Thursday, October 31, 2019

International Business news analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

International Business news analysis - Essay Example e art† mathematical models currently used by economists which presupposed that household and ideal firm optimize their behavior with perfect rationality. In the end they revert back to Ricardian and Smith’s principle as a more plausible law to govern the market and international trade. Adam Smith originally meant that the mechanism of the invisible hand is a result of the market settling the distribution of goods and the prices between what the producers want to produce and what the consumers chooses freely what to consume within a given economy and across economies. As a result, producers will have to create goods that are cheaper to produce undermining competition and gain market share. On a bigger picture, Adam Smith’s invisible hand is comparable to David Ricardo’s idea of Comparative Advantage which is the guiding principle behind globalization of free trading across economies. Ricardo posited that countries will be better off if certain goods and services will be exported by countries that can produce them most efficiently. This is the main principle of outsourcing where a poor country will naturally have a cheap labor serving as its comparative advantage and would be willing to work for wages lower than those their rich counterpart countries which may have been more expensive if done in other countries. As a result, industry will naturally move to these countries as they make more profits by discounting on the labor cost as afforded by the poor country. This is the invisible hand at work in international trade whereby the invisible hand will â€Å"guide† and regulate international trade in the most beneficial manner by directing goods to be produced by more efficient countries so that everybody can benefit from it at a lower price and higher quality. The article however proposed a scenario what if invisible hand and its mechanism of comparative will no longer work because some economists thought of some brilliant mathematical models that

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Traditions of Western Religion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Traditions of Western Religion - Research Paper Example All the world’s major religions contain sects within it; some comingle with ease while others seem to share only mistrust and disdain. Much as Catholics and Protestants fought bloody battles for centuries, Sunni and Shiite Muslims are fighting territorial and political battles throughout the Middle East. This discussion will first address the similar history of all Muslims then the circumstances of the split. It will concentrate on Sunni, Shia, the Druze, a Shiite off-shoot belief and Wahhabism, a derivative of Sunni. The final section explores the contemporary conflicts of Islam’s two main sects. The central belief of all Muslims is that the Prophet Muhammad, who died in 632 AD, was Allah’s (Arabic for God) messenger. His revelations are recorded in the Qur’an and are followed by Muslims of all descriptions who also look to sayings of Muhammad, hadith, for inspiration and guidance. The concepts of justice, goodness and piety are essential to Islamic practices and belief system. Furthermore, all Muslims are directed to live their lives according to the five pillars of Islam: â€Å"(1) shahada—recital of the creed â€Å"There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet†; (2) salat—five obligatory prayers in a day; (3) zakat—giving alms to the poor; (4) sawm—fasting from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan; and (5) hajj—making a pilgrimage to Mecca once during a lifetime if one is physically and financially able.† (Blanchard, 2009) The chief role of Muslim religious leaders is to interpret shari’a, or Islamic law. There are no strict codes or wording of laws such as westerners are accustomed. Rather, for both Shiite and Sunni Islam, shari’a allows for wider legal interpretations to fit the circumstance and greater flexibility for sentencing. The Sunni/Shiite split occurred near the begin nings of the Islamic religion. The main disagreement concerns the Prophet Muhammad’s successor and the type of leadership that would guide Muslim society. The long-standing and significant dispute centers on whether the leader(s) should be a direct descendant of the Prophet or could be a qualified, virtuous and devout person who would adhere to the customs of Islam. This issue was initially decided when Abu Bakr, a friend of the Prophet, was selected by community leaders to be the successor, or Caliph. While most Muslims accepted Bakr, a minority supported Ali ibn Abi Talib, a cousin of the Prophet’s and his son-in-law. Bakr was married to Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet. The term Shi’at Ali translates to â€Å"Ali’s helper.† Another important distinction that relates to modern times is the amount of reverence paid to the respective leaders of the two Islamic sects. Sunni Muslims give exalted status only to the prophets of the Quran and not to present day leaders. Shiites bestow imams with this lofty status. The Sunnis religious hierarchy is not adorned as elaborately, as highly esteemed and is not as politically powerful as the Shiite leadership. Because of this distinction, Sunnis tend to be more accommodating in permitting lay people to serve as spiritual leaders. Sunni religious leaders, as opposed to Shiites, have historically been subject to control by the state. Shiite leaders have enjoyed greater autonomy. (Blanchard, 2009) The Druze is a fairly populous yet little known yet sect of Islam because they want it that way. This mysterious group, numbering nearly one million in Syria alone, has endeavored for many centuries to shield their cultural lives from outsiders and keep their religious views secret. Druze prefers to live in isolation. They are

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Evaluating Theories of Motivation in Project Management

