Capital Budgeting Process Essay Example for Free

Capital Budgeting Process Essay Capital budgeting is one of the most important financing tools used to examine expenditures and future projects in the capital spending and to budget for projects and all other analysis of spending for the future. This gives a heads up for healthcare managers to control their spending not only for capital expenditures but other spending such as payments and utilities for the organization. Capital budgeting is a large process that takes many different aspects to run. While capital budgeting is one of the most important aspects in healthcare finance, it is also a broad topic. A bond is a financing tool that is used when an issuer gives a statement to the payee for money and an interest payment is made to the payee at certain times. When an organization goes through the process of issuing a bond, they go through six major steps to accomplish bond issuing and determine whether this is the best decision at the time. Before issuing a bond, the issuer examines their capital plan and determines whether a bond is needed financially. Next, the issuer looks at the options for payees within bond issuance and is then examined by a credit rating agency to see if their credit score is high enough to issue a bond. After being examined by the credit rating agency, the bond itself is examined by the agency and after it is approved, the borrower is given terms and conditions to accept from the borrower. The last step that an organization must go through to issue is to sell the bond. These are sold to the payer where they give the money needed for the specific amount. While bonds are a great way to manage debt and become financially secure, leasing is another way that healthcare facilities manage their debt. Leasing refers to a contract where the lessee pays the owner rent or money for assets for a contracted time where the contract can be renewed and reinstated for longer term usage of those assets. Leasing is undertaken primarily because they don’t have to take care of the maintenance that comes with leasing assets. The owner of the machinery, facility, equipment or anything else that can be leased must continue routine maintenance saving the facility money on expenditure amounts within the spending area. If a facility is struggling for money, there are options such as bonds and leasing to decrease costs and increase the needed funds. There are two major types of leases that healthcare facilities must understand which are capital leases and operating leases. A capital lease, or financial lease, is used to lease assets for as long as the asset will remain available and running. The lessee is required by the contract of the lease to pay for the assets being used as long as the lease is in motion. Operating lease is almost the opposite of a capital lease. Operating leases are used for terms that are usually breakable and shorter than the assets given period of operation. Short term borrowing is a term used to describe when a company is in debt for a term of one year or less. These debts are usually paid back in that year and are usually short term bank loans that are used to finance a company. Long term financing is the exact opposite of a short term loan. It is used when a company needs to be financed for longer than one year or will not be paid back within that year. It can be from a single loan or multiple loans and is used when there are no plans or availability to have these loans paid back within the year. Equity financing sources for nonprofit organizations include internally generated funds, philanthropy, and government grants. These are used to finance and support organizations that are non profit and that help those in need. Today, more and more organizations are becoming nonprofit and are used by their own money, grants and loans and stocks and bonds. These are all primary sources for nonprofit organizations to keep serving communities in the healthcare world. Capital Budgeting process does occur in several extensive stages that include many different objectives for projects and programs for healthcare organizations. These generally include expenditures and the budget that comes along with those steps. These are used so that there are different views of the budget and what needs to be completed and examined in order to see the direction headed. Three discounted cash flow methods that are used include net present value, profitability index and equivalent annual cost. Net present value is the amount of the investment compared to incomes after the discount has been applied. (Cleverley, 529). The profitability is the ratio of the NPV and investment costs. (Cleverley, 533). This is used to compare rates of return on capital budgeting. Finally, the equivalent annual cost is the spending of the project compared to the capital spending and the operation costs when not leased but fully owned.

Globalization: The Homogenization Of Cultures

Globalization: The Homogenization Of Cultures The increased integration of humanity beyond the national borders is compressing the world into an interdependent global village. Today, many equate the process of globalization with the promotion of interests of the West, whose hegemony is propagated through the idea of liberalism. As a result of the Western superior power and cultural imperialism, the so-called Third World countries feel compelled to admit their superiority and subsequently to acculturate themselves, accepting the Western way of life as a norm. The greatest consequence of this is homogenization of cultures and the loss of identity in the process of implementing Western ideologies. Today, the world we live in is taking part in the process of an increased integration through the movement of people and goods. The growing development of communication makes the unification of the entire globe seem as something completely natural. Globalization of our societies and every day lives à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ However, the question that is being imposed upon us is whether this compression of the world into one global society means that the world is being enriched and unified, or will it be torn apart by nations self-interest conflicts in the battle for preservation of their identities? The wide variety and diversity of our cultures and identities has always been, without a doubt, a part of who we are. Societies and cultures learn how to grow and prosper through overlapping and borrowing from each other. Some would argue that cultures should not be perceived as individual, but that they need to be examined in a more general way, since they constantly change and evolve. Cultures stopped being related to a mere geographical area and its society; nowadays, they are linked to the contemporary time that they exist in, as well as to the entire globe. Thanks to the process of globalization, today we have unique emerging cultures, such as Internet culture, artists culture, culture of the young people from around the world and others that are becoming a part of a universal set of values and ideas, turning the world into one global culture. However, while this unification of cultures has its benefits, at the same time it brings along the risk of an intercultural and identity-related conflict. For some people, their culture is everything that makes them who they are, it is an essential part of their identity. For example, in a case of a possible dispute between cultures