two days later on his unreal pyre, he tells his people about his passage to the afterlife (probably one of the first recounts of out of body experiences) in which he sees that moral people were rewarded and the immoral were castigated in their afterlives. Many believe that this was the point where the belief that the soul was mere energy and never dies came about and the intervention of a divine being brought about conviction in following religions. Punishment and rewards in the afterlife were considered a direct consequence of one's conduct in life. The Egyptians were another matter altogether. While both the Greeks and Mesopotamians agreed on the fact that there was a life after death which may either be absolutely bleak or have either a reward or a punishment awaiting them, the Egyptians treated their dead as if they were not dead after all. Elaborate preparations went into the ensuring that a person's ka (soul) and ba (personality) were united and the being would once more surface to travel to the heavens - intact and whole. The body was embalmed for preservation and provisions like writing paper, wigs, clothing and even tools were made available that the dead may need in the afterlife. The pyramid texts inscribed inside the pyramids of some pharaohs of the fifth and the sixth dynasties are primarily associated with the transition of the dead pharaoh to its heavenly abode. "He is not of the earth, he is of the sky. . . ." depicts this transition in terms of the passage a dead being takes after the incorporation of the ka and the ba. Journey to the next world is imminent and the work continued as if alive! While both the Mesopotamians and the Greek eloquently believed that death is the end and the after life depicts what we have done in actual life, the Egyptians believed in the re-usage of energy (soul) for the continuation of the same work being done at the time of death. Oddly enough,

The Nature of Conflict and Mediation at the Workplace Research Paper

The Nature of Conflict and Mediation at the Workplace - Research Paper Example Using a qualitative descriptive approach, this research examined the responses and narratives of employees of two different companies. The findings implied that since the nature of conflicts, the mediation strategies and conflict resolution plans employed by the two companies were different, hence the outcome in the form of job satisfaction level was also different. Although the research shed extensive light upon the issue related to workplace conflicts, there is the need for further research to take this study at a broader level where companies from different demographic locations and cultures are compared in order to get a better understanding of the concept of workplace conflict and conflict resolution. Introduction Conflict, mediation, and resolution are a necessary part of a successful journey in the life of an organization. Conflicts occur at every level in the workplace during achievement of organizational goals. Better resolved at the personal level, some conflicts get so big that a mediation strategy is required to resolve them. Before going into the niceties of the research paper, it is deemed important to define some important terms that will be used frequently in the coming pages. Masters and Albright (2002, p.14) define conflict as â€Å"a disagreement between two or more parties who are independent.† Conflict is something that almost every one of us has experienced to some extent at the workplace with a superior, a colleague, a subordinate, or a customer. We experience distress and sorrow over the dispute and this increases our workplace stress and finally creates disastrous impacts on our job satisfaction. Conflicts weigh heavily on the organization in terms of cost as well because engaging in a conflict and taking time out to create a conflict resolution plan, a mediation strategy, or arranging a third party mediator, demands resources and finances. Also, the time and energy that is spent resolving conflicts can be better used for fruitfu l projects and milestones. Thus, avoiding and resolving them if they occur becomes necessary if the company’s interests are kept in focus. If conflicts go unresolved, this increases dissatisfaction and the overall organizational culture is destroyed which is very likely to bring the bad name to the company. Resolution or no resolution affects not only the individual’s activities at the workplace but his personal life is also disturbed. Managing a conflict is an important task that occurs at three levels, according to Masters and Albright (2002, p.13). According to them, first of all, an individual must know how to deal with the conflict at the personal level like when he enters a conflict with a senior, a junior, a colleague, or a client. Second, he must be able to enable others in the organization to manage their personal conflicts. This is important because those conflicts will eventually come to you taking your extra time if they are not resolved in time by the peop le involved. Third, he must be able to work out an effective plan or strategy that should make sure that workplace conflicts are avoided and if occur then resolved in time. Conflicts at work â€Å"reflect systemic processes and patterns in how work gets done† (Masters & Albright, 2002, p.13) thus it is important to determine those patterns so that better conflict management is made possible.  Ã‚  

Checkpoint kinases (CHK2) Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Checkpoint kinases (CHK2) - Lab Report Example According to the figure 3,the list indicates several transcripts from the same gene and different SNP effect.The reason to this is as shown in the figure 4 which has all the splice variants(27) of the CHK 2 gene.In the figure 4 ‘‘protein coding† implies that the transcript encodes a CHK 2 protein variant. The reason why we see GAA/GAG yet the SNP was T/C change is that it is a silent mutation whereby GAA and GAG code for glutamic acid.Also the reason why the new C(GAG) is more frequent in some populations is because there was a successful mutation. Basing on the analysis above, we can see that the SNP resulted to silent mutation. By definition, silent mutation is a type of a point mutation that leads to a codon which codes for different or same amino acid but without any functional change in that particular protein. Hence, it does not cause change in the sequence of amino acid, thus, the protein will remain functional. In this regard, they are taken to be evolutionarily neutral. In relation to this, the CHK2 SNP (T/C) is considered to be silent mutation because the sequence of the protein which is GAA/GAG remains unchanged. Therefore, its function remains the same. It can therefore influence splicing because the nucleotides sequence has been altered. While most of the RNA transcripts from protein encoding genes of the human genome are related to physiological splicing, pathological splicing has been found in cancer tissue (Berge et al, 2010). The Chk2 is known to be a multi-organ susceptible gene that provides a barrier to tumorigenesis to maintain a genomic stability, and this gene has found mutated in both hereditary and somatic cancer. Despite the fact that other genes’ alternative splice forms have been found to have a negative impact on the wild type molecules, the CHK2 splice protein variants function is still not clear(Berge et al, 2010).For instance, the mRNA splice variants for Chk2 gene

Why do we accept people who are beautiful Research Paper

Why do we accept people who are beautiful - Research Paper Example Alternatively, one can determine that no matter how other people think or judge, one is going to remain firm in being true to himself. Often when we encounter new people, we can’t help but form a quick opinion of them, going mainly by what they appear to be on the surface. It is not unusual to be wrong in forming an opinion so quickly, without being well informed. However, there is also a psychological explanation for this tendency and that is that many individuals simply do not possess the mental capability to carefully evaluate a new person that they may come across. That being said, there are no short cuts to knowing a person well enough for all his or her strengths and weaknesses, and jumping to quick conclusions hardly ever yields an accurate judgment anyway. Prior to speculating on the myriad aspects of ‘judgmental’ behavior, one such aspect that we will discuss in some detail pertains to physical appearance of people, which is, sadly often, the sole criteria for their being well accepted or not in the society. How often have we heard raving words of praise for beautiful women and handsome men, and how much more do we hear about them other that what they ‘look like’? While there is little doubt that physical beauty is very attractive and endearing, it is surprising indeed that people so often get so mesmerized that sage words such as ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ don’t seem to click at all. It is unfortunate then that people who are good looking are often meted out a ‘preferential’ treatment over the not so ‘good’ looking ones. Let us be clear on one fact – good physical grooming, smart, well maintained appearances play an important role when it comes to appropriate social, professional, or personal interactions. Unkempt hair, gaudy clothes, grim looks reflecting contempt and distaste are far removed from what it takes to create a pleasant company of another human being. But let us suppose that all of the above

