Systems Analysis & Design Methods Research Paper

Systems Analysis & Design Methods - Research Paper Example The paper tells that strategic processes of an organization are its key concern. Systems Analysts and Project Managers are the integral individuals that perform inevitable tasks in the systems development processes of an organization. A specialized systems analyst possesses the following skills: Analytical Skills: 1. Functional insight The analytical skills possessed by a system analyst give him the insight to understand the different functions being performed within an organization. Furthermore it assists the identification of opportunities and problems. This insight further helps in the analysis and solving of problems. 2. Systems thinking One of the most important skills that system analysts possess is systems thinking. Systems’ thinking is the ability to see the organization as a whole system. To see how the different departments and information systems in an organization are in fact one combined whole system overall. Technical Skills: A systems Analyst possesses key technical skills for the betterment of the company. Possessing acute and up-to-date technical skills a systems analyst helps in understanding the limitations and potential of the implementation of information and communications technology within the systems of an organization. Management And Interpersonal Skills: A Systems Analyst is equipped with the latest and the most globally oriented managerial skills. These skills help in the management of projects, handling of resources, risk management and change. The interpersonal skills possessed by a systems analyst are helpful in his interaction with the end users of the system, other analysts of the system and system programmers. Figure 1Role of a System Analyst. Rational Software Corporation (2002) As shown in the figure above, a System Analyst performs the core task of coordinating among users and other professionals that are part of the backend of the system and are usually not directly in contact with the end users. Their role as an intermediary and facilitator, when performed with its true meanings, gives the organization what it actually needs: better means of coordination among stakeholders and system professionals and the ability to manage each task looking at each one of them as integral units of one major system. A person at the managerial position within the organization has a similarly integral role to play in the development of the system just like the system analyst. While a systems Analyst possesses substantial managerial skills, it is essential that the department of project management be assigned to individuals who may concentrate on this task only. The way in which a project manager plays

Case Study Module 8 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Module 8 - Case Study Example This clinic has sites in Minnesota, Florida, Scottsdale, Arizona, Rochester and Jacksonville (Hawn, 2011). The mission of Mayo Clinic is â€Å"to provide utmost care to every patient each day through built-in research, education and practice.† Collectively, all three locations of Mayo Clinic work together to treat more than half a million patients each year; Mayo, therefore, is supporting the most comprehensive research department so that it can apply its philosophy of â€Å"bringing bench to bedside† and it has developed Mayo College of Medicine to teach and prepare professionals of future medical field (Smith & Gronseth, 2011). In service industry, customers are most important stakeholders and it is vital for companies to provide top quality services to them (Schweikhart, 2009). In case of healthcare industry, each customer needs to be given individual attention and every medical requirement needs to be fulfilled so that everyone is provided utmost care and all mandatory medical services. As an important member of health care industry, Mayo Clinic has made sure that it enhances its service level by trying to improve its entire quality management system (Dudas, 2011). It is important that workforce of Mayo Clinic is provided a conducive work environment along with competent skill development options so that each patient is provided excellent quality services which helps them in recovery at a fast pace and assist them in living a normal and healthy life (Ramlall, Welch, Walter & Tomlinson, 2009). The main problems and issues faced by Mayo Clinic are: 1. Mayo Clinic has high demand for its services but it has inadequate capacity to meet all demands of customers; more than thousands of patients are turned down because of inadequate space for accommodating them. Whenever any organization faces any problem, it is more likely to have an impact on all of

The three stages of Change Management

The three stages of Change Management We live in the age of change. The implication of this statement, is not that changes only happen in our time, but, is that changes in the recent few decades have been comparatively more frequent and exert relatively major influences on every aspect of human life. In fact, changes command so much attention that, in recent years, the spotlight has been on how to manage change: Change Management. Change management, according to definition from BNET Business Dictionary (n.d.) is the coordination of a structured period of transition from situation A to situation B in order to achieve lasting change within an organization. Change management in the organizational context is the study of change, how to exercise change, how to cope with change and the necessity of change to ensure sustainability. Management of change is a complex subject of study; attention has to be paid in regards to the continuity of change, i.e. there are 2 types of change namely incremental change (minor change, adaptation, modification) and discontinuous change (revolutionary change, transformational change). Organizations experience consistent cycles of change in which periods of incremental change are punctuated by intervals of discontinuous change (Nadler and Tushman 1995, cited in Hayes 2002, p. 5). This cycle is referred to as punctuated equilibrium by Romanelli and Tushman in 1994 (cited in Hayes 2002, p. 5). Academics and scholars have, throughout time, developed various theories on change management. One of the famous thinker in the field of change management, Lewin (1951, cited in Campbell and Craig 2008, p. 512) introduced the force-field model which describes the state of change in an organization as the equilibrium between the force that push for change and the restraining force that struggles to keep the status quo unchanged. Additionally, Kotter (1995, cited in Huczynski and Buchanan 2007, p. 604) proposes 8 steps to organizational transformation: Establish a sense of urgency Form a guiding coalition Create a vision Communicate the vision Empower people to act on the vision Create short-term wins Consolidate improvements to produce further change Institutionalize new approaches Kurt Lewin in 1951 (cited in Kinicki and Kreitner 2008, p. 402) also introduced a 3-stage model for change. What are the 3 stages? Unfreezing: In a nutshell it means that to change, an organization first need to have the desire for change. Organization needs to be unhappy with the old behaviour. Changing: Moving to the desired state of change. Refreezing: Stabilize and normalize the changed state. Mentioned above are few of the theories that students studying Organizational Behaviour will find familiar. Kurt Lewins models for change remain largely applicable even in the 21st century as successful change always depends on striking a balance between change implementation and managing resistance to change. Besides, the 3-stage model correctly illustrated the process of change; the difference now being the increasing speed of the change cycle as organizational environment becomes more volatile. In my humble opinion however, Kotters 8-step model is an over-simplified interpretation of the process of change. The fundamental assumption that change happens in logical sequence and that managers are all rational beings are in themselves impractical as changes often involve unpredictable irregularities and managers do not always follow the book. Realistically, decisions made by managers are seldom rational. When organizations try to put into action change plans, it is almost always certain that the effort will be met with resistance. Resistance to change comes in one form or another. To borrow the words of Fronda and Moriceau (2008), there are 3 forms of resistance: revolt, withdrawal (alienation from work) and discreet resistance (low morale, low productivity and high absenteeism). On resistance towards change, we started off with a rather negative perception in the last paragraph. However, this is not necessarily so, resistance is detrimental only when it is not delicately handled, downplayed or ignored. Waddell and Sohal (1998) in their journal article titled Resistance: a constructive tool for change management states that resistance to change shows that it is nonsensical to assume right away that all change is beneficial; that it is human nature to doubt the outcome of change. Furthermore they argued that resistance to change ensures a balance between organizations desire for change and its practical need of stability and constancy (Waddell and Sohal 1998). The crucial question remained: How can management adopt the right strategy so as to be successful in change initiation? Many people have this huge misconception about the existence of the mythical best strategy for change. In my opinion, it is downright absurd to conclude that there is one best strategy to be used for all change initiatives; each organization is affected by its distinct external and internal factors when implementing change. After a routine of extensive reading, I found the contingency approach to change advocated by Dunphy and Stace (2001, cited in Huczynski and Buchanan, p. 603) most viable. The Dunphy-Stace contingency approach to change implementation The table content outlines the different strategies that managers can employ under different circumstances to implementing changes. Participative change management, despite being touted by a number of academics in the field of change management as the best solutions to change, does not always work. This is because participation and involvement in change process, from formulation to implementation, is extremely time-consuming, even more so when consensus fails to be reached. Thus when organizations are put under situations where the need for change is so critical that it is change or die, managers will be better off exercising decisiveness and dictatorial decision-making. Ideally, however, it is always best to involve employees in planning and carrying out change to minimize resistance and ensure cooperation. My view is echoed in the journal article by Stanleigh (2008) titled Effecting successful change management initiatives, in which he states 6 reasons why change initiatives fail: Not engaging all employees Managing change only at the executive level Telling people they have to change, were in a crisis Sending staffs on a change program and expecting change to occur Not honouring the past Not giving time for staffs to vent first and then change Not to be forgotten is the role of constructive conversation. Efforts to bring about change often fail because the change agent failed to listen. Jabri, Adrian and Boje (2008) in their article comment on change agents: [c]hange agents want to change the organization; indeed, they have been trained to change it. Change agents may even know what the organization needs. Many change agents have been trained to think about how to communicate the change in ways that people will accept it. That training reflects a caring for the audience, even as it limits the audiences participation. The audience is mere spectator to the change, rather than witness to it. In order to change successfully, an effective, two-way communication between managers and employees must be in place. Managers must learn to listen to the voices of the employees because the employees possess hands-on knowledge which might not be readily available to someone in managerial position. Conversation enables the contribution of every employee to be fully appreciated and integrated into the grand plan of change. Summing up my argument in the previous paragraphs, to be able to adopt a clearly defined strategy for the successful initiation of change, management needs to evaluate current situation, the necessity for change, and the urgency for the change. Management then needs to decide on a suitable approach based on the model proposed by Dexter Dunphy and Doug Stace (2001). Whenever possible, managers should maximize stakeholders participation in the change process. Moreover, from planning to implementation of change, managers should never overlook the importance of conversation. The management as the change agent needs to learn to listen. Throughout history we can see a large number of organizations that have made attempts to change. Some of these organizations succeeded; some, unfortunately, failed. By adopting the right strategies, we observe that organizations can manage their change successfully. One recent example is the effort by Dell Inc. to reduce the power consumption of its approximately 50000 computers during non-operational hours. In light of the increasing cost of energy, or more specifically, electricity, Dell Inc. has decided to put into action an overhaul of its power management. To formulate a company-wide power management plan, Jay Taylor, the senior engineer global strategist at Dell, brought together several departments at Dell, including product, facilities management, CTO and IT groups. These stakeholders all contributed their expertise in their respective fields to assist in the planning. By coordinating the skills of its employees in different fields, and pairing this effort with the latest tec hnology, Dell managed to come up with a very efficient power management plan which resulted in 40% reduction in computer-related energy cost, translating to US$ 1.8 million savings annually. The inspiring part of the whole initiative is that Dell managed to implement the power management plan and achieve cost-saving without hampering its day-to-day operation, thanks to its skillful handling of available expertise and effective co-ordinations between stakeholders from different fields. As a conclusion, change management plays an essential role in ensuring organizations survival. To achieve competitive advantage and sustainability in this turbulent period of economy, organization needs to be able to adapt to the external environment rapidly and routinely by constantly learning. It is therefore imperative for leaders and managers alike to have a thorough understanding of the nature, theories and practice of change management.

