Discussions / Technology & Management Operations

Project management is an essential process that should be applied in operations in a company to ensure success leading to quality improvements. Toyota has practiced project management in most projects or initiatives carried out. In most cases, workers have been encouraged to carryout self tests when carrying out a given duty to ensure product conformity. Toyota Company has carried out various statistical tests such as chi-square, hypothesis tests and came up with multiple regression tests to analyze the fitness of a new brand in the market (Tata Interactive Systems, n. d).Moreover, Toyota Company has trained its employees regularly to ensure they are the required expertise to achieve a continuous quality improvement in the company translating to improved customer satisfaction and cost efficiency production. TPS has been used as a potential through which improved quality productions can be achieved (Toyota Motor Corporation, 1998). Project Management concepts and their Applications in the workplace Toyota Production Systems (TPS) has been used as a way through which development can be achieved amongst people working in the global manufacturing arena.Toyota motor manufacturing Canada (TMMC) based their management processes on wise decision-making to ensure quality productions and continuous improvements (Johnson, n. d). TMMC has localized most of its operations to ensure increased market reachability and reliability through long-term relationship with its customers leading to increased profitability and market leadership in automobile productions. TMMC has developed strategies through which quality improvements can be achieved in the organization.TMMC has formed joint ventures with other companies to ensure profitability through shared responsibilities leading enhanced competitive advantage and sustainability in the market (Toyota’s driving force Baseline, 2006). TMMC that came up with the TPS as an initiative through which continuous quality production ca n be achieved in Toyota Company. TPS has been used for restructuring the production processes in the automobile companies leading to increased efficiency and effectiveness (Johnson, n. d).TMMC has used a just-in-time management system where production patterns are based on specific orders on demand to ensure no wastage of resources through reduced inventories and defects in production (Toyota Motor Corporation, 1998). Just-in-time production management system will be used in the company to eliminate non-value adding processes leading to reduced lead-time and increased customer satisfaction. TPS emphasizes on employee empowerment not necessarily through freedom but also through trainings, collaborations or joint ventures and to facilitate communication amongst stakeholders.Top management introduced new initiatives to the company upon approval by the internal stakeholders as a way through which the new project can be communicated and made visible in a company. Toyota Company implement ed performance metrics through which business operations could be monitored to ensure cost efficiency (Johnson, n. d). In Toyota company, a flexibility system have used that emphasizes on continuous assessment of production operations to identify any defects and therefore find out the necessary remedies in time to avoid wastage of resources leading to improved productions (Toyota Motor Corporation, 1998).Performance levels have been assessed to ensure the right expertise required for any production is achieved to meet customer requirements. Quality performance standards have been set where workers monitor themselves by comparing quality of their productions with others in the company to ensure it conforms to the required standards (Toyota Motor Corporation, 1998). Workers have been encouraged to respond to presence of an error or defect in a product development phase positively to make the necessary decisions on how to go about it for example by using Six Sigma or multiple regressio n tests to ensure customer satisfaction.You have to identify possible causes of a problem, possible consequences and ways through which they can be reduced without incurring a lot of losses. In Toyota Company training is very essential and they consider this as a way through which employee empowerment can be achieved leading to improved productions to ensure success through improved customer satisfaction for example through asking yourself the why questions as you design a system (Toyota Motor Corporation, 1998).Toyota has encouraged interaction amongst its employees to harmonize the multicultural differences leading to dedicated teamwork towards achieving common company goals. TPS use in the company was aimed at proving a lasting solution to the critical threats in the production or product development life cycle in a cost effective way. Toyota has always carried out customer awareness tests for their products in the market by designing simulated designs and testing for product fit ness in the market using a chi-square test (Tata Interactive Systems, n.d). Toyota has made various versions of simulated designs and carried out numerous regression tests to ensure a product is accepted in the market. The various simulated design versions is a potential way through which customer satisfaction can be easily achieved and in the same way new products will be easily developed through the different versions by simply making little improvements.Toyota has always carried out different tests such as chi-square in different places in the world to determine the brand fitness in the market depending on how many people are aware of it (Johnson, n. d). Conclusion Toyota is a very successful automobile manufacturing company in the global arena. Toyota has managed well its projects by carrying out different tests based on its products awareness and fitness in the market.Toyota has carried out multiple regression tests of its new products using simulated product designs developed in the markets to ensure customer satisfaction (Tata Interactive Systems, n. d). Employees have been encouraged to produce as many designs as possible to help them meet customer requirements. The employees are to asks themselves the why questions severally on every design produced that does not meet customer specifications to find possible solutions based on the decision made with the available information collected (Toyota’s driving force Baseline, 2006). Reference: Johnson, W.H.A. (n.d.). Toyota Motor Manufacturing Company Canada (TMMC): The Lexus RX 330 Line. Waltham, MA: Department of Management, Bentley College. [Viewed on 27th June 2009] Available at Tata Interactive Systems (n.d.). Research methods for managerial decisions. [Viewed on 27th June 2009] Available at Toyota’s driving force Baseline. (2006). [Viewed on 27th June 2009] Available at Toyota Motor Corporation. (1998). The Toyota production system. [Viewed on 27th June] Available at

Conservation vs Preservation

Conservation vs. Preservation Letters Dear Local Newspaper Editor, I wanted to talk about the importance of conserving our national forest. There are many things we can do to tap into the natural resources without harming the environment. We can take the necessary to survive without depleting the resource so that it has a chance to regenerate, whether the source would be fish, deer, or even vegetation. We will take precautionary measures when tapping into any resources. For example, if we would be tapping into oil reserves we would do it in a way that we will not pollute the water, the land, or the atmosphere.Like we have been doing it for years we will commit in doing the reforestation. Where ever we need to take part of the land we will replenish it with what we take. That will give the land a chance to revitalize itself. We have so much technology in which we can avoid any type of disaster. We know if we make a mistake we can harm many things, like the animals or the vegetation. T hat is why we will make sure we do not make any mistakes, and for any reason we will have different types of plans any type of emergency. By conserving and getting the resources we need, will benefit us in many ways.Energy from fossil fuels such as gasoline, electricity, and natural gases for heating are very beneficial. When conserving properly we can keep the natural forestation going for many years to come. We have to make sure to protect and be cautious of what we are doing and using so we can continue benefiting from these natural resources. We should do this so that way we would be using our own natural resources and not rely on resources from other countries. We need to help everyone out because without these resources we cannot live the way we are living. We are going to conserve this forest so there can still be rivers and streams flowing.Animals will still have their homes and their food. We are not trying to destroy nature nor are we planning to. We need to come to an agr eement where we can get to the resources we need without harming anyone or anything during this process. Please take our offer into consideration. Sincerely, The Conservationist Dear Local Newspaper Editor, I wanted to start off by letting you know that I am against tearing down the national forest. We need to preserve the forest because it sustains our natural resources. We need to come up with a plan to get the resources we need without disturbing the natural state of the land.In the Bridger Teton video I watch they showed how beautiful nature was and how important it was to preserve the land. Throughout the years people have taken more than what they need. This National Forest is the last large forest that has a growing wild life population in which animals can make it their home. I have seen the affects that have been caused when people tear down natural dessert lands as well. Flooding started happening around us. By tearing down the natural forest it will impact the animals by making them scarce and also tearing down their natural habitat, which makes it hard to survive.I understand that we do need oil and gas to survive but we also need to have natural lands to keep us and the animals alive. I don’t understand how people could want to destroy something that is so beautiful and that will benefit us in the future. Like I mentioned earlier, wildlife will not have a home so what happens to the animals? Where will they go? There have been many incidents where people destroy a natural habitat and the wildlife ends up in someone’s back yard. The news has shown where they kill these poor defensive animals because they believe they are a danger.We are a danger to them because we are destroying their homes. It is very important to preserve the national forest so our future children can see something that is naturally there. It is a beautiful place for people to see and actually relax with what nature feels like. People get away from everyday life and enjoy something different. We would also not be able to study such a unique part of the world to know exactly what it can offer us. Thank you for your time and please take nature into consideration. Sincerely, The Preservationist

Capital Punishment Cheapens the Value of Human Life

Today, the most serious crimes (especially murder and rebellion) are preserved and the death penalty (or similar death penalty) is a judicial order to execute a prisoner as a punishment for capital crime (defined by each country). The cruel killing of citizens by the state can be traced back to ancient times. Indeed, from an objective point of view, the judgment of the Gospel before 2000 and the subsequent crucifixion can be regarded as a classic death penalty procedure. The death penalty or capital punishment means state penalty for convicted criminals, ie the most serious crime - the death penalty. The word capital comes from the Latin capital and means around the head, so the meaning of death (symbolic meaning) will be distracting. Death penalty and murder by law are completely different Murder is caused by individuals for personal purposes. But human life has the greatest value. Regimes using numerous death sentences, particularly political or religious crimes, infringe the most important human rights, ie the rights to life. Abusers believe that the death penalty is the most serious violation of human rights, as human rights violations are the most important and the death penalty infringes it, it is not necessary and it hurts the condemned psychological torture. Human rights activists oppose the death penalty and call it cruel and inhumane and punishing punishment. Amnesty International views this as ultimate irreversible human rights denial. Most countries, including almost all the first world countries, have abolished capital punishment or practical death penalty. Notable exceptions are the United States, China, India, Japan, and most Muslim countries. America is the only Western country still using the death penalty Seek killing of others' daily life. The death penalty is a vicious circle. Regardless of media, politicians and others, someone will provoke the masses of the United States and then claim that the people will support the death penalty. This h as led to the expansion of media coverage of capital lawsuits which in turn stimulated the population and continued its cycle. People should be compared to sheep in a way; by themselves, this person may be smart, but collective consciousness is formed under many other existences. Under the influence of the group, this wise person can imagine acting in ways not normally considered. The death penalty further weakens our lives by becoming a means of legitimate discrimination. Southern countries are more likely to convict a black man than a white male, especially if the crime is against a white man. If it turns out that the minority group is supported much, everyone will be excluded from the punishment of the law. essay.com/TITLE: Capital punishment: justice or murder? Theme: Koch's Death and justice: how punishment of death confirms life vs Brooke's punishment for death Title: Capital punishment: Is it justice or murder? Theme: Koch's Death and justice: how punishment of death confirm s life vs Brooke's punishment for death