that have confronting views and prejudice against each other, their people will hold on strongly to their national identity and culture, because they feel intimately related to it and see it as their protection. In an effort to preserve ones culture, language or religion, people very often become involved in conflicts. Most importantly, these conflicts becomes aggravated by the consuming influence of biased media Furthermore, as a result of negative stereotypes, different cultures may view each other as alien and threatening and can lead to a clash of civilizations, as Huntington refers to it.FOOTNOTE NEEDED Additionally, an increased interaction between cultures can lead to the creation of a unified culture imposed by the more influencing and dominating one. Therefore, this would lead to the homogenization of the world. This brings around cultural imperialism as an inherent part, as well as a product of the overall process of imperialism, where one country with dominant economy, culture and policy has control over others. This causes the local cultures, especially those in the so-called Third World countries, to be exploited and challenged by the dominant, most often Western values. Unsurprisingly, this comes as an effect of many centuries during which West had the chance to establish its dominance in the world. Cultural imperialism occurs when one culture is presented in such a manner that is seems undeveloped and non-modern when compared to another. Accordingly, the dominant cultures standards and norms become gradually accepted by the locals who believe in its superiority. This is why some intellectuals equate globalization with the Western imperialism; they argue that the West is imposing its ideas of liberalism onto the rest of the world through the process of globalization and therefore ensuring and reaffirming its hegemony. Instead of physically colonizing the rest of the world, the West has chosen more subtle means of propagating its ideas. The spread of Western, namely American goods around the world is not a simple coincidence- it is a part of the process of cultural imperialism. In addition, instead of being a simple trend of consumerism of American products, cultural imperialism implies the implementation of American ideas such as freedom of speech and democracy. As a result, this process leads to the steady disperse of unique cultures across the globe as t hey succumb to the influence of the more powerful American culture. So, whats in it for the West and America and whats their real motive? Many people believe that the main reason is the protection of the unlimited access to foreign markets, along with an actual and concrete belief in the American superiority by their citizens. However, it is simple to convince the Americans of their own superiority, but when convincing foreign cultures, they have to be more assertive and creative. Thus, marketing, along with advertising, plays an extremely important role in the process of Americanization. Its importance lies in the fact that it has the ability to persuade others in the modernity and the advanced stage of development of those American goods. Consequently, they begin to dominate local markets, doing no good to the local economy; hence, the local production industry weakens and gives way to the American economic interests. Another way of influencing local cultures and identities is through the vehicle of Internet. It plays a huge role in propagating the American culture, and enables it to be extremely exposed to the entire globe. However, the users of Internet that wish not to be exposed to the influence of American propagating contents can easily avoid it, since they are the active players in the seek of information online. Nevertheless, those who choose to be exposed to it, Internet can severely increase it. Governments are aware of this, and some of them, like the Chinese and Cuban, have restricted their citizens from the free flow of information, in order to prevent the Western influence. Oxymoronically, by restricting them, their governments are reassuring the fact that their citizens will not be the providers, but mere recipients of the Internet information flow. On the other hand, there is a substantial number of scholars who believe that the process of Americanizing the world is, as a matter of fact, a good thing for the entire world. They argue that through globalization, people become aware of the importance of strengthening their identity so they work on its preservation. In contrast to that, cultural imperialism can also lead to the establishment of a homogenized global identity that would help bring the world together. Accordingly, it would have a positive effect, hence the world will be more secure and stable through the elimination of the diverse and conflicting cultures. The Americans are already on the way to establish a single world society with minimum or no cultural restraints. However, the question being imposed on us is whether the uncertain assurance of a world peace is enough to justify the gradual disappearance of the numerous local cultures. Even though indigenous cultures are aware of the growing impact of American cultur al imperialism, there is not much they can do to stop it, since they are not strong enough to compete. They could try to limit the access to information, but that would contradict with the basic human rights which guarantee that everyone is able to attain free and unlimited knowledge and information through any means of media. Theoretically speaking, every nation, religion, race and ethnic group are equal, as long as they fulfill the needs of their people. Unfortunately, having superior and inferior, dominant and subordinate cultures, equality among them seem to be impossible. However, domination is nothing new- it has always existed throughout the history of the world, especially during colonization when Western powers believed they need to civilize the indigenous nations, while they were in fact exploiting them. The need for a cultural dialogue : When it comes to globalization and the issue of cultural imperialism, there seem to be two opposing views: some believe that the interaction and unification of cultures will lead to a clash of civilizations, while others claim it will bring around the greatly needed dialogue and cooperation. The global culture of today is, without a doubt, being shaped by the West. Nevertheless, it can and must be challenged by those that are being influenced by it, who should not just adopt their norms, but adapt and shape them so they fit the framework of their own culture and values. In addition, the fact that it is not just one culture influencing the other should not be overlooked; it is actually a process of mutual interaction and impact. Despite the fact that it is one of the modern worlds greatest challenges, intercultural dialogue is probably the best solution to counter cultural conflicts and crisis. Instead of simply succumbing to the influence, or doing the opposite- refraining and prohibiting the goods, people and world organizations should try appealing to the American governments to pass laws to restrain their companies from selling goods that endanger the survival of local market, and those companies should be prohibited from doing business. America must be fair and admit that perhaps what is good for its own economy, might not be good for the rest of the world and that the rights of people should be put before the need to make profit.