Is it morally permissible to kill one innocent person as a means to Essay

Is it morally permissible to kill one innocent person as a means to saving some larger number of innocent people's lives Why - Essay Example However, according to Kantian principle, our duty is to do certain things irrespective of the motive, at least not from a sense of duty. Sometimes one may do something he or she thinks is the right thing to do but in the end the act is wrong. For example, killing one person to save more others may seem right but killing is a crime and as such it is wrong no matter what reason it was intended. So what makes right acts right? Is morality relative or absolute? These are questions that we need to ask ourselves in order to standard ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ actions. The specific ethical issue to be tackled by this paper is whether it is permissible to kill one innocent person as a means to saving some larger number of innocent people’s lives. I will argue that it is morally permissible to kill one innocent person as it leads to the greatest good of all at least based on Professor Moore’s moral theory. There is no question that society aims at ensuring the happiness of all and this would be achieved if many lives are saved. The argument in this case, is the means to achieve this goal. Is it by sacrificing an innocent person or allowing others to die? In order to answer this question, we need to understand what it means to be morally permissible. ... In this paper thus it will be taken for granted that morality is relative. As such, it depends on the circumstances at the time of the event. It may not be the act one ‘ought to’ has done thus a duty to do as expressed by Kant but the right action given the circumstances. For example, if one man threatens the life of others it is only right to kill that person to preserve the rights of those others. However, everyone has a duty to protect life and as such killing is wrong. One ought not to take another person’s life irrespective of the situation. The subject of morality is thus very confusing and always leads to ethical dilemmas. According to normative ethical theory such as utilitarianism it is assumed that the right act is always the one that results to greatest possible happiness (PHL 275 Week Six p.1) or according to Professor Moore’s ideal utilitarianism â€Å"actions productive of more good than could have been produced by any other action open to th e agent† (Ross 16). This means that we often do not know what is right or wrong because we cannot tell what the outcomes of doing a certain action will be. Every member of society has an inalienable right to liberty, property and pursuit of happiness and as such, promoting the good of the community is the ultimate aim. Now consider killing an innocent person for the sake of other innocent people. For example, a driver may opt to knock down a pedestrian to avoid colliding with an oncoming vehicle thus saving the lives of many innocent people. Is this morally permissible? According to consequentialist utilitarianism, the act is right only if it leads to producing more good or happiness. I would like to assume that many people would

Marketing and Different Vendors Essay Example for Free

Marketing and Different Vendors Essay Having multi-vendor partnerships has its advantages and disadvantages. In the long run, supporting such a partnership would be difficult to maintain. Here are some of the concerns: * Change: Hardware and software requires constant upgrades to keep up with the technology changes. Changes in systems from multiple vendors can cause integration problems and requires a rigid process of testing and configuration. * Knowledge: IT staff must be well-trained in all the systems of the multi-vendor environment. Without a good IT support, the harder it is to find the source of the problem, and the longer it takes for them to resolve it. * Communication: In-house IT staff may have all the knowledge on the systems in the multi-vendor environment, but sometimes support from the vendors is required. In such cases, a support engineer is required to communicate with other support engineer, and it would be easier if it is done within the organization, but this is not usually the case. . Focusing IT on top line requires bringing in revenue for the company by increasing sales, whereas focusing IT on the bottom line requires bringing the cost down by reducing on operating cost. Focusing IT on the top line is more challenging because IT is not able to control who and when someone will actually buy the products and services. On the other hand, focusing IT on the bottom line can be predictable as there are sets of parameters within he organization that can be controlled, for example, reducing the number of employees. 3. Some ways for IT to bring in revenue is by increasing the number of customers and retaining customers. To increase the number of customers, IT systems such as online marketing tools can help to generate sales leads and increase customer awareness by sending out emails or direct mailers to potential customers. Such tools can help in segmenting customer profiles and evaluate the performance of the marketing campaign.

