Promoting Population Health Essay

Every Woman Matters is a program through the Nebraska Department of Health which is state run and federally funded. This program focuses on decreasing barriers to preventive breast and cervical cancer screenings in low-income women. They so this by raising public awareness and make these screenings more accessable and affordable to eligible women (Backer, Geske, McIlvain, Dodendorf, & Minier, 2005). Reduced cost or no cost clinical breast exams, mammograms, and Pap smear test are provided through this program. The EWM program has attempted to provide their services to physician practices to assist in the development of the program. The practices are expected to follow the GAPS model to implement this change. This includes: â€Å"goal setting, assessing existing routines, planning the modification of routines, and providing support for these improvements (Backer et al., 2005, p402). In order for this to be successful, they need to alter physician and practice behaviors. The practices resources, willingness to change, and the ability of staff to fully cooperate or work as a team should have been evaluated before the attempt to implement EWM program into each practice. It seems the practices chosen to implement the Every Woman Matters program already had its own issues or barrier for implementation to be fully possible. Some of the problems that were faced were: one practice was only focused on generating income, some were hospital owned which added barriers to approval, enthusiasm was not shared by all staff, staff was disgruntled or overextended, limited resources, resistance from staff, no active leader, prevention not being priority, and the loss of interest or elimination of goals after the first few months (Backer et al., 2005). Each practice  involved had at least one of these issues present resulting in the Every Woman Matters program not being effective in meeting its goals. Prevention Programs Two prevention programs that advocate for early screening are The North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program (NC-BCSP) and the Esperanza y vida health education program. Both of these programs are focused on women’s health screenings and treatment and they go about it the same way, influencing and supporting through social networks and offering culturally tailored interventions. The North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program focuses on African American women over 50 years old. They use a social ecological theory which targets several levels of the community from individuals and social networks to institutions and policymakers. They believe that providing â€Å"linkages† will develop communities that will endure after the research project ends (Altpeter, Earp, & Schopler, 1998). Social workers and others are used as â€Å"coaches or teachers† to develop the community participants’ skills. They help organize local efforts and provide technical assist ance or training. Social workers also identify and integrate the needs of underserved constituents into service planning to aim to improve service delivery. Three interventions are used in developing the program, Outreach, InReach, and Access. Outreach targets individual women and community nerworks to which they belong, building on the capacity of local leadership to advocate and promote breast cancer screening. This includes having agency-based community outreach specialists, county-based community advisory groups and a network of volunteers that span the projects 5-county region. The focus is to enhance awareness, generate community support, and introduce Lay Health Advisors that run focus groups. InReach enhances service delivery by restructuring clinic policies and procedures to increase efficiency of previous services that are delivered, provider education on breast cancer topics, help agencies implement community outreach efforts customized to older African American women. Key players of InReach are health care providers including private practice physicians, radiology centers, county health departments and federally funded rural health centers (Altpeter et al, 1998). â€Å"Program Champions† will advocate with the medical community and agencies for community wide screening,  referral, and follow-up plans. Access promotes accessible, equitable care by overcoming institutional barriers (cost, transportation, mammogram quality assurance) that prevent low income African American women from getting screenings. Key players are state and local agencies that are responsible for financing or delivering needed services. Radiology centers improve units or increase the quality of mammograms, the development of linkages, decrease in prices with creative use of federal or state financing with innovative plans such as â€Å"free weeks†. Promotion of ongoing availability in local health agencies of breast cancer screening activities. The NC-BCSP focuses on institutionalizing health promotion programs by establishing relationships with local health departments, rural health clinics, radiology centers, and physicians to ensure the program â€Å"me shed† with the current systems already in place in local organizations. This is important in fitting a â€Å"niche† within an organization to ensure longevity and uncover existing grassroot linkages that can fimly establish a comprehensive system of accessible, available, and affordable breast cancer screening and treatment options. Institutionalization depends on infrastructure development, community linkages at multiple levels and monitoring and providing feedback. What I find most importand in the NC-BCSP is the way they use community members to make this program work. Program Champions who have influence at the policy level and Project Coordinators who are older black women from the community. Lay Health Advisors who will gain professional knowledge and skills have existing ties within the community and social networks will initiate behavioral change. Natural helpers from within targeted communities are recruited and trained women who others turned to for advice, support, and assistance in the past. The Esperanza y vida is a peer-led health education program addressing the decreased rate of breast and cervical cancer screening and treatments in the Latina community. Sudarsan (2011 p 194) states â€Å"Individuals can not be considered separately from their social environment and background.†, which they prove by influencing and supporting Latina individuals through social networks and neighborhoods and communities. This programs’ interventions reflect the community’s priorities and culture. Culturally appropriate information and resources are provided to increase patient knowledge for self care and to decrease obstacles to health care. By offering culturally tailored  interventions, they increase the rates of screening. In their program, they use three different locations to account for geographic, ethnic, and community diversity. Along with education regarding breast and cervical cancer screenings and treatment, the Esperanza y Vida program addresses fears , concerns, and perceptions that negatively impact understandings. They also evaluate pre and post-program knowledge, testing attendance to increased screening adherence. Using ARS, an audience response system which uses Power Point questions and responses are recorded anonymously using a wireless keypad, increasing the probability of participants answering honestly. The program found differences between locations indicating varying familiarity with technology and literacy, resulting in low comfort levels. Esperanza y Vida accommodates Latino perspectives on family, religion, gender roles, and provides navigation into screening. The group settings are community-based locations, faith-based locations, or in womens’private homes. These â€Å"safe† locations are more appealing to undocumented Latinas, increasing the rate of participation. Learning by reflecting on access to various local agencies, and community structure variations. Trained peer volunteers are utilized, these are breast or cervical cancer survivors who share their persona l stories and stress the importance of early detection and regular screenings. Men are also encoursaged to attend because in Latino families the men tend to have more control over resources and decision making, promoting the health of female family members. Program sites are obtained by program coordinators who work with Community Advisory Boards, volunteers, and local community and faith-based organizations. Outreach includes providing potential sites with program details including program content, time and space needed to conduct the educational program. All participants of Esperanza y vida complete questioneers which include demographics, years in the US, current participation in screenings, pre-intervention knowledge surveys (evaluating baseline knowledge and attitudes) and post-intervention survey with the same questions (to measure any changes and success of the program) (Sudarsan, Jandorf, Erwin, 2011). The staff also tracks site setting, language the program is taught in, the type of program. The language the programs are taught in relate to the host and participants requests which reflects language preference in that specific region. Implementing Esperanza y Vida in diverse locations with  geographic considerations and variations and ethnic variables will assist in expanding the program across the US. Adaptation of the same intervention at different geographic sites will provide information to diverse populations. Cultural competence of the program has potential to decrease health disparities in Latinas (and soon other groups) in the US. The ability to recruit and educate diverse subgroups of the Latino population with success in enhancing knowledge about breast and cervical cancer screening and treatments. This program is malleable to different community needs which makes it stand out among others with similar focus. Strategies If I was the nurse leader in charge of developing a follow-up to the Every Woman Matters program, the strategies I would propose for creating a more effective prevention program would include: first, choosing practices that were financially stable, who worked well together, and where all staff was in agreement to promote change. References Altpeter, M., Earp, J., & Schopler, J. (1998). Promoting breast cancer screening in rural, African American communities: the â€Å"science and art† of community health promotion. Health & Social Work, 23(2), 104-115. Retrieved from http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=1998053486&scope=site Backer, E. L., Geske, J. A., McIlvain, H. E., Dodendorf, D. M., & Minier, W. C. (2005). Improving female preventive health care delivery through practice change: An Every Woman Matters study.Journal of the American Board of Family Practice, 18(5), 401–408. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. Carroll, J. K., Humiston, S. G., Meldrum, S. C., Salamone, C. M., Jean-Pierre, P., Epstein, R. M., and Fiscella, K. (2009). Patients’ experiences with navigation for cancer care. Patient Education and Counseling 80, 241-247. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2009.10.024 Leeman, J., Moore, A., Teal, R., Barrett, N., Leighton, A., & Ste ckler, A. (2013). Promoting Community Practitioners’ Use of Evidence-Based Approaches to Increase Breast Cancer Screening. Public Health Nursing, 30(4), 323-331. doi:10.1111/phn.12021 Retrieved from http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2012167333&site=ehost-live Meredith, S. M. (2013).