Operation Management Analysis Of Hard Rock Cafe Brand Tourism Essay

Operation Management Analysis Of Hard Rock Cafe Brand Tourism Essay Hard Rock Cafe is a success story in operation management . From its very first London pub in 1971 , after 39 years of existence Hard Rock cafe continued expanding and succeeding in many different countries. This paper will discuss how the 10 decisions of the Operation management were made on Hard Rock Cafe as well as operation management challenges and opportunities confronting Hard Rock Cafe when considering an expansion of its business in Hanoi. Critical evaluation of the operation management strategy of Hard Rock Cafe as described in the case materials. With the mission to spread out the spirit of rock n roll by delivering creating authentic experiences that rock, Hard Rock cafe has won continued success since it was founded in June 14, 1971 when the rock music was explosive in England. Hard Rock Cafe has uniqueness and more importantly it has launched an excellent strategy in operation management. Hard Rock cafe strategy is to provide not only a custom meal from the menu, but a dining event that includes a unique visual and sound experience not duplicated anywhere in the world. (1) That strategy has helped Hard rock cafe grow from its first Cafe to 129 world wide locations. Bellow is the discussion on some out of 10 decisions of opreration management run on Hard Rock Cafe. Taking the success of the Hard Rock Cafe into consideration means considering its service quality and product design. The Cafe offers a range of services from cafes, live music, Rock concerts to hotels and casinos. They serve customer by modifying the menu from classic American burgers and chicken wings- to include higher-end items such as stuff veal chops and lobster tail ( P.56). And of course, its quality must be the top charts. They always usually change their menu based on the frequent customer survey and localized food taste. Surveys are done on a regular basis to evaluate quality of food and service at the cafe. Scores are rated on a 1 to 7 scale. And if the score is not a 7, the food or service is a failure (Jay Barry, n.d,P.56). Hard Rock not simply offers meals and drink, it provides a unique different experience in each location. Experiences are not exclusive about entertainment; company stage an experience whenever they engage customers in a personal and memorable way. (Harvard Business Review, Welcome to the experience economy, B,Joseph Pine II Jame H. Gilmore, 1998) Surely, the key has driven Hard Rock Cafe to success is to build a standard of quality and keep its product and service meet the standard. One factor that brings success to Hard Rock Cafe is Human resource strategy.   Based on their specific services, from the recruitment Hard Rock Cafe looks for people who are passionate with music, like to serve people and have ability to tell story. Hard Rock builds on a hiring criterion of bright, positive attitude, self-motivated individuals with an employee bill of rights and substantial employee power. These people will surely inspire customer and make them happy. Hard Rock Cafe also created a great working environment with people who have the same interest but different personality. Besides, training plan is also a very good strategy at Hard Rock. The companys training is very specific, with job-oriented interactive CDs covering kitchen, retail, and front of the house service.   Through the training, employees improve themselves both personally and professionally. Staffs are highly motivated because they can see their opportunities in Hard Rock even they are from a low level as 60% of the managers here are promoted from part time staff. Such strate gies have reveaved that the Cafe really cares about their employees and their employees do not only come for money but also to obtain job satisfaction. Because location is such a significant cost and revenue driver, location often has the power to make (or break) a companys business strategy (Jay Barry, n.d, P.364) therefore, Hard Rock Cafe has been spending much time and great efforts to analyze location whenever they want to open a new Cafe. Focusing on tourists and people who love music therefore demographics, visitor market, transportation, restaurants/night clubs and political risk are emphasized factors for researching to make sure that Hard Rock Cafe is located in a convenient place for their potential customers. The analysis also helps them have a long term investment in each Hard Rock cafe. Every opened cafe is a result of an extremely careful decision after investigating the target markets, the proper places and considering the future success in a long period of time. Therefore, location contributes a crucial role in expanding Hard Rock Cafe popularity to world-wide nowadays. The layout is also another important decision that management has to make. The kitchen is set up to be not just only a normal kitchen but also a comfortable working space for all the staff. The kitchen flows are designed in order to make sure that the chief, waiters and waitresses have enough space to do their work. The bar and restaurant are designed to bring the highest income for Hard Rock Cafe. The installation of lighting, sound, screens, music and circulation paths is in order to praise memorabilia and as a result, customers are convinced to buy souvenirs naturally. In fact, the retail shops produce about half the companys profit and they are always displayed at eye-catching areas such as within the restaurant space, flow and work stations. Its obviously that scheduling is one of the most important decisions at Hard Rock Cafe. With Mr. Ken Hoffman, Hard Rocks General manager takes scheduling very serious. There are some factors that affect sales that Ken Hoffman cares when he makes schedule. The number of occupied rooms in nearby hotels is important because not all guests will have dinner in the Hotels. They will look for dinning spots and of course Hard Rock cafe will be their destination because of it uniqueness and well-known. The next factor that they consider is how many events will occur in the area. The third one is they examine the sales at the same day of previous year. Another factor that Hard Rock Cafe takes into account is the entree sales data, each entree is present 1 customer. With the result of the forecast, Hard Rock Cafe estimates the number of guest will come and they can have an appropriate plan on staffing and menu. There is a fact that inventory management is a different side of Hard Rock cafe. It is not too much when saying that the collection of rock and memorabilia is a trademark that makes Hard Rock cafe widespread everywhere around the world.  