Outsourcing in the Hotel Industry

Outsourcing in the Hotel Industry 1.1 Introduction Outsourcing is one of the growth industries of our time (Winterton 2000).   Today, the outsourcing of selected organisational activities is an integral part of corporate strategy (Lankford and Parsa 1999).   Outsourcing has become a significant facet of modern hotel management (Sieburg 1992).   Unfortunately there is shortage of prior research in the hospitality management literature concerning outsourcing or maintaining internally business processes in hotel sector. This paper seeks to present critical analysis of factors, varieties, aims and results of outsourcing within hotel industry. The first chapter will begin with stating the problem which is vital in hospitality industry.   It will then continue with the presentation of background literature and the purpose of study.   Thirdly, rationale will be explained. Subsequently research questions will be raised.   Furthermore a definition of terms will identify the key words within the study and how the writer defines them within it.   A number of limitations will indicate specific areas in which the research will not be definitive.   Finally a summary of the chapter will be provided indicating the main points discussed. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Historically as the kind of contractual relations and commercial activity outsourcing has appeared in 1962 when the successful businessman Ross Perro, whose firm EDS carried out calculations for banks, renting night time on mainframes, has brought  «General Motors » annual economy in 44 % more than 4 billion dollars (Nureev 2002).   Over the last few years, the idea of outsourcing noncore business functions has gained huge popularity (Winterton 2000).   Nowadays different types and forms of outsourcing are putting into practice and developing in various businesses. Tourism in its turn is a rapidly growing phenomenon and has become one of the largest industries in the world.   But also hospitality industry is very unique, and very sensitive to every internal and external changes.   And such innovation as outsourcing should have affect the industry in general and the development of hotel sector in particular. As it has been mentioned above, outsourcing within hotel industry has been the subject of minimal literature research.   And a question: whether outsourcing will work in hotels and make notable profit still opened for reasoning and conclusions.   And if yes or no, how it will be affected by financial crisis which came less than year ago.   Just that very case of crisis can cardinally change the relation of business to outsourcing.   After all in a crisis situation it is more important not tactical, but the strategic part of the business. In general, up to now the quantity of questions more than answers.   And it is very important to understand, why hotels outsource.   And what form for them is most attractive and far-sighted. 1.3 Background Literature According to Lankford and Parsa (1999), outsourcing is defined as the procurement of products or services from sources that are external to the organisation.   This leads to allowing outsiders to take responsibilities for some aspects of financial management (Winterton 2000).   After definition and explanation of previous authors, it is possible to say that outsourcing is something similar to service and support services though it is differs essentially from them.   It is not short-term service, on once, given by one company to another.   Outsourcing gives longer support, not single.   Outsourcing is transfer of certain processes or functions from one company to another.   The Company recipient should specialise in this branch.   From here it is possible to create one of outsourcings principles:  «I leave to myself only that I can do better than others, I give to the external executor that it does better than others ».   Other principles and the most practical ty pes and forms of outsourcing will be considered in second chapter. Outsourcing has become an important strategic tool in todays competitive business environment (Zhu, Hsu and Lillie 2001).   As any tool of business it has its own advantages and disadvantages. Outsourcing offers several advantages, such as enabling existing staff to concentrate on core activities on organisational specialisations, focusing on achieving key strategic objectives, lowering or stabilising overhead costs, and thereby gaining cost advantage over the competition, providing flexibility in response to changing market conditions, and reducing investment in high technology (Kliem, 1999; Quinn 1999 cited Kakabadse, N. and Kakabadse, A. 2000).   Thus it is possible to ear-mark three big advantages of outsourcing in general, not only for hotels and hospitality industry.   The first advantage outsourcing allows to pay almost all attention and resources to the core direction of the business and to charge to foreign company noncore functions.   Thereby, company will have competitive advantage.   Also redistribution and optimisation of human resources of the company will be possible.   The second advantage is decreasing of material input.   Very often attractio ns of the foreign executor essentially cheaper than the maintenance of own department for execution of certain job.   It is caused by lower price cost of outsourcers job since the chosen direction is its specific specialisation.   And the third advantage using outsourcing, companies can get technologies and the decisions of higher quality level which might be absent at the organisation.   Besides this there is a possibility of using specialised functions which only experts can perform.   Also it is important to remember about transfer of all responsibilities of the assigned functions to outsourcer. But besides these pluses there are also some disadvantages of outsourcing.   Schniederjans and Zuckweiler (2004) introduce very helpful summary of those.   They suggested that it is possible to divide this lacks in four groups: Managerial implications. Such as loss of control over critical functions and suppliers. Financial implications. Such as failure to realise cost savings. Operational implications. Such as dependence on suppliers and responsibility for quality of their work. Human resource implications.   Such as lower morale of permanent employees. Thus after confrontation these disadvantages and meaning of the process it is possible to ear-mark one of the most important shortcoming of outsourcing.   It is possible to criticise it for loss of workplaces.   As the result of such process, the company can release many workplaces, replacing the in-house workers with more professional (or cheaper) from other company.   As the result of this, first of all, workers are getting in the worst position because very often there is no labour contract or any guarantees about their future job between them and the employer. Remembering all the minuses, lacks and disadvantages but aspiring to benefits, pluses and advantages of outsourcing hotels should understand the reasons, right time and business situation when to outsource.   According to William and Faramanz (1999), firms should consider outsourcing when it is believed that certain support functions can be completed faster, cheaper, or better by an outside organisation.   Tasks that are not core competencies of the hotel human resources, payroll and benefits, information systems, even food service are ripe for being contracted out.   Moreover, Blake (1997) gave three main reasons for organisations for turning to outsourcing: Where others do it better To focus on their core business To reduce their cost base. Therefore the hotels should use outsourcing to concentrate on the primary activity, instead of to be engaged in management of dining rooms, cleaners or catching of computer viruses.   Another factor to exploit the outsourcing within hotel industry is the situation when the external provider of services is capable to provide economy and/or higher level of services because of specialisation or cheaper labour.   Outsourcing can help to save resources of the hotel. One more not very visible objective to use outsourcing within hotels is to study from the service provider. Consequently, Milgrom and Roberts (1992 cited Lamminmaki 2005) said that understanding hotels motivation for outsourcing is important, as organisation is as important as technology, cost, and demand in determining success. To conclude this part of the chapter, it is useful to remember statement of Kotler (1988): â€Å"Entrust others that what they will make easier and more cheaply†. 1.4 Purpose of Study The purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence on hotel sector for outsourcing or maintaining internally business processes.   By analysing existing studies related to outsourcing in general, it can be valuable in applying to the outsourcing within hotel sector where there is little research.   In additional, there are few management accounting studies concerned with the hotel sector (Collier and Gregory 1995).   Furthermore, the research will evaluate advantages and disadvantages of using outsourcing for hotels.   This study will critically assess the innovative part of outsourcing for hotels and what type and form of internal business processes is going to be more successful for them. Specifically, literature will be within the hospitality sector.   Moreover, how will outsourcing affect costumers and their needs will be analysed. Finally, based on the findings of the study, solutions for the hotel sector will be provided. 1.5 Rationale This research is about outsourcing or internal business processes within hotel industry.   And it is significant for several reasons: Hospitality industry is one of the fastest developing industries.   And In many countries, tourism industry is the leading industry, which stimulates development of other sectors. Outsourcing relatively new business idea but it has been used already in numerous sectors of economy including hospitality. Using outsourcing or internal business processes hotels can cut their production cost. There is a high potential to improve quality of hotels services. Most of the hotels have to find some new ideas for their development and reduction of risks during the financial crisis period.   And outsourcing could be one of them. 1.6 Research Questions This study aim is to answer following Research Questions: What is considered ‘outsourcing process within the hotel sector? To begin with, it is vital for the research to explain and to make it clearer, what is outsourcing in todays economy.   Also it is important to elucidate if this term is innovative method for the business or it is just a new expression of existing already processes within hotel sector. What are the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing for hotel sector? As any type of business relationship, outsourcing should have not only advantages and positive moments but also disadvantages and obstacles.   To be more objective, it is vital to compare both to be able to make a conclusion whether outsourcing is a big opportunity for the hotels or it will bring more difficulties rather than profitability. In addition, it is significant to understand the specific type of action of outsourcing within hotels and its the most widespread forms What are the factors for outsourcing or maintaining internally business processes within hotel sector? Internal and external factors of using outsourcing for the hotels will be examined.   And the research will emphasise specific reasons of starting using outsourcing within hotel industry.   Moreover, ‘financial crisis as one of the factors will be discussed. What are the main aims of outsourcing within hotel sector? And last but not least, it will be achievable to acquire the main aims and results of outsourcing within hotel sector.   Additionally, after analysing the interview and questionnaires, preferred types and the specific benefits from outsourcing for the hotels will be seen. 1.7 Definition of Terms Core business: Core business means the commercial activity from which the company derives most of its profits (www.resourceconservation.mb.ca).   According to Alexander and Yong (1996), there are four main points to define ‘core activities: Activities which traditionally performed in-house; Activities which critical to business performance; Activities which create current or potential competitive advantage; Activities which will drive further growth, innovation, or rejuvenation. Financial Crisis: There is no precise definition of financial crisis, but a common view is that disruptions in financial markets rise to the level of a crisis when the flow of credit to households and businesses is constrained and the real economy of goods and services is adversely affected (opencrs.com). Hotel Sector: Outsourcer:The service provider (outsourcer) is responsible for delivering the contracted services, resolving day-to-day operational problems and managing the request and implementation of routine changes in accordance with the framework of contracts, standards (Kent 1998). Outsourcing: Greaver (1999) defined outsourcing as the act of transferring some of an organizations recurring internal activities and decision rights to outside providers, as set forth in a contract.   Later Beaumont and Sohal (2004) explained outsourcing as having work that was formerly done inside the organisation performed by an external organisation.   The vendor (hereafter the outsourcer and outsource are, respectively, referred to as vendor and client) may be an independent entity or a wholly owned subsidiary. 1.7 Limitations This study will limit itself to surveying and interviewing hotels only from two countries Greece and Russia and most probably will not represent the complete situation of European hotel industry as well as worldwide hotel industry.   Moreover it will not represent the whole situation even in both chosen countries for the reason that researcher sampled only those who have agreed to be sampled. The convenience sampling procedure decreases the generalisation of findings.   This study cannot be generalised to populations but may relate to other defined contexts with caution. For the purpose of this study the mixed approach was used, which include utilisation of both quantitative and qualitative data analysis which are always connected with sensibility, reliability and validity.   But on the other hand it has also its advantages such as expansion and collaboration. Furthermore, this study will concentrate on outsourcing within hotel sector, but at the same time there may be other factors that influence and affect business processes in the hotels. 1.9 Summary This chapter has introduced the thesis by outlining the topic of this study, the statement of the problem, background literature, purpose of this study, its rationale, presented research questions, definition of the terms and limitations of the study. In this first chapter the studys main focus was identified as examining and understanding the importance of outsourcing within hotel sector.   A critical examination of meaning of outsourcing, its advantages and disadvantages should be able to assist in determining how the hotel industry can be affected or altered by using outsourcing process.   