Evaluating Theories of Motivation in Project Management Introduction Banking sector continues to be one of the most important economic sectors and one of the most rapid growing businesses in Albania in the last 10 year (Bank of Albania, 2010, www.bankofalbania.org ). Societe Generale Albania (SGAL), previously named Banka Popullore, started its activity on 1st of March 2004. In April 2007, Societe Generale Group acquired 75.01% of the shares of this bank. SGAL has its head office in Tirana and is present allover Albania with 41 operation branches. At the end of 2009, the bank had 379 employees, both Albanian and French nationality (Annual Report 2009, 2010, www.societegenerale.al ). The case study Being one of the most important economic sectors has created enough space for operation of 17 Banks in a relatively small market like Albania. With such a high competition it is very important that banks stay always in line with economic developments and react fast toward customer needs for new products or adaptation. Societe Genereale Albania Bank is quite small and there are frequently high pressures for sharing resources in order to complete in time and with budget different operational or business initiatives. These needs has made mandatory for bank management to apply a matrix organizational layout. Matrix organizational structures are quite complicated when it comes to management and control of staff performance. They bring the employee in front of two managers, the usual department manager and the temporary project manager. There a lot of researches and studies for motivation in standard organizational structure, but the topic is considered as less explored when it comes to project management (Dwivedula and Bredillet, 2009). Theories of motivations Motivation is the driving force within individuals that compels them physiologically and psychologically to pursue one or more goals to fulfill their needs or expectations, (Lam and Tang, 2003). There are currently a lot of theories to explain the nature of motivation and help mangers on addressing it according to their needs. These theories do not conflict between them, which means the manager can use any of them or even combine them (Birnberg, Luft and Shields, 2007). This assignment will be focused in two theories; The hierarchy of needs as one of the first ones and most well known by all kind of managers and the dual-structure theory since it was developed based on a research on engineers and accounts, which is about the same environment and employee nature as in SGAL Bank. Another reason for selecting these theories is the fact that both of them have as a starting point the fulfillment of basic human needs and in the development countries we meet a high demand of these needs. The Hierarchy of Needs The theory is well known and was developed by Abraham Maslow in 1940. According to this theory the needs are organized in five main groups of needs that stay together in the form of a pyramid (Maslow, 1943): Physiological Needs; they stay in the bottom of the pyramid and include the basic needs of every human being such as: the need for food, drink, education, medical care, etc. Every organization can provide these needs by providing good working condition and a salary to their employees. Security Needs; includes the need for feeling safe and secure, having a secure job, having a home and a future. The organization can satisfy these needs by offering job continuity, health insurance and retirement plans. Belongingness Needs; includes the needs of humans to love and be loved, to be accepted by others, to take and give friendship. Most of this needs get satisfied by the family ties, but this is not enough since we spend a considerable time of our life in our works. Managers and direct supervisors can play a significant role to satisfy these needs by encouraging the work in group, enhance their communication with employees and provided basis for social interaction between employees. Esteem Needs; the needs of this group can be divided into two major needs, the need for self respect and the need for being respected by others. Both department managers and project managers can satisfy this by giving the staff a job title, awards, recognition of merits, benefits etc. Self-Actualization Needs; is the highest level of the hierarchy and includes the need we have to be the one we want to be in order to be self fulfilled. If all the other levels of the hierarchy are fully satisfied, it does not remain a lot for the managers to do to satisfy this need. All they need to take care is to make sure the individual has a challenging job and that other needs of lower level do not become deficient. According to the theory the needs of each level should be satisfied before going to the next level until we reach the self-actualization needs, however if during our road to the top of hierarchy, a lower level of need become deficient again, the individual returns to that level (Moorhead and Griffin, 1995). Despite the fact that the theory is well recognized among many organization and managers due to the intuitive logic and easy understanding, the theory is not fully validated either by Maslow or any other research, in contrary many deficiencies have been identified (Wahba and Bridwell, 1976) The most common criticism is the limited number of people used in his research and coming out with conclusions which applies to everybody (Boeree, 2006, http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html). Such a conclusion of course does not look very scientific. Another important one are the constrains that Maslow put on the self-actualization. He pointed out that the self actualization is in the top of his hierarchy and can be reached only when all the other needs are satisfy. In opposite to this there are many examples where people show outputs of self-actualization by being fare from fulfillment of their basic or belongingness needs (examples of artists and scientist). It is important to mention that if we carefully evaluate the hierarchy we see that the most basic needs, up to the third level, are usually satisfied by the government and/or organization rules and regulation. If we go up in the hierarchy of needs, we see that there are direct supervisors and team members who help to satisfy the needs and turn them in motivators for improving job performance. The Dual-Structure Theory The theory was developed by Herzberg on late 1950s based on a research with a couple of hundred engineers and accounts (Herzberg, 1968). The finding of this research proved that different set of factors were connected with different feelings about work. The motivation of an employee goes in a two step process, first satisfying the employee (eliminate any factor which may bring dissatisfaction, fulfill the hygiene factors) and second go with motivation factors. The motivation factors would result at the end with satisfied and motivated employees who can have a long term and positive job performance. The hygiene factors (salary, company policies, competence, interpersonal relations, working conditions, etc) when they exist, they are in placed by the company strategy and/or governments rules and they are not directly related to the performance and ability of the employee. In opposite with them, the employee can get the motivation factors (recognition, achievement, work itself, advancement, and responsibility) by his involvement and his work but also by the ability of his manager to give them (McCrimmon, 2008). The combination of these factors can set employee in four situations (Herzberg, 1987): Satisfied and motivated employee. It is a target situation for having the best performance, there is not a lot to be done if you have employee being in this status. Satisfied but not motivated. If the employees are in this status, it means the hygiene factors are all accomplished and the managers should find the way to apply motivation factors and change the status; otherwise the de-motivated employee will bring low productivity and bad quality. Not satisfied but motivated. In this case it is the company who should change its policies and rules and try to change the situation. An employee is not expected to stay longer in this status. Not satisfied and not motivated. The worst situation, both company and managers have a lot to do. These employees will bring to the business apart from the low productivity and bad quality a lot of complains, strikes and no communication. The theory has been analyzed more than any other theory in the field of organizational behavior (Pinder, 1998) and the results are quite contradictory. Studies and researchers which use the same method support the theory, other ones criticize it for the research population used, which is limited only to accountants and engineers. The theory does not take into account the individual differences, since a motivation factor can depend on individual age and/or organizational model (House and Wigdor, 1967). Herzbergs theory states that money does not motivate employees but only satisfies them (Herzberg, 1968), due to this statement the theory is widely discussed and analyzed in studies and researches about the rewarding and motivation (Beel, 2007).The rewords supporters are totally against it and they say it does not have evidences to prove that money is not a motivation. Another aspect of critics is the fact that the theory does not take in consideration the circumstances, what does motivate an employee today, not necessary satisfy and motivate another one tomorrow (Robbins, 2005). Visual presentation of the dual structure theory (http://www.tutor2u.net/business/people/motivation_theory_herzberg.asp, Nov 2010) As displayed in this graphic the theory goes though two major phases, first eliminate the dissatisfaction by providing all the hygiene factors and then start applying motivation factors and have motivated employee and high performance. Motivation in Project management PRINCE2 manual defines a project as: a management environment that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to a specified business case. Another definition is: a temporary organization that is needed to produce a unique and pre-define outcome or result at a pre-specified time using pre-determined resources. Being a temporary organization and with specific targets, the project organization is a different structure than a normal organization unit and different rules and practices are applied in every aspect of organizational behavior, including motivation. Description of case study In 2008, Societe Generale Albania started a fifteen months project for migration of existing core banking system. The project team was composed by more than twenty high qualified employees coming from different departments and sectors, different education and different professional background. Many different positions were defined as part of the project such as; translators, business analysts, IT developers, organization and even a public relationship specialist. The bank knew since the beginning that such a challenging and multidimensional project could not succeed within the specified time and budget without a motivated team. To achieve a motivated team, SGAL manly considered the assumption that people are motivated by money. This assuming was coming from their experience with the sales force in the branch network and missing of experience on running projects. They provided project staff with a simple bonus schema based on their performance with a maximum of one monthly salary. The bonus was delivered once in the middle of the project and once in the end of it. In addition to this bank has tried to provide good working condition, apply policy on compensation and benefit, apply payment of social and health insurances, apply Global Employee Share Ownership program, so staff has not only the status of employee but also have a shareholder status (BHFM/SGO/REF, 2007), and also apply some flexibility working hours. Analysis It is important to highlight since the beginning that motivation in project is different from motivation in standard organization infrastructure. There are 2 major differences (Schmid Adams, 2008), the first one is related to the fact that in projects, tasks and leaders are temporary. Considering that projects are a temporary organization, than can a project manager do something to motivate its employee, even if the organization motivation is not in the required level? The second difference is that each project goes through some main phases; planning, executing, monitoring and closing, so different factors should be used to motivate the team in different project statuses. If we get back and see, company has already addressed most of the hygiene factors, but because of the no experience on the field the bank has totally under evaluated the job security factor. A few months before the end of the project, two key persons, data migration manager and accounting business analyst resign from the project. The main reasons for that were the missing of a clear view for their position in the bank at the end of the project and continues overload. According to the Herzberg theory, if job security factor is not addressed the result is to have dissatisfied employee, and a dissatisfied employee can not stay with the company for a long period and either have a good performance. There are two issues coming from this: the management of the bank failed to provide the security for the job continuity and the project manager failed to plan a proper work-life balance and properly manage the overload. Failing in providing these factors had become precedent for staff leaving the project and the company just before the closing phase of the project and causing delays and increase lack of self-confidence among other members. As a result of this, high qualified staff found themselves de-motivated. If we go up in the hierarchy of needs we dont see evidences for fulfill the social needs of the project team. SGAL management did not organize any social activities during the project. Only at the end of the project, when the success was evident, the company organized a party. The project management from the other side attempted to do some socialization between team members, but that was on a limited number of people and not on regular basis. According to Dwivedula and Bredillet (2010) a positive work climate of the group is achieved when all members have task interdependence, one common objective to achieve and of course a good relationship and constant communication with each other. Social activities are important to have a positive work environment, but the project manager has to be very careful and evaluate each situation so, if one person intrinsic motivation is alienated then it may bring the spillover effect and de-motivated the entire team (Schmid and Admas, 2008). From Herzberg dual-structure theory we know that satisfied employee is not enough to have motivated employee. Project and organization management had addressed the recognitions and achievements factors by establishing an internal magazine distributed monthly to all bank staff and fully dedicated to the project team and their achievements. We indicated above that SGAL management allowed some of the project team members to have flexible working hours, this was a very positive thing, which properly addresses the status factor by making them fill different and appreciated. How where the staff selected to be part of the project? Where they volunteering or just appointed without their will? Most of the team was appointed to the project. According to a research made by Aller, Lyth and Mallak (2008) the creation of project team using co-mingling method (volunteering to the project positions) gives an interest and motivated team. By selecting this method there are also chances that the project staff has the appropriate skills and abilities to make the job. Despite the fact that this research is addressed to the setup of teams in university projects, it can be useful and applicable in creation of every project team. When used and combined with other methods this would help on achieving of a high job satisfaction level of the team members. Conclusion Employee performance is determined by three main components: ability to do the job; work environment; and motivation (Griffin, 1990, p.437) The first two ones can be better addressed by the permanent organization of the bank as most probably they need time and investments. Staff not being able to perform an activity may need to be trained to do so, good working environment also need investments and time to be in placed. Motivation from the other side is something which can immediately improve the performance if managed properly. Projects by definition are a temporary organization; this automatically excludes or reduces them from addressing ability and work environment and totally focus on the motivation. To motivate staff means to provide them with a motive to do the tasks. A successful project manager is somebody who is able to find the motives which apply to each employee and turn them from common worker to extraordinary ones. Maslows hierarchy of needs and Herzbergs dual-structure theory are valid models of motivation in project management and in development countries. These models should not be seen as frozen theories; they should be properly evaluated, used and interpreted by each project manager to stimulate team members, growth their individual development, reach projects goals and increase productivity in organization. However we should always keep in mind that some people may have exceptions form this hierarchy. The bank can help its project leader by performing surveys which would tell what the employees preferences for job motivation are. Often the strongest motivators for employee are the things they miss more in their job.

Friday, October 25, 2019

impresonment is more humane than capitol punishment :: essays research papers

Imprisonment is More Humane than Capital Punishment Murder, where to commit it. Canada vs. U.S.A. In this essay you will learn about Peter and Joe. Peter lives in Canada, he killed five people and was sentenced to the maximum sentence of twenty-five years. Joe lives in the United States and also killed five people, he received a death sentence. Please remember in this essay Peter and Joe are not real people they are just used to explain this essay. First we will learn about Peter’s sentence of twenty-five years, then we will learn about Joe’s death sentence. First lets talk about Peter. He has a life sentence, which in Canada is twenty-five years. I believe this is not a whole life, with all the privileges Peter can earn it’s just like sitting at home, and not going to work. After fifteen years Peter can apply for parole, he most likely won’t get it considering he killed five people. Peter has his own room with a toilet, still he has no privacy. Guards are watching him throughout most of the day. Peter has many privileges like television, gym access, library access, the telephone and also visitors. However these privileges are not â€Å"free† they are earned by being good. The question about going insane well I really don’t think he could. If he can sit around, watch television, read books, workout, and well be lazy, how could you go insane like that?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now, back to Joe, he lives in the United States. He was convicted of killing five people also, he received a death sentence. Joe is now waiting on death row. His death date is three years from now. Joe spends about twenty-three hours a day in his room on death row, he gets about one hour to walk around. Like Peter Joe does not have privileges like television, gym access, and visitors. He gets books and maybe the telephone at certain times. Now about two months before Joe’s death date he is told that it has been changed to another two years from now. This could happen up to ten times before the actual date of his death. I think that this could make a person go insane, sitting in a room almost all day, knowing when your date to die is and then changing it over and over again.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Brittens Assignment