Prime-Time Television Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Prime-Time Television Program - Essay Example This paper discusses how Coca-Cola Company has incorporated social media to ensure that it’s commercial reach large number of customers globally. The key Coca-Cola commercial that I liked is the Mirage--Super Bowl ads 2013. This commercial portrays three groups of people racing for a bottle of Coke in a dry land (Super Bowl 2013 ads 2013). It is interesting to note how the three groups of people look thirsty in a place that has no water and the only solution to their thirsty is a cold bottle of Coke. As the individuals continue to run Coke on its side increases it speed. Consequently, the individuals increase their speed up to the point they catch up with the bottle of coke. This is followed by sharing the drink that they take in an enjoyable way thus creating a strong friendship among themselves. In my opinion, the commercial has played a major role in ensuring that the company reaches its target market. For example, the racing individuals are of different ages thus indicating that the company targets all the consumers regardless of their ages. Similarly, young people who are key consumers of Coca-Cola products can freely interact with the characters that are featured in the commercial through social media. David 25 argues that in this way the company has ensured strong positive relationship between its products and the consumers. Having been held in a desert, the commercial indicates that the company is not only targeting cold places but also it has adopted various strategies to ensure that the needs of consumers residing in dry countries are catered for. As the demand of Coca-Cola products increases, the company has embarked on improving its production by the use of modern technology. The speed with which the Coke bottle was emulating depicts the haste at which Coca-Cola C ompany is putting in place modern technology as a way of ensuring that the needs of its market are effectively met. Social media is a major advertising

Growing Criminal Law Special Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Growing Criminal Law Special Issues - Assignment Example Growing Criminal Law Special Issues The U.S. Department of Justice (2011) notes, there is need of urgency in addressing growing criminal special issues. The department observes that most public opinion polls rank crime and fear of crime as one of the most important issues that need to be addressed. Racketeering is one of the special crimes and is becoming a growing issue in criminal law; it’s part of organized crime whose main aim is to entrench continual patronage (Eskridge, 2010). Administrators and public policymakers in the criminal justice system are paying more attention to this growing issue in the criminal law and its complexity. There is need for traditional criminal justice system to undergo fundamental rethinking that aims at responding appropriately to this growing criminal law issue. Therefore, criminal justice policies such as community corrections, policing, imprisonment, sentencing, and adjudication needs to be changed in significant way to respond to these eme rging special issue in criminal law (Neese, 2003). ... First it is important to understand how RICO criminal defense practice came about. This practice emerged as a result of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act which was passed by the Congress in 1970 Blakey (2008). The Act was appropriate at that time as the Congress was seeking to eliminate the adverse consequences of organized crime on the economy of the United States. Since then, the Act has been expanded to include several other procedures of crime. Neese (2003) notes that the Act plays critical role in enabling the federal government in fighting international and national dimensions of organized crime such as racketeering. The fact that organized crimes and racketeering in particular is a threat to public safety cannot be disputed. That is why for over the years particularly in the 1970s and the early 1980s, the RICO criminal defense practice has been performing relatively well (Blakey, 2008). However, it has been noted that in the most recent of times the performance of this practice has declined considerably. Anderson and Jackson (2004) argue that this decline is highly attributed to the effort that the United States government is putting to crack down on organized crimes. In particular, the government has focused on two main areas in its fight against these crimes; business that are employing individuals who are not legally allowed to work in the United states and focus on illegal immigrants who are engaging in organized crimes. The U.S. Department of Justice (2011) notes that organized crimes such as those covered in the RICO Act are being perpetrated by the immigrants especially from Russia thus undermining creation of the rule of law efforts. This explains the reason why the fight against organized crimes has

Generation Y Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Generation Y - Essay Example Prevailing economic, social and political conditions have a considerable effect on people making this lot of youngsters decidedly different from another lot of the same age-group from another period. Generation Yers distinguish themselves in almost everyway: they are a techno-savvy lot who excel at communication via mobile phones and internet networks, work well in groups with mutual respect and understanding, are adept at multi-tasking and are remarkably confident and even tolerant. In spite of the fact that this generation has seen the maximum number of divorces, children of this generation have been regarded as the center of family. Thus, they have grown up secure in the luxury of strong parental support and involvement. This possibly why the Yers are 'driven and ambitious with high expectations'. Generation-Y is very familiar with the internet, cable television and globalization. They are aware of terrorism and the devastation of 9/ 11 and 26/11. They are also aware of global warming and related environmental issues. Making up 20% of the world's population the Millenials are the largest generation since the Baby Boomers and are expected to have a considerable impact on the socio-economic fabric of our civilization. Below are listed three ways in which this impact will manifest itself: This generation is multi-cultural, th

Essay on Augustine's City of God Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

On Augustine's City of God - Essay Example Augustine also says that on the sacking of the city, it was not uncommon for all invaders including Romans and Greeks to do the same this included the likes of Ulysses, Phoenix and Diomede. For this reason, the sacking of Rome was not something that could be blamed on Christians but was instead a common activity that was part of war (I, 2). The Visigoths and other European barbarian tribes had grown in strength over the years and they raided Rome in 410 under King Alaric. Feelings of resentment had also developed among the poorer population of Rome due to high inflation rates and lack of political representation since the position of councilor was hereditary. These factors had therefore weakened the empire of Rome internally and when the time came that the Visigoths invaded it was not the strong empire it had been in previous years. Prior to the invasion, Christians were already being viewed with suspicion and had been barred from working in high ranking offices, the view that they w ere to blame for the fall of Rome therefore came as a natural expectation as a scapegoat was necessary. Lucretia was a woman who was believed to have been raped and out of guilt she committed suicide. Augustine uses the rape of Lucretia as an example to cite to teach Christianity about Chastity. Augustine says that and anyone who is forced to have sexual relations and does not consent to them has not committed a sin. A woman should however not commit suicide for such an act being committed on them, as it will bar them from entering the kingdom of God. The story of Lucretia has never been confirmed as an event that actually happened but remains a significant story that relates to the establishment of the Roman Empire. Lucretia’s suicide is what led people to revolt and remove the old establishment and thus symbolized what the Roman Empire stood for; respect for all irrespective of gender or social class. The story did however also show that the Roman Empire was established as a patriarchy as the men rebel in vengeance of a woman who overwhelmed by shame could not muster the courage to continue living her life and relied on the strength of men to avenge for her. The relationship of Augustine and Christians to the ‘city of man’ Augustine in the city of God believes that in actuality there are two cities; there is Rome the city that has been developed by men as an economic bloc and there is the religious Rome that is a city built by God and whose foundation is Christian religion. Augustine therefore shows that there is always going to be a conflict between the way men want to live their lives and the way they should live their lives according to the Lords commandments. Augustine wrote the book after the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths and therefore uses the book to explain that under the laws of God no one dies at a time not planned by him. In addition, that they could not live their lives in fear of death more so if they did live according to the laws of God and not just the laws of man (II, 15). As men, one should not be afraid to show that they are living under the laws of the city of God even if living in a nation that does not recognizes these laws. Therefore, it is better to be courageous and ready to sacrifice oneself for your convictions for God will restore you in heaven than to live constantly afraid of persecution. On the view of the life or Rome,

Investigating and Applying an Ethical Framework to a Nursing Scenario Essay

Investigating and Applying an Ethical Framework to a Nursing Scenario - Essay Example The Kerridge, Lowe and McPhee model (2005) suggests seven steps for decision-making. The first step is stating the problem while the second step is about getting the facts about the problem (Freegard, 2006). The case study reviews the problem and the later part of the essay provides an evaluation of the ethical issue in accordance with the model. The case scenario relates the account of a seventeen year old girl Judy who had been admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) with acute medical pain. Judy’s provisional diagnosis was Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) until the doctors got the report for her medical tests taken in the ED. The main issues of the case study are given in the table below. â€Å"she can’t be in that much pain, she rolls over to sleep when she thinks we are not watching her, yet soon as she sees us she asks for Morphine†¦ if she is going to get herself an infection then she should live with the consequences† The negligence, lack of documentation of charts and prompt response to patient, discrimination and absence of proper care and compassion, lack of compliance to instructions of DMO by the nurses are some of the legal issues. They also let personal biases prejudice their care, as pelvic inflammatory disease is often caused by sexual intercourse, an assumption that has led the nurse to treat Judy disdainfully. They were also not cooperative with their colleague, Sue, and derided her. There was no follow up on ectopic pregnancy, which, as it turned out later, was the underlying cause of the severe abdominal pain. The third step in Kerridge, Lowe and McPhee model of decision-making entails analysis of the fundamental ethical principles. A framework to analyze the fundamental ethical principles commonly used in bioethics, called principlism, includes four guiding principles: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice (Butts & Rich, 2005). Anwari (2008) states that beneficence and non-maleficence are old concepts