Finally, this study would determine reasons and forms of outsourcing which are the most recent, available and useful within hotel sector. Afterward, Chapter Two will discuss the theoretical framework and conceptual models of factors for outsourcing or maintaining internally business processes within hotel sector.   The analysis will be connected with four Research Questions.   Finally, next chapter will classify particular insufficiencies in the literature leading to the need of the present study. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction The purpose of this chapter is to critically analyse the existing literature on outsourcing or maintaining internally business processes within hotel sector.   Based on the research questions discussed in the first chapter of the given study, four general areas have been established.   More specifically this chapter will begin with a general description of related texts and then gradually concentrate on the precise areas in which the study has a focus on. The studies in the four major areas provided the theoretical foundation for the research conducted in this study.   The areas are: Consideration and explanation of outsourcing processes within the hotel industry.   This area relates to Research Question #1 What is considered ‘outsourcing process within the hotel sector? Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing for the hotel industry.   This area relates to Research Question #2 What are the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing for hotel sector? Factors and motives of using outsourcing processes within hotel industry.   This area relates to Research Question #3 What are the factors for outsourcing or maintaining internally business processes within hotel sector? Aims and results of outsourcing for hotel sector. This area relates to Research Question #4 What are the main aims of outsourcing within hotel sector? The general areas were supported by the literature are all directly related to this study.   The purpose of the literature review for the author was to obtain a greater understanding and depth of knowledge by having critically analysed all areas pertaining to the Research Questions.These Research Questions are achievable as the researcher has a close and continual contact with the industry and has sufficient access to the information in numerous hotels in Greece and Russia. 2.2 Review of General Area I: Consideration and explanation of outsourcing processes within the hotel industryThis section provides the theoretical framework for Research Question # 1. The hotel industry is one of the formidable business in the world but it does not mean that they are strict in incorporating business strategies in their business (http://www.outsourcing-weblog.com).   Also, according to Burgess (2007), financial controllers in their turn consider that departmental and general managers do not have enough business skills and finance skills in particular to optimise costs and revenues and hence maintain profits.   Thus outsourcing practice might be a very useful and successful way in order to help owners of the hotels nowadays as well as in future. According to Kakabadse, N. and Kakabadse, A. (2000), outsourcing practice dates back to eighteenth-century England and has been in continuous use in numerous industry sectors.   However, the term ‘outsourcing English neologism has appeared in the American explanatory dictionaries only in the beginning of 80th (Ostrovsy 2009).   Since then this expression is strongly located in a business lexicon of the majority of the world languages.   Traditionally, outsourcing has concentrated on activities which are remote from the heart or nerve centre of the company (Brown 1997). Greaver (1999) defined outsourcing as the act of transferring some of an organisations recurring internal activities and decision rights to outside providers, as set forth in a contract.   Consequently, outsourcing it is one of interaction form between two organisations which is determined by the contract.   And following this contracts experts of one company accomplish duties of other company. ‘Out-sourcing — can be understood as ‘use of anothers resources.   Moreover, according to Lankford and Parsa (1999) outsourcing is defined as the procurement of products or services from sources that are external to the organisation.   In other words outsourcing is a transfer of some functions of the organisation to external highly skilled executors — outsourcers.   Also it is refusal of own business process, and acquisition of services in realisation of this business process at specialised organisation. For the hotels outsourcing is a transfer to the external contractor of some business functions or parts of business processes of the company.   The contractor (outsourcer) adapts his universal means and knowledge, considering this specific business of the customer, and uses them in interests of the customer for payment, more often defined in the cost of services, instead of shares of profit. According to Beaumont and Sohal (2004), wide variety of business process is now outsourced.   The use of outsourcing is becoming more sophisticated; more organisations are outsourcing responsibility for business processes.   Glickman et al. (2007) in his turn noted that outsourcing is becoming more widely accepted and the argument for outsourcing versus in-house operations is gaining more support.   As a result Beaumont and Sohal (2004) confirmed that today outsourcing is a fashionable management technique. Hence, it is possible to mention that the outsourcing market endures rapid growth.   The growing demand and supply mutually accelerate each other.   Specialised outsourcing companies of cleaning and service of hotels are developing.   Outsourcing leads to growth of some professions for hotel sector.   More often, it is either low paid and not enough prestigious jobs (such as tidying and cleaning), or very specialised trades where maintenance of necessary professional level of employees or their work-load for the organisation is problematic (an example can be service of computer systems and IT). Consequently, as Glickman et al. (2007) stated, outsourcing has become a widely accepted practice that provides substantial cost-saving benefits for different organisations in general and hotels particular.   And hotels will always outsource some activities (the supply of water and electricity) but insource others (Beaumont and Sohal 2004). Therefore, there is a question: what kind of activities should hotels outsource key business processes or non-core functions? As outsourcing is a means of improving the performance of the company (Brown 1997).   And the overlay supplier is providing financial expertise which is difficult and expensive to create within a corporate treasury. The overlay provider, by offering the expertise to a broad range of clients, is able to provide it to each client at a lower cost than it would be for them to create their own capability (Winterton 2000).   Today outsourcing is considered as the business technology which is transferring to outsourcing companies processes and functions from the in-house business and hence, it is possible to make a conclusion, responsibility for result of performance of these processes as well.   So, for how big can be this shifting off responsibility for the hotel sector? The majority of authors consider that core activities should stay in-house, whilst non-core activities can be outsourced, in order to preserve core competencies (Prahalad and Hamel 1990, Bettis et al. 1992, Lacity et al. 1995, Quinn and Hilmer 1994, Rothery and Robertson 1995, Kelley 1995, Peisch 1995, Mullin 1996 cited Kakabadse, N. and Kakabadse, A. 2000).   From here it is possible to draw a conclusion that the sense of outsourcing comes to the simple formula: to concentrate all resources to that kind of activity which is the core for the company, and to transfer the other (supporting, accompanying) functions to the reliable and professional partner. But Struebing, (1996) argued that especially relevant is the outsourcing of key business processes and financial functions.   Nevertheless, Lankford and Parsa (1999) in their turn stated that focus on core business activities, companies can no longer assume that all organisational services must be provided and managed internally.   Competitive advantage may be gained when products or services are produced more effectively and efficiently by outside suppliers.   Thus, outsourcing is a direct transfer of non-core business processes of the company to the external organisation outsourcer, for their further performance within the limits of the signed contract.   And there may be big benefit for the company if transferred business processes are the exact specialisation of outsourcer. Consequently, outsourcing is management strategy because of which hotels can optimise in-house processes and, without distracting on minor functions, completely concentrate on core activities.   As a matter of fact outsourcing is attraction of external sources with the purpose of the decision of internal problems of the hotel.   Outsourcing can also be characterised, as the sale to hotels services for maintenance of their activity, i.e. outsourcer can take on the balance almost all non-core activities of the hotel.   As a result of that the client can give all his time only to the core business, thus occurs minimisation of risks concerning to not profile kinds of activities (a corporate meal, IT-service, transportation service, installation works, cleaning etc.). In hotels, outsourcing has been used for many years for some operational tasks such as cleaning, but only recently (Cline and Warner 2001, Lamminmaki 2006 cited Burgess 2007), has been considered for accounting, following the example of other industries (Burgess 2007). Holiday Inn for instance created its hotel reservations business as a separate entity based on its relationship with IBMs ISSC to serve the entire hotel and hospitality market (Venkatraman, 1997). Other examples of outsourcing within hotel sector could be: cleaning, laundry service, human resource management, employees meal, IT-service and support, marketing, statistics, security service, creating web-sites, organisation of celebrating and conferences via an event company and many others which are not core competences of business, and could very easily and more economically be contracted out to service companies (Winterton 2000). Nevertheless, according to Lamminmaki (2006), an activity will tend not to be outsourced if it results in a subcontractor being placed in a position enabling it to (wittingly or otherwise) inflict damage on the reputation of the hotels business. Now it is an appropriate and good point to understand how innovative the outsourcing model is.   In general, outsourcing is just the variety of cooperation. Outsourcing of the hotel activities is definitely not a new phenomenon.   In 1963, for example, Storey (2001 cited Glickman et al. 2007) examined outsourcing in the military (Glickman et al. 2007). From the previous part of the chapter it is possible to mention that benefit of outsourcing consists in more quality and less spend of accomplishment of the transferred function.   Higher quality explained by availability of highly paid professionals who have a wide experience in the given problematic.   As outsourcer has big amount of works in the specific sphere, he has a possibility to receive solid experience and on its basis to create various workings out for completing the transferred function.   When the work is outsourced, the overlay traders are immersed in the market (Winterton 2000).   Outsourcer is engaged in this sphere, and not for only one company.   Hence, professional specialisation is taking place.   And as a result expenses decrease and accordingly, the effect of accumulation begins: the bigger and better specialisation the easier management, easier management cheaper the whole process.   Moreover, Glickman (et al. 2007) noted that outsourcers who p rovide the same functions to a number of different hotels are able to purchase larger quantities at lower prices.   Thus, expenses become lower using outsourcing, than at independent accomplishing of matching function. On the other hand one of the biggest problems of this statement is that using by the hotel highly paid professionals will not allow to achieve this with small money.   And it is really not so easy to operate this process.   So actually, what kind of innovation is here?   There were always contract and subcontract works, there was a specialisation of both workers and enterprises, there was a strict selection of suppliers.   And can it be differently with modern development of techniques and business?   The settled word ‘outsourcing goes today as a new method of work.   And this word has become extremely useful. Also, it is relevant to know what place outsourcing takes in the quality management.   In standards ISO series 9000:2001 (http://ds1.twirpx.com) this word (not even this but only the verb) ‘outsource has been found by researcher just once in point 4.1.   That is why it is especially appropriate to remember the statement of Lonsdale and Cox (2000) with the note that it is some kind of substitute for the once fashionable enthusiasms for conglomeration, horizontal integration, vertical integration, and internal integration. Consequently, considering outsourcing as the business phenomenon of the modern world, it is possible to allocate its pluses and minuses.   Also it is possible to separate core services and to understand, by what principles they work and what bring as a result to the hotels: benefit or losses.   In addition, it is possible to analyse a situation of loosing work places because of outsourcing processes within the hotel sector, increasing percent of unemployment or, on the contrary, allows hotels to develop and grow faster, increasing their weight in the market. 2.3 Review of General Area II: Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing for the hotel industry This section provides the theoretical framework for Research Question # 2. According to Beaumont and Sohal (2004), outsourcing is used because it supposedly advantages the organisation.   The advantages and disadvantages can be categorized as strategic or tactical, long-term or short-term, and tangible or intangible. The advantages in outsourcing can be operational, strategic, or both.   Operational advantages usually provide for short-term trouble avoidance, while strategic advantages offer long-term contributions in maximizing opportunities (Lankford and Parsa 1999).   When services are outsourced, it may become easier to handle problem situations because it is possible to go straight to the provider and have them work out the problem instead of having to figure out what went wrong internally (Glickman et al. 2007). For hotels, benefits are substantial: reduced costs, expanded services and expertise, improved employee productivity and morale, and a more positive corporate image (Lankford and Parsa 1999).   Moreover, the hotel does not enlarge staff, removes from itself cares on personnel recruiting, and saves on social taxes.   At the same time if hotel organise his processes in correct way, quality of work of the personnel remains high.   Also hotels can leave taxes, administrative costs, worries about replacing equipment, warehousing, maintenance,