Essay --

Sam Borkin History 212 Vance Life of the Jazz Age Many things changed after the Civil War. Including industrialization, emergence of cities, and women and children also won more freedom than from before. First of all the city replaced the countryside as the focal point of American life in the 1920s. Population of America changed. It grew rapidly. The current census at the time revealed that more than half of America's population lived in cities and still continued to grow. Cities with a population of 250,000 people added nearly eight million people to their populations. New York City grew by 25%. Between 1920 and 1930 Detroit doubled their population as well. Metropolitan areas grew rapidly as whites and blacks poured in looking for job opportunities in the new consumer industry. The Skyscraper soon became the most visible feature of the city. Since faced with inflated land prices builders decided to build upward. No one knew that they would be developing an American icon for cities. In the metropolis life was different. The old community of home, church, and school were absent, but there were important gains to replace them. Some people became lost and lonely without the old institutions and many thrived on the new urban environment. Like I said the landscape and industrialization weren't the only major changes, but the family did as well. Before women and children didn't have as much freedom, but now in the new urban society freedom seemed to emerge. During the 1920s there was no permanent gain in the number of working women. 2 million more women were employed in 1930 than they were in 1920. Most women had low paying jobs ranging from stenographers to maids. In 1920 women had gained the right to vote, but t... ...f the twenties. By the end of the decade cars were basically necessities. For every road there was a one car for every five Americans. Due to the huge surge of dominance in the automobile business many businesses that were correlated with automobiles became very popular. These businesses or services were gas stations or motels. They were there to meet the needs of the drivers.7 All in all the Roaring Twenties was full of many different things. Some were bad some were good. Though some of the bad things are still around today the good things that happened in the twenties help shaped America to what it is today. The turmoil for many people had taught a lesson for the people of today’s era. This was especially so when talking about the Great Depression. You can be down in your luck, but just remember there are always positives to come with every negative.

Children can’t be disciples so they can’t be Christians either Essay

In this piece of coursework l am going to give reasons both for and against why children can’t be disciples, and so they can’t be Christians either. Many people don’t know what age children turn into adults. So when l am talking about children l will regard them as any age up until 16 years old.  I believe that in ‘baptism we are called’ and ‘by confirmation we are sent.’ When we are called to be baptised we are being called to join God’s family and to be a disciple, as we are asked to be a follower of God and his teachings. As children we start our journeys of faith at our baptisms, therefore we are learning about God and his teaching making us become disciples. We learn about moral behaviour, which will later influence us on our adult lives and also through reading and church. We can learn to be more confident and stand up to peer pressure and what we believe in.  But however other people agree that if you want to be a true disciple you must give up a lot (cost) and follow what Jesus told us to do. But you don’t have a lot to give up at such a young age in life. The church states that children reach the full age of reason at 7 years old and so it could be at that age that they could fully understand they’re beliefs for the church more clearly and maybe give up pocket money or sweets to follow to be a disciple. Children can’t do that as they can’t preach and teach as Jesus had asked his disciples to do. Instead children can pray, give to charity and learn about there Christian responsibilities. It shows that children do take care in their faith, by many saints that are disciples at a young age. There was Saint Bernadette; she was only 14 when Our Lady first appeared to her. And there was Saint thersa of Liseux she was 15 when she entered the convent and Jesus was only 12 when he began teaching in the temple. Although the saints were only children when they became disciples, they were not scared of their faith, and they believed in it.  In Mark 10:13-16 it shows Jesus telling the disciples to let the children come to him, not to stop them, as they belong to the kingdom of God. There are many things that we can do in school to be a good disciple such as: help with assemblies, charity work, Bible reading etc. Most people don’t want to do these things as children can become embarrassed about they’re faith, but in the end they feel good.  I disagree with the heading. I believe that anyone, even children can be disciples as long as they can commit themselves to God, through prayer, mass etc. I myself don’t attend church as much as l should. But l hope one-day l will. After all the ‘seeds of today are the flowers of tomorrow.’ As the seeds grow so does our faith.