As I Lay Dying (book) Essay

The character Addie Bundren is portrayed in many ways throughout the novel As I Lay Dying. The whole story revolves around the fact that Addie is dead and her wish to be buried near her blood relatives rather than her own family. The impression the reader gets of Addie is developed through many different characters’ views and descriptions of Addie. One character that helps us understand Addie’s personality a little more is Cora Tull. Cora Tull, Vernon Tull’s wife, expresses Addie’s voice and personality through her memories of Addie. Cora stood with Addie during her final hours. Cora disapproves of Addie’s behavior and lack of religion. Cora dislikes the fact that Addie’s love for Jewel is greater than her love of God. Another character that helps us understand Addie is Minister Whitfield. Addie had an affair with the minister and had a baby. This affair shows how Addie sees marital love and motherhood as empty concepts and are just there to fill empty voids. Addie doesn’t have an affair with the minister solely on lust, but she does it for self-gratification and self-expression also. Vardaman, the youngest of the Bundren children, compares his mother’s death to a fish he recently caught and cleaned. Vardaman compares his mother to a fish because the fish and his mother have both died. The fish and his mother have changed because of death. Both Addie and the fish no longer have essence, which could be interpreted as an existentialist view. In a chapter where Addie seemingly speaks from the dead, Addie’s personality is truly shown. We learn that Addie is a pessimistic and unfulfilled woman, who marries her ignorant husband Anse. She admits to only caring for two of her children and the rest she calls or labels as â€Å"Anse’s children†, who were born out of an obligation. Addie’s personality is put together by the views, comparisons, and descriptions of her youngest son Vardaman, her neighbor Cora Tull, The affair she had with Minister Whitfield, and her own personal voice. Through these views, we could conclude/interpret that Addie was a strong-willed and intelligent woman who dislikes the obligations put on women during that time period. Cora Tull shows her as some who lacks religion. The affair with the minister shows that she is a woman who needed gratification. Her youngest son shows how she is a mother who was completely lost in death and no longer has essence. Her own voice shows that she is a person who feels like women are obligated to fit into the roles of being a mother and a wife.

Government Intervention at Boeing and Airbus Case Study

Government Intervention at Boeing and Airbus - Case Study Example Globalization led to the cross-border free flow of capital, labor, information and other resources. Countries began to realize that the only way to reap the fruits of comparative advantage was to compete internationally. FDIs and generation of government revenues were common results of international business in technology intensive areas (page 33) (Cavusgil, Knight, & Reisenberger, 2012) and, thus, the collaboration of various European governments in this respect can be attributed to this reasoning. The major reason behind Boeing’s complains is that the provision of subsidies by the EU government to its competitor Airbus is preventing both the companies to compete on equal footing. It is seen as an unfair trade practice by the U.S, although, the case reflects that the country itself is offering protection to its airline Boeing, albeit, in a different way. Thus, although the U.S government is not providing outright subsidies to Boeing, it is still protecting its business by bes towing it with military contracts. The key elements highlighted in the case are those of intervention through provision of subsidies, development of infrastructure, tax rebates and strategic national contracts. Part of the explanation underlying government support for Airbus is grounded in the democratic socialism political system of the EU. As learnt in the text, this form of system called social democracy is characterized by government intervention in private enterprises and in business activities.... To this extent, as pointed out in the case study, the governments of various EU countries including the French, German, Spanish and British governments have embarked on a mission to enhance the international competitiveness of its national airline, Airbus, through the provision of subsidies primarily. A major implication of globalization has been that in the midst of cut-throat competition, companies often find themselves competing on costs. The text also supports the fact that the costs of doing business are relatively higher in the EU which is largely because of high corporate taxes (page 178) (Cavusgil, Knight, & Reisenberger, 2012). This is a major reason behind the government rationale to support Airbus financially. To this extent that the cost of capital in EU is higher than that in U.S, the government’s intervention in Airbus’s operations is justified. The defensive rationale of government intervention manifests itself along these lines of thinking by claiming th at protection of the national economy is a major factor behind government intervention (page 204) (Cavusgil, Knight, & Reisenberger, 2012). The offensive rationale is also applicable here, since one of the major reasons for government intervention in the case of Airbus was to protect the infant industry that could not compete effectively with the two giants (Mac Douglas and Boeing) and the creation of tax revenues. Also one of the fundamental justifications for the same was the generation of jobs and employment opportunities that were created once Airbus had its operations all over Europe (Cavusgil, Knight, & Reisenberger, 2012). Furthermore, this move of European governments to support Airbus and make it

Gender and Sexual Studies - Transgendered Children Essay

Gender and Sexual Studies - Transgendered Children - Essay Example In addition, a California teen identified as Taylor has started a campaign to boycott Girl Scout cookies as a direct response to the admittance of transgendered members (Girl Scout Launches Cookie, 2012). These occurrences have resulted in considerable difficulties and raised complex questions as to the moral ramifications of identity. The popular understanding of the transgendered child is one that identifies or manifests any of the characteristics of the opposite sex (About our transgendered, 2007). One recognizes that this is distinguished from the notion of the transsexual in that the transgendered child may not contain physical characteristics of the opposite sex, but mentally manifests transgendered personality tendencies. Of course, such a notion raises a variety of further difficulties regarding identity. For instance, determining when to label an individual male or female is more complex than simple physical characteristics, as such labels carry with them personality element s. For the individual in the video, Taylor, distinguishing between male and female is a matter of physicality; that is, if one has the organs of a male, then they are male. When further examining Taylor’s contentions and those that seek to restrict transgendered children’s admission to the Girl Scouts it’s clear that their underlining argument is highly problematic. In considering the argumentative position of these individuals, one notes they rely on an antiquated notion of sex and gender identity. Oriel (2000) distinguishes between the Traditional Binary Gender Model and the Revolutionary Gender Model. The Traditional Binary Gender Model considers biological sex, gender expression, and sexual orientation as clearly distinguished between male and female. Oriel (2000) argues that research into the biological sciences has largely discredited the Traditional Binary Gender Model in favor of the Revolutionary Gender Model. The later model argues that gender distinct ions are largely hybrid and dynamic and that individuals will hold separate types of biological sex, gender expression, and sexual orientation. Such findings largely discredit the distinctions made by individuals such as Taylor who seek to clearly distinguish between males and females. In further considering the question of the transgendered child there is a question of whether they should be considered male or female. Currently, the Girl Scouts consider gender categorization to be one of the brain, contending that individuals should be admitted to the Girl Scouts based on whether they identity with the socially constructed notion of femininity. In determining the nature of gender identity on a broader scale, it’s clear that both the Girl Scouts and their opponents have made a mistake in their categorizations. To a large degree the mistake that has been made is a logical error and constitutes an over reliance on linguistic categorizations. Perspectives as embodied by Taylor a nd her video are assuming that necessarily there must be a distinction between male and female. Influenced perhaps by Biblical and social tradition, this argument is based not on biology, but on the assumption that since the word ‘male’ and ‘female’ exists, there must be a corresponding subject in the real world. When one bases categorization on scientific rationality and deconstructs traditional assumptions of ‘

China is more important to the USA's national interest than Taiwan Research Paper

China is more important to the USA's national interest than Taiwan - Research Paper Example It was able to make Wake Island to be its territory in 1900 and soon started to build the Panama Canal. All these were aided by Taiwan and the navy of the US continued to expand to a state whereby by the end of the Second World War, no nation would compare or compete with the navy. Taiwan has also aided in the building of the economic relations in the United States. Despite this however, China is considered to be more important than Taiwan and has been regarded to as an obstacle to building of the relationship between China and the United States (Copper, 2011). The first reason that supports the argument of China being more important to interest of the United States than Taiwan emanates from the fact that China has maintained a steady increase in the political as well as the economic growth. This has increased the political and economic influence that it has on the other nations. China has been rated as being the third largest exporting and importing country in the global market at the beginning of twenty first century and the fourth largest in the economic rating. It therefore comes after United States, Japan and Germany. It is also among the top three states that are highly involved in foreign direct investment in the global market. It has also acquired more benefits from globalization than any other country in the world and this is evidenced by the share of the market it has in the global market. Its annual growth for exports averaged 4.5 percent while the country that followed attained only 1.8 percent and this was the United States. T he Gross Domestic Product of China has also been observed to grow at a higher rate compared to the other developing countries. China has focused on ways of improving its performance in the global market and in this respect has considered the importance of liberalization and has encouraged economic integration by focusing on the involving the private and public investments. It has improved its

SWOT Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

SWOT Analysis - Assignment Example External and internal factors that may affect Catering and Ballroom Rental’s growth are therefore discussed forthwith. As a local catering company which serves both private clients and businesses in Doeuvreville and its surrounding towns, Sumptuous Cuisine Catering enjoys a longer term of experience which dates back to 2005. This experience has seen Sumptuous Cuisine Catering run catering kitchens and create itself a niche in setting logistics for upscale events within the region and providing fulltime catering services. This seven year experience has seen Sumptuous Cuisine Catering to create its domain in the perennially competitive market. Likewise, the wide variety of services that make up Sumptuous Cuisine Catering’s services include an array of breakfast cuisines, event staff and managers (logisticians), dinners, lunches, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, appetizers, space and floral designs, musicians and DJs, decor, furniture rentals and event equipment hirin g services, among others. This shows the ingenious dexterity that Sumptuous Cuisine Catering employed in crafting its business plan since the plan fully diversifies risks that come with highly specialization of operations. Sumptuous Cuisine Catering’s factoring of its strengths is also underscored by the cash reserves it not only has, but also plans to use to expand its operations. The same commitment to a tenable working plan is exemplified by the company intending to improve its gross margins to soar above previous levels as a way of preparing for extension. The company anticipates that due to this action, the loyalty of already existing clients is likely to be strengthened. Likewise, the volume of top line sales is bound to grow to more than double by the end of 2012. From the same move, the company expects a threefold rise in net profits, despite the high operational costs that are equally anticipated. Other factors that serve as Sumptuous Cuisine Catering’s source of strength include management expertise that exceed clients’ expectation, balanced expert opinions, optimal sense of professional showmanship and protection of the clients’ interests. Should the company continue to envision these values in its expansion plan, then the company is bound to continue benefitting (Anyim, 59). Despite the intricate expansion plan that Sumptuous Cuisine Catering has, it still has not managed to extricate itself from some weaknesses. Particularly, the protracted chain of operations and the plan to expand mean that the company will sustain extra operational expenses. The need to pay an increased number of employees, open and rent new premises and increase and diversify its operations, translate into high employee turnover and other forms of expenditure. The fact that Sumptuous Cuisine Catering will only have utilized the ballroom on 40% of days at the end of the oncoming three years is also a form of weakness. There are several opportunities that come with the Sumptuous Cuisine Catering plan. For instance, by extending its services to cover outdoor services such parties, banquets and business holidays, the company will have realized increased volume of sales by extending itself in the market. This diversification and extension makes up for the proneness of the market to economic cycles. Sumptuous Cuisine Catering is therefore bound to benefit from the market, given that the American market for

Poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Poetry - Essay Example He has to risk that the audience may not catch what he intends. Ferlinghetti compares a poem to a â€Å"little charleychaplin man,† who â€Å"may or may not catch,† meaning that a poem has to risk losing its audience, risk falling into the â€Å"empty existence of air† in order to achieve any kind of greatness, for if the poem risks nothing it also achieves nothing, no beauty, and no artistry. Ferlinghetti makes this point a bit ironically, as it is intended to be a bit of a jab at the Beat poets, poets who, to Ferlinghetti’s mind, risk nothing in their poetry, instead choosing to hide behind a mask of postmodern cynicism and dispair. The Beat poets, in Ferlinghetti’s opinion, do not walk the rope at all, but instead play their gullible audience, capitalizing on an immature dedication to anarchy and a disillusionment with a government that would draft Americans and send them to a war that they did not believe in. In â€Å"Constantly risking absurdi ty,† we see Ferlinghetti using not only theme and imagery to unite the subjects of poetry and high wire acts, but also the form. The words and lines look as if they are constantly shifting, just like a tight-rope walker must constantly change his pacing in order to keep his balance, or just as the poet must do to â€Å"perceive / taut truth.† The poet has to risk leaps in form as well as leaps in theme and subject to create a work of art. There is no other way.

Public Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Public Relations - Essay Example This was the situation in this case. BP was trying to clean up, but its stock was sinking and everyone was turning on it. Many of its press releases from this period seek to reassure the public and the media. BP wanted to convince people that it was doing its best to help clean up the spill. They wanted people to think they were working very hard and tirelessly to do their best and ensure that the livelihood of people in the Gulf area and many of the marine animals were protected. This context is very important to understand. BP was dealing with a massive public relations (and natural) disaster. It was a challenging environment. One of the things that they worked hard to do was be open and transparent about the actions they were taking to solve the problem. That is in part what got them through the mess intact. What was accomplished in the communication? Consider more than just the obvious message. The obvious message here is one of damage control. BP wants to be seen to be working h ard to clean up the environment. They also want to tell people that they are willing to pay for the damage caused. Below this message is an effort by BP to show that they are in control of the situation. They are working hard, but more than that they know what is happening, they can quantify the damage, they are being very responsive to each of the problems that come along. The press release shows to the world that BP is not only working hard but is able to talk about each step of their action in a clear and direct way. For BP, there are no secrets. Everything is above board. That is what is accomplished through this communication. They wanted to send a message with a lot of facts about what they were doing but more than that, they wanted to be seen to be open and transparent. They didn't want to appear to be hiding anything in this situation. Were the press releases related in any way to each other or to major news or industry trends occurring at that time? The press releases were closely related to the events in the Gulf. Indeed, they were a direct response to the oil spill that was happening. Because BP was held to blame for the spill, the press releases were used as a way to assuage the public anger over the issue. It was also a way to get the media to try to start reporting on the story from a positive point view, i.e. what BP was doing to solve the problem. In a situation that extended over many months, BP issued a great number of press releases. The communications department of the company was definitely working overtime through the summer of 2010. Did the company send a consistent and coherent message? The company for the most part sent a consistent and coherent message. The press releases focused on what BP was doing to try to clean up the oil spill. The press releases also focused on some of the technical aspects of the clean-up and effort to stop the well from leaking anymore. Efforts to communicate BP's compensation for those affected by the spill were also included in the press releases. It should be noted that BP received a great deal of criticism when its CEO strayed off of this topic and began to offer an inconsistent message, saying in public for example that the spill was also very hard on him and that he wanted his life back too. That sort of inconsistent messaging caused the company a great deal of grief. In situations like this it is very important to understand that the media will be looking for any perceived inconsistency.

HR Analytics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

HR Analytics - Essay Example Analytics mainly focus on the trend with respect to performance, results, behaviour, growth and development, which further draws management’s attention to specific areas unlike reporting tools that only focus or gather historic data and performance. Contemporary businesses and management lay strong emphasis on measurement of all aspects related to the business and management. Lundgaard (2009) emphasizes the significance of HR analytics in enabling the establishment of HR as a strategic organisational function and credits this to the high competition in business environment which is further pressurizing achievement of greater performance, productivity and profits for business/organisational sustenance. For this, firstly HR initiatives must be made quantifiable through appropriate measures. Lundgaard (2009) suggests a six-domain framework that identifies six key areas for HR: staffing, training/development, appraisal, rewards, organisational governance, and communication. Obtain ing HR analytics based on these six core areas makes measuring HR function feasible. Application of this framework to HR initiatives still depends upon the measurability of these areas, for which Hunter et al (2005) have suggested the Balanced Score Card (BSC) system. First proposed by Kaplan and Norton, this framework allows linking strategy to value creating processes. As stated by Kaplan and Norton (1996; p.2), ‘the BSC translates an organisation’s mission and strategy into a comprehensive set of performance measures that provides the framework for a strategic measurement and management system.’ The BSC measures organisational performance across four balanced perspectives: financial, customers, internal business processes, and learning and growth. It helps in capturing the critical value-creation activities of skilled and motivated employees. All activities that an organisation needs to perform in order to achieve its goal can be categorized according to these perspectives, which include categorization of all initiatives by the HR department into these four core areas. The BSC helps in assessing the total business value derived from particular department. To assess the total business value of HR initiatives, they must be made or converted to measurable objectives (Hatry, 2006). For measurement, Lawler and Boudreau (2009) advocate the use of efficiency, effectiveness and impact for measuring HR programmes, where efficiency refers to resources used by HR programmes such as cost-per-hire; effectiveness refers to changes produced by HR programmes such as learning from training; and impact refers to business or strategic value created by the programme such as higher sales from better-trained product developers or sales people (p.61). All three, efficiency, effectiveness and impact are equally important to assess the actual weight of any activity/programme. For instance, measuring the monthly/daily sales without measuring customer satisfaction will be of no use for the business in long run. Similarly, paying out more incentives to staff for over performance without assessing employee satisfaction may or may not yield any improvement in employee satisfaction. Efficiency and effectiveness of HR initiatives can be measured by assigning specific measurable objectives to each initiative. Paladino (2007) emphasized Managing by Objectives (MBO) as an effective tool to enhance organisational efficiency at

Xerox Accounting Fraud Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Xerox Accounting Fraud - Essay Example rowth of mid to high teens." In effect, the predicted growth bar was raised, and some wondered how profits could grow at three times the rate of revenues. Revenue growth was predicted to be 5 percent for the quarter although year-to-year revenue growth for the first quarter was zero. Investors Grow Uneasy By July investors were getting suspicious. In retrospect, they had good reason. The stock had fallen more than 10 percent when Xerox reported that it was in line with its targets for second- quarter growth of 13 percent in "core earnings." The company also noted that revenue had grown at only 2.5 percent and that "mid to high teens" earnings per share growth would be hard to achieve for the balance of the year. On receipt of that news, the stock traded down 8.2 percent to close just below $51. The company tried to adjust the spin to emphasize future opportunities, noting that it was transforming itself from a copier company to a copier services company and that it expected the services component to account for 50 percent of total revenue (up from 15 percent) within eight to ten years. Research analysts supported the company story. Eight out of eleven continued to rank Xerox a strong buy. By mid-September 1999, Xerox was forced to lower expectations again when the CFO noted that revenue growth would fall below 5 percent. A strong U.S. dollar and economic weakness were blamed-although with the stock down about 30 percent from the high four months earlier, several analysts expressed doubt that Xerox's problems were limited to foreign sales. Within a week Xerox announced the acquisition of Tektronix's color printing and imaging business for $950 million, saying that it expected that market to grow at 23 percent for the next three years. Thoman said, "This is really about...The complaint alleged that Xerox had overstated revenues by more than $3 billion and profits by more than $1.5 billion over a four-year period beginning in 1997. This year coincided with the time that Xerox began to outperform the market and Allaire began to accumulate a fortune. The action was finally settled in June 2002 with a second restatement involving the inappropriate booking of $6.4 billion in revenue and overstated pretax profits of $1.4 billion.(Securities and Exchange Commission, 2002) The company was fined $10 million, paid, of course, with shareholders’ money. Stephen Cutler, the SEC’s director of enforcement said, â€Å"Xerox used its accounting to burnish and distort operating results rather than to describe them accurately. As a result, investors were misled and betrayed.† Paul R. Berger, associate director of enforcement said, â€Å"Xerox’s senior management orchestrated a four-year scheme to disguise the company’s true operating performance†¦. Senior management had no compunctions about engaging in improper conduct.† And Charles D. Neimeier, chief accountant for the division of enforcement added, â€Å"Xerox employed a wide variety of undisclosed and often improper top-side accounting actions to manage the quality of its reported earnings. As a result, the company created an illusion that its operating results were substantially better than they really were.