The Beatles :: Essay on The Beatles

The world's number one rock group consisted of John Winston (Ono) Lennon (born 10/09/40 - died 12/08/80), whose middle name came from his parent's admiration of Winston Churchill, and which John changed to Ono in later years; James Paul McCartney (born 06/18/42); George Harold Harrison (born 02/25/43 - died 11/29/01); and Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey 07/07/40). During the Beatles recording career from 1962 to 1970, they would release twenty-two singles (45rpm) in the United Kingdom, and thirty-three in the United States. Their first UK single was Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You, released October 5, 1962, on EMI/Parlophone Records. The first USA single would be Please Please Me/Ask Me Why, which they released on February 25, 1963 on Vee Jay Records. Although the Beatles were big in England, they had not yet caught on in the United States. Following their first USA single, came From Me To You/Thank YouGirl, which was released May 27, 1963 on Vee Jay, followed by She Loves You/I'll Get You on Swan Records. Finally on December 26, 1963, Capitol Records decided to release I Want To Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There, which went to number 1 on the Billboard Charts on January 18, 1964, and stayed there for seven weeks. As luck would have it, the Beatles first US visit planned for February 1964 with their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show had been booked almost six months earlier. Only by accident did the Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand happen to be at #1 the same time as their first US visit. One could not have asked for better timing. On January 30, 1964, following the success of I Want To Hold Your Hand, Vee Jay Records re released Please Please Me, only this time with From Me To You as the B-Side. In the United Kingdom, the Beatles released twelve albums (33 rpm/LP's), however released nineteen in the USA. There were several reasons for this. One is that UK albums had fourteen songs, whereby USA had only twelve. The second, and really the most important reason is that Capitol Records decided that they wanted to create their own albums, different from the UK, using titles taken from UK singles and EP (extended play) singles. Such US albums as Meet The Beatles, The Beatles Second Album, Something New, Beatles '65, The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Help!, and Yesterday and Today, were never issued in the UK in this form.

Speech of How to Make Choices :: essays research papers

Every moment in one?s life should not be passed by, but cherished as if it were to be the last moment they live. Taking time to think about the next step in your life is cherishing your life. The choice made in every moment of life will end up affecting you good or bad. One needs to realize that they need to think two steps ahead instead of one and end up falling behind. That is why I have taken the liberty to measure the pros and cons of a tremendous decision about to be made. In this presentation, you will find that I have given much thought into this choice. Just because I get more goods than bad or vice versa, does not mean I did not follow my heart, choosing the decision that will make me happy. Many may not agree with my choice, but I came to realize and thought to myself that ?You know what, that?s not my problem.? There may be consequences to life?s decisions, but we all can learn from mistakes, only mistakes, never regret. If you know how to make good decisions then you can write your life. It takes making the decision to do so on a consistent basis. First, I considered the consequences of my actions. I let long term goals overshadow the thrill of short-term benefits. I have written down on a piece of paper both the short-term and long- term benefits and the short-term and long-term consequences of any action. I took the necessary time I needed to think this decision out to its conclusion. This does not mean procrastinate. That will put me in danger of not controlling my life and/or my business. I will not be able to steer either to the desired outcome. I asked about the benefits and drawbacks that they have experienced. It is important to keep in mind that although others may give advice it is still my task to make a final decision and you must bear the responsibility of it.

