Clinic Management System

Description this is a medical management system, assisting user to administer a huge data in clinic. In addition, another function is allowing doctor, nurses and the administrative staff. On the client point of view, this is a faster and easeful way to link to the healthcare service by using the system. ‘Clinic Management System – CMS’ is specially designed for general clinic, this system let them have high efficiency management tools, computerize and systematic patient’s record, detail of drug information, this is the first achievements of the medical services. Medical services computerize is an irresistible general trend, this web site will provide medical information for the client, the user can find out a message they care. CMS provide on line appointment feature, which allow patients to make the appointment through Internet. Furthermore, doctors can manage the clinic daily work by using CMS. Nowadays computer has a strong capacity to provide information on a person that has a disease or has a health problem that needs to be cure, a lot of people are going to their doctor and asking them on their status, and a lot of doctors are always saying to us do you have record in this hospital, if the person then the doctor well go and find that record on the cabinet and by looking for you files it will take a lot minutes, that’s way this program came out a system that will easily search the medical records of the patients, in this case this program has database that record the status of the patients, it is easily use to find out the status of a person simple clicking their files or searching their status on the database of the hospital, first we need to identify the person by knowing who is he/she by filling up the form that was provided by the hospital. VI. DEFINITATION OF TERMS Once data have been screened for typographical errors, the data can be validated to check for logical errors. An example is a check of the subject's date of birth to ensure that they are within the inclusion criteria for the study. These errors are raised for review to determine if there are errors in the data or if clarifications from the investigator are required. Another function that the CDM can perform is the coding of data. Currently, the coding is generally centered around two areas adverse event terms and medication names. With the variance on the number of references that can be made for adverse event terms ormedication names, standard dictionaries of these terms can be loaded into the CDM. The data items containing the adverse eventterms or medication names can be linked to one of these dictionaries. The system can check the data in the CDM and compare them to the dictionaries. Items that do not match can be flagged for further checking. Some systems allow for the storage of synonyms to allow the system to match common abbreviations and map them to the correct term.

A Book Summary of the Goal Essay

The story started off by relaying the current situation of Mr. Alex Rogo and the dire state of his metal working plant, UniCo. Being the plant manager and head honcho, Mr. Rogo was the represented all the problems the plant was experiencing. The business was down and not profiting at all due to efficiency and process related problems. The business was not producing the necessary inventory levels to sustain the business. It already had too many issues, which had to be fixed soon especially since Mr. Peach, who is Mr. Alex Rogo’s boss, blew his top over another urgent yet delayed order. Mr. Peach gave Mr. Rogo the ultimatum that if the plant operations would not shape up and improve within the next three months, he will shut the plant down. If the first chapter talked about the Mr. Rogo’s state of affairs at work, the second chapter talked about his personal life. Mr. Rogo was dissatisfied about his life. He was not at all too happy about the fact if he was thirty-eight years old and still where he was when he started. His family was also not happy, most especially his wife. He moved his family from the city six months ago to live in his hometown because he was determined to fix the problems UniCo was facing. His wife was very unhappy with this move because it was hard for them to adjust especially since they were used to the city life. In this chapter, issues about the delayed order in chapter one continued to resurface. It is with this reason Mr. Rogo called for a general meeting in the third chapter. Immediate changes needed to be done in order to avoid the issues they’ve been experiencing for a long time. This had to be communicated to his staff in order for them to help him with the situation. Mr. Rogo relayed the grim circumstance UniCo was facing and pointed out all the items that were not working for the company. To move forward, he gave directions on how to manage the scenario by stating the objectives that needed to be addressed within the next three months. It was in this chapter Mr. Rogo finds out that it may not only be UniCo that will perish but the holding company where Mr. Peach is a part of. As the meeting goes on in the fourth chapter, Mr. Rogo goes back in time and reminisces about a discussion he had with his old professor, Jonah, who also was a physicist. During that meeting, Jonah openly talked about the problems Mr. Rogo’s company was facing. Johan had made mention of all the possible issues that could happen with UniCo, which includes spiraling high inventory levels and delivery issues, where the company will be unable to meet deadlines for shipment. Johan hypothesized that in order for Mr. Rogo to fix his situation, he must define what his goal should be. Everything should always start with the definition of a goal. In order to figure out what the goal is, Mr. Rogo must apply the Theory of Constraints in order to successfully implement effective management. The Theory of Constraints includes knowing all the constraints that is hindering the company from experiencing efficient productivity. Once the constraints are identified, Mr. Rogo will be able to take measurable next to address these issues. The staff meeting continued to the fifth chapter, where Mr. Rogo leaves the meeting to be alone. He needed to sort out his thoughts and figure out what his ultimate goal should be. He wanted to figure out the goal he should have in order for him to be able to fix the predicament his company is facing. Deep in thought, while having pizza and beer, he begins to realize that it would be money, income, profitability that would inch him towards turning around his company and making it a successful business. Having a clear direction on where to go, Mr. Rogo sits with the group in the sixth chapter. It was in this chapter, they checked on the financial statements of the company. After evaluating the financial statements, the group was able to pinpoint that the return of investment is very low while the operating and investment expenses greatly needed improvement. In order for this improvement to take place, the company must increase profit to ensure increased return of investment and sufficient cash flow. To achieve this, Mr. Rogo ponders in the seventh chapter on how he will be able to make changes. Based on the initial evaluation his Finance group advised him, he will need to find a way to make sure he would be able to increases the monies that would flow within the company without increasing costs. He then decides to look for Jonah to learn more about how he can save the company especially since Jonah seemed to know so much about UniCo. In the eighth chapter, Mr. Rogo was able to talk to Jonah. It was in this chapter wherein Jonah educated him about three important concepts he must understand before he tries to implement new changes within the company. These three concepts include throughput, operational expenses and inventory levels. Jonah defined throughput as the rate of which a process is able to produce sales revenue from sales volume. He defined inventory to be the monetary asset within the system that needs to be sold in order for cash to pour in. Jonah also defined operational expense as the money spent to turn raw materials and all other resources into throughput. In the ninth chapter, Mr. Rogo discovered that robots and machines that were being used within the company are not efficient assets. Instead of the machines being able to solve cost reduction programs and bring down costs, it was doing quite the opposite bring bringing costs up. With this in mind, he gives his first direction by using these machines in other areas of the plant. In the tenth chapter, Mr. Rogo discussed the concepts he has learned from Jonah with Bob, Lou and Stacey, who represents Accounting, Inventory Control and Production Division. They discussed line-by-line how these concepts worked within the company and how it affected their profitability. The problem about the cost inefficiency of machine arose again, which made it even more urgent for them to discover how they can lower their costs without affecting other efficiencies within the plant. Since he was running out of ideas, Mr. Rogo decided to go to New York to have another talk with Jonah. Mr. Rogo arrived in New York in the eleventh chapter. It was in this chapter where he started telling Jonah about his dire situation at the plant. Jonah advised Mr. Rogo that he should not maintain a balanced plant. A balanced plant means that capacity is only enough for the demand of the market. If this is the case, then the company would be much closer to being bankrupt. Before they had ended the conversation, Jonah advised Mr. Rogo to look into the relationship of dependent events with statistical fluctuations and how these two things would affect his company. As soon as Mr. Rogo got back to his hometown in Chapter Twelve, he continued to face problems at home. His wife questioned his devotion to their family versus his devotion to the company. Because of the extra workload on this plate, his relationship with his life partner had suffered. It was a very grueling situation he was in. He had problems not only at work but at home as well. In the thirteenth chapter, Mr. Rogo goes on a camping trip and thought of what Jonah mentioned to him in their last meeting. It was during this trip that he understood the relationship of dependent events with statistical fluctuations. He was able to get this realization while he was hiking. The realization became clearer to Mr. Rogo in the next chapter. He now understood what Jonah was trying to point out. If importance would not be given to throughput, operational expenses and inventory levels, and if a balance plant will be maintained, inventory levels will decrease and operational expenditures will increase. In the fifteenth chapter, Mr. Rogo decided to do an experiment to test his realization. He assisted the lowest kids of the pack by carrying the kid’s backpack. Since the kid could walk faster, it did not delay the group. In effect, the group became faster and efficiency had been achieved. It was a good weekend for Mr. Rogo because his mind was open as all the realizations poured to his head. However, when he and his children got home in the sixteenth chapter, they found out that his wife—the mother of his children, had packed all her bags and left them without leaving word where she would go. She left because she was already angry with Mr. Rogo. As man and wife, they had an agreement that they were going to spend time together during that weekend; however, it didn’t push through because he had to go with his children on the camping trip. In the next chapter, Mr. Rogo relayed his realizations to his staff. During the cascade, it seemed as if his staff was not taking him seriously. They acted uninterested and bored until a new problem surfaced. There was another overdue order, which had not been delivered, which had to be met right away. In Chapter Eighteen, Mr. Rogo again talked to Jonah, who in turn briefed him about the difference of bottlenecks with non-bottlenecks. A bottleneck according to Jonah is when capacity meets demand or when capacity is less than the demand, while a non-bottleneck is the opposite, wherein capacity is more than demand. Jonah subtly suggested to Mr. Rogo that he should first fix the bottlenecks. In next chapter, as Jonah visited the plant, he pointed out to Mr. Rogo that he should improve capacity in the bottlenecks by using the machines more effectively. If machines would be used more efficiently, Mr. Rogo will be able to maintain correct inventory levels and will be able to decrease operational expenses. Jonah and Mr. Rogo went around the plant evaluating these machines, stopping at one area at a time, to evaluate the cost and efficiency of each machine. In Chapter Twenty, Mr. Rogo started working on what he and Jonah discussed. He had to make the bottlenecks efficient to the whole production process of the plant. He did this by first giving directions that the bottlenecks should only be used for overdue orders. In terms of ranking, production in bottlenecks should prioritize the most overdue orders to the most little overdue orders. It was also in this chapter wherein Mr. Rogo was able to talk to his wife about the problems they were going through. She had been residing in her parent’s home since she left Mr. Rogo’s house. In spite of being able to talk to her, she did not go back home with him. In Chapter Twenty, Mr. Rogo went back to work and focused his efforts on knowing how he can continually improve the process within the company. Since a system has been placed with regards to priority orders for bottlenecks, Mr. Rogo directed that to guide the workers about this change, there should be some sort of communication relaying the different areas of the bottlenecks. Mr. Rogo proposed and implemented the use of red and green tags to distinguish the bottleneck areas. The next chapter showed the success of this initiative. Mr. Rogo had received twelve orders and these were successfully delivered on time. Mr. Rogo, happy with how everything was turning well, pushed his production manager to continue what they started by evaluating more old machines and bottlenecks. Even if Mr. Rogo had tasted success, he still found that this was not enough. He still wanted to do more to change and improve the company. He wanted to make sure that the company would have constant returns in the long run. Another problem arose in the Twenty-Third Chapter, wherein delays in two bottlenecks were experienced. These bottlenecks transpired because the workers would not stay in place during the whole time. In order to maximize the workers, they were given directions to stay busy and move from one area to another. In order to solve this problem, Mr. Rogo directed that there would be a dedicated worker—foreman, who will watch over each bottleneck area. This was a good move in Rogo’s end because one of his foremen was able to bring a good idea to the table, which helped increase efficiency by another ten percent. The foreman also suggested that they should mix and match orders based on priority. With the changes implemented and the new system in place, Mr. Rogo found out in Chapter Twenty-Four that there were more bottlenecks that what they had expected, which continued to pose as problems. At the last same, there was decreasing inventory, which should not be happening. This puzzled Jonah, who agreed to go back to the plant to evaluate this phenomenon. In Chapter Twenty-Five, Jonah pointed out to Mr. Rogo that there were no bottlenecks in actuality. It only seemed that way because there was no balance between the bottlenecks and non-bottlenecks. Because of this evaluation, direction to modify the tags had been given by Mr. Rogo. In Chapter Twenty-Six, another suggestion was given to improve efficiency. According to one of his staff, they could do this by creating a schedule with the bottlenecks. Even Jonah agreed that this would enable the bottlenecks to keep busy and run efficiently without causing setbacks on costs and time. Another meeting with Mr. Peaches transpired in the twenty-seventh chapter. This was the day Mr. Rogo had been waiting for. Mr. Rogo reported the improvements and negotiated for the company to continue running. The meeting was concluded with the agreement Mr. Peaches would not close down the plant if Mr. Rogo will be able to improve margins by another fifteen percent. In Chapter Twenty-Eight, Mr. Rogo anxiously spoke to Jonah once again. Jonah informs him in this chapter that he will be unavailable in the next few weeks. Mr. Rogo asks Jonah how he should reach the objective Mr. Peaches had challenged him to achieve. Jonah, his old professor, suggested that he lessen the batch production size by fifty percent. This would be beneficial to the company because this implementation would ensure lesser lead times and would reduce the costs by fifty percent as well. In Chapter Twenty-Nine, Mr. Rogo became successful by doing what Jonah advised. He was able to deliver one thousand products by cutting the batch sizes and shipping 25% each week. The customer was so happy that he made a personal appearance at the plant. The customer even went to the extent of shaking hands with everybody visible in the plan, and to top it all, he handed UniCo a contract for ten thousand orders. In effect, this was ninety percent more orders than the initial one. Because of this achievement, Mr. Rogo got promoted to hold Mr. Peaches position in Chapter Thirty-One. However, with bigger responsibilities, there are bigger problems especially since he will be managing not only one plant but three plants. Again, Mr. Rogo had to consult with Jonah once again. In Chapter Thirty-Two, Mr. Rogo finally got to converse with his wife over dinner. It was during dinner both husband and wife talked about the situation at work and how Mr. Rogo was faring. At the end of the conversation, the couple decided that the best way to go about the problem in Mr. Rogo’s office is to call Jonah once again to ask for help. Mr. Rogo should seek advice from Jonah on how he can influence other people to use the same process UniCo has been using to turn around the business. In the next chapter, Mr. Rogo brought together his staff to discuss what is needed in order to solve Division’s problems and issues. At the meeting, he was puzzled why his production manager didn’t want to take part of this new project. Mr. Rogo was happy though that his accountant, who was supposed to retire soon, would still be able to help him. He needed his staff to successfully achieve his new objectives. In Chapter Thirty-Four, Mr. Rogo continued to be anxious about the next steps he will take. It was in this chapter that he shows importance to the people that were under him since he started his mission in turning UniCo around. He started implementing a daily meeting with them to evaluate all the issues that needed to be fixed. He needed all of them since it was going to be a grueling undertaking to handle his new workload. He needed all the help he could get. In the second meeting in Chapter Thirty-Five, the topic revolved around the periodic table of elements, which inspired them since the scientists started on scratch and was able to produce the table of periodic elements in an orderly fashion. They realized that they must all understand how order can be placed within the Division. It was in Chapter Thirty-Six wherein they were able to identify how they can implement order. They would be able to do this by first identifying all the bottlenecks. Once they know the issues, they would be able to turn into opportunities. Aside from knowing the issues, they must know the issues under the main issues. Knowing all of this will enable them to evaluate the bottlenecks as efficiently as possible. The last step they identified was going back to repeat step one if something goes haywire with a bottleneck. This process was further revised or somehow reworded in Chapter Thirty-Seven. It was in this chapter that they found out the bottlenecks have been producing excess orders just to keep the machines busy. Because they were able to point this out, they were able to improve capacity by twenty percent. In Chapter Thirty-Eight, Mr. Rogo found out how he can further improve sales volume and profitability of his division. He came out with the idea to sell the Division’s products in Europe at a cheaper gross selling price. If they would be able to achieve this, they would earn additional income from a new market. In Chapter Thirty-Nine, Mr. Rogo is faced with another problem. The additional orders they have accepted were causing more trouble than good as it created more bottlenecks. He sat down with his staff once again and evaluated how they could fix it. They decided that they would increase the inventory levels and mandate sales not to commit to shipping orders in the next four weeks. This would cause a strain between Production and the Sales Group, however, they had to implement it to ensure balance within the company. In the last chapter, Mr. Rogo no longer needs Jonah to ask him questions, as he is now able to ask his own questions. As he poses the questions to himself, he realizes that he has finally answered Jonah’s main question. Wanting change, knowing what to change and the steps to achieve that change is key to successful management of a business. Reference: Goldratt, E. M. , & Cox, J. (1994). The Goal A Process of Ongoing Improvement. New York: North River Press.