Toyota Logistics Essay Example for Free

Toyota Logistics Essay Logistics and facility costs incurred within a supply chain change as the number of facilities, their location, and capacity allocation is changed. Companies must consider inventory, transportation, and facility costs when designing their supply chain networks. Inventory and facility costs increase as the number of facilities in a supply chain increase. Transportation costs decrease as the number of facilities is increased. If the number of facilities increases to a point where inbound. Economies of scale are lost, then transportation cost increase. The goal when designing a supply chain network is to maximize the firms profits while satisfying customer needs in terms of demand and responsiveness. Toyota cares are priced differently in different country. Car cost remain the same across the world but the tax and transportation cost differ in different country. Toyota need to minimize their transportation cost by efficient plant. They have joint venture in India, they have also have plant in Thailand and Indonesia. They don’t need this all three plant, this plants increasing their cost. As this countries distance are less and transportation facilities are good. They can build a plant in India and shutdown the others. Toyota can shut down their plant in Portugal, they can cover that country from Frances plant. Toyota can cover Mexico and Brazil market by holding their plant in Colombo. Colombo is middle of this two country, and Mexico don’t need any plant, the plant of USA can easily transport the products and Brazil or Portugal any one from this two country can shutdown and remain the other.

Financial And Non Financial Rewards Commerce Essay

Financial And Non Financial Rewards Commerce Essay This essay is written to understand, argue and evaluate if financial rewards is the one best way to motivate employees within an organization. Motivation can be defined as the goal directed behavior that is initiated, directed and sustained by enabling a cognitive decision making process. (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010, P.267). Motivation is very important to boost job performance. Employee in the organization can be motivated through financial as well as non-financial rewards or motives. Motive can be defined as a socially acquired need activated by a desire for fulfillment. (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010, P.266). Motivation pushes the employees in the organization to their fullest and in turn even helps them in personal development. During tough times, employees are the only ones to boost up the level of the organization, thus, motivated employees help in achieving the desired goals of the organization and making motivation a key factor. Financial incentives or motives refer to ince ntives which are in direct monetary form or measurable in monetary term and serve to motivate people for better performance.(NCERT, 2007, P.190). Non-financial incentives or motives are required as all the needs of individuals are not satisfied by money alone. Psychological, social and emotional factors also play an important role in providing motivation. Non-financial incentives mainly focus on these needs. (NCERT, 2007, P.191). The question here is that if financial rewards, motives or incentives are the best way to increase work motivation? In order to thoroughly understand this question, evaluations of both financial and non-financial rewards have to be conducted. To begin, financial rewards have been studied at large by numerous theorists. Some theorists support financial rewards at large. According to Frederick W. Taylor(2011), the most important motivator for employees are salaries and extra benefits such as cash rewards , travel allowances , housing, etc. He also stated that when employees get the same wage regardless of their goals they have to achieve, they tend to work less which may lead the company to an unstable situation Likewise Henry Gantt believed money rewards are a better way for reimbursing the hard work of an employee added to the normal salary. The two methods treat workers as laborers who toiled only for money and has been discouraged by the current form of management system. One theory was by Douglas McGregor, better known as theory X and theory Y, which differentiated between leadership styles/skills and management. Firstly he presumed that motivation and skills are different for all the members of a firm and also that all employees look at the same motivation in a different manner. Theory Y focuses on employees who are able to practice self-control and are able to direct themselves along with a liking towards their job. These employees are not just responsible but are also challenge seekers. New challenges and opportunities motivate these employees. These employees do not require much of supervision as they are self-motivated and show a great morale at work. These employees are not needed to be controlled or punished and help achieve goals and objectives more efficiently. Now when looking at the employees of theory X, one realizes that these employees do not enjoy their job or have a certain amount of disliking towards it. They are high irresponsible a nd need to guided, supervised and directed from time to time when given a certain task or responsibility. These employees burden the managers from time to time as they needed to be forced to work and when behaving not according to the code of conduct, they have to be punished. So people with needs such as self-actualization and more, work better with managers of theory Y as compared to theory X. But a certain amount of balance is needed between theory X and Y so all employees can grow and make progress in their careers. The financial incentives generally used in an organization are listed below: Pay and allowances: For every employee, salary is the basic monetary incentive. It includes basic pay, dearness allowance and other allowances. Productivity linked wage incentives: Several wage incentive plans aims at linking payment of wages to increase in productivity at individual or group level. Bonus: Bonus is an incentive offered over and above the wages/salary to the employees. Profit sharing: Profit sharing is meant to provide a share to employees in the profits of the organization. Co-partnership/stock: Under these incentive schemes, employees are offered company shares at a set price lower than market price. Retirement Benefits: Several retirement benefits such as provident fund, pension and gratuity provide financial security to employees after their retirement. Perquisites: In many companies perquisites and fringe benefits are offered such as car allowance, housing, medical aid, and education to the children etc., over and above the salary. (NCERT,2007,P.190-191) However, if our biological and safety needs are not satisfied, we die. If our needs of love and esteem are not satisfied, we can feel inferior and helpless, but if these needs are satisfied, we feel self-confident. Self-actualization and transcendence, Maslow argued, are our ultimate goals. While the implications if self-actualization have been widely explored, the meta-physical concept of transcendence has been largely ignored by management writers and researchers. (Buchanan and Huczynski,2010,P.268). Maslow argued that self-actualized people are rare, and that creating conditions for us to develop our capabilities to this extent was challenging task. He also argued that these needs are organized in a hierarchy, with lower order biological and safety needs at the bottom, and higher order self-actualization and transcendence needs at the top. (Buchanan and Huczynski,2010,P.268). Abraham Maslows needs hierarchy: Self-actualization: Need to develop our full potential Freedom of equity and expression: Need that is a prerequisite for the satisfaction of other needs Transcendence: A spiritual need, to be at one with the universe Aesthetics: Need for order and beauty To know and to understand: Need to gain and to systematize knowledge, the need for curiosity, learning, philosophizing, experimenting and exploring Esteem: Need for strength, confidence, achievement, self-esteem, independence, and for reputation, prestige, recognition, attention and appreciation, and respect of others Affiliation: need for attachment, belongingness, affection, love, relationship Safety: Need for security, comfort, tranquility, freedom from fear and threat from environment, for shelter, order, predictability, an organized world Biological: need for sunlight, sexual expression, food, water, rest and oxygen-need basic to our survival.(Buchanan and Huczynski,2010,P.268). People working in companies have certain expectations from the environment around them. It is not always the financial incentives but also the people, the manager, the family time and all the given to an employee that motivates them. The needs are not satisfied by money only, emotional, psychological and social factors play a key role in providing motivation. (NCERT,2007,P.190-191). Here is an example, In 2008, The Sunday times newspaper, surveyed over 500 companies and 180,000 employees to identify the best company to work for in the UK the award was won by heat, a central heating installation based in Belfast. W.L. Gore Associates, who won the prize in the previous four years, came eleventh. Companies were rated on eight factors: Leadership: how employees feel about the of the company and senior managers Wellbeing: how staffs feel about stress, pressure and the balance between work and home life My manager: peoples feelings towards their immediate boss and their day-to-day managers My team: peoples feelings about their immediate colleagues Fair deal: how happy the workforce is with their pay and benefits Giving something back: how much companies are thought by their staff to put back into society, and the local community My company: feelings about the company as opposed to the people they work with Personal growth: to what extent the staffs feel they are stretched and challenged by their job Heats managing director said that their success was based on the companys approach communication; we work hard to make it simple. If you make it simple everybody understands and that makes it more likely to last. (Buchanan and Huczynski,2010,P.271). The company in the above example isnt a high paid company, but the working environment around them motivates the employees to work hard and give their best. Yes, financial incentives are important, but without a friendly work force and enough time given by a company to their employees for their family and social ethics, its practically no use. There are disadvantages of financial or monetary motivation, employees in the company might take things for granted. They will expect bonuses even at times when they dont end up working towards organizational goal. But if there arent any monetary incentives given, what will the employee work for. Monetary or financial incentives also help in guiding and moving the employees towards the goal of the organization. Apart from the advantage and disadvantage of financial motive, non-financial incentives also have their own advantages, keeping the employee happy in the company with the friendly environment, companies providing fair amount of break time and activity rooms such as Google. The work timings are at most important as the employees get time with their families and friends and also maintain a great social life along with their work. Some of the important non-financial incentives are discussed below: Status: in the organizational context, status means ranking of positions in the organization. Organizational climate: organizational climate indicates the characteristics which describe an organization and distinguish one organization from others. Career advancement opportunity: every individual wants to grow to the higher level in the recognition. They feel that what they do should be recognized by others concerned. Job security: employees want their job to be secure. They want stability about their future work and income. Employee participation: it means involving employees in decision making of issues related to the company. Employee empowerment: empowerment means, giving more autonomy and powers to subordinates. (NCERT,2007,P.192-193) According to the 2011 Hays Salary Guide, 78 per cent of employers give their employees benefits, or non-financial rewards, in addition to salaries and bonuses. Health is the number one benefit in Hong Kong, offered by 71 per cent of employers. Life assurance is offered by 63 per cent, a pension by 60 per cent, and a housing allowance by 37 per cent. Other benefits include tax equalisation, club or gym membership, a car or car allowance, and private expenses. Typically, benefits increase with experience and the seniority of the position. They are used to motivate and reward top performers, with employers recognising that a motivated employee will achieve the best results. Thus, there is little room to negotiate as your performance and value are the determining factors. There are also countless cases of employers using benefits to reward top performers when they are unable to increase salaries beyond a certain level.   But again, the awarding of additional benefits is based on the employees past performance and is also a tool to motivate future performance. If planning on negotiating benefits package, tread carefully. Employers will only extend their offers so far. So speaking with recruiter to ensure expectations are realistic for the role and industry, or this could leave the employer with doubts over commitment to the role.   As a final note, expatriate packages that include extensive non-financial rewards are a thing of the past. Traditionally, expats brought a wealth of experience and excellent education from abroad to a company, and as such were rewarded accordingly. But today local candidates are viewed on an equal footing since they also possess excellent overseas education and exposure to worldwide markets.(Charnock, 2011) Thus, analysis reveals that nonfinancial factors play a prominent role in influencing employee motivation and engagement worldwide-a finding that could prove useful to employers facing budget constraints. organization. Managers should provide employees with opportunity to improve their skills Job enrichment: is concerned with designing jobs that include greater variety of work content, require higher level of knowledge and skills. Employee recognition: most people have a need for evaluation of their work and due Workers say that being treated with respect is the most important nonfinancial factor, followed by work/life balance, type of work, quality of co-workers and quality of leadership. Among financial factors, base pay ranks highest. Benefits and incentive pay can be important to other aspects of the employment deal-such as attracting, retaining and rewarding employees-but they are considered less important by employees when it comes to their day-to-day motivation and engagement at work. Employee engagement reflects the total work experience, and a big part of it is how you are treated, what kind of work you do and how you feel about your co-workers, bosses and the general work environment, said Colleen ONeill, a senior partner at Mercer and the firms talent leader in the U.S. and Canada. Without a doubt, financial factors like pay and benefits are a vital part of the employment deal, especially in the U.S., but employers need to consider and manage the full range of factors to ensure that their workforce is engaged, ONeill explained. When financial resources are limited, organizations can leverage these nonfinancial factors to effectively boost employee commitment and productivity. (Miller, 2011) And therefore, this proves that both financial and non-financial rewards are important for increasing the work motivation of an organization.