Why I Decided to Go Back to School

Why I decided to return to school The Purpose of my essay is to give my readers some high in sight on a few different challenges in my life that helped motivate me upon my return to school. I am a single 45 year old divorced woman with six children. I needed a good paying job and a college education to be able to continue supporting my family. I am also the youngest child of four and the light of my mother’s eyes. I was once married to my children’s father for 20 years. My ex-husband was always the bread winner for our family, so I had no worries. He worked for the park district in the city where we lived.I was going to school full time and taking care of the children. My two oldest children are boys and they are grown men now 25 years old and the youngest son is 22 years old. They both are out on their own and the oldest son has two children. A boy and a girl, their names are Ryan Jr. and my granddaughters name is Savannah. All of my children are the light of my life, as well as my grandchildren. I was 25 years old when I got married to my ex-husband. We had been together 5 years prior to getting married. He was the light of my life, the sun in the morning to me, so to speak.I was a full time student and my husband at the time was a foreman. I went to college after I had graduated from high school. However, I dropped out of college because I met my now ex-husband and we moved out of town to New Orleans, LA. We lived there for about a year and I got pregnant and I had my first son down in New Orleans. I was so excited about our first son. Everything seemed to be going just fine. Then three years later I became pregnant again and this time it was my second child (son). Again, we were very excited for the birth of our second son. As happy as we both were, things seemed to be changing before my very eyes.As time passed, I would say after about five years, we decided to get married. After marrying, we decided to move back to Illinois so we could be cl oser to our families. At the time that seemed perfect, since we were having children and we were starting to need sitters and just the support from our families. So, we packed up the kids and moved back to Illinois. Once there, we got settled in and we began looking for jobs. We bought our first house and then we both got great jobs. I was a teacher assistant and my husband got on as a foreman at the park district. My mother babysat for us and everything seemed to be oming together as we had planned. We had been home in Illinois about six months and everything that was good began to turn bad. My great life was turning for the worse all before my eyes. My husband was starting to abuse me physically and he had also started cheating on me. Well, he had promised to never do it again and I wanted to believe him, not to mention I wanted to keep my family intact. I was brought up that family was everything, and a family that prays together stays together. My parents had been married 45 yea rs and it was just unheard of where I come from.Time had passed on (7 years to be exact) and things had gotten better for us and we talked about expanding our family some more and that is what we did. I became pregnant in 1997 with our first daughter, Maurice. I named her after her dad. Crazy, I know but I did it with no remorse at all. Then, a year later I was pregnant with our fourth daughter, Mauriah. Everything was back in full swing again, I and Maurice were happy as ever and we had our four children that we were blessed with. I was working full time and so was Maurice, so we really didn’t have a care in the world, so I thought.As time passed, Maurice had got a raise and a higher position at his job. All had been going well, and then I found out again I was pregnant with another girl. I was a bit surprised because the other children had pretty much been planned, but now we were on our fifth child and the raise my husband had received was now starting to leave with all of our children. It didn’t matter because we had fought bigger storms than that and managed to make it through. I loved my husband and what he wanted pretty much made sure that I complied with it. Our family was expanding and I was happy and I felt great about it.Then sure enough, two years later I had my sixth child. It was another girl and that was my true blessing, because I wasn’t ready for her and I had considered having an abortion. I asked Maurice to take me to get an abortion in St. Louis because I was so far along I had to go out of state to where they could meet my needs. We arrived at the clinic and I just couldn’t do it. I had prayed about it and I just could not go through with the abortion. I’m glad that I didn’t, she is just amazing to me. However, things were starting to change all over again for my husband and myself.Maurice was back to his old tricks of physically abusing me and cheating. I was home with the kids one day and one of his mistresses had come by our house looking for him. I was livid and mentally crushed after the lady had told me she was sleeping with my husband. When Maurice came home I told him what had happened and of course he wormed his way out of it again. I knew he was lying but I also had six kids and was working full time. I would have to be a millionaire to try to keep up the way I was accustomed to living. Not to mention I wanted to keep my family together.I was mentally sickened with all of the mental and physical things that I was being put through by the man I trusted with my life. I depended on him to be the best husband and father that he could be. However, he let me down. He then apologized for the millionth time and he got me back by telling me that I could quit my job and go back to school. That was my Maurice’s way of making up to me since he had cheated and abused me when I had been nothing but good to him. In the mist of me getting emotionally tied into more of the li es and deceit, I turned in my two week notice.Things seemed to be okay at least I was getting the opportunity to get my degree like I had always wanted to do. Maurice tricked me back into his good graces and all was well between the two of us. About a year later history began to repeat itself. I was going to a junior college in my hometown and I started hearing rumors again about my husband and I was a full time student and full time mother. I had tons of homework to do on top of my normal duties as a wife and mother. I was literally mentally exhausted from the rumors, homework, kids, no good husband and my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.I had hit rock bottom, I really didn’t think I was going to make it mentally. I was trying to be strong because I didn’t want my children to know that their father was up to his old tricks again, but all along I was the only one in denial. I had later found out that they knew anyway, just because it was a small town. My mother and father were my support system and I didn’t have anyone else I could depend on. Then shortly after my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, my father took ill and we found out he had cancer as well.I was going crazy, because we were such a close knit family. My father was in the last stages of cancer and he took chemo but it didn’t help. It was too far gone and it spread very fast and in a matter of months we lost my father. I was devastated and my mother was in chemo still and my husband was not there for me. I prayed about my situation and filed for divorce. I didn’t know what I was going to do for money and I had just lost my father also. I felt doomed and so alone. Before the divorce was final my husband made one last attempt to get me back.However, I was done so I refused to even consider taking him back. I had to think about my children and what message I was sending them. Finally, I divorced my husband and I had nowhere to turn. I thought about my children first and my mother second and right then and there I knew if I wanted to keep up with the life style I had been accustomed to then and now, I needed an education. I decided to work full time and go back to school and get my education. I made a promise to my kids, mother and self that I would get my degree in education if that was the last thing that I did.I want to be able to give my children everything that they need and I would like to be able to financially take care of my mother. My mother has been my anchor from day one and she never once complained. The least I can do is please her along with myself and get my degree. I am the baby of four and everyone has their degree except me, and my mother told me that would be gift enough to see her baby graduate from college. Then I knew I had no other choice, so I prayed about my final decision and here I stand. God saw fit for me to continue my education in spite of and he made a way out of no way.I had to hit rock bottom men tally and physically for me to get myself together. It was all worth it in the end, because I have a piece of mind and I am at peace with myself. I heard about Ashford from a friend in another state and I am now a full time student at Ashford University. I just hope that my misery can be someone else’s ministry, and to let the world know that if GOD can bring me through the storm he can bring anyone through it. Look at GOD, isn’t he awesome! And these are the few different reasons why I chose to go back to school.

How Honeybees Turn Nectar Into Honey

How Honeybees Turn Nectar Into Honey The sweet, viscous honey we take for granted as a sweetener or cooking ingredient is the product of industrious honeybees working as a highly organized colony, collecting flower nectar and converting it into a high-sugar food store. The production of honey by bees involves several chemical processes, including digestion, regurgitation, enzyme activity, and evaporation. Bees create honey as a highly efficient food source to sustain themselves year-round, including the dormant months of winter- human beings are just along for the ride. In the commercial honey-gathering  industry, the excess honey in the hive is what is harvested for packaging and sale, with enough honey left in the hive to sustain the bee population until it becomes active again the following spring.   The Honeybee Colony A honeybee colony generally consists of one queen bee- the only fertile female; a few thousand drone bees, which are fertile males; and tens of thousands of worker bees, which are sterile females.  In the production of honey, these worker bees take on specialized roles as  foragers  and  house bees. Gathering and Processing Flower Nectar The actual process of transforming the flower nectar into honey requires teamwork. First,  older forager  worker bees  fly out from the hive in search of nectar-rich flowers. Using its straw-like proboscis, a forager bee drinks the liquid nectar from a flower and stores it in a special organ called the honey stomach. The bee continues to forage until its honey stomach is full, visiting 50 to 100  flowers per trip from the hive. At the moment the nectars reach the honey stomach, enzymes begin to break down the complex sugars of the nectar into simpler sugars that are less prone to crystallization. This process is called inversion. Handing Off the Nectar With a full belly, the forager  bee heads back to the hive and regurgitates the already modified nectar directly to  a younger house bee. The house bee ingests the sugary offering from the forager bee, and its own enzymes further break down the sugars. Within the hive, house bees pass the nectar from individual to individual until the water content is reduced to about 20 percent. At this point, the last house bee regurgitates the fully inverted nectar into a cell of the honeycomb.   Next, the hive bees beat their wings furiously, fanning the nectar to evaporate its remaining water content; evaporation is also helped by the temperature inside a hive being a constant 93 to 95 F. As the water evaporates, the sugars thicken into a substance recognizable as honey. When an individual cell is full of honey, the house bee caps the beeswax cell, sealing the honey into the honeycomb for later consumption. The beeswax is produced by glands on the bees abdomen. Collecting Pollen While most foraging bees are dedicated to collecting nectar for the production of honey, about 15 to 30 percent of the foragers are collecting pollen on their flights out from the hive.  The pollen is used to make beebread, the bees main source of dietary protein. The pollen also provides bees with fats, vitamins, and minerals. To keep pollen from spoiling, the bees add enzymes and acids to it  from salivary gland secretions. How Much Honey Is Produced? A single worker bee lives only a few weeks and in that time produces only about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey.  But working cooperatively, a hives thousands of worker bees can produce more than  200 pounds of honey for the colony within a year. Of this amount, a beekeeper can harvest 30 to 60 pounds of honey without compromising the colonys ability to survive the winter.   The Food Value of Honey A tablespoon of honey contains 60 calories, 16 grams of sugar, and 17 grams of carbs. For humans, its a less bad sweetener than refined sugar, because honey contains antioxidants and enzymes. Honey can vary in color, flavor, and antioxidant level, depending on where it is produced because it can be made from so many different trees and flowers. For example, eucalyptus honey may seem to have a hint of menthol flavor. Honey made from nectar from fruit bushes may have more fruity undertones than honey  made from nectars of flowering plants. Honey produced and sold locally is often much more unique in taste than honey manufactured on a huge scale and appearing on grocery store shelves, because these widely distributed products are highly refined and pasteurized, and they may be blends of honey  from many different regions.   Honey can be purchased in several different forms. It is available as a traditional viscous liquid in glass or plastic bottles, or it can be purchased as slabs of honeycomb with honey still packed in the cells. You can also buy honey in granulated form or whipped or creamed to make it easier to spread.   Bee Species All honey consumed by people is produced by only seven different species of  honeybees. Other types of bees, and a few other insects, also make honey, but these types are not used for commercial production and human consumption. Bumblebees, for example, make a similar honey-like substance to store their nectar, but its not the sweet delicacy that honeybees make.  Neither is it made in the same quantity because, in  a bumblebee colony, only the queen hibernates for the winter. About Nectar   Honey is not possible at all without nectar from flowering plants. Nectar is a sweet, liquidy substance produced by glands within plant flowers. Nectar is an  evolutionary adaptation that attracts insects to the flowers by offering them nutrition. In return, the insects help fertilize the flowers by transmitting pollen particles clinging to their bodies from flower to flower during their foraging activities. In this synergetic relationship, both parties benefit: Bees and other insects gain food while simultaneously transmitting the pollen necessary to fertilization and seed production in the flowering plants. In its natural state, nectar contains about 80 percent  water, along with complex sugars. Left unattended, nectar eventually ferments and is useless as a food source for bees. It cannot be stored for any length of time by the insects. But by transforming the nectar into honey, the bees create an efficient and usable carbohydrate that is only 14 to 18 percent water and one that can be stored almost indefinitely without fermenting or spoiling. Pound for pound, honey provides bees with a much more concentrated energy source that can sustain them through cold winter months.