'Hegel argues that the history of civilizations is the history of Essay

'Hegel argues that the history of civilizations is the history of Reason and rationality permeating mankind' To what extent is h - Essay Example Using Horkheimer and Adorno, it will be argued that human nature cannot be completely subjected, and second, that the elimination of superstition has also brought about the subjugation of nature in general. Therefore, there is a progress of reason, but some important limitations too so it cannot be maintained to have completely permeated humankind. For Hegel, history is the succession of stages of consciousness, and these stages of consciousness culminate in a notion which might be said to be a universality of reason or a notion reflecting wide-scale enlightenment.[Hegel, 1952: 216]. To realize universal reason, is to understand history, and to have therefore, self-understanding. Hegel addresses the nature of history at the end of the Philosophy of Right. Concerning these stages, Hegel identifies ‘four’ main periods. These are the ‘Oriental realm’, ‘the Greek Realm’, ‘the Roman realm’, and finally the ‘Germanic realm’ [ Hegel, 1995: 220-223]. Of the first realm, he states that they are both indicative of "natural† and ‘patriarchal’ communities. Further, he identifies these as forms of consciousness where pantheistic views of nature dominate all forms of explanations, and indeed, where history itself is poetry [Hegel, 1952: 222]. While the Greeks eliminate many of the limitations of the irrational that preceded them, they still had â€Å"slavery† which he suggests that as being a â€Å"compromise† of â€Å"freedom†. Slaves, for example, are like Oedipus before he discovered his own identity. In other words, if history is about memory or recollection, and it is about self consciousness or self awareness, then, in this regard we can understand how a society with slaves cannot be a society with universal reason. Slaves are denied the possibility of real self understanding, but by virtue of being enslaved. Reason is essential to freedom [Gallagher, 1997: 128]. The second last stage is the Roman realm which like the Greeks is a divided society. First, he argues that there is equality and private rights, however, the nature of the relations among individuals is both formal and abstract [Hegel, 1952: 221-2]. A division persists between the classes, however, the division in the Roman realm is between those who follow there intuition or senses (superstition), and those who use ‘reason’ and self-understanding as a guiding principle. [Hegel, 1952: 221]. In this sense, Rome had an educated elite, but an un-educated and â€Å"superstitious† majority. In the ‘Germanic realm’, reason is reconciled with irrationality. This occurs in a two-fold sense, according to Hegel. First, those who follow passion, belief, sensation or the ‘law of the heart’, become elevated toward the ‘head’, so to speak. Second, ‘reason’ which had been ‘abstracted’ from the senses becomes embodied in this world. There exists a mutual recognition in each others rational capacities, and this mutual recognition entails that ‘universality’ is no longer abstract, but rather, manifest in a community of rational individuals [Pinkard, 2002: 160]. For Horkheimer and Adorno, the progress of reason is also viewed as a product of the Enlightenment, however, the progress is viewed as a means of subjugation rather than emancipation. While the progress of history promises the emancipation of people through enlightenment and reason,