Essay on Franncisco de Goya Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Essay on Franncisco de Goya - Research Paper Example The first war painting that he created was Los Desastres de la Guerra -The disaster of wars (Castro). Goya produced some of the most disturbing paintings during his last five years. Goya had an ambitious personality (Castro). He was known to be proud and arrogant person. He was a genius artist and over the years the progress in his art can be seen in his works (Castro). By studying Goya work in a chronological order, it is very noticeable, that over the years his worked not only improved but also got stranger. It is said that in the beginning, Goya drew very pessimistic paintings which showed youth and happiness. Goya showed optimism in his initial works. For example, in his paintings ‘The Flower Girls’ and ‘The Little Giants’ he portrays youth and uses a broad color schemes that gives the paintings a certain bliss. These early paintings use bright colors that give an aura of joy to them. However, in 1972, Goya suffered from a serious illness and the age of 47 he had a medical condition due to which he experienced loss of balance, had difficulty in walking with partial blindness and deafness (Emery). Some say that this was caused by a viral disease called Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada syndrome (Emery). Over the years though he recovered from this disease but he became permanently deaf (Emery). This traumatic illness greatly affected the work he produced in later years of his life. The works after this illness shows great pessimism. For example, his painting ‘The Execution on the Third of May’ shows darkness. He has used warm colors like brown, red and yellow and has a very bleak illustration. His work began to show the visions of his minds, visions that were contained the fantastic and ironic images of the world around him. During the period of 1803 – 1805 he painted his two majas ; La maja vestida La and maja desnuda (Castro). The former one shows a clothed women and the later one has the same women but nude. This was another addition to the collection of his peculiar paintings that even got him banned by the Catholic Church and made him face an inquisition (Castro). In1808, when Spain got invaded by Napoleon, Goya became the French court artist (Castro). In 1814 Goya painted his two of his most well known paintings; â€Å"The second of May in 1808† and â€Å"The Third of May in 1808†. These paintings showed the horror of war through which Spain went at the time when Napoleon invaded it. The Spanish civil were dragged and killed due to this invasion and the same has been shown in the paintings. In a way we can say that Goya portrayed reality in his war paintings. These paintings give a strong and brave image of the artist. These paintings also mark the start of the â€Å"19th century realism† (Duthel). The last five years of his life, Goya lived in isolation and during that period he created the most bizarre work of his life called Las Pinturas Negras -the dark paint ings. These are fourteen paintings that he painted on the wall of his house (Castro). According to the critics these painting were so shocking that they were â€Å"only meant for his eyes† (Castro). Out of these fourteen paintings the most disturbing and most famous one was Saturn devouring His Child. In this painting Goya has shown Saturn eating one of his son. Many say that Goya painted these paintings on his house’s wall because he did not want the world to see them. When the Spanish government failed to restore, Goya went on a voluntary exile in France

Racism affects everybody Essay Example for Free

Racism affects everybody Essay This is shown in the movie ‘Australia’, how everyone can be affected by racism. Many different ways of racism towards people in the movie ‘Australia’. A few of the main characters that are affected in the movie is Nullah, The Drover, Lady Ashley. The people that are being most affected in the movie would have to be the indigenous, that’s because the time the movie was set in, was when the white australia policy was happening, so pretty much every Australian was being racist towards aboriginal people. Racism is problem that everybody is affected in the world today. In the movie Australia, all the aboriginal people was being well behaved, did everything they was told and followed the rules. Even then people was still be racist towards them. Some of the ways racism was shown in the movie was how the aboriginals wasn’t allowed in the pubs, also Neil Fletcher was using Daisy for sex and didn’t show any respect and also beat her and his son up. So pretty much all the Australians in this time period was against all indigenous people and all japanese because at the time australia was at war with japan and japan ended up bombing darwin. Nullah in the movie was a half cast, so he wasn’t fully aboriginal or australian, he felt left out because he wasn’t black or white, he was only a creamy colour. He was like this because of Neil Fletcher using his mother for sex. Nullah and his mother wasn’t treated with any respect at all and both of them was also beat up, it was because Neil fletcher played a big part in being racist towards Indigenous people. A good example of racism towards Nullah is when he is about to get on the ship to the mission and a young australian boy was yelling to him and saying â€Å"Creamy† and kept saying that to Nullah. Near the end of the movie Nullah wants to go ‘walk about’ with his Grandfather. If you go on this ‘walk about’ It means you become a man, it’s part of the aboriginal tradition, even though Nullah isn’t a full blooded aboriginal, he still wants to keep live by his aboriginal culture and follow the aboriginal tradition and become a man through the true aboriginal way. The reason all this racism was happening towards the aboriginal people was because of the government. They had made a policy in the australia called the white australia policy, this policy wanted australia to only have fully white blooded australians in australia only. The half cast kids like ‘Nullah’ was sent to a mission to learn about the christianity and how australians live, the other reason they were sent there is because australian people wasn’t proud of having sex with aboriginal women and then they didn’t want half cast kids in the public because it would remind them of what they did with those aboriginal women and they didn’t want that. So the government made missions where, the half cast kids were taken from their families by the police and wasn’t allowed to see their families again. The kids that were taken when they were are now called the stolen generation. The two people in the movie that werent being racist towards aboriginal people was The Drover and Lady Ashley, this was because they both had a connection with the aboriginal people in the movie, The Drover’s partner in the movie was an aboriginal and The Drover felt like he was an aboriginal and thought that people treated him like one. He also sticked up for his partner at the pub, this shows how close Drover was to his partner. Lady was close to aboriginal people because of Nullah’s mother dying and she took up mothering for Nullah, this made a strong connection between them. When Neil Fletcher was beating up Nullah Lady Ashley stepped in and protected Nullah. In conclusion, It doesn’t matter if someone is being racist towards an individual, it will affect other people to. Even all the years ago, when the white australia policy was taking place, the racism towards the aboriginals and the stolen generation, It is still affecting most of Australia today and a lot of people are sorry to the stolen generation because what the government did was very wrong and it didn’t take not long to see what they done. Racism still happens today everywhere and it does affect everyone.