Cross Cultural Management A study on Cadbury and Kraft Merger

Cross Cultural Management A study on Cadbury and Kraft Merger In the current era of globalization with the advancement in the technology, communication and the channels to access the external business world; the process of business has changed drastically. Corporate personnel and industry professionals are making effective decisions and are developing efficient strategies to sustain their competitive advantage in the market. Many new management disciplines like IT management, corporate governance, mergers acquisition, business continuity management and such new principles are becoming prominent. There are various reasons that are pointed out by the corporate firms which are behind these management concerns. They include cost cutting measures through economies of scale, global expansion, risk reduction, effective and efficient management practices and so on. Merger Acquisition is one of the effective ways to invest to gain market share and to expand the business. They help in global expansion, cutting costs, new knowledge and expertise acquisition, identification of niche areas across the global market, extension of customer base, accessing new technologies and many. Dealing with the integration of two similar or different companies, it also involves certain difficulties and issues to handle. Although companies are pursuing MA aggressively, it is found that 60-80% of them are financial failures regarding their performance in the stock markets or obtaining high profits (Salame, 2006). Through this study, I tried to understand the various management issues and concerns involved in the merger acquisition process with the help of Cadbury and Kraft merger. Kraft-Cadbury Merger: The Kraft takeover of Cadbury did not happen in a simple routine manner. It involved various management issues which had proved this event likely to shape future public policy towards acquisitions and corporate governance. The initial steps towards this strategic decision of acquiring Cadbury started in the year 2007 on 3rd October when Cadburys Somerdale factory plans that announced its to shut down the factory with a loss of 500 jobs and to invest the production in the Bourneville Plant of Birmingham to the new plant in Poland. In the year 2009 on September 7th, Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman and CEO of Kraft stated that Kraft would be in a position to continue the Somerdale factorys operations without closing the plant and thus preserving United Kingdoms manufacturing jobs. But this statement given by the Kraft was not taken as granted by the Cadbury workforce before the takeover. The National Officer of the Unite the Union, which is a representative body of Cadbury workforce, Jennie Formby compared Kraft statement with the line there is no meat on the bones at all saying that there is no real intention of Kraft to come and save the jobs. Finally in the year 2010 on 19th of January, Cadbury announced the bid offer made by Kraft to its shareholders and the takeover is finally concluded on 2nd of February, 2010. But to the shock of the public and the stakeholders, Kraft, after a week of its confirmation of the takeover, announced that it would not be capable enough to maintain the Somerdale factory open and would like to approve the decision made by the Cadburys senior management to discontinue its operation. This decision made by Kraft immediately after the takeover led towards criticism. Marc Firestone, Executive President of Kraft Industries Inc. and Irene Rosenfield, CEO asserted their decision saying that before making a public statement Kraft was not aware of various factors like the internal structure of building, products of Cadbury in that facility, status of machinery and others (Mergers, acquisitions and takeovers, 2010 ) In this dramatic way, the whole process of acquisition of Cadbury by Kraft has been done making it an event that can shape the future endeavors of public towards takeovers, acquisitions and corporate governance. Inside Story of Cadbury and Kraft before Takeover Cadbury has faced many ups and downs throughout its journey especially under the visionary leadership of Todd Stitzer. Todd Stitzer working successfully for 20 years for Cadbury Schweppes has played a key role as a master mind behind the acquisitions of soft drinks industries made by Cadbury in US. He was later appointed as the chief strategy officer by John Sunderland to the confectionary side to achieve the similar success. The then competitors in the chocolates and sweets industry were the international companies Nestle, Mars, Kraft, Wrigley, Ferrero and Hershey. Stitzer said that acquisitions alone would not solve the problems of Cadbury. He said that the revenue growth model has to be revitalized to gain in the financial performance. Stitzer had developed many strategies, took some visionary steps and led Cadbury gain the business world with his strategic thinking. Stitzer and his management team aimed at the global domination in the Confectionary world, while the stakeholders w ere much worried about the financial performance. Overall with all his visionary leadership abilities and strategic decision making capabilities, Cadbury Schweppes split into pure confectionary leader Cadbury. Nelson Peltz, founder of the hedge fund Trian Fund Management also had his own role in the business of Cadbury. Irene Rosenfield, CEO, Kraft Food Industries Inc. had a keen interest in the confectionary business and proposed an offer to buy Cadbury to Carr, Chairman of Cadbury after Sunderland. Carr without consulting the stakeholders had refused the offer but Peltz who still owned the shares in the Cadbury with discussion and negotiation with Kraft finally made Cadbury lose its independence in January 2010. Impact of the Merger Cadbury-Kraft merger which involved a high dramatic and strategic process as discussed above has got its own pros and cons. Before analyzing the performance after a year later the takeover, there are certain agreements on which the takeover is being implemented. These include aspects like the brand name of Cadbury would be continued; previous commitments, pension arrangements would be honored and such, for at least two years. Regarding the business performance, the combined business has achieved profitable results despite of the difficult economic climate outside. It had improved the sales by 13% compared to 2009 and also has sold 300 million bars more comparatively. They improved and modified the corporate structure so as to combine the Cadburys successful chocolate history with the Krafts brand heritage. The combined systematic approach would create value and would help in economic and internal growth (Kraft Foods completes Cadbury takeover, 2010 ). There is high capital investment, support and commitment seen in the Cadburys RD sites so as to improve the combined business performance and the products. As we know, every coin has two sides; every decision would have pros and cons. As discussed above, the withdrawal made by Irene Rosenfield regarding the Somerdale factory led to the criticism from the workforce. Similar reaction is seen even after the takeover with many employees departing from the Cadbury. Kraft is trying to improve the relationship with local authorities so as to increase the employment opportunities. Due to the change in the working culture, a feeling of fear is seen among the employees to express their views and opinions. Kraft says Cadbury being a firm of values and heritage; we try to combine our efforts in bringing job satisfaction to employees and to outperform the market as well. (Update on progress made since Kraft Foods acquired Cadbury, 2011) To conclude, Kraft taking over Cadbury is not just acquiring an excellent company but establishing a strong connection with the public; so it has to work hard to prove and show the combined benefits of Cadbury and Kraft Foods.