Customers come to Hard Rock Cafe not only for the meals they serve there but also for the items of their favorite artists that they can find on the cafe walls. These items;  including autographed guitars, outfits from world tours and rare photographs;  are collected and taken care by a special group in Orlando. They manage every single item with every single history, know exactly which item is being exhibit in which cafe on which wall through an inventory system using advantaged technology. An life circle of the exhibition of an item is around 5 to 7 years. After these years, the item is brought back to Orlando and renovated while another item is being replace it on the wall Hard Rock Cafe has lunched the first restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City through franchise license bought by Viet Thai International Company (VTI). This restaurant chain has been successful for since 1971 and in more than 166 worldwide locations. It seems that after a year launching, Hard Rock Cafe Vietnam (HRCVN) is on a right direction to the success. VIT (HRCFVN franchisee) has also a long term vision to expand the chain in Vietnam. Director of VIT announced on the launching day that his company will have at least two more Hard Rock Cafe in Vietnam in 2012, one in Hanoi and another one in Dang Nang city (Rock Passion, 2010. n.d.). In order to evaluate if HRCFVN will be a successful model in Hanoi, this writing will examine opportunities and challenges for HRCFVN based on its some key decisions of operation managements. Goods Services Design: As franchise, HRCFVN has been benefited from Hard Cafe international in providing the best quality of goods and services for its customers. Hard Rock Cafe Ho Chi Minh city can served more than 500 customers at the same time, as a result, if Hard Rock Cafe expand its business in Hanoi, this scale would be considered to apply. This would be a good point to served big events and parties meanwhile not many restaurants in Hanoi are large enough. Based on menu of Hard Rock Cafe Ho Chi Minh, they are offering a very diversified and good menu from drinks to eats and even a special menu for kids. These is only one thing that would be a challenge for drinks and eats menu is that the Northern foods are quite deferent with the South. The restaurant needs to do researches to make food and drinks suitable for the Northern peoples taste. Besides, a series of rock t-shirts and pins collections are also offering at Rock Shop. This is unique selling point which is no single restaurant in Hanoi can offer. This would offer Rock lovers opportunities to own a rock t-shirts. As Hard Rock cafe is changing its strategy to response to operation management, they believe that they dont sell meals or drinks, Hard Rock Cafe offers an unique different experience (Hard Rock Cafe Mission). At HRCF Ho Chi Minh, they are offering Rock n Roll memorabilia with hundreds of pieces of guitar, dress of Rock n Roll legends such as John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Pantera, Kiss, Van Halen, Motorhead, Pearl Jam, Eagles, Scorpions, Jon Bon Jovi, Steven Tyler, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley. By offering these items in Hanoi, it would be another key point to pull customers coming to the restaurant. Regarding service design, as Jey and Barry comment that designing services is challenging because they often have unique characteristics and in reality. Seeing s ervice quality point only, there is a big gap if compare Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Service quality in Ho Chi Minh city is always evaluated much better than Hanoi. It would be a challenged point for Hard Rock when they expand to this location. However, Hard Rock Cafe is well know in flexibility with the product, design and so many other aspects of their restaurants based on the local market they enter into. It means that they try to present themselves customizing things to the likes of their local customers. They empower the local franchisee to create their own unique Hard Rock Cafe that delivers unique  guest experience. There is no doubt that they would respect the tradition and culture of the locals and design your restaurant settings with that view in the mind. That would be a key to lead to the success when they do business in Hanoi. Quality Management: As franchisee, HRCFVN will be provided, guided and trained international management standard which Hard Rock Cafe is applying worldwide with almost 40 year experience. The local owner VIT will have many opportunities to learn how to manage Hard Rock Cafe in Ho Chi Minh and then apply key learning for location in Hanoi. In addition, VIT is also a big name in food and beverage industry in Vietnam. They are owning and operating High Land Coffee brand which has more than 60 high class coffee chain nationwide with more than ten years experience. They also have a high qualified management team who would be a good source for the business expand. Location:. It is clear that Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular are a safe place to invest with high stable political conditions. Furthermore Vietnam is the second fastest economy growth in Asia Pacific with the 13rd largest population in the world. The capital of Vietnam is a good location to invest as the income of people is increasing quickly. As a result, customers would welcome a high end restaurant with deferent selling points as Hard Rock Cafe even they have to pay more. Besides, Vietnamese society is more open with Western life style, thus in term of social norm, it is not hard for customers to experience a new style in town. There is an another key point that need to clarify that any restaurant must pay much consideration location of restaurant. Location is sometime considered counting up to 80 percent of successful opportunity in restaurant business. In fact that Hanoi is now hard to find a good location to Hard Rock as good and convenient venues are been already occupying by other competitors. Thought the current owner of Hard Rock cafe Vietnam is very successful in finding perfect location for their High Land Coffee chain, but to open a Hard Roack cafe would be definitely harder because they need a much larger location than a coffee shop. Supply Chain Management: It is not difficult to find a qualified suplier who can provide fresh, quality materials and products to the restaurant. Metro supermarket (a giant wholesales supermaket from Garmany) has at leat two distribution centers in Hanoi which are current main suppliers for five star hotels and retaurants in the city. In addition, there are ten of smaller supliers who can meet whatever Hard Cafes demands. The distant from Metro and other suppliers to the dowtown of Hanoi is around 15km, 40 minutes for trucks or vans reaching any place in the city to provide foods and drinks on time. There is a taugher task which would be a moving the memorabilia among locations to change the experience every time a guest visit. This is a key point in supply chain to create the best circulation items among its members. Human Resources: It is a strengthen point if Hard Cafe expand its business to Hanoi. As one of the best high end coffee chain, VIT has a large number of qualified employees who are ready to start these project as key members. In reality, VIT has several other restaurant projects and they have successfully used their current human sources to solve one of the most difficult tasks in any business ventures people question. Regarding recruitment of employees who are are passionate about music, love to serve and convey the experience to customers, it is not a big challenge as Hanoi labor force are young and well educated. The recuitment can target to hundred of thousand students who are learning at ten of colleages and universities in Hanoi. These targeted employees are passionate to RocknRoll lyfe style and would be the best front liners to spread the spirit of this concept to local customers. As an international restaurant chains, Hard Rock will provide professional training courses for local