Writing Research Papers

Writing Research Papers Writing Research Papers Writing Research Papers: Steps to Walk Writing research paper is a rather complicated task as it demands a lot of efforts from students. However, it becomes much simpler to cope with the task if you are acquainted with the main steps you have to walk while writing research paper. In this article, we are going to make you acquainted with these steps of successful writing research paper. Step 1. Choose the proper topic for your writing. You see if you like the topic, you are dealing with in your writing research paper, you have enough enthusiasm and desire to complete it and you do not have to torture yourself while writing it, as writing is like an exciting adventure for you. Of course, if you do not like the topic of your writing research paper, you will have to make yourself writing it, and it will be rather boring for you to deal with the task. If a person does something without a proper desire it becomes too difficult for him or her to succeed in completing the task. Step 2 . Searching for information. The majority of professors advise their students to make use of primary sources for gathering information for writing research paper such as libraries and textbooks. Of course, when you have enough time this is the best way to get your information. However, if you have limited time, we recommend you to serf the Internet. You see by clicking different links you may find useful information much faster than reading through hundreds of pages of textbooks. That is why if you have compressed time for completing your writing research paper, we recommend you to gather your information with the help of the Internet. Appeal to some custom writing service in order to make your search of information fast and effective. Step 3. Make an outline for writing research paper. You see in order to structure all the information you have gathered it is recommended to spend your time for writing research paper outline. This outline helps students to concentrate upon th e main points of view in their writing research paper and not to forget any important idea he or she wants to present. That is why we consider writing research paper outline to be necessary step to walk. After you have walked all the steps, it is high time to start writing research paper. We wish you good luck with your work.