Bernie and Pam Britten are a young married couple beginning careers and establishing a household. They will each make about $50,000 next year and will have accumulated about $40,000 to invest. They now rent an apartment but are considering purchasing a condominium for $100,000. If they do, a down payment of $10,000 will be required. They have discussed their situation with Lew McCarthy, an investment advisor and personal friend, and he has recommended the following investments: The condominium – expected annual increase in market value = 5%.Municipal bonds – expected annual yield = 5%. High-yield corporate stocks – expected dividend yield = 8%. Savings account in a commercial bank-expected annual yield = 3%. High-growth common stocks – expected annual increase in market value = 10%; expected dividend yield = 0. Calculate the after-tax yields on the foregoing investments, assuming the Brittens have a 28% marginal tax rate (based on Public Law 108-27, The Jo bs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003). How would you recommend the Brittens invest their $40,000? SolutionWe use the provisions outlined in The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 to compute the applicable tax rates to be faced by the Brittens – a married couple subject to a 28% marginal tax rate – for the different investment decisions they will pursue. Given that the tax-free yield for each investment has been provided, we compute for the after-tax yield using this formula: After-Tax Yield = Tax-Free Yield x (1 – tax rate). But first, let us determine the tax rate applicable to the Brittens for each of the investments.A. The condominium – expected annual increase in market value = 5%. The 5% increase in market value of the condominium is not subject to taxes. While taxes are set at 18%, the Brittens can expense up to $100,000 of the property pursuant to the Section 179 Expensing, and can take advantage of the bonus depre ciation. Hence, tax rate is de minimis, or maybe assumed at 0%. B. Municipal bonds – expected annual yield = 5%. Any annual yield from municipal bonds is not taxed at the Federal Level.Municipal bonds are usually-tax exempt. Hence, tax rate is 0%. C. High-yield corporate stocks – expected dividend yield = 8%. Dividends received by a stockholder are taxed the same way as capital gain income. The 8% dividend yield, if it qualifies as a qualified capital gain or dividend, will be subject to the 15% tax rate, for the Brittens. D. Savings account in a commercial bank-expected annual yield = 3%. Savings account in a commercial bank is subject to the Britten’s marginal tax rate, which is 28%. E.High-growth common stocks – expected annual increase in market value = 10%; expected dividend yield = 0. High-growth common stocks are subject to 15% taxes. While the yield, which is subject to capital gains tax, is 0, any gain from the disposition of stock is considered a â€Å"gross income†, and is considered a capital gain, which is subject to 15% tax. Using those tax rates, we can compute for the after-tax yields: Pre-Tax Yield Tax After-Tax Yield Condominum 5% 0% 5. 00% Municipal Bonds 5% 0% 5. 00% HY Corporate Stocks 8% 15% 6. 80%Savings Account 3% 28% 2. 16% HG Common Stocks 10% 15% 8. 50% Basing from the after-tax yield itself, the best investment for the Brittens would be the High Growth Common stock. The Brittens’ 40,000 dollar investment may grow by 8. 50% if the whole amount is invested in High Growth Common Stock. However, if we take in to account the risks and the degrees of liquidity, or if the investment could be easily turned to cash. Municipal bonds and savings account (which are guaranteed) for example, while low yield, have low default risks.High yield corporate stocks, and high growth common stocks, while high yield, are subject to the volatility of the stock market, and are very high risk. Stock prices are fluctua ting everyday, and the value of the stock would depend upon the company’s performance and investor interest on the company. The condominium investment is medium risk, since it is also subject to supply and demand – real estate investments, for example, at these times are subject to risk due to the subprime mortgage crisis.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Navy Recommendation

1. While serving in the capacity as the Command Career Counselor the USS STEPHEN W GROVES (FFG 29), I have had the good fortune to have Petty Officer Jason Martinez work with me as the Assistant Command Career Counselor for our ship. 2. This past year has afforded me the opportunity of witnessing the many accomplishments PS1 has been able to achieve both personally and professionally. Petty Officer Martinez has demonstrated exceptional knowledge of all necessary retention programs such as PTS, CIMS, NRMS, Fleet RIDE and NRMS. He has led the way in training and providing information to our crew through First Terms Success Workshops, Career Development Training Courses and GENDET Success Workshops. Furthermore, PS1(SW) Martinez has been a driving force to ensure career development boards are conducted effectively. He has embodied the ideals of career development by encouraging the engagement of the chain of command providing the guidance needed by sailors to attain the objectives of the Sailor Continuum’s five vectors. 3. In addition to the above-mentioned accomplishments, he has completely overhauled our Command Sponsorship Program, establishing a new sponsorship team from the main departments of the ship, and providing the necessary training for instant results. Petty Officer Martinez flawlessly processed and tracked 23 reenlistments of which 15 were SRB entitlements over 110,000 dollars. He has processed six Fleet Reserve, seven Career Status Bonus, and 56 Perform to Serve applications. During this period while assigned as Assistant Command Career Counselor, he has stepped in and executed the duties as the Command Career Counselor, while I was away either TAD or on leave. 4. Petty Officer Martinez routinely performs his tasks flawlessly and at a higher pay-grade than is expected at his current rank, whether it is explaining Navy policies to the Captain, Executive Officer or counseling a sailor as to his career path options. His overall development as both an Assistant Command Career Counselor and a sailor over the past year has been nothing short of exemplary! Petty Officer Martinez is the type of leader that the Navy needs to continue leading the way in the career-counseling field! 5. A very important contribution that PS1(SW) Martinez has made to the success of the ships program is his ability to work together with and support the building of the career development team. In fact, one of his most important qualities has been his ability to earn the confidence and trust of the crew onboard the ship. It is this trait, in addition to all his other abilities, that makes him an effective career counselor. S. J. MARTINEZ

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Adjectives That Look Like Adverbs

Adjectives That Look Like Adverbs Adjectives That Look Like Adverbs Adjectives That Look Like Adverbs By Mark Nichol What’s the visual difference between an adjective and an adverb? Well, all adverbs end in -ly, and no adjectives do, right? Wrong on both counts. Some adverbs, called flat adverbs, lack the -ly suffix. The words in this category, like straight, can be used both as adverbs (â€Å"Drive straight through the intersection†) and adjectives (â€Å"He drew a straight line†). Some adverbs, like slow, are interchangeable with their -ly forms (see this post). Others, like hard, are distinct in usage from the adverbial -ly form (â€Å"I worked hard† is opposite in meaning from â€Å"I hardly worked†) and have no adjectival -ly form. At the same time, dozens of adjectives end in -ly, and many have no adverbial equivalent. (Some adjectives that pertain to periods of time, such as daily, weekly, and monthly, can be both adjectives and adverbs: â€Å"They followed a daily regimen†; â€Å"They followed the regimen daily.†) For example, friendly can modify a noun (â€Å"She wore a friendly smile†), but although one can write, â€Å"She looked friendly,† it means she had a friendly look, not that she looked at someone in a friendly manner. (Friendly is not an adverb; friendlily is, though I’ve never seen it used, and one must otherwise use the adverbial phrase in the previous sentence, or a similar one, in place of friendly.) Other adjectives ending in -ly that are not also adverbs include costly (â€Å"It was a costly event†), miserly (â€Å"That’s a miserly attitude†), and unruly (â€Å"He’s an unruly boy†). One cannot, for example, act costly, miserly, or unruly; one is said, for example, to spend in a costly manner, to behave in a miserly fashion, or to engage in unruly behavior. Adjectives ending in -y can be converted to adverbs with the insertion of -il- before the final letter, as in frosty (â€Å"She gave him a frosty look†) becoming frostily (â€Å"She looked at him frostily†), but, friendlily notwithstanding, few adjectives can be converted to adverbs in this manner. For example, â€Å"She gave him a deadly look† is correct, but â€Å"She looked at him deadlily is not.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Words with More Than One Spelling8 Types of Parenthetical Phrases45 Idioms with "Roll"

Monday, October 21, 2019

Critical Essay Topics Meet the Vast Issues to Discuss in a College Paper!

Critical Essay Topics Meet the Vast Issues to Discuss in a College Paper! When we hear the word â€Å"Critical†, for us it resembles to panicking and confusion and that is why we say it is one of the difficult types of essays. It usually is even difficult for students even to start thinking on it. As for many of us, the word â€Å"critical† always takes us to a negative state or situation but, fortunately, it is not always true for critical essays. Critical essay papers always reflect skills of the writer. So, critical essay writing requires high critical analysis skills and a definite direction in order to give the essay a proper and solid ending. A critical essay usually deeply probes a topic, an article or a book. It is very important to mention the information about the writer, editors and the researchers related to critical essay topic. A fine critical essay must contain your own opinion about the subject. Other than your own opinion it is necessary to provide different evidences and data found in related books, articles and websites. The beginning of a critical essay is given by a brief summary of the author’s ideas and thoughts on the theme followed by the facts and the reasons which support author’s ideas. It also contains author’s openly expressed and implied values and conclusions and suggestions on the basis of author’s point of view. The next part of a critical essay contains the critical analysis or the evaluation of author’s work. Evaluation of the author’s work in critical essays contains the facts and reasoning. It is important to possess author’s position but consideration of other positions is required as well. A critical essay must be informative as it contains different facts about literary works. The point of view of the author must be supported by evidences. The closing of the essay is done by providing a solid asserted conclusion restating the title and author’s point of view. The process of choosing critical essays topics can vary from person to person and they are vast as there are many issues which people like to discuss and mention. For example, you can choose â€Å"Democracy† as a topic as different points of view can be given on this topic. At present â€Å"Policy of Barack Obama† can be chosen as the topic of critical essay. Similar to these you can write about Islam and the world, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, patriarchy and matriarchy, Effect of George Bush’s strategy on the world, slavery, nuclear war heads, culture and art, literatures, Racism, the role of banks in world crisis and many more. Any topic which needs a discussion can be used as the topic of you critical essay. Any topic can be chosen but the topic is proper for you only when you have enough knowledge and information about it. All you need is to follow the instructions and start writing on the topic you have chosen.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Accenture Social Media Analysis