employees with international standards which will be opportunity point for Hard Cafe in Hanoi to have better employee team with international standard. Inventory Management: There is no big challenge for inventory of Hard Cafe as key supplier can be reached by in 40 minutes by vans and there are many alternative suppliers who ready provide and meet all demands. Thus, inventory should limit to minimize volume except special food and raw material which take time to import. Memorabilia are more challenge for Hard Rock inventory as it 0000 pieces will be circulated among 160 locations around the worlds. However, it seem that this work has been well organized by Hard Rock Cafe International with $40 million valued memorabilia are catalogued, each piece is known where to be (Gusa and Inci, 2008) Scheduling: Based on the current business model of Hard Rock Cafe in Ho Chi Minh city is offering full service event planning facility for all events. Catering, entertainment, and event merchandise can be customized to complement every event (Hard Rock Cafe HoChi Minh, n.d.). if this scale is applied to Hanoi location, this restaurant can be seen as a medium and large size in the city. All community event in the area will be targeted. With the unique and deferent point of sales, it is potential that Hard Rock Cafe would be a favorite venue for events related to young customers. However, there is only challenge can be seen that the restaurant will not be an attractive place for tourists, especially for those who come from Western countries. The reason can be explain that if you travel to The U.S, it would be good to explore Hard Rock Cafes Rock n Roll experience right in the home land of this music. However, this purpose will less attractive when the restaurant is locating in an Orien tal country likes Vietnam. It is also a challenge point that Hard Rock Cafe will take longer time to reach ROI (Return on Investment) points than Hard Rock Cafe in Ho Chi Minh city because, outside dining culture is more popular in Ho Chi Minh city. People spend much more budget to eat outside any place in Vietnam, particularly during the weekend. Second, Hard Rock Cafe needs to invest a large of capital to reach premium standard as requested by Franchiser. However, to expand business in Hanoi is a right direction and it should take action as soon as possible as they as have set successfully a first step in the main market of Vietnam.

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Introduction The development of the internet has led to various milestones in the world of marketing. It has made it possible for people to defeat the challenge of physical distance. This idea is very useful for business people who are in the field of marketing their products. Cambria et al (2011) observes that there have been increased costs as far as the traditional advertisement is concerned. In addition, traditional ads only reach a limited number of people. In cases where such advertisements are made in international media stations such as the CNN, huge costs are involved. Internet marketing has come to resolve this challenge once and for all. For people or businesses that may not have the money to advertise in the traditional media such as the television and newspapers, social media is the best place to go. With the advent of hand held devices such as the smart phones and tablet computers, it is very easy to take pictures or photographs and actually share them with the world at the comfort of one’s home. This paper is focused on the whole idea of social media marketing and how photographers can optimize the opportunities that come with it. It will also address the advantages that make social networking sites more attractive than the traditional media. Social networking sites offer photographers with cheap, effective and robust chance to display their work to people across the entire globe; a property that the traditional media offers at a very high expense. Social Media Marketing â€Å"Social† media is distinct from traditional media. The former includes virtual places where people â€Å"meet† to share experiences. In this view, internet is the most impressive human discovery that ever exists. Through the support of internet, it has b... ...tional advertising. It reaches more people; it is cheap, convenient, flexible and effective. However, one condition must be fulfilled: the photographer must be ready to invest time in it. In other words, one should be active online. If more than two social media platforms are involved, this could mean that the person spends up to 6 hours in a day just promoting the product. Moreover, the effort is worth it. Strategic social media marketing could yield better results, in many cases, than the prospects if traditional advertising. Significantly, while traditional media advertisements are short-lived, social media platforms could stay as long as the post, discussion or article or is visible online. In the final analysis, photographers should be enthusiastic about the opportunity that social media and the internet provide as far as marketing of photographs is concerned.

Animal Rights and Animal Testing :: Rights Equality Animals Science Essays

Animal Rights and Animal Testing Many humans use animals for testing each year. Animal testing is when the animals are put through something or injected to see how they react to what medical research they have been used for. Animals are used to find cures for diseases or to test drugs that have mild side effects. They are also used to test materials for cosmetic research. Except for severely limited medical research, animal testing should be outlawed. Animal testing endangers the animal’s lives and may cause serious side affect that last the rest of their lives. Others believe that they should not test medicine on humans because humans’ lives are more precious than that of the animals. They believe that since animals have no rights that they should be used for testing. There are three very important reasons why animals should not be used for testing harmful or dangerous materials. One of these is that testing and its use is trivial in the cosmetic industry. The second reason is that animals have rights and animals can feel pleasure and pain just as humans do. The third reason is that testing is cruel and unusual. Another reason is that animal testing and its use is trivial in the cosmetic industry. Testing on animals for the cosmetic industry is not necessary because they have many other ways to find out if it harms the human race. The testing that goes on is harmful to the animals and can cause serious side effects. The cosmetic companies hold down bunnies in vices and spray the cosmetics into their eyes to see if it cause them redness, stinging, or even blindness. They also have baboons strapped down with their heads in vices to do certain tests on them. Animals are also used by pharmaceutical companies to produce drugs and health supplements. They estimate that 17 to 22 million animals are used each year for medical research, and these estimates do not include rats, mice, fish, and farm animals. That means that 90% of all research animals are not included in the statistics. Too many animals are being tested and they do not even need to use the animals for these tests. They can use com puter software materials and get the same results. One more point is that animals do have rights.