Criminal law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Criminal law - Essay Example However, if the child victim is older than 13 but younger than 16 a suspect can raise the defence that the child consented to the sexual activity and he or she reasonably believed that said child was at least 16 years of age.1 Critics of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 argue that the Act goes too far by criminalizing legitimate sexual activities of children closer to age 16 and is far too strict on those who are mistaken about the child’s age. This paper examines the reality of this position by dissecting the manner in which the criminal justice system approaches cases in which offences relating to children are interpreted and disposed of. The offences contained in Section 9-12 include sexual assault, inciting children to engage in any form of sexual activity or forcing a child to watch sexual activities. Alarmingly, sexual activity with a child is defined by Section 9 as the intentional touching of ‘another person’ and that other person is under the age of 16 and the person does not reasonably believe the other person to be over the age of 16.3 The act of touching might conceivably be interpreted as sexual in nature and is a matter of fact for a jury to decide.4 In an article published in BBC’s online magazine, Giles Wilson questioned the propriety of the laws role in the age of modern sexual activity among teens. By and large, Wilson argues, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 criminalizes teen age kissing.5 Angela Phillips refers to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 as ‘the child trap’ adding that it is: When the House of Commons debated the Sexual Offences Bill a number of Representatives took issue with Section 13 as it stood, fearing that it had the impact of criminalizing what could only be described as normal activities between adolescents. In fact, Member of Parliament and Liberal Democrat Women’s Issues Spokesperson, Sandra Gidley said: Although I welcome the approach to

Literature, Business, and Social Change Paper Essay

Literature, Business, and Social Change Paper - Essay Example In contrast to the typical buyer whose main considerations are price and product quality, customers are now keen on the externalities which a manufacturer makes in a society where it operates. Social changes bring about this change in consumer attitude which companies take advantage by launching their own corporate social responsibility programs. For example, the giant retailer Target documents how it contributes 5% of its annual income to education, arts, and social services to specific localities (Target 2008). The company constantly supports projects which uplift the quality of living and improve the condition of the lower income strata. Literature plays a huge role in documenting these efforts made by business organizations in order to communicate these to the public and earn their support. It should be noted that most companies now distribute their annual corporate social responsibility report aside from their annual reports. The company also publicizes these programs through the use of leaflets, flyers, television advertisement, and even in its online website.

Micro project 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Micro project 5 - Essay Example Example of the good that has positive externnility is the education service. The benefit it has provided to the users has more social benefits than the private benefits. Private benefits in this case will be the advantages that an individual user gets whereas public benefit is what the society gain due to increasing rate of literacy and overall growth. Example of de-merit goods, which posses negative externality can be alcohol or cigarettes. These kinds of products reduce the ‘social marginal benefit of consumption’ and government usually taxed those products (Tutor 2 U, n.d.). 2. A. If Bart can charge only one price then he should charge $7 as only this way he can sale the maximum meal and can earn maximum revenue. Charging more than it would lead to loosing of one meal. The combination of charges and revenues can be presented with the help of one table. It has been mentioned that marginal cost of providing a meal is constant at $5. Therefore, producer’s surplus will be $2 ($7 - $5). Consumer surplus will be different for all the customers. Consumer surplus for Bob, Sue and Katie will be $0, $1 and $8 respectively. 2. B. Price discrimination is not possible in such case. For price discrimination, it is necessary to know the type of customer and also the amount of money. Only then, the shopkeeper can charge different price to the different customer. In that case, Bart will charge $7 from the group or from all of them. It is because, Bart knows that one of them has $7 and if he will charge more than that then he would loose one meal. Charging $7, he is able to earn revenue of $21 and that is the maximum revenue he can earn. 2. C. Being perfectly price discriminate, Bart should charge three different prices from three of them. For Bob, price should be $7 as it is the highest amount he can pay. Thus, Bart can gain $2 and he would

Rewrite - Extended Research Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rewrite - Extended Research Report - Essay Example It is vital to know the skills of employees as to understand the goals that they should take on. Research findings have shown that employee performance evaluations also depend on the development and organizational improvement of the company. By conducting this evaluation, employees can be instructed on how to provide better work. The evaluation can also help to provide the employee with personal development and organizational goals. The possibilities of an increase in salary, a promotion, and good recognition can also result from employee evaluations. This report concludes that not only do employee performance evaluations help to improve employee work, but can also aid a company in improving its business. Goals, whether long-term or short-term, cannot be met without regular evaluations. Recommendations discussed within the report include: increased productivity, making retainable and realistic goals, improving business relations, and helping various industries to narrow down on areas within their business that need improvement. This final paper is based on the extended research report that I have been conducting, providing an up-to-date status on employee performance evaluations based on the subject of human resources in the field of business. To completely understand the challenges that people face with human resource issues, I have opted to research and address the importance of the employee performance evaluation. I began researching this topic on June 10, 2010, and have been steadily adding on to it until it was completed. Employee performance evaluation has been an interesting topic to research and write about. When employers undergo performance evaluations for their employees, they are providing their workers with either praise or criticism, letting them know of the good they are doing and if anything needs to be changed.

Requires ...grammar....expression correction Essay

Requires ...grammar....expression correction - Essay Example Despite the technological advancement, hi-tech society buildings still suffers from a variety of issues of maintenance causes from decisions of their designer. It is a broad observation that modern day buildings are more susceptible to maintenance as compared to older counterparts. This research investigates of the impact of design defects on maintenance through their barriers and limitations of the interaction between them in an attempt to improve building design to reduce maintenance costs, especially in hospital buildings. In addition to literature studies, the interviewee questions and a case study have been analyzed to identify design and maintenance defects, their impacts on the maintenance and management of hospital buildings in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, it explores the concerning roles, responsibilities, obligations, and liabilities of the agents who are involved in the design and maintenance performance and feasible solutions. The King Fahad Hospital was chosen for the stud y and the five interviewees were interviewed on telephone. Qualitative methodology was selected to collect data for this study; it has been found out that the majority of maintenance dilemmas in the hospital building are attributed to design defects. The defects affecting the maintenance of hospital in the budget were led to depletion of maintenance budget besides an increase in maintenance costs. Some recommendations were provided. Conclusion The first topic the chapter reviewed was maintenance. Common problems were identified and approaches to reduce the burden of maintenance through Total Quality Management of design were described. The effect poor design has on society was explored in terms of political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal aspects. The chapter discussed design defects in terms of the professional obligations that each agent in the design team holds. The chapter emphasized the roles, which the civil engineers, the architects, the interior de signers, the commissioning agents, and the structural engineers have in the designing process. It also talked about the increasing role of legal action in poor design. Then the chapter discussed the inherent limitations of the building design and maintenance and its limitation in their relation. It lists the scope of the projects as well as the objectives and concludes with the significance of an investigation of the impact of design on the maintenance of hospital buildings in Saudi Arabia. This presents an opportunity for investigations of the impact of design imperfections on maintenance. In prior knowledge of most results and the factors that influenced the maintenance of negligence in design, circles many aspects such as specification of materials, thermal movement, wet areas, ventilation, inefficient detailing, improper material selection and poor design for accessing maintenance measures. The chapter also argued that the design process must also be considered from legal standp oint and the obligations of the design agents. There is mention in the literature of maintenance issues in Saudi Arabia. Ikhwan and Burney (1999) pointed out the importance of maintenance in the Kingdom, and discussed the need for maintenance education. They also highlighted research activities on maintenance performed at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. They recommended an extensive assessment of the current states of maintenance management and

Exam paper on business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Exam paper on business strategy - Essay Example Its limitation is that two firms of same industry with MBV- strategy do not grow with similar pace despite opting for similar options. For example, firms opt to sail the ocean for being the safest alternate without sailor in the team while ignoring mountain-ing for being less attractive alternative despite having skilled mountaineers. RBV based strategy ignores the demand side of the business. It relies solely on the endogenous aspect and ignores the exogenous factors’ effect on firm. Hence, to void the limitation, firm has lent support from both views complementing each other than contrast. Apple Inc’s success is the strategy being combination of both views. For instance, team with innovative skills exploited the market factors that welcome changes in new dimensions; hence giving hit products like iPod, iPad. ANSWER 3 Greiner’s Theory (1972) refers that firm growth is a subset of six phases each comprising of stable growth followed by a challenge before entering the succeeding phase. It suggests that phases occur in series; therefore, predictable challenges (evolution) to be accounted in a predictable way (revolution). Firm initially grows with creativity and establishing position in the market and after some time it faces challenge of leadership crises. This challenge requires professional management for further growth. Growth in second phase continues to expand with direction and increase in scale hence, leads to issues in managing thing by few personnel. Evolution of structural change mainly with delegation of power becomes the need to maintain survival. Upon delegation development, firm grows through third phase for some time and lands to the control crises. It now requires business to strengthen connections among the business -units to maintain growth in single direction with co-ordination and monitoring. 4th phase of growth through connectivity ends up to red tape issues and bureaucracy. These issues hamper growth again requiring man agement to induce collaborative culture than centralized control. Collaborative culture results firm fostering with more of matrix and team based structures but also ends up once firm has exploited maximum of the internal capabilities and faces internal growth crises. Evolution from this crisis requires firm to shake hands with complementary organizations to maintain growth. This sixth stage growth, recently added, refers to merger, networks, alliances, outsourcing etc. Growth rate in phases vary from company to company and even within company from phase to phase. However, longer the phases harder it will be implement transition by catering crises. ANSWER 4 Resources and Competencies held by organization are all not of equal strength when evaluated on the yardstick to provide firm a competitive advantage against competitors. Strength of the Resource Based View refers that resources and competencies that possess value, rarity, inimitability and non-substitutability characteristics, a cronym as VRIN, are of immense importance to organization. Organizational strategy aligning VRIN-resources and competencies with external environmental factors form the foundation of success. Successful organization such as Wall- Mart (Strong Supply Chain), Tesco (UK national and supply Chain), Apple (Innovative Human Resource), Starbucks (expertise in providing premium flavour of coffee) have profited globally upon strategically by