Accenture Social Media Analysis MKT 436 Ian Cartmill Zach Crawford Edwin Huang Tyler Whitsett Introduction Accenture PLC is one of the leading consulting firms in the country and has developed an extensive social media platform to expand its reach in the business world. Accenture currently has a network of social media across many platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Through Facebook and Twitter, Accenture segments its markets by region, type of service, and career options by making a Facebook page or Twitter account exclusively for that market. With Accenture’s YouTube page, a wide variety of videos ranging from video blogs to educational content on company growth. Finally, through LinkedIn, Accenture profiles its different services as well as connects with professionals who would be looking for their services. In addition to the traditional social media sites, Accenture operates many different applications through Facebook, iTunes, Google Play as well as its own online publication, Outlook. After a description, an analysis will be given to measure the performance of Accenture’s social media’s efforts. Finally, recommendations will be given on how Accenture can improve their efforts to reach a wider audience. Social Media Description Accenture’s Facebook and Twitter presence is extremely large which is shown by the numerous pages on these sites. Currently, Accenture has over â€Å"40 different pages on Facebook and 30 different Twitter handles† (A1), each catering to a particular market. About half of these pages are targeted based on the region or country in order to provide information exactly aimed a country’s business environment. Within each of the country’s pages, discussions and interactions occur with customers and users through contests, interviews, philanthropic endeavors in the region done by Accenture, and information the company provides on different industries. Usually the country’s page will display resume opportunity linksin order to keep acquiring new talent for the company. If career opportunities are not listed on this page, an individual career page is listed to provide information on career opportunities at Accenture in that region. On Accenture’s main Facebook and Twitter pages, different examples of management, operations, marketing, and other strategies are presented so all customers can see the level of analysis they will receive from an Accenture team. Also, articles written by Accenture are shown on the pages that range from work events to in depth stories on industry trends constantly are posted weekly. Finally, the last sets of pages on Facebook and Twitter are used to provide customers with an in-depth look into the different services provided by Accenture. For example, the Sustainability Services Facebook page provides links to articles and case studies on sustainability in a business in order to reduce cost and create efficiencies (http://www. facebook. com/accenturesustainabilityservices). They also engage their customers and users through surveys, games and other actions that keep users coming back to their page. In addition to Accenture’s Facebook and Twitter pages, YouTube and LinkedIn provide a unique and different way to reach out to their customers. Through their YouTube account, Accenture is able to provide different types of new information to both current and potential new customers with its â€Å"251 videos† (A1). For example, a Capital Markets video blog is used to describe different topics related to capital markets and the process of managing the risks with them. In another set of videos, a video podcast shows different traits of a high performance business model that can be emulated by other companies. All content that is put up on the YouTube account is used to attract new customers to what Accenture does and provide existing clientele insights as to how Accenture’s strategies can better their companies. This is a more casual look at Accenture’s customer attraction actions. For a more formal approach to gaining new customers and staying connected with current clients, LinkedIn is utilized. With LinkedIn, Accenture can professionally show their â€Å"core competencies as well as present customer recommendations and feedback† (LinkedIn). They also demonstrate their corporate culture through employee reviews and insight. To go along with Facebook and Twitter, they also have a careers page to continue acquiring talent in every medium possible. Beyond the typical social media realms in which most companies are involved in, Accenture has also grown into new areas that differentiate themselves in the social media marketing. This is done through Accenture’s online journal, Outlook, and the development of apps to further their marketing efforts. Outlook provides a unique connection to existing and potential customers by giving articles that can be anything from industry specific trends or news to skill and service actions. This demonstrates the level of expertise Accenture can provide to new customers, and assist in providing additional offerings to their current customers. Finally, after all traditional online forms of social media are exhausted; Accenture also provides many of the same marketing sites in the form of mobile apps for the iTunes and Google Play markets. This gives customers the ability to see all content and information on the go as most business people are. These applications include a mobile version of Outlook and other service specific applications (Google Play). Social Media Analysis Although Accenture has tapped into the most popular social networks, they don’t utilize them to their full potential. Their main strength across the social networking platforms is the ability to reach current and potential customers, employees, future hires, students, and anyone who might be interested in what Accenture has to offer. An example is their applications through iTunes and Google play. On iTunes they â€Å"have 14 mobile apps and on Google Play they have 11 apps compared to Ernst amp; Young’s 6 apps on iTunes and 3 apps on Google Play† (A1). Some apps are duplicates; some are strictly for employees, while others are for the public. The apps range from a National Postal Forum to Financial Services to Lux in Arcana. Since it is available on iPhone and Android platform, they are targeting the most popular smartphone users. Another metric to consider how large their social network presence is their main Facebook page, Accenture has over â€Å"145,000 likes compared to E amp; Y with 15,000 likes† (A1). With these many options and a well-known presence, they are able to increase their brand awareness and position themselves as knowledge experts in that field. Another strength Accenture has with their social platforms is that they are continuously adding content to them. On their Twitter feed, they â€Å"tweet an average of 66 times a week along with additional links in the message compared to E amp; Y’s 20 tweets a week† (A1). On their Facebook , they post â€Å"39 times a week compared to E amp; Y’s 2 times a week† (A1). More tweets and posts, enables them the opportunity to be noticed more by the market. This is shown through how many Facebook users are talking about them. Accenture has over â€Å"2,000 users posting about them compared to E amp; Y’s 390 users talking about them† (A1). A weakness of their social networks is the lack of integration across the different platforms. An example is their YouTube and Twitter page. In their description, it only provides a link to their home page instead of including their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes store, and Google Play. (About Accenture). After an analysis of their YouTube channel, we determined that they could include more in their descriptions by including a summary of the video, tags, and follow up information. They need to make it easier for users to dive further into Accenture if necessary. Another weakness of their social networking strategy is that it does not incorporate a form of a push/pull strategy. Their current push strategy is not creating an atmosphere of a two way interaction. On their pages, they do not engage or follow up with the users to keep them coming back. Although they ask questions in their tweets, they are not going out of their way to search for potential topics they could enlighten a user about. From comparing Accenture’s social media networks to Ernst and Young’s networks, they both use the same platforms but Accenture has a larger social media presence with more content. In Twitter, Accenture has over 62,000 followers with over 5500 tweets compared to E amp; Y’s 37,000 followers and 2,600 tweets. On LinkedIn, Accenture has over 600,000 followers with 179,000 employees on it compared to E amp; Y’s 364,000 followers and 114,000 employees on LinkedIn. Accenture has the most presence and content in every category except for the amount of YouTube videos they have. Accenture has 251 compared to E amp; Y’s 485. Managerial Recommendations The heart of a successful e-commerce strategy is the ability to attract and engage a potential customer by offering easy access to a variety of different information channels about your company. Although Accenture offers many different informational channels that explain who they are and what services they can offer to potential clients, these channels are not easily accessible. When doing a simple search of Accenture on Google, you initially see a link to Accenture’s website along with a few key words with vague descriptions. In order for Accenture to attract and gain new clients they need to have access points to all of their different social networks. These social media access points will allow Accenture to promote its marketing message to a larger business demographic who will feel more comfortable operating in one of these social media domains. Accenture also needs to do a better job at educating its customer base by explaining who Accenture is as a company and what kind of services they offer to potential clients. As it stands now customers who go on Accenture’s company website have to navigate through web page after web page to find a simple description on which the company is and what services they offer. Accenture’s homepage is full of key words and links to other parts of the company’s website. I would recommend that the include information on value added services that would differentiate itself for competitors. Accenture should elaborate on its many value added services that it has done in the past on projects that reduced cost, improved performance, innovative features, speed responsiveness and customization. These value added services will not only attract and sustain customers it will also help Accenture’s bottom line by causing customers to pay a higher premium for services rendered. Since most of the services that Accenture offers to its customers are intangible they need to do a better job at trying to make their services feel more tangible, instead of just offering detailed, long worded business plans and short, non-descriptive statements on services provided. Accenture could further demonstrate services that they provided to past customers through cost savings graphs, efficiency improvement charts, and customer testimonials. Also, to reduce customer uncertainty and address any questions a potential customer might have I would recommend that Accenture have a live web assistant messaging service on their home page. This service would allow the customers to speak in real time to a customer service representative. These simple tweaks to Accenture’s homepage will reduce some of the unknowns and risk that all customers undoubtedly face when searching for a new company to do business with. In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of B2B marketing Accenture should adopt a CRM system like its lead competitor Ernst amp; Young did to manage its client customer base. Ernst amp; Young adopted a CRM software called Aprimo to perform the following functions: targeted direct e-mails, ongoing lead management, inbound interactions via Web form submission, Webcast registration and follow-up, and project management (task assignment and follow-up) for their national and regional marketing teams (Shadick, 2012). Many of the components of the information within Ernst amp; Youngs Aprimo CRM system are shared with customer relationship departments within the firm. For example, opportunities are collected from events, tradeshows, sponsorships, webcast and direct communications, which are then distributed to the appropriate individuals for follow-up (Shadick, 2012). With the adoption of CRM systems like Aprimo, Accenture would have real-time access to client’s interest and inquires allowing them to tailor their response to new and existing client’s needs. Conclusion In Conclusion Accenture is a very dynamic B2B company that utilizes virtually all of the media outlets available to educate and attract new customers. Accenture’s B2B marketing campaign is unique in the fact that it leverages its current ongoing business initiatives with its own customer base through an online Journal called: Outlook. This journal boldly talks about what Accenture is doing now and in the future for its client base. This and many other creative marketing/informational channels that Accenture has created brings assurance and a sense of trust to customers who are uncertain with partaking in a service that really doesn’t produce a tangible outcome and cost thousands, if not millions, of dollars to perform. Works Cited Shadick, David (2011). Ernst amp; Young Better Manages B2B Marketing with Aprimo Marketing, Sun. 17 Nov. 2012. lt;http://www. information-management. com/issues/20030301/6410-1. htmlgt;. Services. Linkedin n. pag. LinkedIn. Web. 17 Nov 2012. lt;http://www. linkedin. com/company/accenture/products? trk=tabs_biz_productgt;. Apps by Accenture. Google play n. pag. Google play. Web. 17 Nov 2012. lt;https://play. google. com/store/apps/developer? id=Accentureamp;hl=engt;. Accenture. About Accenture n. pag. YouTube. Web. 17 Nov 2012. lt;https://www. youtube. com/user/Accenturegt;. Appendix A1 – Social Network Metrics