Racial Profiling

Racial Profiling Racial Profiling Abstract This manuscript will take an in-depth look at racial profiling. Many studies have been conducted on this type of practice and a few of these studies will be observed. Concerns for racial profiling such as racial tax, impacts on minorities, and police citizen partnerships will also be addressed and how it affects the individual, criminal justice field and the community. Some sanctions will also be discussed to find ways on how to combat this practice. Finally the cases of Atwater v. City of Lago Vista and Terry v. Ohio will be compared. Racial Profiling The debate involving racial profiling is been around for many years. There have been many studies of about this issue over the past 20 years. Some researchers believe that racial profiling does not have a place in the criminal justice system. Although others disagree with this claim and believe that it does have a place in the criminal justice field and does stop crime. This manuscript will take an in-depth look at the constitutional issues, correctional initiatives, and compare two cases dealing with racial profiling. Literature Review Higgins, Gabbidon and Vito (2009) conduct a study focusing on the public opinion on racial profiling during traffic stops. They collected data from Gallup there runs a poll every few years on the perception of whites and minorities on several issues. The sample size was 2,000 randomly selected Americans of many different races and ethnic backgrounds. Dependent variables were tested by using two different questions that include the following: â€Å"is it ever justifiable for police use racial or ethnic profiling, and if they felt that racial profiling was widespread when motorists are stop on roads and highways† (Higgins, Gabbidon, and Vito, 2009). The independent variables were tested by finding out what the relationship between each race was. The demographics for the study found that 47% of the survey respondents were male with an average income of $50,000 to $75,000. The sample also showed that 37% were black and 22% Hispanic (Higgins, Gabbidon, and Vito 2009). The results o f this study showed that there were mixed results when dealing with race relations and safety concerns. The researchers show that race relations had an influence on racial profiling, while safety did not. A study conducted by Parker, McDonald, Alpert, Smith, and Piquero (2004) focuses on the contextualized examination of racial profiling. This study basically looks at multiple studies conducted by many other researchers on the topic of racial profile. The authors conclude that community level characteristics and their relationship to racial profiling are unknown. They also argue that the clarity and meaning of racial profiling is lacking (Parker et al., 2004). The study also shows that more analysis should be done to see the relationship between police discretion and racial profiling. Kim (2004) examines how religious individuals feel towards racial profiling. The researcher collected data from the ABC News/The Washington Post Afghanistan Attack Poll #2. The sample size consisted of 1,009 adult participants ranging from the ages of 18 and older and living in the United States (Kim, 2004). In a survey that was conducted the participants were asked their religious identification, their race, and feelings about racial profiling. The researcher found that religious Americans are more likely to support the racial profiling of Muslims or people Arab descent. The author believes that this is true because of the public safety because of the events that occurred on September 11, 2001. Ramirez, Hoopes, and Quinlan (2003) also look at racial profiling in this definition after the events that occurred on September 11, 2001. They first take a look at the case of Wilkins v. Maryland State Police. This case was brought up by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) about statistics of stops done on Maryland Turnpike. It showed a big contrast in the amount driver searched by the Maryland State police because a study showed that 79.2% were African-American (Ramirez, Hoopes, and Quinlan, 2003). The authors then look at different definitions for the phrase racial profiling of pre-September 11 and post-September 11 and believe that they are not easily understood. They believe that a more distinct definition should be developed for law enforcement officials to use. Oliver (2003) discusses constitutional concerns when dealing with the topic of racial profiling. The author takes a look at Fourth Amendment and how it affects racial profiling. This article takes an in-depth look at Atwater v. City of Lago Vista. The case was brought forth because Gail Atwater felt that she was illegally stopped by police because of a race. This case made its way to the United States Supreme Court and the justices found the officers actions did not violate the Constitution. The majority of five justices said that it did not violate the Fourth Amendment because a warrantless arrest is legal for minor criminal offenses (Oliver, 2003). The author believes that this case reshaped the fourth amendment of the United States Constitution. In an article written by Simmons (2011) racial profiling is examined for some definitive solutions. The author discusses some of the harms that racial profiling has on the victims. The researcher believes that racial profiling imposes a racial tax on individuals and groups that are subject to this practice (Simmons, 2011). Other harms that the author discusses are the impacts on monitory communities, and impacts on police citizen partnerships (Simmons, 2011). The author also discusses how there have been some push for legislation to help stop racial profiling, but the legislation failed to pass. The researcher believes the more studies need to be performed to help resolve the issue of racial profiling. Smith and Alpert (2002) discuss how the use of social sciences can help the court system resolve the issues of racial profiling. The authors also discuss some of constitutional constraints when dealing with racial profiling in the legal system. The researchers state â€Å"That most stops done by law enforcement officers based solely on race are generally found unconstitutional in the courts† (Smith and Alpert, 2002). The authors also discuss some legal remedies racial profiling. They claim that this type of practice done by law enforcement officers is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Smith and Alpert (2002) also discuss how the fourth amendment is rarely applicable in cases dealing with racial profiling because of the Supreme Courts decision of Whren v. United States. They conclude by stating the most court cases that deal with racial profiling ultimately fail because the plaintiffs do not have enough solid research. Durlauf (2006) wrote an article discussing some of the problems of racial profiling in traffic stops. The author shows that there been no benefits identified for the use of racial profile. He believes that the harm to the individuals is greater than the benefits for the use of this practice. He concludes by stating that he rejects any form profiling in traffic stops as a public policy (Durlauf, 2006). In a study conducted by Glaser (2006) the author says is difficult to test the effects of racial profiling because the data is difficult to secure. The researcher during his study simulates racial profiling to see how it affects two different groups. In his first scenario the two groups had the same incarceration rate of 10%. In this scenario no profiling is done in the results come out say the same for both groups. In the next scenario the researcher changes criminality rate for one group to 25% and lowers the second group to only 6.25% (Glaser, 2006). The researcher shows when this occurs and profiling is put into the equation that the group with a higher criminality rate is five times more likely to be incarcerated than the other group. Risse and Zeckhauser (2004) published an article looking at the moral aspect of racial profiling and how to eliminate from ones thoughts of the subject. The authors give a brief history and some conflicting definitions of the phrase racial profiling. They believe that some of the definitions that other researchers use can be confusing and hard to understand. Risse and Zeckhauser (2004) shows it is hard to prove racial profiling because law enforcement use the defense of suspicious activity not solely stopping somebody because of the race. The researchers believe that racial profiling can be used in some cases for the better public safety. The authors conclude that they do know that racial profiling does hurt the African American community, but also believe that it does lower crime rates. Discussion Constitution and Law The topic of racial profiling has constitutional and criminal law issues need to be addressed. Oliver (2003) identifies the major constitutional issues the Fourth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment. The fourth amendment can be summarized as illegal search and seizure. In the case of Atwater v. City of Lago Vista the Supreme Court role that the police officers stop on this Atwater did not violate the fourth amendment because for minor criminal offenses a warrantless arrest is permitted (Oliver, 2003). The 14th amendment is known as the Equal Protection Clause and was developed for the protection of individuals no matter what their race or ethnic background was. This is been an issue because the 14th amendment has not been very adequate to help the victims of racial profiling. The reason for this is because racial profiling is very hard to prove. Another issue when dealing with racial profiling is many plaintiffs lose cases dealing with racial profiling because they have not gather ed enough solid research (Smith and Alpert, 2002). Concerns Many concerns can arise when dealing with racial profiling because they can affect many people. Simmons (2011) discusses three of these concerns and they are as follows: imposes a racial tax, impacts minority communities, and impacts police citizen partnerships. When dealing with racial profiling the so-called â€Å"racial tax† many people in the community can suffer psychological and emotional harms. This can be devastating to the individual because they can make them feel unwanted in the community. The community also suffers because word can spread the police officers are profiling a certain race and then trust the criminal justice field falls. The concern that racial profiling has impacts on minority communities can be justified for some of the same reasons stated above. This is also concerned because the practice of racial profiling may lead to higher incarceration rates among the community (Simmons, 2011). This can be harmful to the criminal justice field for some of the same reasons stated above and can have an impact on correctional facilities because it may cause more overcrowding. Racial profiling impacts police citizen partnerships because the trust of the police falls to the individual and the community as a whole. Another concern the may arise with the topic of racial profiling can be the issue of airport security. The impact of not using racial profiling on certain races can have a huge impact on the communities at large. This author believes that racial profiling is wrong in most cases but when it comes to protecting large groups of people should be used. If an individual board the plane with a bomb and was not racial profile this could have an impact on the criminal justice system as well. The country as a whole may feel that the criminal justice system do not do their job properly in stopping such an attack. One more concern could be the racial profiling of the teacher at a University. This can impact the victim because it makes them feel not welcomed at the institution because of the race and ethnic background. If students do not trust the teacher just because of their race, this can have an impact on the school community because lawsuits may arise. These lawsuits in turn will have an impact on the criminal justice field is a may tie up the courts. Initiatives Some initiative should be put into place to stop the practice of racial profiling. Most of the public believes the racial profiling should not be used in any shape or form. In order to combat this some sort of punishments may need to be put in place to stop profiling. One way to combat this practice could be to impose community service on individuals who commit racial profiling. This would not be a hard punishment to impose because it could help the community as a whole. Some logistical issues would be to find the appropriate project for the individual to work on. This project could be in the minority community that the individual committed racial profiling against. A second initiative to help stop the practice of racial profiling is to impose fines. This would be easy to apply once the law was set into place. One of the issues that may occur though, is setting the correct amount of money they should be fined against the individual who committed racial profiling. A third and final initiative could be shaming. This may be harder to implement because it is not well-known to the community. One of the logistical issues that may arise is getting adults to cooperate with the initiative. Most adults are not going to stand on the side of the road holding a sign that says â€Å"Im a racial profiler†. These types’ individuals would rather pay the fine first. Another issue is to find the appropriate place to hold shaming, such as a community square or popular mall. This author believes that if shaming should occur in the community that the individual committed racial profiling. Cases There are many cases that involve racial profiling, but Atwater v. City of Largo Vista is one that has been studied many times. Gail Atwater was driving a pickup truck and was pulled over due to what the officer said was a seatbelt violation (Oliver, 2003). This is brought forth to the Supreme Court as a racial profiling case because a few weeks before the same officer pulled over Gail Atwater for the same violation. The issue was that all the passengers were belted in properly. Although the seatbelt violation on how to find $50, the Atwater family felt that they were racially profiled. The Supreme Court later ruled that the case did not involve racial profiling because warrantless arrests are permitted and minor offenses (Oliver, 2003). In a similar case of Terry v. Ohio police officer stopped three men that he thought and committed the crime just moments before. When the officer asked what their name was, they just kind of mumbled. The officer then proceeded to search the men and found a weapon on one of them in an inside pocket. Two the men were charged with carrying a concealed weapon and taken to the police station. The defense for the two men one of the charges dropped because of illegal search and seizure. This case made to the Supreme Court and later developed a Terry stop. This was the case that did not involve racial profiling but involved reasonable suspicion. The outcomes of these two trials did affect individuals because in one case someone was fined, and in the other they were put in jail. Conclusion As discussed throughout this manuscript there are many problems and concerns that arise when dealing with racial profiling. This type of practice is still used very hard to prove. The concerns that were mentioned previously are one of the reasons that racial profiling should be stopped. This author believes that more research needs to be done in order to find the right way to combat this practice. References Durlauf, S., (2006). Assessing racial profiling. The Economic Journal. 116. Glaser, J., (2006). The efficacy and effect of racial profiling: a mathematical simulation approach. Journal of Policy Analysis Management. 5(2), 395-416. Higgins, G., Gabbidon, S., Vito, G., (2009). Exploring the influence of race relations in public safety concerns on public support for racial profiling during traffic stops. International Journal of Police Science Management. 12(1). 12-22. Kim, P., (2004). Conditional morality? The American Behavioral Scientist. 47(7), 879-895. Oliver, S., (2003). The role profiling American society: racial profiling: Atwater v. City of Largo Vista: the disappearing fourth amendment and its impacts on racial profiling. Journal of Law and Social Challenges. 5(1). Parker, K., Macdonald, J., Alpert, G., Smith, M., Piquero, A., (2004). A contextual study of racial profiling. The American Behavioral Scientist. 47(7), 943-962. Ramirez, D., Hoopes, J., Quinlan, t., (2003). Define racial profiling in a post September 11 world. The American Civil Law Review. 40(3), 1195-1233 Risse, M., Zeckhauser, R., (2004). Racial profling. Philosophy and Public Affairs. 32(2), 131- 170. Smith, M., Alpert G., (2002). Searching for direction: courts, social science, in the adjudication of racial profiling claims. Justice Quarterly. 19(4). 673-703 Simmons, K., (2011). Beginning to end racial profiling: definitive solutions to an elusive problem. Washiington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justive. 18(25).

The Catcher in the Rye :: Essays Papers

The Catcher in the Rye The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger published by The New American Library in 1951 is one of, if not the most popular and controversial books written by Salinger. The main character is a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield. He casually explains a certain time of transition in his life. It is a time of adventures and deep thought. Holden has his own view of the world and for 192 pages, he allows the reader to see the world through his eyes. He comes across many people at this time and refers to the general society as "phonies". Each personal encounter he makes affects him throughout his story. Holden begins the story by rambling about general things about him and his family and suggests to the reader that he is now in some form of an institution. He talks about the school he has currently gotten kicked out of, (unbeknownst to his parents)"Pencey Prep". This is one of many schools that he has attended and been rejected from for his laziness problem. He gets into an argument with his roommate and decides to leave Pencey early for Christmas break since there's no reason for him to stay. He packs up his things and takes a train to New York City where he grew up and where his family is. When he arrives in the city, he stays in a hotel. He observes people in other rooms through his window. Then, he goes to different bars even though he is under age. Holden is rather tall and has a gray streak of hair that makes him look older. In these bars, he meets and observes many varieties of people. He cannot go home to his parents until they've had a chance to find out about Pencey and had some time to calm down. To pass the time in NYC, he calls some people from his past. Each new person plays a specific role in Holden's actions and decisions. For example, Sally, his ex-girlfriend, makes him feel a spectrum of feelings from love to hate in a matter of hours. Holden notices many things in everyday life that others never really realize are there. He describes the Museum of Natural History and how no matter how many times you go there, nothing ever changes.