Income Inequality Essay Example for Free

Income Inequality Essay Minimum Wage Income inequality in America has become a big issue, one that many of us hear every day; whether on the news or from our parents. But normally, we don’t hear the actual phrase used. We hear things like â€Å"the top two percent,† or, the â€Å"rich vs. the poor.† So, what is income inequality? Income inequality is defined as the difference between individuals or populations in the distribution of their assets, wealth, or income. So, with that in mind, why would anyone be against raising a minimum wage? At first glance, the plan does seem to be an intelligent fix to a problem that’s stayed dormant for quite a while. Raising the minimum wage drastically from where it was in 2009 to now would be a blunt and possibly inefficient way of continuing to attempt to give the poor a better way of life. There is one simple fact that many people simply don’t look at: there are more than one group of people working for minimum wage. There is a myriad of people working for the federal 7.50, from teenagers on their first jobs to older people with second jobs. Jonathon Guryan, an economist at Northwestern University and a neutral observer of the wage debate, said that â€Å"Its not helping as many or as large a portion of the labor market as you probably would like.† This being said, the workers that will benefit from a minimum wage increase would be so diverse that the group of people we are aiming to help, the poor and desperate, wouldn’t be getting all the help. Now, what of the small businesses and family companies that can hardly handle the current minimum wage? Well, they’d be taking a hit too if a drastic increase such as this were to hit. Businesses that make less money than others in their profits per year are expected to have to cut down on their expenses and lay off their workforce in order to compensate for the loss of funds. So, while the minimum wage would benefit the people in the business lucky enough to not be laid off, those who were fired could  be the very people we were attempting to help. Unfortunately, this could mean that a large part of the workforce that handles manual labor could be out of the job. Other businesses would not even be that lucky. There are much better ways to fight income inequality than just simply raising the federal minimum wage. It’s a very black and white argument for a topic that is not so black and white. To better improve our income equality, and therefore lift people out of poverty, we could be putting more funding into things like education, food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit (or the EITC), which is a refundable tax credit targeting people who make a low income. It would be a shame to not only miss a chance to reduce poverty now, but to forget that we’ll all be having this same conversation in a few years if we just raise the minimum wage. That being said, I don’t believe the federal minimum wage should be raised to $10.00 per hour.

Effect Of Caffeine On Breathing And Pulse Rate Biology Essay

Effect Of Caffeine On Breathing And Pulse Rate Biology Essay Caffeine is a natural chemical substance known to have stimulant properties within the body (Addicott MA Laurienti PJ, 2009). Prior research focused on caffeines ability to affect ventilation, blood pressure, mood, and mental stress (Kennedy MD et al. 2008; Addicott MA Laurienti PJ, 2009). Their findings concluded that caffeine actually spiked blood pressure, ventilation and heart rate (Kennedy MD et al., 2008); while others claimed that it had no effect on heart rate or breathing (Ratliff-Crain J et al., 1989). Some gaps in these studies were that very few actually measured the rate of breathing, but rather focused on the volume of breathing and the percent oxygen saturation/diffusion (Chapman R Stager JM, 2008), as well as blood pressure, rather than heart rate (Ratliff-Crain J et al., 1989). This experiment aimed at finding a clear relationship between ingesting caffeine, and its effect, if any, on breathing and heart rate, after the subjects performed incremental stepping exercises. The significance of this study is vital in sport, particularly caffeines role in the Olympics (Spriet LL, 1995), and its potential as a prophylactic in treating asthma (Welsh EJ et al., 2010). Methods: See School of Biological Sciences (2010). Refer to Appendix (1) for the hypotheses. Results: Using the t-test it was found that the mean (+/- range) change in pulse rate was not significantly different between non-caffeine (Group A) and caffeine (Group B) treated subjects (t=0.4, df=161, P=0.7 ie P>0.05). (Refer to Appendices 2a, 2b,3a, and 3b for the data and t-test) Figure 1: The mean of changes in the pulse rate of non-caffeinated (control) and caffeinated (treatment) participants after performing a stepping exercise. Error bars are the range. N=140 and n= 75 for the non-caffeinated and caffeinated groups respectively. Using a paired two sample for mean t-test it was found that the mean (+/- range) change in respiration rate was not significantly different between non-caffeine (Group A) and caffeine (Group B) treated subjects (t=-0.7, df=132, P=0.5 ie P>0.05). (Refer to Appendices 2a, 2b,3a, and 3b for the data and t-test) Figure 2: The mean of changes in the breathing rate of non-caffeinated (control) and caffeinated (treatment) participants after doing a stepping exercise. Error bars are the range. N=140 and n= 75 for the non caffeinated and caffeinated groups respectively. Discussion: The results of the investigation revealed that the difference in mean pulse rate change between the two groups was 1.1 BPM and the mean breathing rate was 1 BRPM. This indicated that there were no significant difference between mean change in pulse rate and breathing rate between the group that was taking the caffeinated drink (treatment), and the group that ingested the non -caffeinated beverage (control). Therefore, since (P>0.05) the null hypothesis (HO) was accepted, and the alternative hypothesis (HA) was rejected. Prior research revealed that caffeine had no significant effect on the ventilator responsiveness or exercise ventilation on exercise -induced subjects following the administration of a moderate dose of caffeine (8mg per kilogram of body weight). Any modest increase in breathing rate was attributed to caffeines secondary effect on the Central Nervous System, rather than a direct effect on the respiratory system (Chapman R Stager JM, Caffeine stimulates ventilation in athletes with exercise-induced hypoxemia, 2008). However, other studies have suggested that caffeine acted in the manner of a ventilator stimulant and increased the breathing rate of individuals (Chapman R Mickleborough TD, 2009). Similar studies found that caffeine increased the mean change in pulse rate by 6 beats/min an hour after ingesting caffeinated coffee (350mL, 140mg of Caffeine). This revealed that while caffeine may affect the heart rate, its relative impact had no significant effect (Kennedy MD et al., 2008). Further research concluded that regular consumption of coffee could not increase the heart rate and blood pressure; unless consumed chronically and excessively (Ratliff-Crain J et al., 1989). The experimental data revealed that naturally there were a large range of values, beginning from as low as {3 BPM, 1 BRPM} and peaking to {110 BPM, and to 62 BRPM} respectively. The issue with having such a large range was that it masked any significance to the mean. The extreme data points would distort the mean value, even if caffeine had proven to have a significant effect. Thus, its effect would not be reflected in the results. Whilst increasing the sample size and repeating the experiment a number of times would improve the reliability of the experiment, it would do little to increase the precision of results. This is due to the presence of natural variation. Different people have differing athletic ability, sensitivity to caffeine, or gender differences, which the sample sizes (n=140 and n=75), did not account for. The failure to take account for the nature of the sample sizes greatly reduced the power of the experiment. Research suggests that males and females may actually hav e distinct responses (Kennedy MD et al., 2008), and so must be accounted for separately. This could be improved by separating the caffeinated and non- caffeinated groups into gender types, and perhaps only observing its effect on athletes (Chapman R Stager JM, Caffeine stimulates ventilation in athletes with exercise-induced hypoxemia, 2008). The amount of coffee may have been too small experimentally to produce a noticeable effect. Switching the dose to a full cup of coffee could enhance the effects of caffeine (Kennedy MD et al., 2008), or perhaps the length of time between ingestion and exercise was too short. Increasing the period from 1 hour to 2 hours could give caffeine more time to produce its effects (Kennedy MD et al., 2008). The accuracy of the results could have been improved by using more sophisticated counting methods to measure heart rate like using a digital pulse readout (i.e. an ECG), or percentage arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation to measure ventilation, which would produce more accurate results (Chapman R Stager JM, Caffeine stimulates ventilation in athletes with exercise-induced hypoxemia, 2008). The implication of this study is particularly important in the issue of caffeine bans from the International Olympic Committee, and whether or not it provides legal ergogenic advantage to athletes in short distance running or other aerobic activities. The rules governing caffeine ingestion prior to exercise may be revised if caffeine is proven to have substantially enhanced the athletes pulmonary capabilities (Spriet LL, 1995). Other future studies of caffeine include developing prophylactics for asthma (from its anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator properties). Randomised clinical trials have already confirmed improvements in lung function after using caffeine. This could produce new front line drugs to treat asthma (Welsh EJ, 2010). In conclusion, the caffeinated and non caffeinated groups showed a slight mean difference of 1.1 BPM and 1 BRPM, but statistically, there were no significant change in the mean heart rate or the mean breathing rate, which means the null hypothesis was accepted (P>0.05), and the effects of caffeine was not proven conclusive on either. References: Addicott MA, Laurienti PJ. (2009). A comparison of the effects of caffeine following abstinence and normal caffeine use. Psychopharmacology , 207 (3), 423-31. Chapman R, Mickleborough TD. (2009). The effects of caffeine on ventilation and pulmonary function during exercise: an often-overlooked response. Phys Sportsmed. , 37 (4), 97-103. Chapman RF, Stager JM. (2008). Caffeine stimulates ventilation in athletes with exercise-induced hypoxemia. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise , 40 (6), 1080-6. Graham TE, Hibbert P, Sathasivam P. (1998). Metabolic and exercise endurance effects of coffee and caffeine ingestion. Journal of Applied Physiology , 85 (3), 883-9. Kennedy MD, Galloway AV, Dickau LJ, Hudson MK. (2008). The cumulative effect of coffee and a mental stress task on heart rate, blood pressure, and mental alertness is similar in caffeine-naÃÆ'Â ¯ve and caffeine-habituated females. Nutrition Research. , 28 (9), 609-614. Ratliff-Crain J, OKeeffe MK, Baum A. (1989). Cardiovascular reactivity, mood, and task performance in deprived and nondeprived coffee drinkers. Health Psychol. 1989 , 8 (4), 427-427. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney. (2010). Human Biology: Unit of Study Manual for Students. Spriet LL. (1995). Caffeine and Performance. International Journal of Sport Nutrition. , S84-99. Welsh EJ, Bara A, Barley E, Cates CJ.(2010). Caffeine for asthma. Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews. 1(1): CD001112.