Friday, October 18, 2019

Standpoint Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Standpoint Theory - Essay Example Standpoint Theory provides epistemic advantage for different academic fields, when informants/characters are empowered to accurately discuss and analyze their social positions, so that they can change the status quo and improve their social status, although the theory must also address its conceptual and methodological weaknesses to become a dependable resource for feminist epistemology. Sandra Harding describes the political commitments of Standpoint Theory and two sources of controversial views in â€Å"Standpoint Theories: Productively Controversial.† She argues that the political commitments of Standpoint Theory are: 1) the daily lives of the oppressed provide a richer standpoint for social analysis than the experiences of the privileged; 2) standpoint theorists â€Å"study up† because they deconstruct the realities and needs of the underprivileged; 3) the theory promotes collective achievement in understanding how social relations operate; and 4) the theory seeks to obtain data that is accurate, exhaustive, objective, and intersectional (Harding 194-195). Furthermore, the two sources of controversial principles are the changing political agenda of feminists and the clash of different disciplines and their related epistemology and ontology (Harding 196-197). Harding argues that feminists must see Standpoint Theory from a contextualized multidiscipli nary view and accept plurality as a legitimate source of different understandings, and not as a limitation to feminist analysis (Harding 198). She concludes that Standpoint Theory has a significant role in diverse science fields because it emphasizes attention on troubling social realities and uneven social relations. This article is important in discussing the controversies that undercut the intersectional value of Standpoint Theory. It has the weakness of poor empirical testing of its analyses through applying Harding’s propositions to women’s groups. ... Harding argues that feminists must see Standpoint Theory from a contextualized multidisciplinary view and accept plurality as a legitimate source of different understandings, and not as a limitation to feminist analysis (Harding 198). She concludes that Standpoint Theory has a significant role in diverse science fields because it emphasizes attention on troubling social realities and uneven social relations. This article is important in discussing the controversies that undercut the intersectional value of Standpoint Theory. It has the weakness of poor empirical testing of its analyses through applying Harding’s propositions to women’s groups. Elizabeth Anderson criticizes Lisa Schwartzman’s Challenging Liberalism (2006) in â€Å"Toward a Non-Ideal, Relational Methodology for Political Philosophy: Comments on Schwartzman's Challenging Liberalism.† Anderson agrees with Schwartzman’s positive agenda of political philosophy, specifically the latterâ₠¬â„¢s standpoint methodology and group relations methodology. She affirms that Schwartzman is right in her criticisms of individualism and abstraction too because they are incompatible with group relations methodology and standpoint methodology, respectively (Anderson 131). On the contrary, Anderson disagrees with Schwartzman’s view on liberalism. Anderson argues that liberalism is consistent with Schwartzman’s methods because liberals have used them and liberal normative commitments promote the use of these methods (Anderson 131). Anderson contends that liberalism is based on a level of timidity on the capability of the state in resolving all injustices, especially considering differences in how people see what is â€Å"good† in their operations of informal social values (131). The

Nursing as a Profession Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nursing as a Profession - Research Paper Example The question of whether nursing constitutes a profession or merely an occupation has been debated frequently but never conclusively answered, owing to the subjective interpretation of word connotations as well as a lack of consensus as to what profession entails. The Random House dictionary defines a profession as â€Å"a vocation requiring knowledge of some department of learning or science.† L. Harvey (2004) says that â€Å"A profession is a group of people in a learned occupation, the members of which agree to abide by specified rules of conduct when practicing the profession.† Over the years, several researchers have developed specific criteria regarding professions. This paper will focus on the eight criteria established by Dr. Lucie Kelly in 1981, and examine nursing in relation to those criteria. Kelly's Criteria for Professions 1) The services provided are vital to humanity and the welfare of society. 2) There is a special body of knowledge that is continually enlarged through research. 3) The services involve intellectual activities; individual responsibility (accountability) is a strong feature. 4) Practitioners are educated in institutions of higher learning. 5) Practitioners are relatively independent and control their own policies and activities (autonomy). 6) Practitioners are motivated by service (altruism) and consider their work an important component of their lives. 7) There is a code of ethics to guide the decisions and conduct of practitioners 8) There is an organization (association) that encourage and supports high standards of practice. (Chitty citing Kelly, 2005, p. 171) The first four of Kelly's eight criteria are easily addressed, as there can be no doubt of the vital nature of the services provided by nurses, who are frequently referred to in literature as â€Å"the backbone of the healthcare system.† It also cannot be disputed that there exists a large and continually expanding body of knowledge related to nursing. There is a great deal of personal accountability involved in nursing as well. Each day nurses world-wide make decisions within a professional context which have a significant impact on the lives of their patients, as well as colleagues and even administrators. Nurses are required to undergo profession-specific education, as well as to maintain awareness of current research in the field in order to perform their jobs effectively. Likewise, nursing can easily be demonstrated to meet the seventh and eighth of Kelly's criteria. The Code of Ethics for Nurses is well established, and there are several national organizations devoted to maintaining high standards for nurse accreditation, as well as an International Council of Nurses. Autonomy of nurses might be questioned: Do nurses control their own policies and activities? While it is clear that a nurse must make decisions on a daily basis and act on those decisions, nurses are subjected to policies within the confines of their employing institutions. Though nurses frequently execute the orders of doctors, the manner of execution is usually left to individual nurses. Thus, in the opinion of this researcher nursing meets the fifth of Kelly's criteria. The question of motivation is a thornier one. While many individuals choose to enter nursing for altruistic reasons, it seems unreasonable to expect that all nurses share that particular motivation. Ther e is a shortage of nurses world-wide, no doubt leading to many individuals choose this career path because it will provide a secure and reliable source of income. Nurses trained in an accredited program can always find

Project Management as the Application of Knowledge Essay - 2

Project Management as the Application of Knowledge - Essay Example The construction industry in the Gulf has witnessed a colossal leap in the past decade. This is rather paradoxical in the context of the global economic slowdown, which negatively influenced the real estate sector in most parts of the world. In particular, the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates has bounced back on to the fast – track, rapidly taking on massive projects towards development of tourism, housing, industrial and commercial facilities, education and healthcare amenities, transportation as well as expansion of ports and airports. The construction sector has been a key source in driving growth for the nation’s economy and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 9.5 per cent during 2012 - 2016. What you write here is the good context for the study – place this in your part 1,m this area is for the lit review itself This trend has been possible largely due to the affluence of the local Arab community, wealthy expatriat es as well as favorable Government policies. The United Arab Emirates is witnessing huge investments from both, public and private enterprises in the construction sector, focussing on the development of infrastructure for hospitality, retail, real estate and the healthcare industry.   Interestingly, Dubai is recognized to hold the ‘highest per square kilometre’ of construction activity in the world (Faridi& El-Sayegh, 2006)! Yet, it is observed that there are recurring problems of time and cost overruns in the UAE’s construction industry. This is a major cause for concern, prompting a thorough understanding of the current scenario and the proposal of solutions to mitigate these issues in the construction industry. ‘Project Management’ is defined as the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to the project activities, in order to meet project requirements in an effective and timely manner. Project management typically includes identi fication of requirements, establishment of clear and achievable objectives, balancing the demands of quality, scope, time, cost and importantly, adapting specifications to meet the expectations of the various stakeholders. The application of ‘Project Management’ to the construction industry as a ‘scientific approach’ to mitigate time and cost overruns has been detailed by various researchers. There is a popular belief that â€Å"time is money† and any delay is sure to have a significant impact on the costs incurred. The interplay of contractors, consultants, supervisors and owners must be managed diligently by an effective manager, utilising project management techniques. The following will serve as a research proposal for a project that is concentric upon the role of ‘project management’ in mitigating the cost and time overruns and construction projects in the United Arab Emirates.  