The Influence of Alcohol and Drugs in Edgar Allen Poe Life

The influence of alcohol and drugs in Edgar Allan Poe’s life â€Å"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dreamed before† (Edgar Allan Poe). Darkness and sadness are strong characteristics of Edgar Allan Poe’s writing. The tragedies during his life, such as the death of his biological and adoptive moms, followed by the death of his young wife Virginia were important factors which formed his gothic style. Poe is known for his drinking problems and use of drugs.Those habits had a big influence in his life and in his works. Family members, classmates, depression and disasters influenced Poe to use alcohol. The possibilities of Poe been an alcoholic increased because of the environment and the society in which he grew up (Scharf, Douglas 3). Genetics probabilities were really high to him too, once his father, David Poe, and his brother Henry Poe had hard drinking problems (Poe, Drugs and Alcoh ol 7).The most part of Poe’s problems as depression and alcoholism appeared more evidently while he was passing the age of mid-twenties (Black, Jamee A. ). His addiction to alcohol started while he was attending the University of Virginia and was introduced to it by classmates (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 9). Depression, heart troubles and a brain lesion were clinically proved and part of Poe’s life (Black, Jamee A. ). Was extremely hard for him to handle with his emotional and physical weaknesses, so to relief his pain he used alcohol as anesthetic (Black, Jamee A. 6). More and more, Poe’s addiction to alcohol was increasing and this over drinking was causing now trouble in different sections of his life.His carrier was one of the first affected starting in June 1835, when the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger gave an opportunity to Poe to work helping with this paper. The people responsible for the paper and the readers really liked Poe’s effort and creativity, but he was fired after arrived repeatedly times drunk at work (Poe, Edgar Allan 2). The madness and depression that Poe felt were increasing as increased his over drinking (Black, Jamee A. 1). Poe went so far that he got into a point that he drank absinthe and brandy which is a really dangerous mixture (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 27).Between the many possible causes of Edgar Allan Poe’s death, his problem with alcohol is really considerable as one important reason of his early death (Scharf, Douglas 1). Even though Poe was completely addicted to alcohol, many times, he tried very hard to fight against his alcoholism. Right after his first long drinking experience, during college, he tried to stay away from it (Black, Jamee A. 3). His drinking times were intermittent and he stayed abstain from alcohol for months in some of those periods (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 8).Promises were made and repeatedly times he said that would never drink again. As one side of Poe tells him that he should stop with alcohol, the other side tells that he should drink to relief his emotional pains and usually he followed this last side once is a lot easier to deal with it (Black, Jamee A. 6). In 1847, Poe’s get extremely hard into drinking, one of the worse times during his whole life, after the death of his young wife Virginia (Hennelly, Mark M. 1). After this event he could stop drinking alcohol anymore (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 14).Other important characteristic of his life is the use of drugs. Some evidences show that Poe really used drugs but for medical benefits in which the doctors gave to him as a medicine (Scharf, Douglas 4). Few doctors believed that Poe was not addicted to drugs and that he just used as written on the medical prescription (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 4). The problems and pains that Poe felt were so hard for him to deal with that he used drugs to forget about all these trouble (Black, Jamee A. 7). Opium was the main drug used by Poe, it made him get it the dream-world (Hennelly, Mark M. 0).While Poe was trying to get away from alcohol were times when he used uncontrolled amounts of Opium (Poe, Drug and Alcohol 2). The use of drugs, even for medical benefits, made him addicted to drugs and this is appointed as one of the cause of Poe’s death (Black, Jamee A. 11). Poe’s works are a visible reflects of his life, history and habits, including the use of alcohol and drugs. Between the large amounts of Poe’s works written in first person is remarkable that couple of his fictions narrators admitted the use of Opium (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 1).Roderick Usher, the narrator of the short story The Fall of the House of Usher, was a depressed man addicted to drugs which cause one of the strongest suspicions of bonds between Poe and his characters (Scharf, Douglas 4). He had a tendency for gothic style after all the tragedies during his life, and he appeared with an irregular behavior when related with women after th e death of Virginia (Poe, Edgar Allan 6). An example of his personal life in his work is showed at the beginning of the poem The Raven when the narrator is reading a book to try to forget someone who he loved and that he lost.Passages of Poe’s stories and poems are seemed as he was having a hallucination while he was writing it, and it’s possible that he was under alcohol and drugs influence (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 5). â€Å"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity† (Edgar Allan Poe). Alcohol and drugs had expressive influence into Poe’s style and writing. Even though all the troubles caused by those disasters during his life, without them Poe wouldn’t have the characteristics that made him and his works so unique.