Essay --

I do not agree with the theorem that the successful brands are build on the successful products. It has been deliberate that the successful brands are built on the beliefs and not on the products. The most of the individuals don’t contemplate about underpinning the brand they develop but they necessitate offering a good product and earn a good income through selling it in the marketplace. Moreover, the thing on which most of the successful small businesses operate is the good and solid foundation of shared values and beliefs. These values go more than the attributes of the product. By communicating these attitudes and values, the company put itself on the successful way of transacting business and it helps in finding out the company’s real worth and value. The research has found that all the great companies have a common ideology of â€Å"fundamental values and a sense of persistence beyond just creating cash†. This inspires the people throughout the organization. (Vrontis, 1998) The successful brand is fundamental to a number of the factors. According to a bedrock idea or principle, every turn supports a product or a company and such a platform is known as positioning. A brand has no attraction without the element of positioning. The brand which has some sort of uniqueness and reliability, it will get the distinct advantage and attention of the people in the market. The successful brand is the result of three characteristics which are to be different, to be focused and to be relevant. The determinants of successful brands are discussed below: TO BE DIFFERENT Companies can build a strong brand by sticking out from the competition. Putting itself in the background noise is the great loss for the business. TO BE FOCUSED Being focused... ...he customers regarding the New Coke. The company returned to the old Coke following the great level of allegations from the customers. (Nicholas, 2013) WHY DO THE COMPANIES PREFER BRANDING Most of the companies rely heavily on the branding for the reason that the customers are often seen committed with brands and make repeat purchases. It is the nature of the loyal customers and even all the human beings that they do not leave the product, which facilitates them in some way better than any other product regardless of price. Nowadays, the companies are trying to cultivate the loyal customers by treating them in different way such as rewarding them and offering incentives. In this way, the companies get â€Å"the free word of mouth† marketing by making the people pleased to talk about the product positively in front of their friends and relatives. (Brand Loyalty, 2011)

Structure of the eye and ear :: essays research papers

Structures of the eye and ear We use our ears for the hearing sense, and we use our eyes for vision. Both are very important senses and would be hard to get along without. We rely on hearing for communication, navigation, entertainment and many other purposes Now for our eyes we use them for vision, their like our own personal camera’s, both have and use lens to focus on images. The eyes respond to the visible spectrum, this spectrum is made up of wavelengths of different sizes. The shorter waves produce a purple color, while Longer wavelengths produce blue, yellow, green and orange, and the longest Waves are red. Saturation, brightness, and hue all are components used in the Visible spectrum. More than half of the sensory receptors in the body happen to be located in the eyes, also the cerebral cortex plays a large role in processing Visual information. Some accessory structures of the eye are: the eyelids, eyelashes, eyebrows, Lacrimal apparatus, and the extrinsic eye muscles. The eyelids or (palpebrae) Are used for shade, whether it’s for sleeping or from excessive light, or from foreign objects that don’t belong in the eye. While the eyelids are protecting The eye it also helps at the same time by spreading lubricates over the eyeballs. The eyelashes help protect from foreign objects and perspiration, as well do the Eyebrows . The Lacrimal apparatus is a group of small structures, when humans Express emotions with tears, the Lacrimal apparatus helps to produce and then Drain those tears away. There are six extrinsic eye muscles to help move each Eye; the superior rectus, inferior rectus, lateral rectus, medial rectus, superior oblique and inferior oblique. Circuits in the brain stem and cerebellum tell these muscles what to do. The structure of the eye begins with the fibrous tunic, vascular tunic And the retina. These are all on the wall of the eyeball, the fibrous tunic consist of the cornea and the sclera. The cornea is what covers the iris, and is the outermost layer of the eye through which light passes. The sclera or the â€Å"white† of the eye, this is what gives form to the eyeball. The vascular tunic has three parts to it; the choroids, ciliary body, and the iris. The choroids is what provides nutrients to the surface of the retina. The ciliary body consist of ciliary muscle and the iris which is the colored part of the eye, it regulates the amount of light