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Child Exploitation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Child Exploitation - Research Paper Example This will require due process of law, to determine. The man is only a suspect, at the moment, until judgment is passed in a court of law. It is tempting to believe in his guilt, since it is his computer that contains pornographic pictures of Jennifer and other children. This is, however, circumstantial evidence, until he confesses, or there is convincing, admissible testimony against him, or there is overwhelming, admissible evidence. The pornography is incriminating evidence, but we do not know, for a fact, that these are photos or videos which he took and possibly distributed, or whether perhaps his housekeeper or gardener or best buddy used his computer to do so. Perhaps he is being framed by police. Maybe Jennifer has falsified identification that indicates she is not a minor. Maybe Jennifer’s mother vouched for her daughter’s older age and there was no reasonable clue to suggest otherwise. Maybe he checked her driving license and her Facebook account, as well as her personal website, and they all indicated clearly that she was 19 years old. Maybe this man suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder and is unaware of a personality behaving in a criminal manner. Maybe he is profoundly mentally retarded and is not capable of understanding the illegality and consequences of what he did, if indeed he did it. Many things are possible and open to speculation, at the moment. It is easy to assume guilt in a case that triggers emotional shock, horror, and disgust, but this is the type of situation in which the community must wait for a court of law to make an official finding. The underlying assumption, contained in this first question, bears some reflection. Are Jennifer and her mother willing participants? Jennifer is 16. This means that in 31 states, she is old enough to give consent for sexual activity. In 19 states, Jennifer is not a willing participant, because she is

Questionnaire Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Questionnaire - Research Proposal Example Complimentary meals VII. Special price promotions VIII. Extending special privileges to immediate family members IX. Any other please specify ___________________________________________ 7. How are the loyalty programmes designed for the corporate segment Flat rate Linked to volume Rewards on accumulated points Any other, please specify ______________________________________ 9. Which features in your opinion, attract maximum guests and justify the hotel's expenses in making such an offer 10. What is the objective of your loyalty programme I. Decrease price sensitivity (Is there an effort on part of your hotel to persuade customers to try new offers, pay premium prices, and/or use the hotel for increasingly diverse services so that they resist cheaper offers by competing hotels) II. Serve as a defensive measure to cope with competition (since other hotels offer such programmes, your hotel needs to offer too) III. Increase patronage and attract new customers (encourage word of mouth support and endorsement) IV. Ensure repeat usage V. Any other, please specify_______________________________ 11. How do you manage your loyalty programmes I. Use of CRM (Customer relationship management) (any specific software)_______________ II. III. Feedback forms IV. V. In house software which is used for bookings and managing guest stay VI. VII. Any other, please specify_______________________________ VIII. 12. How do you identify a loyal customer in the retail segment-when he arrives at your hotel- so that he is serviced accordingly (What is the delivery mechanism) I. With a loyalty card II. Internal records 13. In which way, if at all, do you involve your employees in the loyalty programmes especially staff from housekeeping and F&B, who may interact... 20. In your opinion are loyalty programmes essential for loyal customers to exist If yes why, if no why not (especially in light of the argument that that excellent service and satisfaction among guests is considered by many researchers as enough to maintain loyalty)

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Project Management as the Application of Knowledge Essay - 2

Project Management as the Application of Knowledge - Essay Example The construction industry in the Gulf has witnessed a colossal leap in the past decade. This is rather paradoxical in the context of the global economic slowdown, which negatively influenced the real estate sector in most parts of the world. In particular, the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates has bounced back on to the fast – track, rapidly taking on massive projects towards development of tourism, housing, industrial and commercial facilities, education and healthcare amenities, transportation as well as expansion of ports and airports. The construction sector has been a key source in driving growth for the nation’s economy and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 9.5 per cent during 2012 - 2016. What you write here is the good context for the study – place this in your part 1,m this area is for the lit review itself This trend has been possible largely due to the affluence of the local Arab community, wealthy expatriat es as well as favorable Government policies. The United Arab Emirates is witnessing huge investments from both, public and private enterprises in the construction sector, focussing on the development of infrastructure for hospitality, retail, real estate and the healthcare industry.   Interestingly, Dubai is recognized to hold the ‘highest per square kilometre’ of construction activity in the world (Faridi& El-Sayegh, 2006)! Yet, it is observed that there are recurring problems of time and cost overruns in the UAE’s construction industry. This is a major cause for concern, prompting a thorough understanding of the current scenario and the proposal of solutions to mitigate these issues in the construction industry. ‘Project Management’ is defined as the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to the project activities, in order to meet project requirements in an effective and timely manner. Project management typically includes identi fication of requirements, establishment of clear and achievable objectives, balancing the demands of quality, scope, time, cost and importantly, adapting specifications to meet the expectations of the various stakeholders. The application of ‘Project Management’ to the construction industry as a ‘scientific approach’ to mitigate time and cost overruns has been detailed by various researchers. There is a popular belief that â€Å"time is money† and any delay is sure to have a significant impact on the costs incurred. The interplay of contractors, consultants, supervisors and owners must be managed diligently by an effective manager, utilising project management techniques. The following will serve as a research proposal for a project that is concentric upon the role of ‘project management’ in mitigating the cost and time overruns and construction projects in the United Arab Emirates.  

Questionnaire Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Questionnaire - Research Proposal Example Complimentary meals VII. Special price promotions VIII. Extending special privileges to immediate family members IX. Any other please specify ___________________________________________ 7. How are the loyalty programmes designed for the corporate segment Flat rate Linked to volume Rewards on accumulated points Any other, please specify ______________________________________ 9. Which features in your opinion, attract maximum guests and justify the hotel's expenses in making such an offer 10. What is the objective of your loyalty programme I. Decrease price sensitivity (Is there an effort on part of your hotel to persuade customers to try new offers, pay premium prices, and/or use the hotel for increasingly diverse services so that they resist cheaper offers by competing hotels) II. Serve as a defensive measure to cope with competition (since other hotels offer such programmes, your hotel needs to offer too) III. Increase patronage and attract new customers (encourage word of mouth support and endorsement) IV. Ensure repeat usage V. Any other, please specify_______________________________ 11. How do you manage your loyalty programmes I. Use of CRM (Customer relationship management) (any specific software)_______________ II. III. Feedback forms IV. V. In house software which is used for bookings and managing guest stay VI. VII. Any other, please specify_______________________________ VIII. 12. How do you identify a loyal customer in the retail segment-when he arrives at your hotel- so that he is serviced accordingly (What is the delivery mechanism) I. With a loyalty card II. Internal records 13. In which way, if at all, do you involve your employees in the loyalty programmes especially staff from housekeeping and F&B, who may interact... 20. In your opinion are loyalty programmes essential for loyal customers to exist If yes why, if no why not (especially in light of the argument that that excellent service and satisfaction among guests is considered by many researchers as enough to maintain loyalty)

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

History of education Essay Example for Free

History of education Essay Education has its downfalls. Students are only taught what society sees fit to teach them. This ideology has an astound effect when used as controlling propaganda. If a society doesnt want students to learn about a certain period of history, then it is not taught. Children might hear stories or tales from elders, but the majority is left in ignorance. In the United States, education is a tool to succeed in life. The quality of education that a student receives depends upon many issues. One of the biggest differences in education is between public and private schools. In a society that values money, such as ours, the rich are given a better  background in education than most people. For the general public, students are taught the same material, and excel at different rates than other students. The people that dont grasp the material usually fall behind and become the working class within our society. Those that excel become the backbone of our society, fueling our economy and developing ideas within our world. The difference in education is not only the skill that is provided, but also the attitude. The skills that are learned are definitely important, but the determination and attitude learned is priceless. The communists came up with the idea of equality for everyone. Every person gets the same schooling and education. This concept cannot possibly work. Every person is different, and some people lack the ability to work in a technical field. Everyone has a place in society, and some people will work hard physically all of their lives. Not everyone can be number 1. Inequalities definitely exist in education. The rich seem to get richer, and the poor seem to become poorer. A society consists of different classes of people, and each class is essential to the survival of all. The gap between the rich and the poor can never be eliminated, but by educating our people maybe it can become smaller.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Teamwork advantage and disadvantage