Engage in personal development in health, social care or children’s a young people’s settings Essay

My role of a Teaching Assistant begins at 7.45 am where my colleague and I begin preparation for the school Breakfast Club. This includes setting out table top activities such as jigsaws, colouring and ipads. Breakfast Club also has a pool table so I write a weekly rota for this to ensure fair play. During breakfast club I encourage the children to sit together and eat a healthy breakfast of cereal, toast and choice of fruit juice. I have time to sit, chat and take part in the activities the children are doing which enables me to form good relationships with the children there. Breakfast Club is new to the school in Sept 2013 so we are currently putting together a display board which shows examples of the breakfasts, posters designed by the children and pictures of the staff that work there. Then I have 10 minutes in the nursery unit to help the teacher do some preparation for the day, for example this maybe hiding arrows around the playing field for the children to take part in a treasure hunt or preparing pots of paint. We then welcome the children into class and help them with hanging up coats and bags, comforting any that maybe distressed as their carer has left. Once they are settled the teacher will begin the register and my role is to help the children take part and sit quietly on the carpet and listen. We then begin our morning activity. I will be asked to take a small group with me for example to draw an apple tree and have to complete a short assessment on them. For example ask them to draw a tree; are they using brown for the trunk? Green for the leaves? Can they follow a simple instructions? Whilst taking part in this activity I bring as much of the welsh language as possible e.g. I will ask them the welsh words for the colours we are using. We then head back to the class for ‘tidy up time’ and snack. Two mornings I prepare the snack of toast and milk. Then 3 mornings I supervise the Reception children on the yard. I ensure the children are playing happily with one another and no one is left on their own. Often I bring out bikes so I have a timer to make sure each child has the same amount of time on a bike. Some children may need the toilet and I assist in any personal care needs required or if they have had an accident then I will put gloves on and change the child. Then it’s back to Nursery class for the second part of the morning which could be songs or story on the carpet where I encourage ‘good sitting and listening’ for the teacher. At 11.30 most of the nursery children are getting collected so I again help with bags and sing our welsh going home song. I then make sure the classroom is tidy and take the Reception children over to the main dinner hall for them to have a cooked lunch. Whilst there I make sure each child has a meal, desert and drink. I encourage them to eat as much as they feel they can. If the leave something, for example carrots and will ask that they eat as many as they can. Once the dinner hall is empty and the tables wiped down I supervise on the main yard with Years 1-6. There the children will ask me if they want to go inside the School for the toilet or a drink. I will discipline any children that are not acting appropriately; I make sure no one is left on their own. Then I take part in encouraging happy play by blowing bubbles for the younger children and help with skipping and taking part in any fun games they want to do. If we have any injuries then I take them to the school secretary and write in accident book and call the parents if I feel it is necessary. Page 2 – Kathryn Di Terlizzi Assignment Unit 332 (1.2) For all Teaching Assistant roles there is a set of National Occupational Standards (NOS) set out by each individual school. These NOS offer guidance on wider aspects for competent performance (Burnham 2010 pg 118). They were set up to realise the potential of all teaching support staff whatever their role. (http://www.napta.org.uk/) The standards are statements about how tasks should be carried out and the minimum acceptable quality of practice that should be delivered. I have looked closely through the standards and looked at the most important ones to me in my role and given an explanation on each one as follows – 301.3 Understand legislation, policies and procedures for confidentiality and sharing information including data protection The Data Protection Act of 1998 is designed to ensure that confidential information cannot be passed to others without the individual consent. In my role I am exposed to a great volume of confidential information and I understand I cannot pass this to anyone. My sons attend the same school so I am often approached by parents at birthday parties asking me how their child is getting on. I understand the schools confidentiality policy so say sorry I can’t discuss this outside of school, please come and see the teacher and discuss on Monday. 302.3 Understand school ethos, mission, aims and values The school ethos –â€Å"St David’s Roman Catholic Primary School is part of the living presence of Christ in the modern world. Part of our purpose is, by the education, care and protection of our children, to present a model of Christian living that is clear to all.† (https://swansea-edunet.gov.uk/en/schools/StDavids/Pages/Mission_Statement.aspx) I am employed in a Catholic primary school but I am not a Catholic. However daily I embrace the catholic ethos and take part in Mass, Prayers and Religious Education activities. For example October is the month of the Rosary Bead. This week we have been learning about the letter ‘b’ so to tie in religion I have asked the children to bring in any Rosary Beads they have to ‘show and tell’ to the class. This builds confidence talking in front of the class and brings in the school ethos. 303.2 Be able to prepare for learning activities Before the children arrive in the morning the teacher will inform me of what activity I will be doing with them. For example when we were learning about the letter ‘a’ Mrs Jones asked me to take the children to the field in small groups and draw the apple tree. Preparation is vital for this to ensure it runs smoothly. As once the children are with me on the field if I have forgotten something for safety reasons I cannot run back to the class leaving the children. Frustratingly they would have to come back with me which would cut down the activity time. First I gather the resources I need for the activity, chairs, clipboards, paper, and pencils. Then once my 5 children are ready I make sure if it has been wet they are wearing Wellington boots and coats and hold on to the handrail as they exit the classroom. I make sure they walk carefully in a straight line down the path, closing the nursery door behind me which has a safety code so no outsider can gain access. Once we have arrived at the field I make sure our immediate environment is safe for