Galileo :: essays research papers

Galileo Galilei was one of the greatest astronomer and mathematician of the seventeenth century. His support of support of Copernican cosmology against the Church’s strong opposition and his development of a telescope and his unorthodox opinions as philosopher of science were the central concerns of his career. He struggled brutally for freedom from the higher authority because of unable to resist his appetite for scientific investigation. However, Galileo’s science and career did not get him any where farther in his life; he was forced to withdraw his theories before the inquisition, and was sentenced to indefinite imprisonment by the pope and eventually became blind. Life of Galileo is visualized clearly in Bertolt Brecht’s the most fascinating novel Galileo. Galileo is one of Brecht’s truly brilliant characters, immensely alive complex human.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout his life Galileo dedicated himself to science and research and discovered many amazing things; one of them was a telescope. The observation of the sky, which Galileo carried out with his telescope led to the discovery of the satellites of Jupiter and to Galileo’s increased adherence the Copernican system. He studied Saturn and observed the phases of Venus and the sunspots. In between his studies and discoveries Galileo began to encounter serious opposition of the motion of the earth. He discovered that it was earth that roll around the sun. “By that time, with any luck, they will be learning that the earth rolls round the sun, and that their mother, the captains, the scholars, the princes, and the Pope are rolling with it'; (Galileo, pg49). Galileo’s theory about motion of earth was judged as erroneous by Cardinal Bellarmino because it went against the doctrine of the Church. He believed that the god was the one who created this world the best way he could and that is the way it should remain. The god is the only one who has all the wisdom, knowledge, and power and he knows his work better than anybody does else does. “Does it not appear more probable even to you that the Creator knows more about his work that the Created?'; (Galileo, pg79). Furthermore, the Cardinal also believed that once the thing is written in the Holy bible and approved by many scholars it can not be changed; because by changing anything or questioning anything about god’s creation would be like questioning the god. And this would completely destroy many people’ faith in god.