Essay --

The American College of Sports Medicine’s fitness trend survey for 2011 consisted of information from the health and fitness industry as well as the opinions of professionals who currently worked in the field. The survey encouraged its respondents to make the important distinction between a â€Å"fad† and a â€Å"trend† (Thompson, 2010). This survey consists of trends rather than fads a trend is a long term change in the way people behave. A fad on the other hand is a short term fashion that is taken up with strong feeling of active interest but only for a brief period. Trying out new exercise techniques and fitness programs can encourage and motivate people to engage in physical activity. The ACSM conducted its first fitness survey in 2006 for the predicted trends of 2007 this was the earliest effort in developing a systematic way to predict the future of the health and fitness industry (Thompson, 2010). There were three consecutive surveys conducted to identify fitness trends for the year 2008, 2009 and 2010. The surveys measured health and fitness trends in various sectors of the industry which consisted of commercial (for-profit), clinical (medical fitness), community (not-for-profit) and corporate sectors (Thompson, 2010). The 2011 survey consisted of 31 feasible trends which was six lesser than the previous 2010 survey. The number was fewer because the respondents complained about the length of the survey. The 31 items were designed using a Likert-type scale ranging from 1-10 the low score of 1 (less likely to be a trend) and 10 (most likely to be a trend) (Thompson, 2010). The initial step in this analysis was to gather all of the responses and place them in order from the most crowd-pleasing trend to the least popular trend. The r... ...ed due to cost. Programs that were considered costly such as Pilates and indoor cycling are no longer in the top 20. The results of the 2014 survey predicts that more people will be engaging in high-intensity interval training (HIT) this was the trend’s debut year. This was offered as a potential trend in previous surveys but never made it to the top 20. This trend is more appealing to consumers because it takes less time allowing people to engage in other daily responsibilities. Another cost-effective trend also making its debut in the survey is body weight training which uses very little equipment which helps to keep cost down. Consumers are also engaging in group personal training which consists of two or more people being trained by one person trainer in order save money. Based on these predictions the new trend for fitness consumers is to save time and money.

Do School Uniforms Really Serve a Purpose? Essay -- Education School U

In the past school uniforms have been a requirement for private schools only, however; the number of public schools requiring uniforms is growing rapidly (Brunsma). Every parent wants their child to feel safe while they are at school. This is just one of the many things that implementing school uniforms into public schools will do for students (Maxwell). School uniforms have also been proven to be a key asset in keeping gang colors and symbols out of schools (Maxwell). The requirement of uniforms has also led to a decrease in violence and theft due to expensive clothing and shoes, helped to instill a sense of discipline in students, a reduction in the number of distractions for students, and helped give the students a sense of community (Maxwell). Uniforms have also helped to blur the lines between rich and poor students, and helped to make it easier for school officials to identify individuals on campus that do not belong (Maxwell). Implementing school uniforms into today†™s public schools will help to reduce all of these problematic situations, and help the students to feel safe. One controversial point in the debate of school uniforms is the cost. Many are quick to say no to uniforms because they will cost too much for the parents. In response to this opposition, President Bush instated tax breaks for school supplies including uniforms (School Uniforms). Many states have also stepped in to help reduce the cost of uniforms to parents by offering additional deductions (School Uniforms). In addition, some school districts offer uniform vouchers to low-income families (School Uniforms). School districts have also been found to accept charitable donations from groups and individuals to help families purchase uniforms (Ma... ...reenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 28 November 2010. Huss, John A. â€Å"The Role of School Uniforms In Creating an Academically Motivating Climate: Do Uniforms Influence Teacher Expectations?.† Journal of Ethnographic & Qualitive Research 1. (2007): 31-39. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 November 2010. Dohrman, Margaret. â€Å"Uniforms Don’t Stifle Creativity.† St. Petersburg Times [St. Petersburg, FL] 1 October 2010: 12A. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 28 November 2010. Goodnough, Abby. â€Å"Crew Supports Having Pupils Wear Uniforms. â€Å"New York Times 9 March 1997, Late Edition (East Coast): New York Times, ProQuest. Web. 29 November 2010. Creech, Stephanie. â€Å"BOE Gets Lesson on School Uniforms.† Wilson Daily Times [Wilson, NC] 7 February 2009. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 28 November 2010.

Essay --

A more interesting topic of recent times is a new social reform known as Transcendentalism, a movement that is focused on thinking and making decisions based on intuition. Transcendentalists, people who follow the movement, are renowned for having a strong connection with life and nature. They think that humans in modern times rely too much on one another for advice and opinions. The idea of Transcendentalism is that by understanding lessons in nature, one can be closer to God both spiritually, and mentally (LibertyEnglish). According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, a prominent figure of this new movement, he writes, â€Å"Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?† (Age-of-the-Sage) Many people and religions have contributed to the growth of Transcendentalism over the past couple of decades. Fellow Transcendentalists view transcendentalism not as a religion, but a way of life (USh istory.org). Transcendentalism is said to have been influenced by Romanticism (Bingham 19), which originated in ...

Does Ghost Exist in Real Life?