example by checking for things the children could trip over. Depending on the children I may need to adapt some of the resources for example some children find it difficult to press hard with a pencil so I make sure I have other things with me like crayons and felt tip pens. Page 3 – Kathryn Di Terlizzi Assignment Unit 332 304.2 Be able to promote positive behaviour It is imperative in any school for children to have guidelines in school so they have a clear understanding of how to behave in school. Children need to be aware of the boundaries within which to manage their behaviour, so that they understand what is expected of them. (Burnham 2010 pg 58) In our nursery unit we encourage positive behaviour with stars on their jumpers to go home and show their parents. If a child has done something positive like sat well and listened to a story we will tell the whole class how happy we are with that child and give them a bigger reward like make them the ‘helpwr y dydd’ – helper of the day. 306.2 Understand the impact of prejudice and discrimination on children and young people Children can experience prejudice and discrimination in several ways, religion, ethnicity, sex, body image, disabilities. It will affect their self esteem and their learning will almost defiantly be affected. They could be come withdrawn and may not want to attend school. You must ensure your own inbuilt ideas do not affect how you treat children. I have not come across it yet but understand I must always challenge discrimination. It can be promoted in a positive way by posters in school and bringing in guest speakers to talk about their own experiences in a positive way. 331.2 Understand the factors that influence children and young people’s development and how these affect practice There are personal factors that could influence a child’s development for example their health. We have a child in Year 4 that has a heart problem and has missed a lot of school for operations. This could also affect his social activities for example on the playground. A child’s emotional development may also be affected depending on their awareness of their needs and the extent to which they are affected. It is important that the adults in school are aware of how pupils may be affected by these kinds of conditions so we can support them by ensuring they are included as far as possible. (Burnham 2010 pg 155) External factors can also have a massive affect. Families can go through significant changes through the school years for example separation, bereavement, new partners, house move or changing country. This can affect their ability to learn. Statistics show that children that suffer from poverty and deprivation are less lightly to thrive and achieve well in school. Some children make personal choices on friendship groups and extra curricular activities, they may need advice and support from adults to make sure the choices were right for them. Some children may come from a very alternative background such as a home schooling environment. These children may need some additional support until they become settled. (Burnham 2010 pg 156) There have been a number of theories of development. Many physiologists have different ideas about how children learn. Some think it is innate and others feel it depends on the opportunities a child has been given, often referred to the nature nurture debate. One of the physiologists Watson believed that we are all born with the same abilities and anyone can be taught anything and that it does not depend on innate ability but on watching others. His idea of ‘classical conditioning’ was born out of Ivan Pavlov’s research using dogs. He noted his subjects would salivate before the delivery of food. In a series of experiments he presented a variety of stimuli before the presentation of food, eventually finding that, after repeated association, a dog would salivate to the presence of a stimulus other than food. He termed this response a conditional reflex. (psychology.about.com) Page 4 – Kathryn Di Terlizzi Assignment Unit 332 Children that come into nursery are treated the same and assumed at first to have the same abilities. As it becomes apparent some children need more support than others then the level is identified. Appropriate bodies are brought in to observe and correct support is implemented. 333.4 Understand how to respond to evidence or concerns that a child or young person has been abused or harmed Possible signs or symptoms that may be cause for concern are – Acting out in an inappropriate sexual way with toys or objects Becoming withdrawn or very clingy Becoming unusually secretive Sudden unexplained personality changes, mood swings and seeming insecure Regressing to younger behaviours, e.g. bedwetting Outburst of anger New adult words for body parts Talk of a new, older friend and unexplained money or gifts Physical signs, such as, unexplained soreness or bruises around genitals or mouth, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy Not wanting to be alone with a particular child or young person (http://www.parentsprotect.co.uk/warning_signs.htm#) If a child tells me something I should listen and try as best I can to write down word for word what the child is telling me and not question anything they are saying just let them speak. I will then explain to them that I am not able to keep it a secret and I must tell Mrs Jones the teacher. Mrs Jones will then take the relevant action. The UK Government ratified the Convention on 16 December 1991. This means that the Government must make sure that every child in the UK has the rights that are listed in the Convention. The Government can do this by passing laws or by taking other action, including making sure that the rights in the Convention is widely known in the UK. One of these points is as follows – Protection from violence, exploitation, abuse, neglect and maltreatment: The Government must make sure you are protected from any type of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse or exploitation, while you are living with your parents or in the care of anyone else. Special procedures must be set up to help you if you have been the victim of abuse. (http://www.lawstuff.org.uk/the-facts/what-are-childrens-rights) Bibliography www.teaching-assistants.co.uk www.napta.co.uk www.gov.uk/government/publications/nos-for-supporting-teaching-learning Oct 2010 Burnham, L (2010) â€Å"Support Teaching & Learning in Schools†. Published by Heinemann Reference List Burnham, L (2010) â€Å"Support Teaching & Learning in Schools†. Published by Heinemann www.psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/pavlov.htm (accessed on 05/10/2013) http://www.parentsprotect.co.uk/warning_signs.htm# (accessed on 05/10/2013) http://www.lawstuff.org.uk/the-facts/what-are-childrens-rights (accessed on 05/10/13) https://swansea-edunet.gov.uk/en/schools/StDavids/Pages/Mission_Statement.aspx (accessed 05/10/13) http://www.napta.org.uk/ (accessed 05/10/13)