Information Communication Technology Essay

Where ever you go you always see ICT whether it’s at the cinema or at a bank, it has become a necessity in modern life. This report I will be writing, will be on the way I do activities at home and at school using ICT (Information Communication Technology). It will also show what I am able to do on a daily basis, as a result of information technology products, such as my homework, socialising with my friends, playing games and much more. The three ICT technologies I will discussing are: * Mobile Phones * E-Mail * USB Mass Storage Systems (Pen Drive, Flash Memory Cards) The Mobile Phone A mobile phone was originally invented for long range communication through a portable, electronic device, but nowadays, as technology progressed the mobile phone, not allows me to make calls to people from long ranges, but it also allows me to use SMS (Short Messaging System) which means I can send messages to others without direct need for speech. I am also able to access a variety of files such as image, video and music. Mobile phones work by the use of a Subscriber Identity Module Card or SIM Card. It holds a microchip and is inserted into the handset allowing you access to a certain mobile phone network depending on who your provider is. This network is made up of a series of base stations that send signals used by mobile phones. The area covered by each of these base stations is called a cell and cells overlap to make up a coverage area. Advantages There are many advantages to having a mobile phone such as: * You are able to communicate with others through SMS, voice calls and even video calls for any reason and vice versa. * You are able to carry media files on your phone for entertainment purposes. * Nowadays many mobile phones allow you to access the Internet through WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), Wi-Fi (although a disadvantage to Wi-Fi is that you need to be within range of a wireless network connected to the Internet) * The mobile phone can be used almost anywhere without the need for landline cables etcetera Disadvantages Along with advantages there are also some disadvantages such as: * Firstly, it is much more expensive to use than a landline and charges vary when calling other networks. * Also, providers have different numbers of base stations meaning that some providers would a larger coverage area than others so you wouldn’t be able to use your phone everywhere. * Mobile phones aren’t able to get any reception in some buildings that have no direct access to the outdoors e.g. windows and also when you are underground. * Also when one base station has too many people connected to it, it can sometimes disconnect your call. Personal Needs When it comes to using my phone personally, I use it to make phone calls to my family to let them know where I am or when I will back home. It is a way that my parents can ensure that I am safe and it is also a connection if there is any emergency and they need to contact me. Also I am able to listen to music through the music player. How the technology meets my Personal Needs My personal needs are met by this technology; it allows me to communicate with my family while I am not around with them. I can call any of my contacts which are saved in my contact list, by accessing the database of contacts on my mobile phone. By pressing certain buttons (input) different menus come up, in this case my contact list (outcome). This is done by the phone’s CPU (Central Processing Unit), it starts to process the information received by pressing certain buttons and gives the outcome of whatever buttons I have pressed, for example by me opening my contact list and I can find relevant numbers that I can use to contact my family for example my mother’s contact details, it gives me the phone numbers available for me to contact her, from there I can choose the required number I want to call then the mobile phone starts to connect to it and will send a request to the other phone for my call to be accepted or rejected depending on the person. Also when I am going to and from school, doing homework, going out or any other reason, I am able to listen to music while I do the activity. It allows me to pass time more quickly if I am getting bored and sometimes helps me to concentrate while I do work. Evaluate Personal Needs I can use this technology very well to meet my personal needs as I am able to communicate with my family cheaply through the use of SMS and voice calls. But as you go on and need to use your phone more you find that it is too expensive to use the phone but those needs are met by the use of contracts where you receive various numbers of free texts and voice calls for a set price per month. This makes it not only cheaper but easier to contact family because I do not need to worry about having large bills to pay out. Social Needs I need to use my phone for social reasons so that I can communicate with my friends and organise certain activities such as parties. I also need to be able to send and receive SMS messages. How the technology meets my social needs I need to be able to contact my friends, on a regular basis and at short notice, while I am out and about. I am able to do this due to the services provided by a mobile phone, it lets you make calls and send SMSs. My friends would call me to ask if I am able to come to certain arrangements, just as I would call or use SMS to see whether or not they are allowed to come to some events. Even if, for any reason, I am unable to accept a voice/video call from my friends they are still able to contact me through voicemail where they can save a message that I can check later on and get back to them. Also with SMS if my phone is turned off I will still receive the SMS as soon as I turn my phone back on. I can, not only communicate, but I can also share files with my friends through the use of Bluetooth or Infrared. I am able to send them music, images, videos or games quickly and effectively, anywhere. Evaluate Social Needs The mobile phone technology is excellent at meeting my social needs because it allows me make and receive calls and text messages and also share files with my friends. To further meet my needs it could better itself in the way you have to share files, you are unable to send a group of files at one given time but instead you need to accept each file you would like to receive after the previous file has been sent. School Needs As it is against school rules to have a mobile phone with you during school hours, there would be only one need for a mobile phone at school, and that is to secretly send messages to other pupils about various things. How the technology meets my School Needs I need to be able to send messages to my friends during school hours discreetly and I am able to do this because of the different sound settings the phone has. You are able to put your phone on ‘vibrate’ or ‘silent’ so that the teacher cannot tell that I am using my phone. I can also use the mass storage system from inbuilt memories or external memory cards to save/ transfer files from home to school and vice versa. Evaluate School Needs Thanks to the ‘silent’/’vibrate’ settings I can send text messages without getting caught but the level of vibration is sometimes too much and can be heard and by putting it on silent you wouldn’t realise you received a text and you would have to keep on checking and that could potentially get you caught, so by being able to set the vibration intensity I would be able to be more discreet and attract less attention when I receive a text. E(lectronic) Mail E-mail is a system for sending and receiving messages electronically over a computer network, through modems using telephone lines, or, through wireless transmissions to anybody around the world who has access to a computer and has their own personal e-mail address. Examples of messengers are: yahoo messenger, windows live hotmail, g-mail. In an e-mail you can send notes, letters and most kinds of files – music, image video, word processing and others. To send e-mails you first need an email address this consists of five parts; * Firstly, the username (e.g. john_smith), this refers to the recipient’s mailbox. * Then there is a â€Å"@† sign. * Thirdly you have the host name (hotmail, yahoo etcetera) this refers to the mail server this is mainly the company name. * The host name is followed by a dot â€Å".† * It is then completed by the domain (com, co.uk, gov.uk etcetera) Advantages There are many advantages to e-mail such as: * You can use e-mail at any time of the day and it will be sent to the preferred destination. * It is much quicker than by post – snail mail and you can ensure that it doesn’t get lost because it doesn’t have to go through the process of sorting. * It’s free to use. * It can be sent to anyone around the world so long as they have an Internet connection. * You can send messages to large numbers of people Disadvantages Along with the advantages there are also disadvantages to e-mail such as: * You can’t ensure you will get an instant reply because the receiver might not check his mail until later * You are subject to getting spam * There is less security as third parties are able to retrieve your email address * Not always suitable for serious business documents or transactions requiring signatures. Personal Needs I need to be able to contact my family via e-mail at any time of the day as I have family abroad and it is a free way of communicating to them instead of wasting a lot of money in making international calls. Also I need to be able to send some files to myself if I ever need to. For example music files. How the technology meets my Personal Needs With e-mail I am able to contact my family abroad or if they are at work on a regular basis. E-mail is a free type of mail which can be network based or web based or on a certain computer. If an email address is based on the web then it can be accessed from any computer that has an Internet connection but an email that is based on a certain computer or network can only be accessed from that computer or any computer which is connected to the network. Using Email is much more efficient and easier for me because to be able to contact my family without the use of a telephone makes it cheaper to use because e-mail is free. Evaluate Personal Needs My personal needs are met very well by the use of e-mail due to me being able to contact my family anywhere in the world very quickly and at no extra cost this makes my life easier and also better in the sense I have more money, because I don’t need to spend money making international calls and instead use e-mail I am able to save money to get the same message across. Ways that e-mail can be made better are that it should automatically detect spam mailings and delete them and to make matters better for everyone who holds an e-mail address, hosts like hotmail and yahoo should not allow third parties to have access to our information. Social Needs I need to use e-mail to contact my friends when I am unable to call/text them. It is an alternate way for me communicate with my friends if I ever need to talk to them about certain matters. How the technology meets my Social Needs Instead of the phone to communicate I can use e-mail or the more instant version IM, Instant Messaging, which is absolutely free to use. IM is when I am able to communicate with friends and family through different chat rooms. Windows Live Messenger, for example allows me to talk to friends and family when, the person I wish to speak to, and I are online at the same time it is similar to using the phone but the main difference is you are not talking but instead you are typing. I can arrange to meet up with people to go to the cinema or Brent Cross whenever I please I can also just generally talk with my friends about things that are going on at school etcetera. It allows my friends to talk to me if ever the need anything. Many IM servers allow you to play games with your friends like tic-tac-toe or poker I take advantage of this feature and play the games with many of my friends. The use of e-mail and IM, socially, means hassles like friends arriving at place too early or late can be avoided because we can tell each quickly and simply through this technology. Evaluate Social Needs E-mail and IM meets my needs for social uses very well because I am able to converse with my friends and family and arrange events like going to the cinema with great ease. I don’t have to go through the process of phoning different people at different times and spending money on calls, I can just go on an IM server and talk to all the necessary people at the same time and in one conversation making it more like speaking to them in person. Ways it can be improved to meet my social needs are that it should be more easily accessed, you should be able to use these IM services on your mobile phone for free so you don’t need to be on a computer all the time. School Needs I can use e-mail to help me with my school work as I am able to send work-related files to myself and then access them at home and vice versa. How this technology meets me School Needs People who do not have their own external mass storage device, for any reason, can take advantage of using e-mail to send work. On many occasions I have forgotten to bring my USB Pen Drive to school but I that hasn’t stopped me from being able to take my work home with me. Thanks to e-mail I am able to send necessary files to myself so I can complete that work at home. Also my friends are able to send me files which can aid me in doing my homework via e-mail. I can also send my coursework files to relevant subject teachers for them to mark and give back, this means I do not have to waste time in trying to track down the teachers but they can receive it successfully without it being lost through e-mail. I have known people who have asked other teachers to give the coursework to their teacher and had it lost and others who have sent their work directly to the teacher’s e-mail address this is more efficient because that way you can be sure that it won’t get lost. Evaluate School Needs I am able to use e-mail to meet my school needs very well. I can send work to myself so I can continue to do the work at home. This is very good because a lot of the ICT syllabus requires doing work, not only at school, but a lot at home as well and people like me who, on a regular basis forget to bring their USB Pen Drive to school, can benefit the use of e-mail to send work home. Ways that it could be improved to meet my school needs are that it should allow you to send whole files at the same time, because currently it only allows me to send any number of files but it has to be done all separately, this is very time consuming as I have to upload each individual file into an attachment and then I have to download each file onto the computer when I get home . By allowing you to send a whole file at once it saves much more time and hassle. USB Pen Drive – Flash Memory USB Pen Drives are portable, external mass storage devices with a USB plug which can transfer files from one USB supporting machine to another. These are ideally suited to people who have a large number of documents that require frequent access in different places. The memory capacity of these devices has been increasing steadily over the last few years due to advances in technology. The first mass storage system started off only with a capacity of 32mb but nowadays we have USB Pen Drives ranging from 32 MB (megabytes) to 4 GB (gigabytes). USB (Universal Serial Bus) Pen Drives come in many different ways, you get the standard device which is used for storage only and then you get other devices which are mp3’s as well, so not only can you save important files on it you can also listen to music USB Flash Memory differs from hard drives because the Flash Memory stores the memory in a chip whereas hard drives store the memory in a disk Advantages There are advantages to having a USB Pen Drive such as: * They are supported by most operating systems, and can be directly attached to a hardware device. * It is portable and easy to transport as they are so small and compact. * You can transfer files from one computer/machine to another. * You can get different amount storage on them depending on the size and/or quantity of your files. * They can carry much more data than a floppy disk. * Nowadays they aren’t very expensive to buy. Disadvantages Just as there are advantages there are also disadvantages to USB Pen Drive such as: * You have a limited amount of storage – some files may be too big to hold in the USB Pen Drive or you may have too many files on it. * Files may get corrupted on the USB Pen Drive if it is faulty resulting in you losing your work * Due to the portability of it, it is very easy to lose track of it and you may find that you keep on misplacing it. * Some older technologies like old computers do not support USB ports meaning there is no use for the USB Pen Drive. Personal Needs I do not have much of a personal need for USB Pen Drives but sometimes I need to be able to transfer data from one place to another such as music files(mp3, wma), image files(jpg.), video files(wmv, mp4, mpeg). How the technology meets my Personal Needs With a USB Pen Drive I am able to move files to different destinations for example if one of my computers in the house is connected to the Internet and the other computer isn’t, I can download a file from the Internet and then transfer it to the other computer via USB. Evaluate Personal Needs USB Pen Drive meets my needs very well because I am able to transfer many files and folders at the same time to different systems that support USB Ports. Due to the large amounts of memory available to the ability to compress files you end up with a lot space for you to use. Social Needs Just as there are not many uses for USB Pen Drive personally, socially there are limited uses. The main social use for the USB Pen Drive is that you can share files with friends like music or images. How the technology meets my Social Needs If ever I need to go to my friend’s house and they need some files or I need to get some files from them, I am able to use a USB Pen Drive to transfer files. It is more efficient than using e-mail because you are able to transfer whole files and on e-mail you have limits to the size of the file you can send. Also I can access the files without the need of accessing the Internet. Evaluate Social Needs The USB Pen Drive meets my social needs very well because I can move files to any system at my friend’s house very easily. This is very helpful because some of my friends don’t have access to the Internet so I can use the USB Pen Drive to give them files. School Needs Unlike my social and personal needs there are many uses for the USB Pen Drive in school life. I am able to transfer files from school to my home and continue to do my work. How this technology meets my School Needs As an ICT GSCE student I need to be able to take coursework, data files and other various files to and from school, with a USB Pen Drive I can easily do that. With a 1GB flash memory drive I have no problem transferring files. Using a USB Pen Drive I don’t need to access the Internet, instead I can just plug it into the computer and it will detect the hardware and install the software to run the USB Pen Drive. When it has done that I can freely open up the USB Pen Drive files from ‘My Computer’ and ‘drag and drop’ necessary files. I can carry on doing work at home and complete it to give in to the teacher the next day it is better than having to wait until the next lesson to complete the work. Evaluate School Needs The USB Pen Drive meets my school needs extremely well; thanks to it I can send/transfer files to any computer I need to complete my school work. This is very useful because some computers may not have the program/software to support the necessary file so being able to move files via USB Pen Drive is helpful because then I can move it to a computer that does have the software. Ways to make the USB Pen Drive better in meeting my school needs are that you should be able to upgrade your USB Pen Drive to have a larger space for memory instead of having to buy a new one.