Brady Bill And Its Passage Essay Research

Brady Bill And Its Passage Essay, Research Paper Brady measure and its passageIntroductionThe legislative procedure in the United States Congress shows us an interesting play inwhich a measure becomes a jurisprudence through via medias made by diverse and sometimes conflictinginterests in this state. There have been many controversial measures passed by Congress, butamong all, I have taken a peculiar involvement in the transition of the Brady measure. When the Bradydebate was in full swing in Congress about three old ages ago, I was still back in my state, Japan, where the ownership of guns is purely restricted by Torahs. While watching televisionnews studies on the Brady argument, I wondered what was doing it so hard for this gun controlbill to go through in this gun force ridden state. In this paper, I will follow the measure # 8217 ; s seven yearhistory in Congress, which I hope will uncover how partizan political relations played a important function in theBrady measure # 8217 ; s transition in this policy doing subdivision. The Brady measure took its name from Jim Brady, the former imperativeness secretary of PresidentReagan, who was shot in the caput and partly paralyzed in the blackwash effort on thepresident in 1981. This measure was about a waiting period on pistol purchases leting constabulary tocheck the backgrounds of the prospective purchasers to do certain that guns are non sold toconvicted criminals or to those who are mentally unstable. Even the advocates of the measure agreedthat the consequence of the measure on controling the gun force might be minimum sing the fact that themajority of guns used for condemnable intents were purchased through illegal traders. However, the Brady Bill represented the first major gun control statute law passed by Congress for morethan 20 old ages, and it meant a important triumph for gun control advocates in their manner towardeven stricter gun control statute law in the hereafter. Gun Rights V. Gun ControlThe Brady measure, the Brady Handgun Violence Preventi on Act, was foremost introduced byEdward F. Feighan ( D-OH ) in the House of the100th Congress as HR975 on February 4,1987. The measure was referred to the Judiciary Committee, and the argument began. Throughout thedebate on the Brady measure, there was ever a clear partizan split ; most of the Democrats, exceptfor those from the Southern provinces, supported the measure while most of the Republicans were in theopposition. For illustration, when the foremost introduced Brady measure lost to an amendment by BillMcCollum ( R-FL ) for a survey of an instant cheque system ( 228-182 ) , most Republicans votedfor the McCollum amendment ( 127 for and 45 against ) while the bulk of the Democratsvoted against it ( 127 for and 137 against ) . The exclusion was the Southern Democrats most ofwhom joined the Republicans to vote for the amendment. This party division was non sosurprising, nevertheless, sing the immense run parts made by the main gun anteroom, the National Rifle Association ( NRA ) , directed largely to the Republicans, and the exclusion ofthe Southern Democrats could be explained by the gun right supportive nature of theirconstituents. In the 1992 election for illustration, this organisation made $ 1.7 million contributionto its sympathetic congressional campaigners and spent another $ 870,000 in independentexpenditures for congressional races.1 The influence the NRA exercised on the statute law wasenormous since the concluding measure passed in 1993 was a via media version reflecting some of theNRA-sought commissariats. I could state that it was because of this relentless anteroom that the Bradybill took every bit long as 7 old ages to go a law.On the other side, the advocators of the measure enjoyed a broad support from the populace aswell as from the Handgun Control Inc. , the main gun control anteroom led by Sarah Brady, the wifeof James Brady. The consistent public support for the measure from the debut through thepassage of the measure was manifested by many polls. One of the polls conducted by NBC Newsand Wall Street Journal on the passage of the measure said that 74 per centum of the 1,002respondents agreed that # 8220 ; the jurisprudence is good but more is needed. # 8221 ; 2 It is without inquiry that thispublic support played a important function in the eventual transition of the bill.The Brady measure passed the House in the 102nd CongressAfter about four old ages from its first debut to the Congress, the Brady measure wasreintroduced to the House in the 102nd Congress as HR 7 on January 3, 1991, sponsored by76 representatives including Feighan, William J Hughes ( D-NJ ) , and Charles Schumer ( D-NY ) .The measure was referred to the Judiciary Committee, and the hearings began in the JudiciarySubcommittee on Crime on March 21, 1991. As written, this measure required a weeklong waitingperiod on the pistol purchases. Schumer, the president every bit good as the head patron of the measure, explained before the Subcommittee that the Brady measure # 8220 ; has a really simple intent: to maintain lethalhandguns out of the custodies of people who shouldn # 8217 ; Ts have them.3 # 8243 ; Aside from the house supportfrom the populace, the measure besides gained the backup from the former president Reagan who, in atribute to James Brady, said that it is # 8220 ; merely kick common sense that there be a waiting period toallow local jurisprudence enforcement functionaries to carry on background cheques on those who wish to purchase ahandgun. # 8221 ; 4 This Reagan # 8217 ; s comment was important since he had long been a member of theNRA. On April 10, the Subcommittee approved to direct the measure to the Judiciary Committee bythe ballot of 9-4. The ballots were clearly divided along the party line with the exclusive exclusion ofF. James Sensenbrenner Jr. ( R-WI ) , one of the few GOP protagonists of the measure, who joined theDemocrats to vote for it. In the interim, the lobbying by both sides had inten sified. The NRAclaimed that the measure went against the rule of the Constitution, indicating out the SecondAmendment which says: # 8220 ; A good regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to maintain and bear Weaponries, shall non be infringed. # 8221 ; They argued that it wasnot the guns but the people who committed offenses, stating that tougher sentences for thecriminals would work better than the waiting period in cut downing offenses. On the other manus, James Brady was buttonholing intensely in his wheelchair supported by his-wife-led HandgunControl Inc. , which had an emotional entreaty to other members of Congress.In the Judiciary Committee, Harley O. Staggers Jr. ( D-WV ) , pushed by the NRA, proposed a replacement measure ( HR 1412 ) which would necessitate provinces to put up an instant checksystem so that gun traders could happen out instantly on a telephone call whether the purchaserhad a condemnable record without any delay. The Staggers # 8217 ; alternate, nevertheless, reminded many ofthe McCollum amendment that wrecked the Brady measure in 1988. With the recognition ofthe Attorney General, Dick Thornburgh, that the practical usage of such instant cheque systemwould be old ages away,5 the Staggers # 8217 ; replacement was rejected by the Committee by the ballot of11-23. The commission so proceeded to vote on the Brady measure ( HR 7 ) , O.K.ing it by the 23-11 ballot. On May 8, the Staggers # 8217 ; amendment was rejected once more ( 193-234 ) on the floor. TheHouse went on to O.K. the weeklong waiting period Brady measure by the ballot of 239-186, puting it on the Senate calendar on June 3. Argument in the SenateIn the Senate, the advocates of the Brady measure, including the Majority Leader George J. Mitchell ( D-ME ) , were working hard to maintain the Brady linguistic communication portion of the omnibus crimelegislation ( S-1241 ) which had already been passed by the House-Senate confe rencecommittee. Ted Stevens ( R-AK ) proposed an amendment to replace the waiting period with aninstant-check system. This amendment was really much similar to the Staggers # 8217 ; proposal made inthe House, guaranting that the possible purchasers who were eligible for the purchase would non haveto delay to purchase a gun. Stevens and other GOP oppositions argued that the waiting period wouldnot cut down the offense rate since it would non impact the bulk of felons who could purchaseguns illicitly while impacting the observant citizens # 8217 ; Second Amendment right to buy a gunfor athleticss and runing intents. In response to this statement, Mitchell and his other pro-BradyDemocrats maintained that developing a package for a national blink of an eye background checksystem would take old ages, and even if it was available, instant cheques would non work every bit adeterrent to hot-blooded offenses by those without condemnable records. Mitchell called the Stevens # 8217 ; progra m # 8220 ; a transparent attempt to extinguish the waiting period, # 8221 ; 6 stating that it was merely a pretense tothe populace to back gun command while really barricading it. On June 28, the Senate rejected the Stevens # 8217 ; amendment by the ballot of 44-54 with allbut nine Democrats, all from Southern or rural provinces, voting against it. The 54 ballots, nevertheless, were non plenty for the Brady advocators since they would necessitate 6 more ballots to halt a possibleGOP filibuster. On the other manus, filibustering was non the best solution for the GOPopponents neither, since in making so, they would hold to give the offense measure they wanted. Resulting from this state of affairs was a via media by Mitchell, Metzenbaum, and the GOPleader Bob Dole ( R-KS ) . In this via media, the length of the waiting period was changedfrom seven yearss to five concern yearss, and a new proviso was added which would stop thewaiting period in two and a half old ages upon the Attorne y General # 8217 ; s verification that the instantcheck system met certain criterions. However, it was the six ballots that determined the fateof the Brady measure in the 102nd Congress. The Senate failed to take concluding action before the terminal ofthe 1991 congressional session, and even with the transition in the House, the Brady measure still hadto wait two more old ages for its concluding transition. In the 103rd Congress ( House ) In 1993, the twelvemonth in which the Brady measure got enacted, there was a turning national tidefavoring stricter gun control. The Brady advocates were cheerful with an outlook that thelong-debated measure would eventually go through that twelvemonth. The rush in the public support was assuring ; aCNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll conducted during March 12 through 14 showed that 88 percentof their 1,007 respondents favored the bill.7 The gun control advocates besides had two significantvictories in two States ; in Virginia, a statute law was passed cur tailing pistol purchases to onegun purchase per month, and in New Jersey, the NRA and other gun rights advocates lost intheir attempt to revoke the province # 8217 ; s prohibition on selling assault rifles. Furthermore, the 103rd Congresshad a pro-Brady president. In contrast to Bush, a longtime NRA member, President Clintonopenly expressed his support for the measure ; in his address to Congress on February 17, he said: # 8220 ; Ifyou pass the Brady measure, I # 8217 ; ll certain mark it. # 8221 ; Confronting this countrywide pro-Brady tide, Even the NRAshowed a little alteration in its linguistic communication ; James Jay Baker, the top NRA lobbyist, said that hisorganization might be able to O.K. certain version of the bill.8 In this favourable ambiance, the Brady measure was introduced in the103rd Congress in theHouse as HR 1025 on February 22, 1993 by Schumer and 98 other cosponsors, referred to theJudiciary Committee. The president of the Committee, Jack Brooks ( D-TX ) ag reed to maintain thebill separate from his other overall offense statute law ( HR 3131 ) , promoting the Bradysupporters with a hope to go through the measure before the scheduled Thanksgiving dissolution. By thedirection of the Rules Committee, the House voted on the House Resolution 302, a ruleproviding for the floor consideration of the Brady measure, O.K.ing it by the ballot of 238-182. Aswritten, the measure provided for a five-day waiting period upon pistol purchases every bit good as theestablishment of a national instant felon background cheque system. The measure besides had aprovision necessitating that the waiting period stage out upon the Attorney General # 8217 ; s blessing of theviability of the countrywide instant cheque. The measure by so already represented a compromisebetween the Brady waiting period and the NRA blink of an eye check.On the floor, the GOP oppositions proposed a series of amendments. George W. Gekas ( R-PA ) offered an amendment stoping the waiting period after five old ages from its enforcementregardless of the viability of the replacement instant cheque system. Schumer argued that the Gekas # 8217 ; alleged sundown proviso was an unrealistic deadline, indicating out the changing condemnable recordkeeping of each States. However, Gekas and other advocates of the amendment insisted thatthe sundown proviso was necessary in order to coerce the Justice Department to set up the computing machine cheque system quickly. The Gekas # 8217 ; amendment prevailed on a 236-98 ballot. McCollum proposed an amendment which would revoke the bing State waitingperiods on the installment of the national blink of an eye cheque system. Some States had alreadyadopted waiting periods, and the Brady bill would not affect those states having a waiting periodof more than five days. McCollum claimed that his proposal would make the bill much fairerand more balanced, and assured that it would not affect other State gun laws such as Virginia’sone gun purchase per month legislation. However, meeting with strong opposition fromSchumer and others, this amendment preempting State laws was rejected 175-257. There wasanother amendment proposed by Jim Ramstad (R-MN) requiring the police to provide within 20days a reason for any denial of a handgun purchase. This amendment was accepted bySchumer, and was adopted easily by the vote of 431-2. The House proceeded to voted on the Brady bill on Nov. 10. Just before the vote, thechief sponsor Schumer encouraged other Representatives on the floor to vote for the bill, saying:†today’s votes gives the House of Representatives a real chance to stem the violence on our streets and calm the fear of our citizens.† The bill was passed by the House. It was the secondtime for the House to pass the Brady bill, and this time, the vote was 238-189. Passage in the SenateIn the Senate, the Brady bill was introduced as S 414 by Metzenbaum on February 24,1993, referred to the Judiciary Committee and placed on the calendar on March 3. The bill wasalmost identical to the Dole-Metzenbaum-Mitchell compromise approved by the Senate in June1991, requiring a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases which was to be removed oncean instant check system became operational. After a long negotiation, the Senate agreed to takeup the bill separately from the overall crime bill,9 which paved the way for the floor considerationof the bill on November 19. However, the threat of the unsatisfied GOP opponents to block the bill led to anagreement between the Majority Leader Mitchell and the Minority Leader Dole. Under thisagreement, the two leaders was to offer a substi tute, and the Senate would then vote on theHouse-passed version of the Brady bill (HR 1025) with the text of the substitute inserted in lieuthereof. The Mitchell-Dole substitute included two new provisions: the sunset provision and thepreemption provision, both of which had been sought by the NRA. The sunset provision wasidentical to the Gekas amendment passed by the House which would end the waiting period fiveyears, and the preemption provision was the same as the McCollum amendment rejected by theHouse. At the beginning of the debate on November 19, Mitchell made it clear that he hadagreed to cosponsor this bipartisan compromise as a procedural means to move the long-debated Brady bill through the Senate. The Majority Leader then declared that he would nowmove on to eliminate those two provisions with which he totally disagreed. The Mitchell-Doleagreement provided, however, that if either or both of those provisions were to be stricken, theRepublican opponents would then block th e bill, which meant that the Brady proponents wouldneed at least 60 votes to stop the GOP filibuster to pass the bill and send it to the House.Mitchell and his other Democratic proponents succeeded to pass an amendment striking thepreemption language of the Mitchell-Dole substitute on a vote of 54-45. The other amendmentproposed by Metzenbaum to strike the sunset provision, however, was defeated 43 -56. TheSenate then moved on to the consideration of the Mitchell-Dole substitute with one provisionthus amended. Throughout the debate, the proponents spoke fervently in support of the bill. EdwardM. Kennedy (D-MA) argued that it was time to take action against the epidemic of gun violencein the country, showing shocking statistics which demonstrated the increasing number of gun-related crimes and deaths. He claimed that the waiting period would not only curb the spread ofguns by keeping the lethal weapons out of the hands of convicted felons, but it would alsoreduce the crimes committed in the heat of the moment by providing a cooling off period. Senators whose States had already adopted waiting periods demonstrated with data that thewaiting period had already been proven to work in stopping a significant number of handgunpurchases by convicted felons. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) showed that her State’s 15-daywaiting period stopped 8,060 convicted felons, 1859 drug users, 827 people with mentalillnesses as well as 720 minors from purchasing a gun during January 1991 and September1993. The freshman Senator from California maintained that even though her State’s crime ratewas â€Å"unacceptably† high, it could have been much worse without the legislation. Dole and other GOP opponents, however, insisted that they would continue their effortsto thwart the passage of the bill unless the preemption language was included. Mitchell promptlyrejected the GOP demand, criticizing the double principles of those who, having once insistedthat they could not supp ort the Brady bill because it was the Federal Government telling theStates what to do, turned around and said that they now liked the preemption. Metzenbaumjoined in the argument against the GOP opponents, saying they were blocking the bill â€Å"becausethey were scared to death of the National Rifle Association,† and calling their demand for thepreemption provision â€Å"an effort to kill the bill.† Both sides did not yield, and with two cloturemotions having failed to quash the Republican-led filibuster, one in the afternoon (57-42) and theother at 11 o’clock at night (57-41), the Brady bill was thought by many dead again in theSenate. It was the dissatisfaction of a handful of Republicans with the outcome and their dread ofbeing blamed for killing this popular legislation that saved the life of the Brady bill. The followingday, the discontent of those Republicans who decided to cast a straight vote sent Dole to thenegotiating table again, where he was forced to settle down with a new compromise whichcarried no preemption language. It was actually identical to the one that he and other GOPopponents had filibustered the day before except for the change in the sunsetting period; thecompromise bill would end the waiting period four years after its enforcement, instead of fiveyears, with a possible extension for another year upon the Attorney General’s request. Consequently, by unanimous consent, the Senate agreed to vote on the House-passedversion of the Brady bill (HR 1025) with the text of the compromise inserted in lieu thereof, andalso to request a conference with the House to reconcile the differing versions of the Brady bill.The Brady bill (HR 1025) as amended was passed easily on a vote of 64 to 36, and sent backto the House with a request for a conference. Toward the passageOn November 22, the House agreed to the request of the Senate for a conference uponthe adoption of House Resolution 322 by the vote of 238-187. The confer ees were appointedby the Chairs of each chambers: Brooks, Hughes, Schumer, Sensenbrenner, and Gekas fromthe House and Joseph R. Biden. Jr. (D-DE), Kennedy, Metzenbaum, Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT),and Larry E. Craig (R-ID) from the Senate. Later, Senate Republicans replaced Hatch andCraig with Stevens and Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID). The outcome was a conference report whichpreserved the House 5-year sunset of the waiting period with no provisions for the AttorneyGeneral to replace it with the instant check system before then. Several Senate-passedprovisions had also been dropped: the provision expanding the definition of antique firearmsexempt from gun restrictions to include thousands of functioning World War era rifles, and theone allowing gun sales between dealers from different states. A new provision was added in thereport which would require that the police be notified of multiple purchases.Soon after the conference, the chief Senate negotiator Biden explained how they got tothe conferen ce report. According to his statement, at the beginning of the conference, Stevens,a member of the NRA board of directors, announced that the only acceptable outcome for theSenate Republican conferees, Kempthone and himself, would be the Senate-passed version ofthe Brady bill unchanged. The Senate bill had a provision ending the waiting period as early astwo years after the enforcement if the instant background check met certain standards. All ofthe House conferees including the House Republican conferees rejected that demand, which ledto the adoption of the conference report accepted by all the House conferees, Republicans andDemocrats alike, and the Senate Democratic conferees. Thus, the conference report was madewith Stevens and Kempthorne casting dissenting votes.The House approved the conference report (H. Rept. 103-412) easily on a vote of238-187. In the Senate, however, after the explanation on the conference report, Dole andother Republican opponents fired at Biden with accu sations that he and other DemocraticSenate conferees completely ignored the wishes of the Senate in the conference. Dole said, â€Å"Idon’t think that under these conditions, cloture will be invoked this year or next year.†10 Throughout the day November 23, the hostile atmosphere occupied the Senate floor asthe debate continued. Majority Leader Mitchell declared that he was determined to force theissue to another vote during the year even though it would mean the post-Thanksgiving sessionwhich nobody wanted. Later in the day, he presented two cloture motions for November 30and December 1.The breakdown of the impasse came the following day, November 24, when Doleagreed to accept the terms of the conference report under a compromise that he would submit aseparate bill with the Senate-passed provisions, which was to be considered and votedimmediately in January as soon as the Senate returned to business. Obviously, this solution wasprompted by the loathing of most senator s to come back from their respective States toWashington after Thanksgiving break as well as by the pro-Brady public pressure.Consequently, the Senate approved the conference report by unanimous consent. After seven years of debate, the Brady bill was finally passed by the 103rd Congress.President Clinton, as he had promised, signed the bill into law on November 30, and the Bradybill became Public Law 103-159. Beyond the passageThree years have passed since the passage of the Brady bill, but the fight of Jim andSarah Brady and other gun control advocates still continues for stricter gun control legislation. Inearly 1994, they succeeded in passing the assault weapons ban with the Brady momentum, butsince then the NRA has intensified its lobbying, declaring to repeal the gun control legislation. In1994 elections, for example, the NRA spent $3.2 million to get its supporters elected.11 The last1996 election was also a victory for the NRA in that many of its supporters got re-elected ev enthough their member Dole was defeated by Clinton in the Presidential race. Their most powerfulsupporter in the Congress is probably the House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), who oncewrote in his letter to the NRA chief lobbyist Tanya Metaksa: â€Å"As long as I am Speaker of thisHouse, no gun control legislation is going to move in committee or on the floor of this House.†12Even with the GOP majority in Congress, however, it is sure that NRA supporters will face amajor obstacle in the newly-reelected President Clinton, who has declared: â€Å"For all the thingsthat will be debated, you can mark my words, the Brady law and the assault weapons bill arehere to stay. They will not be repealed.13? Currently, the Supreme Court is hearing a lawsuit filed by NRA-backed gun controlopponents. They claim that the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act violates the 10thAmendment of the Constitution which protects state and local government from certain federalinterference. The NRA says i t wants to repeal the waiting period as well as the backgroundchecks,14 which reveals the organization’s true intention when it supported the backgroundchecks in its fight against the passage of the Brady bill. The battle between the NRA and theHandgun Control Inc. will continue with the NRA supporters leading the Congress andPresident Clinton challenging them with the veto power. Nevertheless, the Brady bill, with itsunwavering public support, will be the hardest bill to repeal. The passage of the Brady bill of 1993 is one of the best case studies of the legislativeprocess in the U.S. Congress. The seven year history of the bill demonstrated how partisanpolitics played a crucial role in the outcome of the bill, and how difficult it was to make bipartisancompromises to move the bill through Congress. In concluding this research report, I would like to express my deepest respect for thosewho worked hard for the passage of the Brady bill, including Jim and Sarah Brady.