The Life of William Shakespeare Essay examples -- Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was a very talented man known for his various works of literature. His works include poems, plays, and sonnets. His works are then broken down into tragedies, comedies, and histories. Shakespeare left this world centuries ago, but his writings continue to live throughout the world today. He has greatly impacted the world of literature and his existence will forever be remembered. In 1564, William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon (Hazell 32). It seems that Shakespeare’s career began around the year 1592. This was a tough time for playwrights and actors. There was an outbreak of the bubonic plague which caused concerns for those wanting to watch because of being surrounded by those potentially carrying the disease, thus making it hard for the playwrights and actors to find work (â€Å"William Shakespeare.† 653-654). Not only was disease an obstacle William Shakespeare had to overcome in his work, he was also forced to face hampering from religious aspects as well. Leaders in the Puritan community looked down upon plays, acting, and other things of that nature. These authorities thought that these activities would sway people from focusing on the importance of practicing their religion. Plays and such were not allowed to be performed while in the city of London. They were banned. Eventually, despite all the obstructions, plays and theater came to be a popular thing although still forced outside the city (â€Å"The Changing Status...†). After overcoming the troubles of becoming an actor and a playwright, William Shakespeare has become well renowned. His works reach to people all around the world despite the language barriers and different races and cultures. For centuries, the popularity of his work... ... Co., 1919. 5. Print. Ellis, Jessica. â€Å"What are Shakespeare’s Comedies?† wiseGEEK. Conjecture Corp., 2003. Web. 31 Jan. 2012. Frye, Roland Mushat. Shakespeare’s Life and Times. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1967. 16. Print. Hazell, Rebecca. Heroes: Great Men Through the Ages. New York: Abbeville Press, N.d. 32. Print. McMillan, Eric. â€Å"Who Was the Greatest of All Writers?† The Greatest Authors of All Time. N.p. 2011. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. â€Å"Race – Introduction.† Shakespearean Criticism. eNotes.com. Gale Cengage, 2006. Web. 31 Jan. 2012. Schwartz, Debora B. â€Å"Shakespeare’s Plays: The Histories.† ENGL 339. N.p. 2002. Web. 31 Jan. 2012. â€Å"The Changing Status of Theater.† About.Com.Shakespeare. The New York Times Co., 2012. Web. 31 Jan. 2012. â€Å"William Shakespeare.† Encyclopedia Americana. Vol. 24. Danbury, CT: Grolier Inc., 1994. 652-654; 656. Print.

History of the DIA :: essays research papers fc

History of the Defense Intelligence Agency   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the years following World War II, there were many turf battles fought between the intelligence agencies of the United States. The Central Intelligence Agency, which was created in 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act, won the initial battles. This agency had won both legislative status and budget authority and was to make recommendations for coordinating intelligence activities; and to correlate, evaluate, and disseminate intelligence (Laqueur, 17). The act was vague however, and the new agency quickly moved to the role of producer of intelligence and quickly grew in size(Laqueur, 17).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By 1953, while headed by Allen Dulles, the CIA reached its height of influence inside Washington. Dulles showed little interest in intelligence coordination, but was very close with President Eisenhower and with his brother, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, he had great personal influence within the administration (Laqueur, 18).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Unfortunately, Dulles’s final years as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) were strife with controversy. Overly pessimistic intelligence estimates gave way to controversy concerning the missile gap between the USSR and America. Another intelligence disaster was the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. This operation further damaged the CIA’s reputation and led to Dulles’s dismissal as DCI (Laqueur, 18). These intelligence failures caused President Eisenhower to be dissatisfied with the intelligence he was receiving from the community. A new solution was needed and Eisenhower moved to create a Joint Study Group to â€Å"determine better ways of effectively organizing the nation’s military intelligence activities† (Raman).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This group recommended the creation of a single source to manage and coordinate all intelligence expenditure, production, analysis, assessment and dissemination functions within the Department of Defense (DOD). This agency would be responsible to the Secretary of Defense, and meet the intelligence needs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and military units fielded worldwide (Raman).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eisenhower’s term as President ended before the group’s recommendations could be implemented, however the banner was carried by the next administration. Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy, accepted the group’s recommendation and created the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) (DNSA). McNamara had many reasons for accepting the groups recommendations. First among them was the differing assessments of the missile gap by each of the services intelligence agencies. Another reason was McNamara’s cost-conscious attitude. He wanted to merge the intelligence directorates of the different services to avoid a multiplicity of intelligence agencies in the Pentagon (Raman).

Poes Fall of The House of Usher Essay: Gloomy Images :: Fall House Usher Essays

Gloomy Images from The Fall of the House of Usher In Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher the narrator first views the house of Usher and perceives a mystery incapable of being solved. Foreboding imaginings keep coming into his mind in spite of rational thinking and reasoning. As he says, there are things beyond our ability to rationalize. He rationalizes that if he could look at things differently or in a brighter light, he might be able to change it, but when he looks into the lake he sees, with even more fear before, a mirror image of the house in all its darkness. The eye-like windows of the house reflect back at him. This paragraph is the epitome of the Romantic movement and the story itself makes many direct and indirect references to Romanticism. Poe's references to Van Weber and Fuseli are direct references to European Romanticists. Poe wrote this story when Romanticism was at its height in Europe. The neoclassic world view had given way to the realm of the emotion. No longer was art or life looked upon as a set of rules that if one followed one could rationalize and make a sense of order out of things. Now, one looked at the emotion beneath the rational. And if that emotion was dark and even evil, it was still beautiful because it expressed a truth. Whereas Hawthorne, in Young Goodman Brown, viewed good and evil as something outside of ourselves, such as a witch or a devil, Poe seems to look within the very soul of man. The first element of Romanticism which Poe seems to incorporate into our paragraph and into the story is the moving away from neoclassic rationality when he says that when he looked upon the house he was "forced to fall back on the unsatisfactory conclusion that . . . the reason, and the analysis, of this power lay among considerations beyond our depth." In the story, he also speaks of abandoning reason in his struggles with fear. Reason does not seem to help here. Reason has gone the way of the neoclassicists. In another part of the story, Poe speaks of the sentience, or consciousness of feeling, of vegetable which seems to grow out of the ordered placement or arrangement of the stones. But the consciousness of feeling does not come until the element of decay and fungi is added to the ordered structure.

Cash Buget Essay

The Cash Budget One of the major functions of corporate finance is to anticipate the need for funds in the company. Although there are several methods for forecasting these needs, the cash budget is the most accurate (and most commonly used) method available. Cash flows through a company like water flows through a pipe. (See the cash flow pipeline.) A cash budget essentially maps out these cash flows and indicates the period in which they will occur. Cash budgeting, at its core, is a very simple procedure that simulates cash flowing through a company. If we can accurate estimate (1) the amounts and (2) the timing of these cash flows, then we can also estimate whether the company will experience a shortage of cash (or an excess of cash) during any given month. The primary cash inflows for a company consist of (1) cash sales and (2) collection of accounts receivable. An accurate sales forecast is a necessity if we are to construct an accurate cash budget. If we then know the terms that we sell on (2/10, net 30, for example) and the past payment experience of our customers, we can estimate the amount and timing of these collections. The primary cash outflows are generally (1) payments on purchases, (2) labor costs, and (3) capital purchases (i.e., fixed assets). Other large payments may include rent, taxes, and These and other cash outflows must be estimated as to the amount and timing of the payments. Pro Forma Statements It is also useful to know what the company’s income statement will look like for the forecasted period and what the balance sheet will look like at the end of the forecasted period. If either of these two statements show weaknesses, we can plan now to take steps that will prevent these deficiencies from occurring. Fortunately, cash budgets and pro forma statements are easily programmed using electronic spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel. This is especially handy since cash budgets involve a large number of relatively simple calculations. Spreadsheets Cash budgets are usually placed on an electronic spreadsheet, where data may be entered and updated frequently. The two spreadsheets below are examples of spreadsheets for 3-month and 12-month planning periods. An Illustration Let’s consider a sample cash budgeting problem, with its solution. An explanation of how the numbers are determined may be seen by clicking on the appropriate links in the â€Å"Solution† section of this page. A SAMPLE PROBLEM Glenda Byers has gathered the data below needed for the preparation of a cash budget for the months of October, November, and December. SALES: (Actual sales for August and September, forecasted sales for October – February) August | $ 45,000 | September | 54,000 | October | 65,000 | November | 75,000 | December | 93,000 | January | 71,000 | February | 55,000 | Based on the past history and current credit terms offered by her firm, Glenda has estimated the following payment schedule for sales: 25% of total sales will be cash sales;   60% of total sales will be collected in the month following the sale; 15% of total sales will be collected in the second month following the sale . (Note: Notice that since the three above collections total 100%, no bad debts on accounts receivable are anticipated. If we anticipated a 2% bad debt rate, we could change the 15% number above to 13%. We would then be anticipating that we would collect only 98% of the total sales.) PURCHASES The company’s markup on inventory is two-thirds of the cost (e.g. a $40 profit on an item which cost $60.) In other words, the cost of the merchandise is 60% of the final selling price. The firm purchases enough inventory to cover sales one month in the future. Based on current credit terms, Glenda expects the following repayment schedule: 12% of purchases are paid for in cash; 78% are paid one month following the purchase, and 10% are paid for two months after the purchase. EXPENSES (per month, unless otherwise noted): Mortgage Payment | $ 2,300 | Wages and Salaries | 3,200 | Lease Payments | 750 | Capital purchases (to be purchased in October) | 7,600 | Property Taxes (to be paid in December) | 11,800 | Other Expenses (%) | 10% of sales | FURTHER ASSUMPTIONS 1. Cash: * As of October 1st, the firm has $3,000 in its checking account at the bank. * The firm desires to have a minimum cash balance of $3,000 at all times. 2. Loan Information: * As of October 1st, the company’s loan balance was $2,000. * The company’s bank requires that interest be paid each month. The interest to be paid is the interest due on the previous month’s loan balance. The interest rate is 1.0% per month on the outstanding balance at the end of the previous month. 3. Fixed Assets: The firm depreciates all capital equipment purchases over a five-year period using the straight line method. 4. Minimum inventory: The firm keeps $30,000 of safety stock on hand at all times.