Domestic Violence Against Women

Domestic abuse against women In her news article, the spokesperson for amnesty international describes domestic violence as a worldwide phenomenon that violates the human rights of female victims (Mite, 2005). In addition, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) described violence against women as â€Å"a global epidemic that kills, tortures, and maims – physically, psychologically, sexually and economically. It is one of the most pervasive of human rights violations, denying women and girls equality, security, dignity, self-worth, and their right to enjoy fundamental freedoms† (UNICEF, 2000).I agree with the above assertions because violence against women is so rampant and it happens in all spheres of life, be it in homes, work places, on the streets, learning institutions, and during moments of war and peace alike. Because of the pervasiveness of domestic violence against women and its devastating physical and psychological effects, my paper will be focusin g on domestic violence against women in Canada.I believe that domestic abuse against women should be eradicated in this twenty-first century because it breeds psychic disempowerment, mental distress, and affects women’s health, wellness and self esteem. The question that this paper will address is the following: what resources should be made available to support female victims of domestic violence who are currently living with an abusive partner, or have recently left an abusive relationship? The paper will begin with a definition of domestic violence, followed by a discussion of resources and the nursing role.According to Etter and Birzer (2007), domestic violence occurs when a partner or former partner inflicts physical harm on someone with whom they have or previously had an intimate relationship. This physical harm can result in major or minor injury, and can be inflicted with or without a weapon. Researchers have identified supportive counseling as beneficial to female v ictims of domestic violence (Madoc-Jones & Roscoe, 2010; McNamara, Tamanini, & Pelletier-Walker, 2008). The emotional support that counseling offers can help female victims of domestic violence identify trengths and assets that they may not have been aware they possessed because their partners’ criticisms may have left them feeling worthless and feeling incapable of taking action to alter their circumstances. Working with a counselor would enable the women to develop a healthy self-image, become aware of their resilience and personal strength, and they may begin to see themselves as survivors of domestic violence as opposed to victims. By becoming aware of their strengths, women may begin to feel empowered and capable of mobilizing their personal resources to take steps towards leaving the abusive relationship.Counseling can also provide female victims of domestic violence with an opportunity to reduce their feelings of self-blame for the abuse they receive when they are made aware of the prevalence of domestic violence and the factors that contribute to it, such as patriarchal social structures, income differentials between men and women, and cultural norms that condone the use of physical aggression against women. This knowledge would help reduce their feelings of isolation and blame because they would understand that they are not alone in their experience of domestic violence.Because of the economic dependency of women on their abusers (Sanders, Weaver, & Schnabel, 2007), the social structure has placed women on the receiving end by keeping them down economically through lower wages and less opportunities for employment (Sanders, Weaver, & Schnabel, 2007). As a result, it can be argued that belonging to a low income group and economic dependence, among other factors, may be linked to higher rates of spousal assault against women. Many low income female victims of domestic violence are at a high risk of developing psychological problems such as depres sion, stress, and low self esteem (Hare, 2010).They are also emotionally attached to the abuser to the extent that they cannot leave a relationship for fear of being left alone in a wretched economic situation (Hare, 2010). As a result, some may be worried about child support and financial assistance, and others may be afraid of the threats of retaliation and abduction of children by the abuser. Given that economic dependence is significant in domestic abuse, there is a need for victims to create their own economic independence. In this way, women would no longer look at men as the sole bread winners of the family or providers of childcare and financial ssistance, and they would be able to support themselves financially if they were to leave their abusive partners. To implement the above, the government needs to provide access to job training and education geared towards female victims of domestic violence. This could serve as a fundamental tool that dismantles a vicious cycle of op pression, abuse and poverty of women. Given that the nursing profession plays an important role in public health, nurses can use their skills to advocate on behalf of the abused by creating awareness about the impact of domestic violence against women.Advocacy could also involve referrals to resources for women, such as counseling services and shelters for women leaving abusive partners, as well as providing victims with information about how to protect themselves against abuse, helping them develop a safety plan, and helping to reduce their feelings of self-blame and shame by highlighting the pervasiveness of domestic violence. This paper identified some of the resources that would provide support and assistance to female victims of domestic violence, such as economic support and counseling.The importance of economic support cannot be overlooked because financial independence can lead to improvements in psychological health and well-being, and creates the material means through whi ch these women can escape from an abusive relationship. In addition, counseling can reduce women’s isolation, self-blame, and help them identify their assets and personal resources, which can boost their self-confidence and provide them with the strength to leave the abuser.