The Cuban Missile Crisis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Ways We Change - Essay Example Sometimes, the process of change takes place automatically and sometimes, one has to push himself to be a part of a particular change process as mostly, people are afraid of the consequences of the change and therefore are resistant to it. However, humans have to face the monster of change in every step they take. So, changing is an intrinsic feature of human nature. The foremost reason highly observed for being involved in the â€Å"change process† is, as human beings grow up, they get to understand themselves better; their likes, dislikes, feelings, values, preferences, environment and surroundings. All these things make up his mind whether to change himself or not. The living needs of the world, the circumstances around us and the prerequisites to survive in this competitive world actually pushes an individual to change himself in almost all the areas of life. The change process of anything can be divided into four steps; pre-contemplation, contemplation, action and maintenance. In pre-contemplation, one tries to resist the change process and not thinks about it. Then, in contemplation, one starts to think about changing by weighing the pros and cons of change. Afterwards, in action, one tries to take steps to adopt the change process and lastly in the maintenance stage, one tries to preserve the momentum of the change and tries not to dissuade the change. Human life is full of examples where he/she has to pass through the change process. Educational Traveling is one such example. Mostly, students have to go abroad for higher studies. They have to adapt themselves according to the culture, values, traditions and norms of that particular country and have to adapt themselves to their educational system. Further, talking about marriage, as one gets married, he has to go through an immense kind of change process; he has to mould his habits according to the likes and dislikes of his partner. He has to forgo his careless nature and has to be