Teamwork advantage and disadvantage List and describe three advantages and three disadvantages of teams. From your personal experience, provide an example of one of the advantages and one of the disadvantages. â€Å"Although teamwork has many advantages, it also has a number of potential disadvantages.† â€Å"When teams are successful, they improve productivity, creativity, employee involvement, and even job security.† â€Å"At their worst, teams are unproductive and frustrating, and they waste everyones time.† (Thill and Bovà ©e, 2008, pgs 40 41) Some advantages include: 1) Increased information and knowledge — By bringing together subject matter experts from several areas of a company gives decision-making teams access to the most information possible; 2) Increased acceptance of a solution — People who are part of making a decision would most likely be the best in helping support, and effectively encouraging others to accept the decision, and 3) Higher performance levels — Working in teams and brainstorming can actually drive an individual to think out of the box. Teams give one the sense of belonging, of self-worth, dignity and also reduce any stress or tension there may be between workers. A personal example of being on a team that had the advantage of increased information and knowledge was in helping the developer of a Customer Relationship Management database by having everyone on the team give specifics as to what was expected out of this database. Within six weeks the database was up and running, with a few tweaks here and there since then, but is still up and running today. Some disadvantages include: 1) Groupthink — Groupthink occurs when individuals are intimidated, or pressured, into acting a certain way by thinking their opinions are not worth hearing. When in the end, their opinions may actually have been better than the end decision; 2) Hidden agendas — Some team members may have motives of trying to undermine another team member, or that they just simply want to take control of the group; and 3) Free riders — Free riders are individuals who show no enthusiasm and make no contributions to the decision-making process. A personal example of being on a team that had the disadvantage of having a free rider was during a two-day class that had various activities as a whole. In one of the activities, we were put in groups of five, were given a topic to discuss and list the reasons/outcomes, and then to present it to the entire group. Since this was not a graded activity, the group chose the free rider to make the presentation. The free rider was not too happy with this group decision, but realized if they would have participated, that someone else may have actually volunteered to make the presentation. The free rider made the presentation with as little enthusiasm as shown during the group activity. Whether youre working on an informal team, which the two most popular types are problem-solving and task forces, or on a formal team that is a committee, companies rely heavily on these teams. Teams can help bring about quicker solutions to problems or ideas that can help the company in the marketplace. This is because the members are employees that should have a vested interest in the company. List and define the three types of listening. Listening is a primary activity. â€Å"Understanding the nature of listening is the first step toward improving your listening skills. People listen in a variety of ways, which influences what they hear and the meaning they extract. In fact, relying on a single approach to listening limits your effectiveness.† (Thill and Bovà ©e, 2008, pg 53) Here are three of the major types of listening: 1) Critical listening — Critical listening is analyzing and understanding the speakers message. There are four factors in determining the speakers intentions: logic, evidence, conclusion, and implication. If you feel that any important information was omitted from the message, ask questions to deter any bias in the way the message is being presented; 2) Empathic listening — Empathic listening is being able to truly understand the emotions behind the speakers message, their feelings, their needs, their wants, and their true passion behind their message. Even if you disagree with their perspective, let them know you understand and can appreciate their feelings; and 3) Active listening — Active listening is the ability to turn off your own biases and filters and to show the speaker, by asking questions and also giving supportive feedback, that they truly understand the message the speaker is presenting. â€Å"The importance of listening in communication is enormous. People often focus on their speaking ability believing that good speaking equals good communication. The ability to speak well is a necessary component to successful communication. The ability to listen is equally as important. Listening takes work and when it comes to improving our communication there is no getting around that.† (http://EzineArticles.com/210731) Describe two instances in your life when you either used or observed nonverbal communication. Define the type of nonverbal communication using the information in the text and discuss how it affected the conversation. â€Å"Paying special attention to nonverbal signals in the workplace will enhance your ability to communicate successfully. Moreover, as you interact with business associates from other backgrounds, youll discover that some nonverbal signals dont necessarily translate across cultures. The range and variety of nonverbal signals are almost endless, but you can grasp the basics by studying six general categories.† (Thill and Bovà ©e, 2008, pg 57) Below are two instances in my life where Ive used and observed two out of the six categories, â€Å"personal appearance† and â€Å"facial expression†. I was interviewing a potential employee to work in my restaurant. This individual had several tattoos and body piercings. Now considering that a front-line employee is the first person a customer sees when they come into a restaurant, this is not the impression I wanted my customers to have. Based on the position that this person was interviewing for and that they are coming to an interview dressed this way, they were non-verbally telling me by their personal appearance, that this is what I should expect of them if they were to come to work for me. I truly had a hard time focusing on any of their responses as I couldnt understand how they thought this type of appearance was acceptable to be hired for any type of position in an establishment where they would be dealing with the public. Needless to say, this person was not hired to work at my restaurant. An instance of observing nonverbal communication was during a mandatory meeting that was called at work and during the meeting one particular individual stood out as you could hear him making little snide remarks about what the speaker was saying, and then used the facial expression of rolling his eyes. This individual also would use posture such as slouching in his chair for awhile then he pulled out his cell phone and started to text. The meeting was actually very informative about a new product the company was developing and was asking for everyones input on ideas for marketing. Since this individual was not listening during the meeting, in the end when we all got back to our desks, he had to go around and ask other co-workers what it was he was supposed to do. Most of the workers told him he would need to go ask his supervisor. Whether he did or not, no one knew, nor did anyone know if he turned in his idea. He was around for about another 2 months, and then we heard he had found another job and wouldnt be back. â€Å"Good communication skills can help you in both your personal and professional life. While verbal and written communication skills are important, research has shown that nonverbal behaviors make up a large percentage of our daily interpersonal communication†. (http://psychology.about.com/od/nonverbalcommunication/tp/nonverbaltips.htm) Nonverbal communication has the potential of sending out the wrong message, whether its misinterpreted, or if what you say doesnt match your actions. Describe the measures that help team members resolve conflict. It is inevitable that at some point in ones professional career they will be on a team where conflict arises. There are numerous reasons for conflict: lack of clarity, decisions have already been made on their own and are unwilling to discuss any further, different values, past history/personalities, or one believes there is completion for some type of resource. There are measures to help team members resolve conflicts — Proaction, communication, openness, research, flexibility, fair play, and alliance. Here are descriptions of each of the conflict resolutions as mentioned: 1) Proaction is when you work out, deal with, a minor conflict before it erupts into a major conflict; 2) Communication is needed to resolve a conflict. This is accomplished by getting those directly involved to communicate to resolve the conflict; 3) Openness is getting all feelings out in the open, and then the main issue at hand can be dealt with; 4) Research is the need to get the facts for the problem before being able to determine any solutions for the problem; 5) Flexibility is being able to be open-minded. Dont let anyones stubbornness get in the way of them being able to consider other solutions to the problem; 6) Fair play is not letting anyone hide behind the rules to avoid getting a fair solution; and 7) Alliance is fighting together as opponents of the outside force, rather than fighting against each other. In order to achieve a win-win solution, teams must be aware of, and learn how to keep destructive conflict from diverting their focus and energy, and also how both sides can satisfy their goals, at least to an extent.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Coal Seam Gas Essay -- Environment

With environmental sustainability a key focus for the future the need for cleaner forms of power generation have resulted in a number of gas exploration projects in Australia (Department of Infrastructure and Planning, 2008). With Australia having potentially vast untapped reserves of coal seam methane beds it must be asked whether there are any negative impacts associated with coal seam methane (CSM) before the energy industry moves into a new technology. Coalification, the geologic process that progressively converts plant material to coal, generates large quantities of natural gas, which are subsequently stored in the coal seams. The increased pressures from water in the coal seams force the natural gas to adsorb to the coal. The natural gas consists of approximately 96 percent methane, 3.5 percent nitrogen, and trace amounts of carbon dioxide (U.S. EPA, 2004a). Also known as Coal bed methane (CBM), CSG is released by removing water from the stratum which reduces the pressure on the coal seam (Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation QLD, 2012). Over the past 15 years and despite the recent global economic downturn the CSG industry has continued to grow rapidly in both development and exploration. The Queensland’s coal seam gas overview shows this clearly with the annual number of wells drilled has increased from 10 in the early 1990s to nearly 600 in 2011 (Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation QLD, 2012). As a result of this rapid growth it is necessary to evaluate the current CSG industry to establish and minimise the current and future environmental impacts of CSG mining. Literature Review Many studies have been conducted into the environmental impacts of downhole ... ... treatments in the Oak Grove Field, Black Warrior Basin, In Situ, J. of Coal Research. 17:(3). 273-309. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2000. Study Design for Evaluating of Impacts to Underground Sources of Drinking Water by Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs. America: EPA. Ardis, L. 2006. Clash Over Coalbed Methane. The Tyee. http://thetyee.ca/News/200 6/11/14/CBM/. (Accessed Thursday 31st May 2012). Razowska L, 2000. Journal of Hydrology: Changes of groundwater chemistry caused by the flooding of iron mines (Czestochowa Region, Southern Poland). 244(200). 17-32. Polish Geological Institute. Montana Department of Environmental Quality, 2007. Coal Bed Methane Federal, State, and Local Laws, Regulations, and Permits - That May Be Required http://www.deq.mt.gov/coalbedmethane/cbm_water_quality.mcpx (Accessed Tuesday, 29th May, 2012).

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Essay --

INTRODUCTION For this assignment, I will be focusing on the unemployment situation in Greece. The reason why I choose unemployment in Greece is because the country is facing a  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­high unemployment rate of at least 27.8% in October 2013, the highest jobless rate in the entire area of Europe. Greece high unemployment started as early as 8.5% in 2009. This is the sixth year that Greece has seen its recession. Unemployment in Greece is also a major problem for the economy as this will decrease the production rate of the country therefore lowering the country’s GDP CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT: The country now has 1.5 million of its population with no jobs. In the 27.8% of population being unemployed, 64.9% of the population are youth between the age of 15-24 years old. Greek youth unemployment has reached to the highest percentage of at least for the last six year, reaching the highest record for the last decade. Greece is in a debt crisis after the election on 2009 which resulted the opposition Pasok socialist party to win, making George Papandreou to takes over as new prime minister. On January – March 2010, the government announces of 2 more austerity measures. Austerity measures are official actions being taken by the government during the period of adverse economic situation. It is to reduce budget deficit by using a combination of spending cut or increasing the tax. However the austerity measures are resulted by facing a mass protests and strikes by the public. The strikes grew as big as 10 thousand people in early 2011. On the February of 2011, the protester s march on to parliament to counter government efforts to pass on the new austerity laws. Majority of the protesters are students between the ages of 15-24 who are lookin... ...vicious cycle ends in 2014. Greece will return to the markets, it will start to become a normal country again. The debt will be declared viable, without the need of loan agreements, without the need to borrow money," The government officials also mention that the country’s largest tax dodgers owe around â‚ ¬13 billion in unpaid tax. CONCLUSION In conclusion, I would assume that the economy crisis in Greek will not end quickly. The worst of Greek economy may probably be over, but the recovery will still need some years. The governments are still attempting to solve the economic crisis and the population are still attempting to seek for work. Greece debt issue and unemployment should start to fall in 2014, and may even have economic growth by the end of 2014. And if the tax dodger would not avoid paying their taxes, the economy condition may recover a lot faster.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Assignment 2- Database Modeling and Normalization