Does ghost exist in real life? It has been a popular question been ask for few decades. Some people encounter the supernatural phenomena, some not. So there are people who believe and people who disbelieves. Therefore, here are some introduction of what ghost really is, where we can find their existence, how can we feel their presence and does science proof the existence of ghost.In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost (sometimes known as a spectre (British English) or specter (American English), phantom, apparition or spook) is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike visions. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism.The region that ghosts, demons, devils, and negative energies occupy or come from, varies depending on their spiritual power, capabilities and so on. Any being such as human being or subtle body that feels comfortable in their respective region because their frequencies correspond to that region. With increasing spiritual power, the ghosts become even more subtle and are found in progressively deeper negative regions. Thus ghosts who have the least spiritual power are found in the Nether region.The ghosts that exist in the deeper rungs of Hell are progressively more powerful and evil. There are few theories about ghosts. Many believe that non-reactive apparitions of people that seem to do the same things over and over are some form of energy-imprint on the environment. This type of ghost manifestation is known as a non-intelligent haunting or a residual haunting, and is called such due to the lack of interaction between the ghost and the living. This type of ghost is not dissimilar to a video playing over and over, ever seeming to repeat itself.Could these t ypes of ghosts have been produced by strong thoughts created by people while living, and continuing to exist within the atmosphere in some form or fashion? This theory concerning ghosts remains unproven. We ponder if it is also possible that this type of ghost is just trapped in time, unable to communicate or interact with the living due to severe emotional trauma – a self-created mental prison, if you will. Both ghost theories regarding non-reactive ghosts will have to be worked on in the future to see which has merit.Another type of ghost is called a poltergeist, which many believe to be the projected psychokinetic energy of a living person that creates movement of objects and various noises. Though the word â€Å"poltergeist† is German for â€Å"noisy ghost,† this type of phenomenon is not attributed to ghosts by those who have studied such accounts. It seems true poltergeist haunting activity is typically centred around a female adolescent in the home who is unwittingly producing the disturbance. The disturbance typically ceases over time, as the adolescent ages.A theory regarding ghosts centres around the previously described condition the earthbound spirits find themselves in. For these reasons, we believe many a haunting occurs, as ghosts are suffering and in need of assistance in easing the emotional pain. We believe that we are finding most ghostly activity, such as noises, dreams, visible appearances, various disturbance, communications, touching, and even attacks, can all be explained by coming to understand the desperate minds of pained, disembodied spirits. They are simply people in need of spirit rescue.Ghosts exist in a variety of places on Earth. They can create a centre for themselves in living and non-living objects. By centre we mean a place where they store their black energy. The centre acts as an entry point and a point of receiving or transmitting their black energy. Ghosts generally create a centre for themselves in people, trees, houses, electrical equipments etc. When they create a centre for themselves in people, it is to fulfil their desires such as eating, drinking, smoking, sex or to settle a give-and-take account.Since the ghosts are made up of the Absolute Air element, one cannot see them without subtle vision. When people repeatedly experience various forms of inexplicable distress, around a place, person or object, it is very likely that the place, person or object is affected or possessed by a ghost. Feelings of distress include feeling of apprehension, feeling a presence, feeling like one's entire energy is being sucked out or repeated mishaps happening in a certain place, without any apparent reason. The actual presence of the ghosts is however evident only to those with an activated sixth sense.The ghosts there cause distress to those who come in the vicinity or possess them, especially those who are vulnerable psychologically such as anxious and depressed or spiritually whereas people with low spiritual level are easy to get affected or possessed by ghosts. Nowadays, modern technology has rushed to the rescue by providing ghost hunters with myriad devices to capture the images, videos, and voices of ghosts. Unfortunately, tricksters and frauds have used the same technology to fool a number of people. No wonder that genuine evidence that ghosts exist is being dismissed as fraud material.People, especially those with a scientific or rational background, tend to dismiss any explanation that ghosts exist with disbelief and amusement. There are some scientific proof that ghost exist in the form of energy. The law of thermodynamics, if examined from a different angle, could prove that ghosts exist. Even if it cannot be taken as proof, it could give rise to a number of questions. If these questions are taken seriously and attempts made to find answers to them, we might very well come up with proof that ghosts exist. The law of thermodynamics is the most significa nt law among the gravitational laws.A careful study of it reveals the fact that science has already proved that ghosts do exist. According to this law â€Å"Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only change form. † Let us now analyze this law carefully. Energy never dies, according to this important law; instead, energy shifts from one form to the other. Accordingly, the energy that we are is not destroyed by death; it just changes form. Skeptics would say that our bodies would be decomposed by the action of the microorganisms, and this is how human energy would change form. But, what about the intelligence that gives us an identity?Just consider the amazing nature of our minds and bodies. Would all this just end up as being fodder for the microbes? Does this sound like a fair exchange? The more one questions, the more one feels that there is more to life than what meets the scientific eye. In conclusion, other theories regarding ghosts do exist, such as ghosts being simply the creation of the overactive mind, hallucinations, carbon monoxide poisoning, exposure to low frequencies, etc; but we are seeing too many pieces of the puzzle come together that cannot be explained away in total by the various, sceptically theories.We ask ourselves the age-old question, â€Å"Do ghosts exist? † But in the end, realistically it's impossible to say whether ghosts are real or not. It's all down to the beliefs of the person themselves. To me and my experience of Ghosts or Spirits is of that they do exist, because of some experiences I have had in the past. However to many others with no experience it may be seen as total rubbish.

Alternative education Essay

One of the world’s issues of today is on context of education. Many education conventions have been organized to discuss on matters relevant on the development of educational goals and programs. Education should be considered as one factor in the development of man as the most significant since it brings all breakthroughs in all walks of life. From the time of primitive education to the medieval period, education has been playing a great role in the lives of every citizen and the state in general. The very first task of educational contenders was and is to set educational development goals. The challenge of all educational institutions today is to produce a curriculum that will earn high productivity as in lifelong education. The institution should be more focused on creating opportunities where learners can exercise their abilities and potentials. There must be that sense of self-education in order for them to perform better jobs in the real world because their education is gained not only by mere transfer of learning but through applying their skills into the real life setting. Today, people are conscious of searching for breakthroughs be it scientific, cultural, or educational, in order to improve the quality of life. This is one goal in education that must be taken in to account from time to time because it is through this that improvements and developments take place. Along with these breakthroughs, rapid changes in the society’s way of life bring a lot of conflicts in the human life. By conflict, man faces several challenges that will test his true capacity and knowledge in resolving his own issues. That is, by inculcating in the learners the culture of being sensitive to the needs of the people and the nation brings a lot of pressure in our educational today. People are not trained to satisfy themselves but to see to it that the whole nation can benefit what one person is enjoying out of something. However, in the advent of various educational programs and projects, long term education program is still best to be implemented. This is in response to different curriculum reforms to attain quality delivery of instruction. The national government through the education department, has been looking for ways and means in order to help sustain these long term programs in order to provide a standard and suitable curriculum for every Filipino and attain progress in the academe. Moreover, the Department of Education has laid the three millennium development goals to help attain the Education for All by the year 2015. These goals include accessibility, quality, and sustainability. These goals will help improve the number of Filipino children to be in school and complete their education as prescribed by them of their age and as mandated by the constitution of which education is a right. These millennium development goals of the Education for All (EFA) enable schoolchildren to harness their faculties in improving their way of life and participate in the development process in educational reform and societal progress. According to the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, Russian Federation, education will become a social institute providing people with various educational opportunities. With this end in view school and university curricula should be diversified to enable everyone to make up their own educational trajectory in compliance with their aptitudes, thus creating the basis to implement the principle Education for all. Thus, in the Philippines various projects have been undertaken in order to qualify the implementation the Education for All. These projects include MADRASAH (for Moslem schoolchildren), Education for Indigenous Peoples, inclusion of values education in the curriculum, strengthening the higher order thinking skills type of questions in every learning area, the implementation of National Achievement Test (a standardized test), the participatory school improvement planning, the integration of information and communications technology in education (ICT4E), the decentralization of management including the downloading of maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) to specific schools, and the conduct of various trainings and national competency examinations. These are some of the approaches in order to carry out the implementation of Education for All. Nevertheless, Article XIV of the 1987 Philippine Constitution cited that the Department of Education as the only agency in the Philippine government, responsible for education and manpower development. It further stated that the state shall protect and promote the right of every citizen to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make education accessible to all. This is still in line with the context that education is a right and is for all. Whether a schoolchild is in the formal or non-formal education, what matters most is his assumption of his respective role in the society, the virtues he shall live with, and the use of his capabilities in attaining the long term goal in education that contributes to the total progress and development of the nation. At the end of the day we do realize that the search for an adequately structured educational system, is to secure our lives from the many challenges of the outside world at all sorts. Hence, education in the new society shall be within the context of national development and value formation in order to help build a nation other than ourselves. —oo0oo—

The Importance and Application of Principles of Management in the Present Day Context