Nursing Informatics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nursing Informatics - Essay Example Susan J. Grobe. The two are known for their contributions in health information technology and nursing informatics education and science. Both Dr. Thede and Dr. Grobe used the term health informatics to refer to the practice of informatics and applied research across public and clinical health domain. These pioneers developed the techniques and methods that are very relevant across major application areas in clinical and public health that aided the advancement of nursing practice. Some of the contributions of these two pioneers included the development of clinical research informatics, translational bioinformatics, consumer health informatics, clinical informatics, and public health informatics; all of which have greatly influenced nursing practice in terms of efficiency and effectiveness (Calvin, 2009) The two pioneers have made individual accomplishment in nursing informatics. For example, Dr. Linda Q. Thede participated in various committees in Kent State University implementing and studying computer uses in nursing practice and distance education to nursing practitioners. Dr. Linda Q. Thede also taught nursing informatics and assisted the faculty in applying information technology to clinical health and nursing records. Dr. Thede is currently the editor of Computer Informatics Nursing Plus. Her contributions to nursing practice have advance the storage of medical records and nursing practice. She authored two Nursing and Informatics editions. She regularly recommends nursing informatics to practitioners through her Informatics column in OJIN. Dr. Susan J. Grobe too has made considerable individual accomplishment in nursing informatics (Bonnie, 2001). Dr. Susan J. Grobe is recognized for her major contributions to nursing informatics science and education. She was the first to host a conference of national continuing education on Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) at The University of Texas. With the financial aid from USDHHS, the Division of Nursing and L ippincott JB, Dr. Susan J. Grobe developed the module of Nursing Education Authority System (NEMAS): a software program used in creating Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) modules on nursing process. Progressively with more funding from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Institute for Nursing Research (NINR), Dr. Grobe developed the Nursing Intervention Lexicon and Taxonomy (NILT). She also studied automated classification of nursing interventions. She is also recognized for the following: first of two nurse fellows that were elected to the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI); the very first nurse to host for the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Nursing Informatics Symposia; and the first nurse to be invited to serve on the NLM Board of Scientific Counselors. A lot of contribution to nursing informatics can be noted in her publications which are very extensive in educational and scientific journals. Dr. Susan J. Grobe also authore d Computer Primer and Resource Guides for Nurses (1984), one of the first computer books for nurses (Alla, 2008). Generally, the two nursing informati

The Role of the Operating Manager in Information Systems Essay

The Role of the Operating Manager in Information Systems - Essay Example However, the system transformation process is not easy as an entire department that utilized the system is grounded to a halt, which means dealing with inconveniences of managing the functions manually (Khosrow-Pour, 2001). The main issue is in how to attain effective Information Technology Management within MSCC while sufficiently anticipating challenges and their solutions to guarantee business continuity and employees’ productivity. During the 1900, Midsouth focused on transportation systems and legislative decisions caused many communities to lack access to reliable transportation, halting the economic and business development. However, by 1930s, the charter included additional issues, thus transforming into an aggressive commercial advocacy firm by 1990s. These changes were accompanied by company growth in terms of human resources and profitability changed by 2000 to reflect a downfall in the annual budget by $250,000 and a membership of about 2,300. The main contributors included the internet bubble, loss of regional manufactures, and the economic downtime back then. Although, MSCC did not lose its position as a powerful business advocacy firm in 2000, the company’s management experienced the challenge of inability to fund annual operational business in line with the company’s aggressive growth. Lassiter, the Vice President in 2000 experienced a serious dilemma of staff and program retrenchment for an effective sales and marketing team, thus translating into less aggressively grown revenue in the firm. As an information Technology professional, Lassiter proactively sought for the solutions to the IS challenges that included misaligned marketing and sales support functions, restricted capacity of the current information system, and the arising concerns over security given that each staff member lacked access to data required for the operation of MSCC activities for sales and marketing. At MSCC, information technology is

Report assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Report assignment - Essay Example Body: 76 expectant mothers have been interviewed for this survey. They were asked to describe Honey bear in one word that first come to their mind. 57 of the responded used negative adjectives such as â€Å"depressed†, â€Å"gloomy†, etc. to describe the honey bear; however only 8 responded positively used the words like â€Å"cute†, â€Å"appealing†, etc. The result of the survey clearly indicates that not all the people find Honey bear appealing. It is true that they were considered attracted way back in the 90’s but in modern age there is a need of changing the so called authentic image of the Honey bear. The graphic design department needs to make it more attractive by changing its shape and adding more colors to it or at least changing its position and introducing more poses. When the interviewees were asked that what can be done by the firm to make the honey bear more attractive they suggested to add more colors and add more poses. Now it is the responsibility of the graphic design department as well as the marketing department to work in collaboration on the design of the honey bear, based on the result that has been extracted from the interviewing the expecting mothers. As the mothers are the target market for the children’s clothing and bedding; therefore their opinion matters a lot as they will also be the potential buyers of the product. The result of the survey is clear. The audience wants innovation in the design. They want it to be more colorful as the children get attracted to such thing (Lascurain). Closing: the graphic design department needs to understand the fact that people no longer gets attracted to the old designs. If they will be using the old cartoon they must add new characteristics and innovative features to make it more interesting and make it more appealing in the eyes of the customers. The graphic