Research-based Reading Program Essay

The Texas Reading Initiative has outlined a fairly comprehensive statement on the value of reading and the significance of infusing the habit of literacy among the young. Besides teaching/conducting a reading program per se, the quality, depth and integrity of such teaching methodology is equally important. This is the main reason why most reading advocates have bannered the discourse of a â€Å"research based† reading program rather than the traditional teaching methodology for teaching children how to read. It works on the emerging assumption that teaching the young is delicate enough for the reading teacher to adapt a research-based method. The paper on Components of a Research-based Reading Program, part of the Red Book Series by the Texas Education Agency, outlines the fundamental attributes of the recent development of teaching reading among the young. It is composed of a deeper understanding of the recesses of a child’s mind, its formation, development and predictable growth (Hilgard, 2001). Generally, the essential attributes of these Twelve Essential Components comprise an advanced understanding of adult-child training and communication: the Teacher-Trainer, the channel and the recipient (the child). These maybe the basic attributes of ordinary communication but an analysis of the paper can reveal that the communication framework is actually the basis of this research-based program, not to mention that the concept of code interpretation and language are involved and mentioned in that paper. The two ends of this communication curve, the Teacher-trainer and the child are the live working elements of this reading program, which makes the simplest components. What is generally interesting in these Twelve Components is the channel element and how the child decodes the communication. The paper frequently discusses the concept of language and how the child perceives instruction from the teacher, which is its whole point. This is the brunt/meat of the teaching methodology, where the paper discusses â€Å"opportunities† and â€Å"strategies† to aid child development. Such things are stated on the paper as to how to exploit the nature of the language channel, where educators strategically use the oral component to understand the written language-the act of reading. According to the authors, by the oral way, the child is directed into opportunities for appreciating sounds, its differences and â€Å"referents†, a concept used by linguists. They say that children may read aloud and â€Å"understand their building blocks† (www. tea. com), which we assume as auditory building blocks. This may imply that to reinforce one’s reading, one has to learn how to speak it first, using the auditory logic of the language’s construction, thus utilizing the nature of the child’s brain to absorb these â€Å"building blocks† into communicative memory (www. childdevelopmentinfo. com). And of course, there is the written format to contend with. This is where the recipient can visually decode using some of the strategies. Decoding in this context means visually playing with the language construction (â€Å"wordplay† as the paper says) through â€Å"blending† and what they call â€Å"word families† and writing patterns. On a lighter note, there is nothing new about the research-based reading program offered by the Texas Reading Initiative. The allegedly â€Å"new† methodology works much like teaching a foreign language to students in the collegiate level, but in the child’s case, localized and specialized for a kindergarten or grade-schooler. The same opportunities and teaching strategies have existed in basic foreign language class in university, and child psychologists seem to find it effective if made easier for children. Reference: Child Development Institute. Reading Improvement. Retrieved January 27, 2008, from http://www. childdevelopmentinfo. com/store/reading-improvement. htm. Hilgard, E. R. (2001). Introduction to Psychology. New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Harlem Renaissance Essay

I. Introduction The Atlantic slave trade caused the large movement of Africans across different parts of the world largely in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. This African Diaspora brought about eleven million of black people in the New World (P. Larson. â€Å"Reconsidering Trauma, Identity, and the African Diaspora: Enslavement and Historical Memory in Nineteenth-Century Highland Madagascar†). The descendants of those that were brought in the Americas, chiefly those in the United States working as slaves in the south, later experienced another diaspora: moving from the south to the north to escape the hardships brought about by intense racial discrimination. A large portion had settled in the city of Harlem, New York City which opened up a surge of excellent creative works done by blacks and became in vogue for some time. This period came to be known as the Harlem Renaissance, also variously known as the New Negro Movement, or the New Negro Renaissance. This was a period of outstanding creativity expressed in visual arts, writings, and music during this large movement of black population, wherein the African-American Diaspora has moved into larger cities. It changed the character of black American artworks, from conventional imitations of white artists to sophisticated explorations and expressions of black life and culture that revealed and stimulated a new confidence and racial pride. The movement centered in the vast black ghetto of Harlem, in New York City, thus the name of the movement. Harlem became the place of gathering for aspiring black artists, writers, and musicians, sharing their experiences and providing mutual encouragement for one another. The term Harlem â€Å"Renaissance† is a misnomer. If measured by quantity alone, it was more a birth than a â€Å"rebirth†, for never before had so many black Americans produced so much literary, artistic, and scholarly material at the same time. If measured by quality, however, it was actually a continuum, the quickening of a lively stream fed earlier by the important works of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, novelist and short story writer Charles W. Chestnutt, poet and novelist Hames Weldon Johnson and the essays of Du Bois. The Harlem Renaissance created a significant breakthrough, wherein it marked the first time wherein literary and artistic works done by African Americans gained in national attention and interest. Doors of opportunities were opened for such works to be publicized and presented to the general public, which before were not possible. Although its main achievement is found primarily in literature, it also bore the great African-American works in politics and other creative mediums such as visual art, music, and theater that explored different aspects of black American life (R. Twombly. â€Å"Harlem Renaissance†). II. Background and Discussion During the early part of the 1900s, Black Nationalism and racial consciousness began to emerge particularly during the 1920’s. One key factor that helped this development was the surfacing of the black middle class, which in turn were brought about by the increasing number of educated blacks who had found employment opportunities and a certain degree of economic advancement after the American Civil War (â€Å"Harlem Renaissance†). During World War I, thousands of black people left the depressed rural South for jobs in northern defense plants. Known as the Great Migration, more African Americans established themselves in cities such as Harlem, in New York City. They were socially conscious, and became a center of political and cultural development of the black Americans. This population created racial tensions over housings and employment that resulted in increased black militancy about rights, including vigorous agitation by the national Association for the Advancement of colored People (NAACP) and other civil rights organizations. Foremost for this black movement’s agenda, which was expressed in various mediums, is to clamor for racial equality. Championing the cause were black intellectuals W.E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke. White responses to these developments were both negative and positive. The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups reached their peak of northern popularity during the 1920’s. At the same time unprecedented white interest in racial maters created a large audience for black authors who began to settle in the district of New York City known as Harlem. Like other black ghettoes, Harlem was a new, untapped source of themes and materials, which partially accounts for its popularity among artists and intellectuals, but unlike other ghettoes it was a newly constructed, fashionable, residential section. Functioning as a kind of black mecca, Harlem’s excellent housing, its prestige, excitement, and cosmopolitan flavor, attracted a black middle class from which sprang its artistic and literary set. A. General Characteristics Not all works during this movement is militant in nature. However, participants and contributors in the Renaissance were intensely race-conscious, proud of their heritage of being black, and much in love with their community. Most of them, some more subtly than others, criticized racial exploitation. Partly as a tribute to their achievements and partly as a reflection of their racial self-awareness, the Renaissance members were collectively called â€Å"New Negroes†, also indicating that they had replaced the (largely white created) literary image of the comic, pathetic plantation Negro with the proud, busy, independent black man of the northern city. The â€Å"New Negroes† were generally integrationists, optimistically interpreting their own individual successes as harbingers of improvement in race relations. Acceptance from Harpers, Harcourt, Brace, Viking, Boni & Livewright, Knopf, and other front-line publishers began coming through quick succession, boosting more optimism among African-American contributors of the Harlem Renaissance. Rather than depicting a new movement of style, the art during the Harlem Renaissance is united by their common aspiration of depicting and expressing in artistic form the African-American psyche and life. Common characteristics can be found among such works such as the birth of racial pride among black Americans. This called for tracing its roots and origin by taking attention and interest to the life of blacks primarily in Africa and South America. Also, such strong social and racial consciousness brought a strong desire for equality in the American society, both socially and politically. But one of the most common and significant characteristic of the Harlem Renaissance was the abundant production of a variety of creative expressions. Diversity was the main distinctive quality, brought about by an experimental spirit of the movement such as in music which ranged from blues, jazz, to orchestra music. B. Primary Artist of the Harlem Renaissance:   Aaron Douglas (1898-1979) The celebrated artist of the Harlem Renaissance was Aaron Douglas, who chose to depict the New Negro Movement through African images which bore â€Å"primitive† techniques: paintings in geometric shapes, flat, and rugged edges. In his works, Douglas wanted the viewers to know and recognize the African-American identity. As such, Aaron Douglas is often referred to as the â€Å"Father of African American Art†. Born in Topeka, Kansas, Douglas was able to finish his B.A degree. Moving to Harlem in 1925, Aaron immediately set to work, creating illustrations for prominent magazines of the Harlem Renaissance. Douglas was influenced in his modernist style under the tutelage of German artist Winold Reiss, a style which marked most of his celebrated works and incorporating both African and Egyptian strokes of illustration and design. It was Reis who encouraged Douglas to take African design into his works which became his trademark (â€Å"The Harlem Renaissance: Aaron Douglas†). Such manner of African â€Å"primitive† style caught the attention of the main proponents of the Harlem Renaissance, namely W.E.B. Dubois and Alain Locke who found Douglas’ works as an appropriate embodiment of the African-American heritage. They were encouraging young artists to depict their African legacy through their artworks. Even though at a time when DuBois stilled considered Henry Tanner more important, Douglas has fairly established a reputation as the leading visual artist of his time. Harlem Renaissance painters are united by the desire to promote and portray the life and condition of blacks, particularly African-Americans. However, at this point the similarity ends. Harlem Renaissance artworks are as varied in style as the artists themselves. Although like Douglas, most painters of this period received formal trainings and as such, their style and strokes are no different from other non-black artists. What only separate the artists of the Harlem Renaissance from others are their themes and subjects. III. Conclusion A. Ending and Significance As a conclusion, one of the strengths of the Harlem Renaissance was also a serious weakness. Because they were dependent on white patrons and viewers for popularity, black artists were not fully free to explore the mechanisms that perpetrated racial injustice, nor could they propose solutions unacceptable to whites. Furthermore, when the Great Depression dominated American life during the 1930’s, the whites, who had been the bulk of the Renaissance audience, concentrated on economics and politics, oblivious to black American suffering. American arts and letters took up new themes, and although the best artists continued to work, they ultimately lost popularity. The Great Depression drove many black artists to scatter; and were mostly forced to leave New York or to take other jobs to tide them over the hard times. Creativity was drowned by necessity. Nevertheless, despite its many weaknesses and disadvantages, the Harlem Renaissance was a milestone in black American culture and the basis for later achievements.