The Tax Research Process

The Tax Research Process The overriding purpose of tax research is to find solutions to the tax problems of one’s clients or employer. The process is similar to that of traditional legal research. The researcher must find authority, evaluate the usefulness of that authority, and apply the results of the research to a specific situation. One can identify two essential tax research skills: * The first is using certain mechanical techniques to identify and locate the tax authorities that relate to solving a problem. * The second entails a combination of reasoning and creativity and is more difficult to learn.A researcher must begin with native intelligence and imagination and add training and experience properly to apply the information found. Creativity is necessary to explore the relevant relationships among the circumstances and problems at hand to find a satisfying (and defensible) solution. In many cases, no legal authority exists that is directly on point for the problem. I f such a situation comes up, the researcher must combine seemingly unrelated facts, ideas (including those that he or she has derived from previous research work), and legal authority to arrive at a truly novel conclusion.This creative ability of the researcher often spells the difference between success and failure in the research process. Outline of Tax Research Process As the tax problems of the client become more significant, the related tax research can become time-consuming and, thus, expensive to the client. A moderate tax research problem often takes up to eight or ten hours of research time, and the bill for these services may approach or even exceed $2,000. Because of the costs that are involved, the tax researcher must work as efficiently as possible to obtain the solution to the client’s problem.The researcher needs a framework for the research process, so that he or she does not waste time and effort in arriving at a solution to the problem. The tax research proc ess can be broken down into six major steps. Tax researchers (especially those without a great amount of experience at the task) must approach the resolution of a tax problem in a structured manner, so that the analysis of the problem will be thorough and the solution complete. Step 1: Establish the Facts Before a researcher can analyze the tax consequences of a transaction, he or she must understand the transaction itself.Specifically, the researcher should discuss the details of the transaction with the client to ascertain the client’s motivation. What are the client’s business or financial objectives in undertaking the transaction? What does the client foresee as the desired outcome? What risks has the client identified? By asking these types of questions, the researcher gets to be more acquainted with the non-tax features of the transactions. Discover All the Facts The researcher must discover all the facts concerning the client’s transaction.Like a newspape r reporter, the researcher should question the client about the precise â€Å"who, when, where, why, and how† of the transaction. The researcher should not assume that the client’s initial summary of the transaction is factually accurate and complete. Perhaps the client hasn’ t determined all the facts that the researcher needs. Or the client may have discounted the significance of certain facts and omitted them from the initial summary. The researcher should encourage the client to be objective in stating the facts.Often, a client unwittingly presents the researcher with the client’s subjective conclusions about the facts rather than with the facts themselves. Impact of Client’s Tax Knowledge When a researcher is working with a client to uncover the relevant facts, the researcher must take into account the level of the client’s tax knowledge. If the client has some knowledge of the tax law, the researcher can ask questions that presume such knowledge. On the other hand, if the client is unsophisticated in tax matters, the researcher should ask only questions that the client can answer without reference to the tax law.Step 2: Identify the Issues After the researcher is satisfied that he or she understands the client’s transaction and knows all the relevant facts, the researcher can proceed to the second step in the research process. In this step, the researcher identifies the tax issue or issues suggested by the transaction. The ability to recognize tax issues is the product of technical education and professional experience. Consequently, this step is usually the most challenging for new tax researchers. The identification of issues leads to the formation of tax research questions.The tax researcher should be as precise as possible in formulating questions. A precise question is narrowly stated ands provides clear parameters for the remaining steps in the research process. An imprecise question that is vague or overly broad in scope may provide insufficient parameters and result in wasted time and effort. Multiple Research Questions If the tax issue suggested by a transaction lead to multiple research questions, the researcher must determine the order in which the questions should be answered.In our complex tax system, the answer to a question often depends on the answer to one or more preliminary questions. Tax researchers who understand the hierarchy of their research questions can address each question in the right order and conduct their research with maximum efficiency. A combination of education, training, and experience is necessary to enable the researcher to identify all of the issues with respect to a tax problem successfully. In some situations, this step can be the most difficult element of a tax research problem to carry out.Issues in a closed-fact tax research problem often arise from a conflict with the IRS. In such a case, one can ascertain the issue(s) easily. Research of this nature usually consists of finding support for an action that the client has already taken. Types of Issues In most research projects, however, the researcher must develop a list of issues. Research issues can be divided into two major categories: * Fact issues are concerned with information having an objective reality, such as the dates of transactions, the amounts involved in an exchange, reasonableness, intent, and purpose. Law issues arise when the facts are well established, but it is not clear which portion of the tax law applies to the issue. Step 3: Locate Authority As the third step in the research process, the researcher heads for a tax library. A researcher’s mission is to locate the authority that provides answers to the research question. Traditional libraries consist of shelves filled with books, loose-leaf binders, magazines, and other published materials containing all the technical minutiae of the tax law.Today, traditional libraries are disappearing as professional tax advisors gain access to the electronic libraries available on the Internet. Once obvious advantage of electronic libraries is the speed at which researchers can access sources of authority and move among the sources. A second advantage is the ease with which electronic sources can be updated to include current developments. A third advantage is that an electronic library is portable. A tax researcher with a laptop computer can access the library at any time and from any location.Regardless of whether a tax researcher is working in a traditional or electronic library, a researcher must be knowledgeable about the content and organization of the reference pertaining to the problem at hand. The researcher also must be able to distinguish between the two main categories of reference materials: sources of authority and sources of information. Primary Authority Primary authority is an element of the Federal tax laws that was issued by Congress, the Treasury Department, or Internal Revenue Service. Primary authority carries greater precedential weight than secondary authority.Each primary authority also has a relative weight to other primary authorities. Weight is best described as an assessment of relative importance compared to other authority. Statutory sources include the Constitution, tax treaties, and tax laws passed by Congress. Statutory authority is the basis for all tax provisions. The Constitution grants Congress the power to impose and collect taxes and also authorizes the creation of treaties with other countries. The power of Congress to implement and collect taxes is summarized in the Internal Revenue Code, the official title of U. S. tax law.The Internal Revenue Code constitutes the basis for all tax law, and, therefore, the basis for arriving at solutions to all tax questions. The other primary sources of the tax law, administrative and judicial authority, function primarily to interpret and explain the application of the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and the intent of Congress. Administrative sources include the various rulings of the Treasury Department and the IRS. These are issued in the form of Regulations, Revenue Rulings, and other pronouncements. Judicial sources consist of collected rulings of the various courts on federal tax matters.Secondary Authority Secondary Authority Sources consist of unofficial sources of tax information, such as: * tax services * journals * textbooks * treatises * newsletters. Secondary authority is an element of the tax law that was issued by a professional or scholarly writer. It is an interpretation of the tax law issued by primary sources. Many secondary sources exist. Some of the most useful are the editorial analysis and explanation contained in many of the major tax services, articles published in the numerous professional journals and newsletters, treatises, and textbooks.Secondary authority carries less precedential weight than primary authority. Secondary authorities are useful in finding, analyzing, and evaluating primary authorities. The distinction between primary and secondary (or editorial) sources of authority is more important because of IRC  § 6662, which imposes a penalty on substantial understatements of tax, except where the taxpayer has â€Å"substantial authority† for the position taken on the return. Substantial Authority The Regulation under  § 6662 specifies the sources of â€Å"substantial authority† to include: * provisions of the Internal Revenue Code temporary and final Regulations * court cases * administrative pronouncements * tax treaties * Congressional intent as reflected on Committee Reports. This list was expanded by the Committee Report for the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1989 to include: * Proposed Regulations * Private Letter Rulings * Technical Advice Memoranda, * Information or Press Releases * Notices * Any other similar documents published by the IRS in the Internal Revenue Bullet in. Treatises and articles in legal periodicals, however, are not considered substantial authority under this statute.Conflicting Authority Secondary authority is useful when conflicting primary authority exists, when there appears to be no extant primary authority, or when the researcher needs an explanation or clarification of the primary authority. Over the past 15 years, as the support staffs of government agencies and (especially) Federal courts have been decreased in number or otherwise become inadequate, more dependence has been placed upon the secondary authorities of the tax law, even by the IRS, the Treasury Department, and the court system.Tax researchers must be careful, though, not to rely too heavily upon secondary authority and always to read any pertinent primary authority that is referred to in the secondary sources. Commercial Tax Services Because of the vast amount of tax authority that is available, the tax researcher would have a tremendous problem in undertakin g a tax research problem for a client if it were not for commercial tax services and treatises.Several publishers have produced coordinated sets of reference materials, such as RIA’s Checkpoint, that organize the tax authority into a usable format, making the Internal Revenue Code and other primary authorities much more accessible. Checkpoint ® Commercial tax services, such as RIA’s Checkpoint, are useful in that they provide simplified explanations with footnote citations, as well as examples illustrating the application of the law. Checkpoint leads the tax researcher, via the footnote references, to the primary source that is pertinent to the question at hand.A tax service can be classified as chiefly an annotated service or as a topical service. Annotated services are organized in Internal Revenue Code section order, such as RIA’s United States Tax Reporter. A topical service, such as RIA’s Federal Tax Coordinator, is organized by topical areas deter mined by the editors. Step 4: Evaluate Authority Regardless of whether a researcher is reading from a printed page or a computer screen, the researcher must have the skill to interpret and evaluate the authority at hand. In some cases, the authority may provide an unambiguous answer to the researcher’s question.In other cases, the answer may be equivocal because the authority is inconclusive or subject to interpretation. Or perhaps different sources of authority provide conflicting answers. In these cases, the researcher must bring his or her own judgment to bear in analyzing the authority and answering the question. Weighting Authorities All tax authority does not carry the same precedential value. For example, the tax court could hold that an item should be excluded from gross income at the same time that an outstanding IRS Revenue Ruling asserts the item is taxable.The tax researcher must evaluate the two authorities and decide whether to recommend that his or her client r eport the disputed item. How Research Can Loop In the process of evaluating the authority for the issue(s) under research, new issues previously not considered by the researcher may come to light. If this is the case, the researcher may be required to gather additional facts, find additional pertinent authority, and evaluate the new issues. All of these research activities must be related to the client’s research problem.The researcher uses professional judgment in selecting issues and determining the effort to expend on the issues. This loop is illustrated below: Step 5: Develop Conclusions As part of the analytic process, the researcher should decide if the authority requires him or her to make a factual judgment or an evaluative judgment. Factual Judgment In making a factual judgment, the researcher compares the authority to a set of facts. Assuming that the facts are complete and accurate, the researcher can provide a definitive answer to the research question.Evaluative Judgment Researchers are required to make evaluative judgments when the relevant authority relates to a conclusion inferred from a set of facts, rather than to the facts themselves. By definition, conclusions are subjective; different observers may draw different conclusions from the same facts. A researcher who must draw a conclusion to complete a research project can never be sure that such conclusion will go unchallenged by the IRS. Therefore, the researcher should never give an unqualified answer to a research question requiring an evaluative judgment.Getting All the Facts At some point in the research process, even an expert may discover that he or she does not have all the facts necessary to complete the analysis of the client’s transaction. In such case, the researcher must repeat Step 1 by obtaining additional information from the client. Oftentimes the additional information suggests additional tax issues and research questions that the researcher must address. A res earcher may have to repeat Steps 1 through 4 several times before he or she is satisfied with the analysis. Handling Unresolved IssuesWhere unresolved issues exist, the researcher might inform the client about alternative possible outcomes of each disputed transaction, and give the best recommendation for each. If the research involved an open fact situation, the recommendation might detail several alternative course of future action, (for example, whether to complete the deal, or how to document the intended effects of the transaction). In many cases, the researcher may find it appropriate to present his or her recommendation of the â€Å"best† solution from a tax perspective, as well as one or more alternative recommendations that may be much more workable solutions.In any case, the researcher will want to discuss with the client the pros and cons of all reasonable recommendations and the risks associated with each course of action. Step 6: Communicate The final step in the research process is to communicate the results and recommendations of the research. The results of the research effort usually are summarized in a memorandum to the client file and a letter to the client. Both of these items usually contain a restatement of the pertinent facts as the researcher understands them, any assumptions the researcher made, issues addressed, the applicable authority, and the tax researcher’s recommendations.The memorandum to the file usually contains more detail than does the letter to the client. Client’s Tax Knowledge In any event, the researcher must temper his or her communication of the research results so that it is understandable by the intended reader. For instance, the researcher should use vastly different jargon and citation techniques in preparing an article for the Journal of Taxation than in preparing a client memo for a businessperson or layperson who is not sophisticated in tax matters.