Assignment 2- Database Modeling and Normalization Dr. Amir Afzal Strayer University- CIS 515 August 7, 2012 Abstract Selling high end electronics is big business and being a commissioned employee in that field if your sales are up means big money. Prices for electronics range from the low hundreds into the thousands. It really depends on the person style, specifications they are looking for, trust in the brand, and the depth of their pockets, how much a person is willing to spend for example on a that high definition led plasma television that is 52 inches.No matter the cost, businesses want to keep a track of the sales of their employees and how much they are getting paid. In this case a high-end electronics store wants to streamline data processing to enable them to help determine the commissions paid to employees. Assignment 2- Database Modeling and Normalization Streamlining processes allows information to be available to users across the system. In order for the finance departme nt to be able to find the commission paid to employee’s information that maybe held by other departments such as human resources will be needed.Once the database is complete and has all the information such as: employee first and last name, employee ID, yearly salary, commission rate, department, etc, the finance department can then being to generate that information. In this case a query is designed to allow the finance department to determine commissions paid to employees of specific departments. That code will be compared to the code that would show how much total compensation is paid to each employee monthly. Lastly it will be described how Big Data could be used to assist in productivity and forecasting of organizations product and resources.Methods After information is gathered about the employee; most of what was mentioned before, and input into the system a query can be designed to pull that information from the tables. In order to pull information from tables the SEL ECT function is used to determine the information that is needed and the FROM function tells from what tables to pull it (Coronel, Morris & Rob, 2012). The coding that was used to find information on commissions paid to employees was: SELECT Employee. * FROM Employee, Invoice WHERE (DepartmentID =2);The asterisk next to employees indicates that all the information under the employee table was used to generate the search. In this query information was pulled from the employee and invoice tables. The WHERE function more specifically states the department which can be changed and it would generate new information. The query currently only shows employee commission information for employees who work in department two (see attachment). If the finance department wanted to find the total compensation paid to each employee in the same month as the first query a slightly different query would be run to generate that information.The first code simply pulled the information and did not include and computation because the finance department only requested to be able to determine as in pull up the record for employee’s commission paid. The second code will include computation which will divide the yearly salary by twelve months then multiples the commission rate by the total amount of product sold and lastly add those two numbers together to get the total compensation for that month. Unfortunately the coding that I am using is not generating a proper result.However, it should look something like this: SELECT Employee. EmpNumber, Employee. EmpFirstName, Employee. EmpLastName, Employee. YrlySalary, Invoice. InvAmount, Invoice. InvDate, Employee. CommissionRate FROM Employee INNER JOIN Invoice ON Employee. EmpNumber = Invoice. EmpNumber WHERE (DepartmentID=2);, it is missing the computation part. Big Data could be used to assist in productivity and forecasting of organizations product and resources because it takes â€Å"large pools of data that can be brought togethe r and analyzed to discern patterns and make better decisions†.It â€Å"enhanc[es] productivity and creat[es] significant value for the world economy by reducing waste and increasing the quality of products and services (Mcguire, 2012). Additionally, Big Data adds â€Å"value by making information transparent†¦ â€Å"store more transactional data in digital form†, and develop the next generation of products and services† (Mcguire, 2012). That last aspect of Big Data allows â€Å"manufacturers are using data obtained from sensors embedded in products to create innovative after-sales service offerings such as proactive maintenance to avoid failures in new products (Mcguire, 2012).References Coronel, C. , Morris, S. , & Rob, P. (2012). Database systems. (10th ed. ). Independence, KY: Cengage. Mcguire, T. (2012, July). Why big data is the new competitive advantage. Retrieved from http://www. iveybusinessjournal. com/topics/strategy/why-big-data-is-the-new-compe titive-advantage Appendix A Appendix B | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Diet and Nutrition

Overweight and obesity are among the most topical health related problems of our modern society. They are primarily associated with high risk for many terrible diseases, including heart attack, diabetes, etc. Recently, overwhelming majority of women and increasing amount of men are forced to pay serious attention on the meals they eat, to count the calories or to keep to some diet. There is a great deal of information about dieting and following healthy nutrition-style available in contemporary mass media.There are special TV and radio programs, in which medical doctors or other specialists speculate about different diets and give valuable pieces of advice. It is possible to find special magazines and other editions, presenting one or another type of diets or weigh-loss programs for the general audience. Finally, there is abundance of Internet sites, dedicated to the problems of obesity and overweight.As a rule, the most of the recommendations, connected with dieting and putting off weight, are quite individual and must be specifically given for any particular person, taking into consideration his/her health and psychological conditions, present life-style, marital status and so on. But there are some common points and tips, which can be suggested to anyone, who is thinking about starting a new healthy nutrition and life-style. Speaking about diet, first of all, it is necessary to reduce the amount of highly caloric meals in daily ration. Primarily, those are baked and fried foods.Many diet specialists suggest total refusal of eating all sorts of bread and bakery, made from white refined wheat powder. At the same time, it is necessary to include some small amounts of household bread or graham crackers, because bread has some important rare nutrients, essential for human organism. Also, any type of fried food is considered to be dangerous and caloric. Fried and fatty meals are direct contribution into fat deposits, which are drastically increasing weigh of the b ody. The same can be said about sweet foods, especially sugar and its products.These foodstuffs are rich with glucose, which is a perfect source of energy, but, at the same time, can be easily conversed to fat. That is why one of the easiest and most common recommendations for fatty people is to lover the consumption of sugar, sweets and chocolate. Second important suggestion is decreasing the amount of junk food. Contemporary life is making us very busy and tired of our problems, children, offices, schools and all the things. That is why it is a good solution in many situations to use ready meals in fast food restaurants, or to prepare ready-to-cook products.At the same time, our favorite pizza, Big Mac or Whopper are simply caloric bombs. They are usually prepared on extremely dangerous fats or oils and have a lot of fat-containing ingredients, like cheese, sausages, etc. The third tip on improving nutritional habits is to avoid overeating and eating late at night. Dietologists su ggest eating three-four times a day, serving a number of different meals in small portions. If hunger appears before the scheduled meal-time, some light yogurt, piece of fruit or tomato juice can be the best solution for handling it.Also, it is better to have dinner at least in two-three hours before going to bed. Certainly, not everything is based on correct nutrition and healthy food consumption in the program on putting off weight. Such activities like doing REGULAR physical exercises, being always moving and dynamic during the day, spending a lot of time outdoors and preferring active rest, are milestone points for people with extra weight. Besides, such spiritual practices, like yoga, proved to be very effective and supportive for those, who are trying to decrease own weight.If a woman is 5'4†³ tall and has 158 pounds of weight, she can find out (using some Internet resources or special comparative tables) that she is quite overweight, but, fortunately, not obese. That is why she does not need to keep to a strict exhausting diet, but some urgent steps must be done in order to put off her extra pounds. To do so, she needs to make some changes in her nutritional habits and establish some new rules of maintaining healthy life-style. To start with, she can adopt above mentioned recommendations, trying to lower the amount of fat and sugar in her daily meals and avoiding eating late at night.It would be necessary to learn cooking healthy meals, using as much as possible vegetables, cereals, fruit, meat, fish and other natural products. It would be healthy for all the family to give up eating macaroni or fried potatoes and enjoy delicious boiled or stewed foods, which are much more healthy and useful. Besides, she needs to re-schedule her daily routine and find more time for additional physical activity. For example, dieting can be perfectly supported by regular strolls or jogging.At the workplace it is better not to sit for long, or (if the work is connect ed with sitting) to do some frequent refreshing physical exercises. On the way home it is better to walk as much as possible, at least from the further parking place. Of course, it is good to use the opportunity of having active rest on weekends, like going out of the city, hiking, swimming, etc. The most important moment is: healthy nutrition and physical activity have to be regular. This will never work for people, who always put the things off until tomorrow and look for reasons to give up.Only doing regular exercises and always keeping away from unhealthy meals will work for good. This way, maintaining healthy life-style has to grow into a habit and work for keeping the body in normal weight for long time. That is why, in addition to everything above mentioned, it is also extremely important to get psychologically ready for the hard work on weight-loss plan. It will take enormous efforts to refuse some favorite meals, like cakes, hamburgers or fries; to follow the schedule of ha ving meals; to learn how to cook new dishes; to find some time to do physical exercises or jogging, etc.It is necessary to remain focused on the goal and be ready to do everything possible to achieve it. Undoubtedly, dieting and following healthy life-style will bring some certain changes into daily activity of the woman. For instance, it may take some more time to cook more healthy meals, or some extra time will be required for doing exercises and outdoors activity. That’s why in the beginning her husband and children may feel lack of her attention; she may have no time for doing something she used to do; she can feel more tired and have lack of rest, etc.Nevertheless, in three or four months the first results will take place and the first pounds will disappear. By that time, the woman will definitely get into the swing of her new life-style and feel less pressure from the things to be done. Therefore, the first outcomes of her efforts will become clear. She’ll feel l ighter and healthier, her self-esteem will rise and her capabilities will increase. This everything will immediately reflect on her family and bring to numerous positive reactions.