Case Study-Barclays

BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS I. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS, CASE INTRODUCTION AND KEY POINTS Introduction The case covers the introduction of Matt Barrett as CEO of Barclays and the changes he introduced to the organization to maintain its competitive position within the retail financial services industry. In an increasingly competitive environment, Barclays is losing ground due to its lack of data-driven actions and small global presence. The case outlines the actions taken by Barrett to transform some of the key characteristics of Barclays’ corporate structure, and concludes by presenting the challenge he will face in getting management buy-in in order to implement his vision. The key challenges that Barclays faces include: market consolidation, the emergence of the Euro and European Central Bank, increased reliance on IT and web-based platforms, and the rigidity of its own corporate structure. II. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS Summarize the external environment, including conditions in the general, industry, and competitor environments. a. The General Environment Definition: The general environment is focused on the future and can be analyzed by considering the STEEP framework: Social/demographic, Technological, Economic, Environmental/geographic and Political/legal/governmental factors at play. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Social/Demographic Technological Economic Environmental/Geographic Political/Legal/Governmental Discussion Question 1: Perform a STEEP analysis to understand the general environment facing Barclays. How will Barclays be affected by external factors? In particular, what will the effect of globalization be in terms of threats and opportunities? Social/Demographic Segment ? English is becoming increasingly the world-wide language of business offering Anglophone Barclays opportunities to expand into international markets with reduced language barriers. BARCLAYS |1 BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS Technological: ? ? ? Increased world-wide reliance on IT and the emergence of web-based solutions in 2000 will elevate Barclays’ need to diversify portfolio offerings. Barclays’ must update its â€Å"woefully inadequate† Management Information Systems (MIS) and begin to automate labor intensive processes to reduce costs. In order to enter new markets to increase revenues and satisfy institutional investors, Barclays must invest in increased technology capabilities. Economic: ? ? ? Robust economic environment due to tech boom will increase liquidity in the marketplace. As a result, acquisitions will be more costly than in a down economy. However this will also cause capital to be more accessible. Market trends towards consolidation will pressure Barclays to regain its industry leadership position through acquisition. Globalization and world economy flattening will require Barclays to become a global company expanding its offerings beyond its current UK focus. Environmental/Geographic: ? Geographic borders and distances between countries are shrinking with increased technology and a globalized economy. This will both require and facilitate Barclays’ global presence. Political/Legal/Governmental: ? ? Emergence of the Euro and strengthening of the EU will reduce FX exposure for the European markets and stabilize European economies. European Central Bank will control interest rates in Europe making Barclays more vulnerable to its decisions (versus the decentralized banks prior to the Euro emergence). With an ever increasing number of banks operating across both political and geographic borders, Barclays must expand its reach beyond the UK to remain competitive and avoid a potential takeover. In doing this, Barclays must consider a set of threats and opportunities that are involved with operating outside the UK: Threats 1. Operating a multinational corporation involves managing across multiple cultures, languages, and economic environments – Barclays’ organizational structure must be flexible enough to adapt to these. . Low brand recognition internationally would make competition against local institutions costly. BARCLAYS |2 BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS 3. Relocation abroad requires high infrastructure costs. 4. Locating Barclays’ and its customers’ assets across multiple currencies exposes both to fluctuations in exchange rates. 5. Failed expansion into foreign market might damage brand image and alienate n ew customers. Opportunities 1. Increased global reach and brand presence. 2. Diversified risk. 3. Possibility to create new revenue streams through new customer acquisition. 4. Gain first mover advantage in emerging markets. 5. Increases attractiveness of Barclays to multinational corporations. b. The Industry Environment Definition: An industry is a group of firms producing products that are close substitutes. In the course of competition, these firms influence one another. Typically, industries include a rich mixture of competitive strategies that companies use to pursue above-average returns. In part, these strategies are chosen because of the influence of an industry’s characteristics. Compared with the general environment, the industry environment often has a more direct effect on the firm’s strategic competitiveness and above-average returns. The industry environment is the set of factors that directly influences a firm and its competitive actions and competitive responses. Porter’s 5 Forces Model is a powerful tool for understanding the dynamics amongst the five key factors that determine an industry’s level of rivalry and profit potential. [Outlined below, High=H; Medium=M; Low=L] 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Threat of New Entrants (or barriers to entry) Supplier Power Threat of Product Substitutes Buyer Power Intensity of Rivalry Discussion Question 2: Use Porter’s Five Forces Model to analyze the retail financial services industry in the UK. Given this analysis, is the industry attractive or unattractive? The below Porter’s 5 forces analysis shows that the retail financial services industry in the UK is a potentially attractive industry due to low threat of new entrants, supplier power, and substitutes. On the other hand, medium buyer power and high rivalry within the industry could inhibit return possibilities. Threat of New Entrants (or barriers to entry): Low ? ? High infrastructure costs Barclays has high brand recognition within the UK, less so in its other markets BARCLAYS |3 BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS ? ? Regulatory and security issues make market entry complicated for smaller players NOTE: Mergers of existing banks, if considered ‘new entrants’, must be addressed given the consolidation trend existing in the market. Smaller regional banks could pull customers away from Barclays if they were to merge and offer more extensive services but retain local roots and connections. Supplier Power: Low ? Switching costs among IT suppliers low in a fragmented industry Threat of Product Substitutes: Low ? Traditional, paper based, systems have become outdated and are no longer feasible. Asset management advice is preferred by customers over DIY Buyer Power: Medium ? ? Price sensitivity of retail consumer (major revenue stream for Barclays) relatively high compared to that of corporate client Switching costs of retail consumer (major revenue stream for Barclays) relatively high compared to those of corporate client Intensity of Rivalry: High ? ? Customer loyalty and brand recognition make switching of banking provider less likely Large number of competitors within the retail banking space NOTE: Competition within the industry is based on both price and services The Competitor Environment c. Definition: The competitor environment is the final subject of analysis required to gain a full understanding of the company's external environment. A competitor analysis focuse s on each company against which a firm directly competes and involves gathering and interpreting information about its competitors. Competitive rivalry is the ongoing set of competitive actions and responses that occur among firms as they maneuver for an advantageous market position. Especially in highly competitive industries, companies constantly jockey for advantage as they launch strategic actions and respond or react to rivals’ moves. It is important to understand competitive rivalry because it influences a firm’s ability to gain and sustain competitive advantages. 3 I’s Framework Leveraging the 3 I’s framework provides a thorough overview by grouping competitors into three buckets: immediate competition, impending competition, invisible competition. BARCLAYS |4 BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS 1. Immediate Competition: Immediate competitors to Barclays are considered to be the major financial institutions located in the UK such as Lloyds TSB and RBS. These institutions are gaining increasing presence over Barclays due to their lower cost structures and improved efficiencies. 2. Impending Competition: Impending competitors to Barclays include international financial services firms such as Credit Suisse First Boston, and smaller firms operating in one of Barclays’ business categories such as investment advisory firms (Zoete Bevan, Wells Fargo Nikko). . Invisible Competition: Barclays’ invisible competitors include smaller UK based businesses that focus solely on a product offered by one of Barclays’ divisions, such as smaller mortgage lending businesses (Woolwich). III. INTERNAL COMPANY ANALYSIS Summarize internal company factors including: capabilities and weaknesses, value chain activities, strategy, and financial situation. a. Outline the company's internal capabilities and weaknesses. Definition: Capabilities exist when resources have been integrated to achieve a specific set of tasks and are frequently developed within a specific functional area. In addition to identifying the company's opportunities and threats from the external environment, another important objective of the situation analysis is to evaluate strengths and weaknesses as input for developing the company's strategies. Discussion Question 3: What are the main capabilities of Barclays? Does Barclays have a core competence? Barclays’ main capabilities include retail financial services and corporate banking within the UK. The company’s core competencies (i. e. trengths relative to competitors that give it a competitive edge) include: a strong brand presence within the UK, a strong domestic franchise, new innovative leadership under Matt Barrett, and outstanding (276%) market cap growth from 1995-2000. BARCLAYS |5 BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS Discussion Question 4: Create a SWOT analysis to understand Barclays’ strengths and weaknesses. Does Barclays have a sustainable competitive advantage in the re tail financial services industry? If so, what is the source? Strengths 1. Strong brand presence within UK 2. 76% growth in market cap from 19952000 3. Strong domestic franchise 4. Strong new leadership with strategic vision (Matt Barrett) Opportunities 1. Opportunity to expand into global markets (Barclays Global Investors only 2% of business) 2. Ability to strengthen existing brand presence within Europe (10% of sales and profits) 3. Streamline cost sharing among business units (HR, IT, Finance, etc. ) Weaknesses 1. Cost to income ratio significantly higher than competition (business units operate as silos) 2. Narrow focus (61% of revenue from RFS, capital division focused on debt products) 3. Limited global presence (80% of profits from UK) Threats 1. Management reluctance to embrace new strategies, demoralized staff 2. Competitors have lower cost advantage 3. Stronger global presence of international competitors 4. Dissatisfied institutional investors 5. Inadequate IT systems can inhibit growth Barclays’ competitive advantage includes its: strong presence within the UK market both in terms of locations and brand recognition, strong innovative leadership, and international presence. Barclays’ business strategy has focused on growth within the UK and has not invested enough capital into international expansion. In a globalizing economy with rising multinational financial corporations, the lack of a strong international presence is something that could significantly hurt Barclays in the long-term, and even turn it into a takeover target as institutional investors continue to lose faith in the company. b. Conduct a Value Chain analysis to identify value-creating activities. Definition: By exploiting its core competencies, a competitive firm creates value for its customers. Value is measured by a product’s performance characteristics and by its attributes for which customers are willing to pay. Companies with a competitive advantage offer value to BARCLAYS |6 BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS customers that is superior to the value competitors can provide. Value is created by innovatively bundling and leveraging resources and capabilities. A value chain analysis provides information relative to primary (inbound/outbound logistics, operations, marketing & sales, and service) and secondary (firm infrastructure, human resources mgmt, technological developments and procurement) activities. A value chain representation of Barclays’ primary and support activities is presented in the diagram below. This information can be used to establish a business strategy which targets select activities to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Primary Activities ? ? ? ? Inbound/Outbound Logistics: N/A Operations: o Strong focus on Retail Financial Services (RFS), account for 61% of revenue o Sold cash, equities, and corporate finance businesses to focus on debt products Service: N/A Marketing and Sales: o Strong focus on UK market and low global presence o Reliance on UK brand recognition Support Activities ? ? ? HR Management: o Executive committee not performing as decision making team o Higher than average staff expenses put heavy strain on cost structure Technology Development: o Management Information Services (MIS) system is outdated and inadequate Firm Infrastructure: BARCLAYS |7 BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS o Divisions operating as silos (each has own HR, IT, etc. ) o Lack of data driven decision making processes o Introduction of the Euro and the European Central Bank affect Barclays’ exposure to foreign exchange as well as interest rate changes both for the company itself and its clients Procurement: N/A Discussion Question 5: Which components of Barclays’ value chain have made the company successful thus far? What changes to Barclays’ organizational structure and focus are necessary for Barclays to remain competitive? Barclays has become a major player in the banking industry through strong brand presence within the UK, earning it one out of every five personal customers, and a clear focus on Retail Financial Services (RFS). However, both its UK presence and RFS focus have failed to provide a sustainable competitive advantage for the company. In order to remain competitive within the banking industry, Barclays must examine and redesign various components of its value chain including: 1. Focus on Retail Financial Services: a. Barclays must expand its focus beyond RFS by creating new product offerings for corporate customers and further expanding internationally to give newly acquired corporate customers global access. 2. Outdated and inadequate MIS system: a. In order to manage its internal functions efficiently, Barclays must adopt technological innovations and update its MIS system. 3. Lack of data driven decision making: a. In order to compete in an industry driven by statistics and analytics, Barclays must emphasize data driven decisions throughout its corporate structure. 4. Fragmented core divisions: a. Operating fragmented core divisions such as HR and Finance creates additional costs as well as bureaucracy and inefficiencies. Barclays must consolidate these shared services. BARCLAYS |8 BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS c. Financial Analysis Definition: Financial analysis is used to assess the viability, stability and profitability of a company or operating division. The analysis is done using quantitative historical performance found in the financial reporting documents (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Statement of Cash Flows). The goal of the analysis is to understand a company’s financial health through its profitability, solvency, liquidity, and stability. Given the financial information provided in the case, it is clear that Barclays is lagging behind its competitors in cost control measures, and has allowed both PP&E and Staff Expenses to rise above its competitors’ average. Operating expenses as % of income In addition, an analysis of the company’s divisions and their respective earnings contribution reveals that Barclays heavily relies on its Retail Financial Services division for a large portion of its earnings; this suggests that diversification might be needed. NOTE: Further analysis into the average contribution of each revenue stream for other players in the industry is needed before diversification can be e ntirely justified. BARCLAYS |9 BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS IV. STRATEGY FORMULATIO N Summarize Barclays’ strategic position as it relates to its current strategy and the components thereof. a. Summarize Barclays’ current strategy. Barclays’ current strategic objective is to drive profits by consolidating internal functions and expanding its international presence. The company is a major player in the UK financial services and retail banking industry but has lost ground internationally despite rapidly rising market capitalization. Fragmented internal divisions and a lack of aggressive expansion have brought up the need for extensive managerial and structural changes to the firm. This prompted the hiring of a new CEO, Matt Barrett, who established a series of restructuring goals for Barclays to remain competitive. b. Strategic Analysis Definition: Conduct an analysis of Barclays’ business strategy by using the 4 P’s Framework. The 4 P’s Framework is used to understand a company’s strategy based on its Position (Mission, Values, and Vision), Priorities, Payments (what it will spend its money on to reach those priorities), and Performance (how it will measure success). By completing the framework, we can analyze a company’s current, future, or recommended priorities as well as set forth a path in order to achieve goals and measure accomplishments. Use the 4 P’s Framework to analyze the firm’s past/current/future strategy. 1. Position a. Mission: To provide innovative products, excellent careers, positive community contributions B A R C L A Y S | 10 BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS b. Values: Fact based decisions, customer service, and value maximizing strategy c. Vision: To be one of the most admired financial service organizations in the world 2. Priorities: 1. Develop cross-group synergies to lower costs and improve efficiency 2. Expand reach of Barclays brand abroad through strategic alliances/acquisitions 3. Continue to diversify existing business portfolio 3. Payments: 1. Invest in adequate IT systems 2. Invest in human capital initiatives to align incentives and boost morale 3. Invest in marketing and strategic alliances/acquisitions in underserved regions/segments 4. Performance: 1. Shareholder returns vs. peer institutions 2. Customer and revenue growth (double profits in four years) 3. Increased profit due to lower costs and increased efficiency (reduce costs by ? 1bn) Discuss possible recommendations that Barclays could follow going forward to improve the performance of the company. Determine the decision criteria and also analyze the pros and cons of each recommendation. In order to remain competitive within the marketplace, Barclays must: 1. i. ii. iii. 2. i. ii. 3. i. ii. iii. Develop cross-group synergies to lower costs and improve efficiency by: Rebuilding core infrastructure to consolidate HR, IT, and Finance groups across individual divisions Reducing costs by 18% (? bn) Realigning incentives to reward value-add decisions; Expand Barclays brand abroad though: Increased brand presence in Europe to enter top 5 ranking Strengthening of the brand in US and Africa; Continue diversifying the existing business portfolio by: Expanding Barclays product and service portfolio to strengthen weak or underrepresented areas to serve affluent/high net worth segments Decrea sing reliance on Retail Financial Services by strengthening Barclays Capital and Barclays Global Investors divisions Entering new markets by acquiring major players (e. g. Woolwich). B A R C L A Y S | 11 BARCLAYS: MATT BARRETT’S JOURNEY – WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS Question Reduce staff expenses Option / Hypothesis Reduce labor costs by increasing automation Decision Criteria ? Cost/Benefit analysis ? Effect on employee morale ? Technology capabilities ? Revenue growth ? Barriers to entry ? Effect on current resources ? Revenue Pros †¢ Long term cost reduction †¢ Streamlining of processes †¢ More control over information flow and analysis †¢ Does not cannibalize existing revenue streams †¢ Increase global reach and brand presence †¢ Diversifies risk †¢ Existing customer loyalty and brand presence †¢ No need for customer acquisition Cons †¢ High up-front cost †¢ Lengthy implementation period †¢ Technology risk †¢ Negative effect on employee morale †¢ High cost †¢ High risk and FX exposure †¢ No trial period †¢ Culture clashes, integration logistics †¢ Might stretch resources too thin †¢ Requires investment in infrastructure and human capital †¢ Requires new expertise Diversify target markets Increase revenue through new market entry with current product suite Diversify product offerings Increase equity and investment banking focus of Barclay Capital division growth ? Barriers to entry ? Effect on current resources B A R C L A Y S | 12