Schooling the Smash Street Kids Book Review

Paul Corrigan’s ‘Schooling the smash street kids’ takes the ever problematic issues of education and youth and provides a glimpse into it from the other side of the street. Impulsive, informal and unorthodox in writing style, Corrigan talks as if you were an old friend, pulling you in and gently nudging your opinions with personal memories. His work was based in the gritty north-east city of Sunderland, studying 14-15 year old boys in two schools with very different levels of facilities but both with undoubtedly working class pupils. This book does not start with a hypothesis and then test it but arranges each chapter around a relevant question, i. e. why do kids muck about in class, and answers that question at the beginning of the chapter using existing theories and another way at the end showing the process of the sociological research that had been completed. The nature of the book is to discuss youths and the system of education in 1970s Britain and to highlight problems faced everyday in the classroom by teachers and pupils alike. The book is aimed at giving a voice to those in similar situations, teachers that are struggling to engage the tough to handle children that they teach and those in government that can change it so they can ‘see some point in education itself’ (page 153). Schooling the smash street kids provides real insight to problems that need solutions drawn from actual research that was carried out in schools by the author. Paul Corrigan was able to do this in an effective way as he did not project himself to the pupils as a teacher or an authority figure, but as an author who was writing a book about the students and they were his only reason for being there. This in turn created trust between them and he was therefore able to conduct much more meaningful research that may have not been obtained had he taken on a more authoritative persona. Although the style of the book is written in a way that can be understood and interpreted by people of different abilities and from different backgrounds, holds the readers attention and gets its information across in a succinct and interesting way, the chatty and informal nature of the writing could be a flaw. It may not be taken as a serious piece of research due to this and could lose some credibility among academics, when in fact it could provide significant findings to the field of research. Overall, this book is an easy and interesting read and may be useful to students starting out in the field of criminology, to grasp basic understandings. The book is well organised in structure and incorporates personal experiences and statistics which helps drives home its purpose, to change and improve the schooling system and give a, albeit a small, platform to those and others in a similar position, that Corrigan encounters.

Fire Protection High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fire Protection High School - Essay Example So that voltage be monitored in an electrical system, voltmeters and other electrical devices are used and are also checked in a given routine rounds. Elevation is a location or an area of the process equipment in relation to existing ground level and structures. This provide technicians with sufficient information about the equipment location. The data is important for them as they make rounds, catch samples, check the equipment, develop checklists and also when they perform startups and shutdowns. Moreover, equipment location drawings or plot plans points out the exact location of equipment with respect to the plant's physical boundaries. It also provide information regarding neighborhood. Included in location drawings is a loop diagram which traces all instrument linkages between the control room panel and the field instrument. Instrument such as air lines, some wiring connections at particular field junction boxes as well as front and connections control room panels are also included. P 261.

American Exceptionalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American Exceptionalism - Essay Example Throughout the history, American political leaders have been "relatively autonomous" from political pressures and are able to use their autonomy to solve problems confronting the state. During the Cold War, the international policy challenged Truman administration and national security planners. In the early Cold War period was the problematic nature of life in the "atomic age," which explicitly connected public with national security policy. The battle against the Soviet Union and communism marked a new period in American political agenda. In contrast to other states, the USA followed exceptionalist policies based on the idea of the American way of life and liberty. During this period of time, America joined anti-internationalist streak and opposed participation in international institutions. These international relations led to changes on the national level. Parliamentary systems of government abound elsewhere in the world and can be divided into various categories; no other advanced industrialized democracy has emulated the American system. American institutions are exceptional. The battle against communism and anti-internationalist streak caused new worldviews help by most Americans. ... Americans expect less of government in services, particularly in the provision of social welfare, than do citizens of zither democracies; they strongly support civil liberties such as freedom of the press; and they are of course strongly in favor of a democratic form of government. Chief among the political traditions that have been strong elsewhere but almost absent from American politics has been social democracy. The United States is unique among industrialized democracies in never having had a social democratic movement with a strong popular following. After the Cold war, Americans continued their international expansion and were involved in the Gild War. Nuclear weapons revolutionized how the U.S. military was actually used, in, for example, Korea, Vietnam, or the Gulf War (Spanos 89).The argument here is first an existential claim that nuclear weapons changed the way Americans understood its place in a world. Truman administration planners charged with managing postwar national security policy did conceive of nuclear weapons as revolutionary in the sense that they believed doctrinal changes tied to the integration of nuclear weapons into the armed forces did have consequences for the state and society. The Vietnam War and the Gulf war changed national values and traditions of the nation. Exceptionalism was codified in the Weinberger Doctrine (1984) and the Powell Doctrine (1990=1991). A new period in international politics was marked by new international policies introduced by Bill Clinton. The politics of exceptionalism was embodied in Clinton's politics of enlargement and engagement, his vision of Iraqi leader and nuclear weapon (Ignatieff 94). Both Congress and the media (the presidency much less so) have

Dodge Charger SRT8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dodge Charger SRT8 - Essay Example Dodge has made apologies to its customers and followers for Chrysler 200 in the form of presenting a new and mean version i.e. Dodge Charger SRT8 as the car can be tuned to 470 hp which is quite larger as compared to that of Hemi V8. The new Dodge Charger SRT8 has achieved efficiency such that there has been an increase from 6.1 liters to 6.4 liters only in terms of mills along with the torque of the car that can be pumped up to 465 lb-ft. The new Dodge Charger SRT8 has come into limelight in the fall of previous year as the 2012 model. Overall, the price of 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8 is slightly higher than that of 2010 model of the same car amounting to around $41,000. Slight modifications can also be observed in the shape and body of the new model. Snarkier grille along with the blacked-out parts, the crosshair of the new Dodge Charger SRT8 seems to weaken a bit, which is more of a brand personality Dodge Charger SRT8. The wheels used in the car are gaudy 20-inch wheel and a domed se tup has been introduced in the car in place of the hood scoop. The interior of the car has bees been marked with the firm and comfortable seats with adjustment capacities. Steering wheel is more of flat-bottomed style including more electronic mechanisms that can track from 0 to 60 mph times. The center touch screen of the car is supported by lateral g-force. The other features of the new Dodge Charger SRT8 are also quite interesting as well as quite beneficial for the customers. The car has introduced a carryover with a automatic five-speed but at the same time the most significant innovation is that the new Dodge Charger SRT8 will have the facility of paddle shifting. The active suspension of the car is designed in such a manner that both the auto and sports settings facilities are provided simultaneously as well as the introduction new active exhaust feature that helps car in consuming lesser fuel as compared to previous models of SRT8. There is also a new feature built in the ca r which has the ability of dropping down to four cylinders from eight cylinders when fuel economy needs to be maintained. The new Dodge Charger SRT8 is manufactured keeping in mind the environmental issues in mind such that there might be improvement of around 15 percent in figures of city EPA and 26 percent in the highway EPA that can be experienced. The CEO of Dodge and boss of Chrysler design, Ralph Gilles showed his expressions regarding the personality of Dodge Charger SRT8 to the AutoWeek as, "The car has the ability to change personality on the fly," Dodge has the ability of meeting the demands of new Dodge Charger SRT8 and it has also successfully addressed the previous issues that came up with the harshness of the previous other models of SRT. Dodge makes a claim of touching a top speed of 175 mph for Dodge Charger SRT8. The Hemi of Charger SRT8 is the same as of the Challenger SRT8 which can be measured to 392 cubic inches. Gilles also added the fact about the new Dodge Ch arger SRT8 that he can enjoy its ride all over the country, moreover, he the left open the future likelihood of manual transmission of the new Dodge Charger SRT8 as well and anticipating to enter into yet another dispute. "We're listening to our customers very closely," as Gilles keeps an eye on the latest preferences of the Dodge Customer and plans for the upcoming