Compare and contrast the opening scenes of Romeo and Juliet (Baz Luhrmann) and Westside story (Robert Wise)

At the start of the opening sequence to Romeo and Juliet, a short description of the story is told by a news reader who is within the screen in a small, old television. The idea of the television being used is to immediately inform the audience that the story has been modernized. The oldness of the TV could signify that it is the modernization of and old story. A broken ring is displayed in the top right hand corner of the inset TV. This signifies the hatred between the two families but also the eternal love between Romeo and Juliet which they are trying to break. As the explanation of the story commences the TV becomes larger, the camera zooms in on it, and then the real scenes from the opening sequence are shown. The writing â€Å"in fair Verona† is displayed in white writing, suggesting it is a nice, calm city where everybody lives happily. The writing being in white backs this up as white has the connotation of being angelic. In the background though there is dramatic opera music being played. Opera music is associated with tragedy and from the following scenes we see why this music is played. The music then holds on a few long notes and a deep political voice speaks. This suggest something serious is happening or about to happening. The screen the flashes to a helicopter patrolling a city which looks to be in chaos, a statue of Jesus is shown then a mixture of images displaying death and violence, such as house on fire and gun fights, is intertwined with images of religion and holiness. This signifies the two family's hypocritical view of religion. They claim to live their lives with God but hypocritically go against every one of his commandments throughout their daily lives. The religious images could also represent the two people within the family who are religious and who are in love with each other and are willing to give up everything to be with each other. The characters of each of the families are then shown. They are all shown to be hiding in the shadows or darkness. This may imply that they are hiding from each other or from the police because they are committing crime. It may also be used to create a sense of mystery, we don't know what the two families plan to do to each other, so by showing them in the shadows, it hides it from us as well as themselves. The quickness of the changing between scenes is used to show us that this story is an action packed roller coaster. It also signifies the different attitudes and emotions we discover in this film. The opening scene to Westside Story simply uses a variety of colours and music to describe the events we may encounter in the film. It begins with the whistling of a songbird which we associate with the break of a new day although it could signify anytime of day. The music begins as chasey music perhaps signifying the pursuit of something. The background colour is light orange which, is quite neutral and does not necessarily signify anything. The music then calms down into peaceful happy music, perhaps signifying the retrieval or capture of the thing that was being pursued. This music continues for a while because the happiness is lasting, slowly the background colour changes into a light red and then a dark red. The music dies into slow, sad, tragic music which could signify the loss or separation from the â€Å"thing†. It could also mean a death in the story because red has the connotation of death and also the connotation of romance. Perhaps a romance has been ended and the main character is sorrowful because of this. The background colour then changes from red through to pink, purple and then blue. This could signify a lonely sad period where the main character spent time alone to mourn/miss the loss of this â€Å"thing†. The music suddenly then changes to intense battle like music whilst the background colour changes to a blood red colour. This could imply some kind of revenge that results in a death, or perhaps a murder attempt on the main character. We are informed of the outcome of these possible events. The music becomes a victorious war-like tune which informs us that the main character must have been the one who was successful in the attempt of revenge/murder. The music then calms down and the background changes to white this could mean that the actions that caused the possible death were justifiable. The background then changes again to a royal victorious blue. This could symbolize that the main character has resolved his/her problem and is happy again whilst still in the background missing that â€Å"thing†. These two opening scenes are very different in the way they portray the plot of the film. Westside story does not use images to inform us of the narrative, it just uses colours and music, whereas Romeo and Juliet uses images, voiceovers and music to inform us of the emotions incurred. These two methods are both effective because they do not give too much of the story away but inform us of the general idea of the film. Romeo is possibly more effective to the untrained eye which is not analyzing the opening scenes because it visually shows us the idea of the film without having to think too much about what's being shown too us. Westside story is very effective in its description of the plot and narrative. The changes of music and colour clearly outliner the general consensus of the film whilst still leaving the viewer wondering what is actually happening.

Discussing the Relationship between Eugenics, Genomic, and Reproductive Technology

Discussing the Relationship between Eugenics, Genomic, and Reproductive Technology Since the early part of human existence, various discreet and unique characteristics can be seen either on the physical: such as moles, height, physique; and psychological, being manifested on certain behaviors and attitudes. This distinct and apparent inherent characteristic makes up an individual, and consequently has contributed towards the evolution and development of mankind.The study of such, which usually starts from the biological beginnings in genes and DNA’s, can be considered in the basic principles of Eugenics, Genomic, and the Reproductive Technology, and its relative associations. Eugenics can be considered a form of a social thinking, which advocates the development of the hereditary traits of human by means of a variety of forms of intrusion or intervention.All throughout the history, the term has been classified as an advocate for social responsiveness, an enlightened attitude o f the society, primarily aimed to create a stronger, healthier, and intelligent people, and at the same time lessen the sufferings of human (Currell 25). To achieve this goal, earlier methodologies used the procedures on selective or discerning breeding, while the modern methodology focused on the birth control, genetic counseling, pre-natal testing, genetic engineering, and the in-vitro fertilization.Though, the philosophy of eugenics can be considered somewhat idealistic, some of the advocates against it consider it as an enticement to the â€Å"power hungry† and noticeably can be subjected to further corruptions. Furthermore, it is also considered by some as the justification for the sponsored-state discrimination or extermination, and genocide such as the Holocaust. The word â€Å"Genomic† usually covers a broader context of related technologies and scientific research.The term genome refers to the total set of instructions or processes in creating an organism. It is the master or the original blueprint of all cell activities and structures during the life span of an organism (McGrath 10). Considering the human genome, it is comprised of tightly threads in a coil figure of DNA, where the genes can be found. Genomic, therefore, refers to the to the study of the DNA, the mRNA, and the corresponding protein levels.The Reproductive Technology covers all of the anticipated and current technologies in animal and human reproduction, together with the assisted technology in the reproductive state, and contraception. The assisted reproductive technology include the following: cloning, treatment of hormone, cryogenic preservation of sperms and embryos, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, artificial reproduction, embryo transfer, and surrogacy, to name a few. Aside from contraception, other techniques involve artificial wombs, repro genetics, technology choice germinal, and parthenogenesis in vitro (Mur 39).Many concerns of the reproductive technology have consequently given rise to certain bioethical issues, since the knowledge or technology more often changes the premises that lie following the existing systems of reproductive and sexual morality. More so, the ethical issues of human improvement occur when the reproductive technology has eventually evolved to be a possible expertise or technology not only for the reproductively withdrawn people but also for healthy reproductive people.Therefore, based on the respective discussion above, eugenics, genomic, and the reproductive technology are associated with each other. They comprised a common theme, which is the human being- for the betterment deemed achievable. They apparently constitutes a â€Å"cyclic† pattern of contextual connotation since the inherent characteristics of every human being depends on the unique genes or â€Å"genetic codes† (genomic).These in turn can be influenced by the social intervention (eugenics) on both of the parents since t he social requisites or responsiveness determines the characteristics and behavior of the parents, which in-turn could be inherited by the off spring. The process or the system upon which all of these can be conceived fall on the ‘reproductive technology† since it is concerned with the various methods of how the women can be â€Å"fertilized† to conceive birth. Aside from this, the reproductive technology also deals with the means of controlling or inhibiting reproduction.Therefore, the innermost portion of the relevant study of the human being lies on the field of genetics, which is being represented by genomic. The inherent process wherein the behavior of a child can be obtained through the combination of genes or DNA’s of both parents, and consequently can be affected by the social various social interventions. The reproductive technology signifies the process wherein these two concerns may be verified. Though the topics presented constitutes a broad ran ge of knowledge, the basic underlying principles and its corresponding associations can be seen.The issues of possible temptation to power, ethical, and moral concerns, cannot be justified. With respect to the technological advancement in the field of human â€Å"development†, the scientific method of achieving such will definitely have an impact on the issues governing morality, ethical values, and social norms. The important thing to remember, though the goal of human development can be very enticing, is that certain boundaries should not be crossed over not to cause imbalanced on the very nature of human existence.