The aim of all good modern organizations is to reconcile the organizational purpose (whether this be profit for shareholders, or cost-effective services delivery, in the case of public services) with the needs and feelings of people (staff, customers, suppliers, local communities, stakeholders, etc) with proper consideration for the planet – the world we live in (in terms of sustainability, environment, wildlife, natural resources, our heritage, ‘fair trade', other cultures and societies, etc) and at all times acting with probity – encompassing love, integrity, compassion, honesty, and truth.Probity enables the other potentially conflicting aims to be harmonized so that the mix is sustainable, ethical and successful. [pic] Traditional inward-looking management and leadership skills (which historically considered only the purpose – typically profit – and the methods for achieving it) are no longer sufficient for sustainable organizational success. Org anizations have a far wider agenda today. Management Management is the process of reaching organizational goals by working with people and other resources.Or knowing what you want people to do, and then getting them to do it the best way. Managers must concentrate on reaching organizational goals, and they should use their resources to accomplish those goals. For many years the management process has been divided into principles, sometimes called functions. Some sources will state that there are five principles and others will say there are four. Here we will use four: planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling. Some people use decision making as a fifth principle, but we will use decision making as part of the planning process.Also, some use leading instead of influencing, but we like the term influencing better. Management is a continuing process, and managers are always involved in some way with these principles. These principles are designed to help managers accomplish o rganizational objectives, and good managers will use them. These principles are not isolated but are interwoven throughout the manager’s thoughts and actions. Managers must combine and coordinate these principles and must maximize their value to achieve their goals.Managers strive to be effective and efficient and these principles help them. These management principles are universal and applicable to all types of businesses and organizations The basic ideas regarding scientific management developed. They include the following: †¢ Developing new standard methods for doing each job †¢ Selecting, training, and developing workers instead of allowing them to choose their own tasks and train themselves †¢ Developing a spirit of cooperation between workers and management to ensure that work is carried out in accordance with devised procedures Dividing work between workers and management in almost equal shares, with each group taking over the work for which it is best fitted Principles of Management The principles of management derive their significance from their utility. They provide useful insights to managerial behavior and influence managerial practices. Managers may apply these principles to fulfill their tasks and responsibilities. Principles guide managers in taking and implementing decisions. It may be appreciated that everything worthwhile is governed by an underlying principle.The quest of the management theorists has been and should be to unearth the underlying principles with a view to using these under repetitive circumstances as a matter of management habit. [pic] The significance of principles of management can be discussed in terms of the following points: †¢ Providing managers with useful insights into reality: The principles of management provide the managers with useful insights into real world situations. Adherence to these principles will add to their knowledge, ability and understanding of managerial situations and cir cumstances.It will also enable managers to learn from past mistakes and conserve time by solving recurring problems quickly. As such management principles increase managerial efficiency. For example, a manager can leave routine decision-making to his subordinates and deal with exceptional situations which require her/his expertise by following the principles of delegation. †¢ Optimum utilization of resources and effective administration: Resources both human and material available with the company are limited. They have to be put to optimum use.By optimum use we mean that the resources should be put to use in such a manner that they should give maximum benefit with minimum cost. Principles equip the managers to foresee the cause and effect relationships of their decisions and actions. As such the wastages associated with a trial-and-error approach can be overcome. Principles of management limit the boundary of managerial discretion so that their decisions may be free from perso nal prejudices and biases †¢ Scientific decisions: Decisions must be based on facts, thoughtful and justifiable in terms of the intended purposes.They must be timely, realistic and subject to measurement and evaluation. Management principles help in thoughtful decision-making. They emphasize logic rather than blind faith. Management decisions taken on the basis of principles are free from bias and prejudice. They are based on the objective assessment of the situation. †¢ Meeting changing environment requirements: Although the principles are in the nature of general guidelines but they are modified and as such help managers to meet changing requirements of the environment.You have already studied that management principles are flexible to adapt to dynamic business environment. For example, management principles emphasize division of work and specialization. In modern times this principle has been extended to the entire business whereby companies are specializing in their co re competency and divesting non-core businesses. In this context, one may cite the decision of Hindustan Lever Limited in divesting non-core businesses of chemicals and seeds. Some companies are outsourcing their non-core activities like share-transfer management and advertising to outside agencies.So much so, that even core processes such as R&D, manufacturing and marketing are being outsourced today. †¢ Fulfilling social responsibility: The increased awareness of the public, forces businesses especially limited companies to fulfill their social responsibilities. Management theory and management principles have also evolved in response to these demands. Moreover, the interpretation of the principles also assumes newer and contemporary meanings with the change in time. So, if one were to talk of ‘equity’ today, it does not apply to wages alone.Value to the customer, care for the environment, and dealings with business associates would all come under the purview of this principle. †¢ Management training, education and research: Principles of management are at the core of management theory. As such these are used as a basis for management training, education and research. You must be aware that entrance to management institutes is preceded by management aptitude tests. Do you think that these tests could have been developed without an understanding of management principles and how they may be applied in different situations?These principles provide basic groundwork for the development of management as a discipline. Principles of Scientific Management In the earlier days of the Industrial Revolution, in the absence of an established theory of factory organization, factory owners or managers relied on personal judgment in attending to the problems they confronted in the course of managing their work. This is what is referred to as ‘rule of thumb’. Managing factories by rule of thumb enabled them to handle the situations as they arose but suffered from the limitation of a trial and error approach.For their experiences to be emulated, it was important to know what works and why does it work. For this, there was a need to follow an approach that was based on the method of science- Defining a problem, developing alternative solutions, anticipating consequences, measuring progress and drawing conclusions The Main principles of management applied today are: †¢ Division of Work: Work is divided into small tasks/jobs. A trained specialist who is competent is required to perform each job. Thus, division of work leads to specialization. Specialization produces more and better work with the same effort. Authority and responsibility: Authority is the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience. A manager has official authority because of her position, as well as personal authority based on individual personality, intelligence, and experience. Authority creates responsibility. †¢ Discipline: Discipl ine is the obedience to organizational rules and employment agreement which are necessary for the working of the organization. According to Fayol, discipline requires good superiors at all levels, clear and fair agreements and judicious application of penalties. Unity of Command: An employee should receive orders from only one superior. †¢ Unity of Direction: Organizational activities must have one central authority and one plan of action. †¢ Subordination of Individual Interest to General Interest: The interests of one employee or group of employees are subordinate to the interests and goals of the organization. †¢ Remuneration of personnel: Salaries – the price of services rendered by employees – should be fair and provide satisfaction both to the employee and employer. Centralization and Decentralization: The concentration of decision-making authority is called centralization whereas its dispersal among more than one person is known as decentralizatio n. The objective of centralization is the best utilization of personnel. The degree of centralization varies according to the dynamics of each organization. †¢ Scalar Chain: An organization consists of superiors and subordinates. The formal lines of authority from highest to lowest ranks are known as scalar chain. †¢ Order: Organizational order for materials and personnel is essential.The right materials and the right employees are necessary for each organizational function and activity. †¢ Equity: In organizations, equity is a combination of kindliness and justice. Both equity and equality of treatment should be considered when dealing with employees. †¢ Stability of tenure of personnel: To attain the maximum productivity of personnel, a stable work force is needed. †¢ Initiative: Thinking out a plan and ensuring its success is an extremely strong motivator. Zeal, energy, and initiative are desired at all levels of the organizational ladder. Esprit de corps : Teamwork is fundamentally important to an organization. Work teams and extensive face-to-face verbal communication encourages teamwork. Change management is a basic skill in which most leaders and managers need to be competent. When leaders or managers are planning to manage change, there are five key principles that need to be kept in mind: †¢ Different people react differently to change †¢ Everyone has fundamental needs that have to be met †¢ Change often involves a loss, and people go through the â€Å"loss curve† †¢ Expectations need to be managed realistically †¢ Fears have to be dealt withHow to apply the above principles when managing change: †¢ Give people choices to make, and be honest about the possible consequences of those choices. †¢ Where it is possible to do so, give individuals opportunity to express their concerns and provide reassurances – also to help assuage potential fears. †¢ Give people information â€⠀œ be open and honest about the facts, but don't give overoptimistic speculation. †¢ For large groups, produce a communication strategy that ensures information is disseminated efficiently and comprehensively to everyone (don't let the grapevine take over). Keep observing good management practice, such as making time for informal discussion and feedback (even though the pressure might seem that it is reasonable to let such things slip – during difficult change such practices are even more important). †¢ Give people time, to express their views, and support their decision making, providing coaching, counseling or information as appropriate, to help them through the loss curve. †¢ Where the change involves a loss, identifies what will or might replace that loss – loss is easier to cope with if there is something to replace it. This will help assuage potential fears.

An Effective Manager of Home Depot Essay

According to Robbins and Coulter (2005), effective managers all over the world acknowledge the role that strategic management plays in their organization’s performance. Moreover, Drucker (2004) said that the gauge of an effective manager or executive is the ability to get the right things done. This typically entails doing what other individuals have ignored in addition to avoiding what is unproductive. Imagination, intelligence, and knowledge might all be wasted in an executive job without the attained habits of mind that form them into results. I believe that Bob Nardelli is exhibiting these characteristics and management style of an effective manager as he leads Home Depot to become continually successful in its operations. As he triumphed over various problems in managing the company and a s a result oh his managerial strategy, Home Depot is now has now increased sales by 60 percent and earnings per share by 105 percent (Business Week Online, 2006). During his first day as CEO at Home Depot in the year 2000, the company has various problems to deal with, some of which, were as follows: it lacked the necessary infrastructure to send even a companywide electronic mail, Home Depot stores were already run-down and was being known as a store with poor customer service, the stores’ shipments were logged using pencil and clipboard, and Home Depot stores did not have automated inventory systems (Sellers, 2001). Being a visionary leader that he is, Nardelli believed that better processes must lead to better quality ad higher profits for Home Depot. He employed strategic management in planning to improve the company. As asserted by Robbins and Coulter (2005), the prevailing belief in management theory and society on the whole is that managers are completely responsible or accountable for an organization’s success or failure. However, Nardelli demonstrated that aside from the fact that much of an organization’s success or failure is because of external forces outside of the manager’s control, the manager has a big responsibility in making decisions for the success of the organization. A major component of Nardelli’s far-reaching move to reform Home Depot, which is considered to be the world’s third-largest retailer, into a more centralized company, include importing people, ideas, and platitudes from the military (Business Week Online, 2006). This might be an unwelcome concept in management circles; however, Nardelli couldn’t care less. He believes that it is a vital aspect of his strategy to lead in a cumbersome 2,048-store chain and get ready for its next leg of growth (Business Week Online, 2006). In an uncertain and dynamic environment, real world organizations employ strategic decision-making when making decisions offers managers with a comprehensive and systematic means for taking into consideration the external environment, concentrating on an organization’s strength, reducing weaknesses, and recognizing opportunities in which an organization can have a competitive edge (Shafritz & Hyde, 2004). As maintained by Holstein (2004), the Nardelli decision-making model might help create a pattern for other CEOs who have been extremely frustrated and disillusioned by their lack of success in harnessing technology. In transforming Home Depot to what it is now, Nardelli increased information technology spending by almost 20 percent (Sellers, 2001). Then in year 2003 Nardelli spent a total of $400 million on inventory shipping and tracking systems (Sellers, 2001). Aside from these, Nardelli also spent around $250 million refurbishing Home Depot stores (Pellet, 2001). This included the installation of self-checkout systems in 800 stores to lessen customer lines and ease up salespeople. This also included the establishment of two-way cordless scanners, which enabled products to be price-scanned in the shopping cart, in this manner shortening lines. Being an effective manager, he also paid attention to motivating the organization’s workers. Armstrong (2002) said that in providing rewards to employees, supervisors and managers should identify what rewards will succeed for specific employees at any given time. Even though supervisors and managers might not be able to have power over certain rewards like benefits or wages, they have the liberty to give out rewards like recognition and praise. In Home Depot, Nardelli instituted innovations in providing rewards and in human resource management. First, he substituted 157 different employee evaluation forms with two (Pellet, 2001). In addition, coworkers, above and beneath them, rated aalaried personnel from the CEO down and salaries were derived from the scores. Then during a period when Home Depot was planning to hire approximately 100,000 new employees, Nardelli did not automatically fire those employees with poor scores (Pellet, 2001). Nardelli first requested for the advice of others and informed underperformers precisely what they were doing wrong. This way, Nardelli showed that it is important for a manager to vigorously seek opposing opinions and inquire regarding the basis for those opinions before selecting a course of action is being stressed, instead of acting on the basis of tacit or pre-arranged agreement. Necessarily, this needs constantly listening with real curiosity so as to promote development of different opinions and supporting rationales, instead of merely setting forth suggestions and working to make agreement around them (Drucker, 2004). Furthermore, Nardelli seemed to follow step two in Peter Drucker’s model (204) that executives require both themselves and their staff or subordinates what they contribute presently to the organization and what they could contribute to the organization in the future. In Home Depot, Nardelli asserted that in spite of whether a person’s belief of what he/she now contributes, or could contribute, equals his/her manager’s belief, emphasizing and bringing out the importance of everybody’s role as a contributor is necessary to the organization’s general effectiveness. In initiating change in Home Depot, Nardelli showed that everybody in the organization makes decisions; nevertheless, decision-making is specifically vital in a manager’s job. I think that he followed what Robbins and Coulter (2005) said that decision-making is part of all four managerial functions – planning, organizing, leading, controlling, and that decision-making is synonymous with managing. Holstein (2004) has written that when Nardelli joined Home Depot, the challenge of improving the company’s supply chain and logistics became apparent because the company is way behind other stores in these areas. Hence, he established a model called â€Å"full truckload to the store,† which means that the more you brought, the more it would oblige you to sell, since you get kind of jammed (Holstein, 2004). In terms of information technology, at Home Depot, Nardelli has established a system of checks and balances (Sellers, 2001). The manner is which Nardelli is managing the technological transformation is attracting attention and interest from other executives and managers. Sellers (2001) said that Nardelli has borrowed from the CE playbook to establish a system of checks and balances on how technology is managed, and Nardelli has likewise incorporated technology decisions deeply into his business strategy in runring and managing Home Depot. Furthermore, Nardelli likewise employed building deeper relationships with fewer vendors. As stated earlier, the Nardelli decision-making model might possibly help create a pattern for other CEOs who have been exceedingly frustrated and disillusioned by their lack of success in utilizing technology. In conclusion, in transforming Home Depot to become the earning company that it is now, I believe that Nardelli demonstrated that leadership is the capability to influence people or groups toward the accomplishment of goals. As a process, Nardelli showed that leadership forms the goals of an organization or group, inspires behavior toward the attainment of those goals, and helps characterize organizational or group culture; hence, it is fundamentally a process of influence. # References Armstrong, M. (2002). Employee Reward (3rd Edition), CIPD: London. Drucker, Peter. â€Å"What Makes an Effective Executive,† Harvard Business Review, Vol. 82, No. 6, June 2004. Holstein, W. (2004). â€Å"The Depot goes digital: how CEO Bob Nardelli is managing a $2 billion technology transformation,† The Chief Executive. Pellet, J. (2001). â€Å"Mr. Fix-It Steps In,† Chief Executive. â€Å"Renovating Home Depot. † (2006). Business Week Online. Robbins, S. , & M. Coulter. (2005). Management, (8th ed. ). Prentice Hall. Sellers, P. (2001). â€Å"Exit the Builder, Enter the Repairman: Home Depot’s Arthur Blank Is Out. New CEO Bob Nardelli Is In. His Job: To Tackle the Company’s Renovation after Two Decades of Nonstop Expansion,† Fortune. Shafritz, J. M. & A. Hyde. (2004). Classics of Public Administration, 5th ed. Belmont , CA : Wadsworth/Thompson

The solutions to the body and mind problem Essay

The solutions to the body and mind problem - Essay Example The solutions to the body and mind problem The problem of the body and the mind is description of the different opinions of different scholars on the level of interactions between the body and their collective and individual roles in the development of an individual. How exactly could the mind initiate an interaction with some parts of the body that results into movements and actions like asking questions in class? How exactly could individual sensation in other parts of the body stimulate the mind while their natures were identical and different based on Descartes’ dualism? Different philosophers have made different desperate attempts and sociologists to solve the body and mind problem and this paper will discuss the various attempts that have been made so far and how they attempted to give a conclusive answer to these questions (Taylor 33). Descartes believed that the body and the mind were two independent faculties and only one substance existed which was united and that was god. The existence of finite substance therefore depended on the mercies of God to exist and to function well. The mind is however nonphysical occupies no space and is only manifested by the behaviors of the individual who owns it. The body also has a three-dimensional view making it possible to divide into three symmetrical parts, which are the mind, does not occupy any space and lacks a basis for division.The concept of dualism as advanced by Descartes however have a number of problems as its notion that the mind is non-physical and immaterial makes the notion of zombies and mutants immaterial.

Education Should be privatized as it is a privilege not a right Essay

Education Should be privatized as it is a privilege not a right - Essay Example Firstly, private schools offer quality and good education that meets the students’ needs in the society. Unlike public schools, private schools have developed a personal approach to learning. Through this approach, learners have many benefits in linking education demands and the job market skills. Meryzn & Ursprung (2005) note that the United States public schools have been an example of the economics of education because of poor quality that do not match the financial allocation by the government. The quality of education can be seen in three approaches. One is quality, this is education that is a personalized, economical and able ensures the needs of students. It is an education system that can make sense in objectives and the societal demands. In order to achieve these good goals of education, some scholars have said that privatization of education is a good step that will make good purpose of education. Brown (2013) Education should not be seen as a right, today there are many great business persons and known sportsmen who have made an immense contribution to the economy without necessarily going to schools (Davidsona 2010). According to National Center for Education Statistics Report 2010 it identified many stidents in public schools as a big problem for the quality of education (Espiona & Gonzalez 2013). The report said that, private schools have half of the public school population. Schools and classes are smaller in the private institution leading to personal teaching that touches the classroom activities. The teacher-student ratio is more favorable, mostly they have a numbers of 1:9 that allows economic value of the parents money. Many public both primary and secondary schools have a ratio of 1:19, meaning there is an acute shortage, and the quality of education is quite low (Brown 2013). Public schools continue to have a big number of students that do not learn due to the big numbers as compared to the teachers. These

What are the Similarities and Differences Between a Racial Group and Essay

What are the Similarities and Differences Between a Racial Group and an Ethnic Group - Essay Example The only conspicuous differences that appear to the naked eye are due to the differences between males and females. Broadly speaking, the entire animal kingdom is very homogenous. Biologists who refute the claim that races are based on morphological features claim that the assumption that human races are based on anatomical traits is false. They claim that anatomical traits do not cluster distinct groups of people. It is further explained that some human races appear the way they do because of the natural environment surrounding them. for instance, in areas near the tropical latitudes, there are people with darker skin color to protect them from sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. Thus, the dark brown skin color is primarily found amongst the Africans and the Indian subcontinent. However, the popularly held belief is otherwise. As it, goes-Racial groups are thus based on the biological classification of people. This classification could be according to human features, skin co lor or other morphological features. One is automatically classified by virtue of external forces into a racial group. One does not have any control over the racial group that becomes one’s identity. Racial groupings and concept of race have been a very controversial topic because of its ability to influence the social hierarchy of the society. Ethnicity on the other hand also incorporates the social characteristics of an individual within the society that he lives in. Some of the social characteristics that are a premise of ethnic classification include one’s language, culture, religion, tradition, tribe, and nationality. The race is externally assigned by the people around us. However, ethnicity is not externally assigned to other people. Ethnicity is the onus of an individual; however, he wants to go about it. It is apparently a conglomeration of humans who have similar cultural characters and follow the same religious faith.

Dell Business Problem Solution Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Dell Business Problem Solution - Case Study Example The hypothesis will be tested by running the regression in equation 1 and then testing for the significance of the value of . This value will be tested by stating a significance level of .05. In other words we want to be 95% confident that rejecting the null hypothesis will not result into a type 1 error. Dell has had Top Market Share Between the fourth quarter of 2003 and the 3rd quarter of 2006. (Dell Inc., 2007). In the fourth quarter of 2006, Dell witnessed a negative year on year growth as its worldwide market share in terms of units shipped dropped from by 8.7% from the fourth quarter of 2005, from 16.4% to 13.9%. (Bangeman, 2007). Hewlett Packard, one of Dell's main rivals in the PC industry witnessed a worldwide growth in market share during the fourth quarter of 2006 moving nearly 11.7million PCs - over 2.2million more than it did during the fourth quarter of 2005. HP also outperformed Dell in the US market moving closer to knocking off its market share perch in the US. (Bangeman, 2007). Dell is currently involved in a financial scandal and there are plans to restate its 2003 2004, 2005 and 2006 financial statements given that these statements do not reflect a true and fair view of the financial position of the company. This can seriously hamper its profits reported earlier. Dell is currently performing poorly as far as its customer services are concerned. In the U.S for example, a survey conducted last quarter confirms this. It currently parallels other PC vendors and it is currently behind Apple Computer Inc. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI), which is compiled by the University of Michigan by calling U.S residents to find out about their buying habit on many product categories Dell earned a score of 75 in 2004 down from a score of 79 in 2003. Apple earned score of 81 as opposed to an industry average of 74. (Krazit , 2005). Survey respondents complained mostly about the quality of Dell's customer service, not its products Although the ACSI doesn't ask specific questions about the type of problems customers are having with a company, but customers were clearly more frustrated with Dell than they were in 2004. (Krazit , 2005). A few recurring complaints were the length of time on hold with Dell customer service representative s, as well as the quality of the help customers eventually received. Overall customer satisfaction with the PC industry remains well below the scores