The Role of the Operating Manager in Information Systems Essay

The Role of the Operating Manager in Information Systems - Essay Example However, the system transformation process is not easy as an entire department that utilized the system is grounded to a halt, which means dealing with inconveniences of managing the functions manually (Khosrow-Pour, 2001). The main issue is in how to attain effective Information Technology Management within MSCC while sufficiently anticipating challenges and their solutions to guarantee business continuity and employees’ productivity. During the 1900, Midsouth focused on transportation systems and legislative decisions caused many communities to lack access to reliable transportation, halting the economic and business development. However, by 1930s, the charter included additional issues, thus transforming into an aggressive commercial advocacy firm by 1990s. These changes were accompanied by company growth in terms of human resources and profitability changed by 2000 to reflect a downfall in the annual budget by $250,000 and a membership of about 2,300. The main contributors included the internet bubble, loss of regional manufactures, and the economic downtime back then. Although, MSCC did not lose its position as a powerful business advocacy firm in 2000, the company’s management experienced the challenge of inability to fund annual operational business in line with the company’s aggressive growth. Lassiter, the Vice President in 2000 experienced a serious dilemma of staff and program retrenchment for an effective sales and marketing team, thus translating into less aggressively grown revenue in the firm. As an information Technology professional, Lassiter proactively sought for the solutions to the IS challenges that included misaligned marketing and sales support functions, restricted capacity of the current information system, and the arising concerns over security given that each staff member lacked access to data required for the operation of MSCC activities for sales and marketing. At MSCC, information technology is

My fellow thanes for Macbeths Coronation banquet Essay Example for Free

My fellow thanes for Macbeths Coronation banquet Essay My lady and I were asked to join my fellow thanes for Macbeths Coronation banquet. As we entered the cavernous hall, which had been decorated with splendid colours and banners, I noticed few people were talking. The sullen silence made the hall seem even bigger and perhaps even darker, and then, I gasped in astonishment as I noticed the feast (I do not know how I could have missed it) it was so vast it took up twenty full tables. Every imaginable food was there including much game. I had only just taken it all in when the sound of trumpets announced to the assembly the king was coming. He and his wife entered. Macbeth was dressed in fine clothes, red and gold silks and rare animal furs. Upon each finger a gold ring glittered , and of course the golden crown of the king. Lady Macbeth was also dressed in fine silks complimenting her pale cold looks perfectly, and also upon her hand rings glistened and gleamed like sun glinting off a newly forged sword. Around her neck many fine chains of gold and silver, the best that could be found. But soon things became not as they should, when my lord started seeing apparitions and things that were clearly not there. They may not have been there but the look of horror on Lord Macbeths face was enough to persuade me that he saw something others could not, and would not like to. But our Lady Macbeth reassured us and tried to explain it was a problem from childhood. But also throughout the most royal banquet our lord Macbeth disappeared and reappeared many times, he was rumored to have been seen with to shifty looking rogues. My lord and lady Macbeth were also seen to be quarreling throughout the evening, the air between them was thick with unsaid threats and promises, they were both on edge throughout the evening even though his lordship tried hard to hide it. Unfortunately we were asked to leave early as Macbeth had gone into another trance, seeing things that were not there, he talked about them too he spoke of grievances and of blood and injury but as soon as started they had finished and we were bid leave.

Corporate financial statement analysis of Volkswagen

Corporate financial statement analysis of Volkswagen Abstract The main aim from this project is to analyze manufacturing company in term of ratios analysis and common size analysis. We took Volkswagen Group as a manufacturing company and we try to know what are the line business, major competitors, and the goals of Volkswagen Group. Then we start to make common size analysis (vertical and horizontal analysis) for both income statement and balance sheet from year 2005 to 2009 to see the financial performance of the company over the time. Moreover we make ratios analysis to check the liquidity, solvency, profitability, efficiency, and cash flow of the Volkswagen Group.Finally, the report is going to discuss the data that we found on common size analysis and ratios analysis. Also the report will include all the annual report from 2005 to 2009. Company profile a)What is the companys principal line of business and major competitors? Volkswagen Group majorly known as the VW group is a German originated automobile manufacturing group that is ranked third largest in world as a motor vehicle manufacturer. The core business of the group includes developing vehicles and components for all marques and manufacturing complete vehicles for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles marques. The group has world-wide working of operations but its primary focus is Europe market. Major competitors of Volkswagen are Toyotta, General Motors, Ford and Hyundai. b)On what day does the companys fiscal year end? The company Fiscal year ends on Dec, 31st c) What is the largest source of cash from financing activities? For the year ended Dec 31, 2009 its â€Å"Proceeds from issue of Bonds† d) What is the largest use of cash from investing activities? For the year ended Dec 31, 2009 its â€Å"Disposal of Equity Investments† e) What is the average income tax rate for the fiscal year reported? Income tax rate for 2005 is : 35.2%, 2006: 9.1%, 2007:37.0 %, 2008: 29.1%, 2009: 27.7%. The average tax rate is 27.62%. f) What is the average issue (sale) price per share of common stock issued as of the end of the fiscal year reported? The average issue (sale) price per share â‚ ¬ 149.42 Company goals and achievements Descriptive information, Compare goals provided in annual reports with achievements in the following periods, seek for any possible predetermined standards and find out whether the company achieved them in the following periods. There are numerous objectives and goals set by the Management of Volkswagen with the motive of enabling the company to expand the scope of its business and generate sustainable success by focusing on its customers and environment. As part of business operations management, the Board has focused on introducing measures to improve cost structures through process optimization overall and modular strategy implementation. The implementation of these goals can be seen through the financial performance of Volkswagen where in terms of sales, the related costs are kept in controlled and balanced trend with no irregular hikes. Volkswagen goal of servicing its customers with most innovative and fascinating vehicles is met with its ability to generate increased world-wide sales and improved cost position. In 2007, the company earned a sales record of 6.2 million vehicles. As part of Volkswagens global business strategy, the goal of the company had been to implement its multi brand strategy and introduce most environments friendly and broadest vehicle range. Towards implementing these goals, the company in year 2009 has been able to cope with the weak industry trends due to financial and economic crisis overall. Its implementation of integration and partnerships with Porsche and Suzuki have unlocked many growth prospects. It is the result of such policies of management that Volkswagen group did not suffer from the financial crisis to the extent most of the competitors did. The focus of maintaining quality standards is also evident from the analysis of financial statements where each year better quality improving standards and procedure are implemented as part of production processes to enable Volkswagen in delivering its customers best equipped quality vehicles. Future goals of company include exploring more developments in fuel efficiency for vehicles and climate friendly fuels as key components of automobility along with driver assistance systems to promote fuel efficient driving. Common Size Analysis Ratios analysis Data Analysis Having done with a thorough financial statement analysis of Volkswagen Group for year 2005-2009, it is seen that the company as a key component of Automobile Industry has been able to maintain its financial performance with slight disturbance in profits for fiscal year 2009 as a result of global depression in markets. Firstly having a look at the vertical common size analysis of Volkswagen Income statement and Balance sheet revealed that most items of Income statement and Balance sheet do not present any major fluctuations over five years. Year 2007 and 2008 were better performing business years where due to decreased CGS as a percentage of Sales, overall profitability was improved i.e. Operating profit and EBT improved from 2% in 2006 to 6% in 2007 and 2008. However, due to an overall market recession profitability has significantly decreased due to burden on costs and expenses i.e. PAT decreased from 4% in 2008 to 1% in 2009. The vertical common size balance sheet showed the group structure consists of Debt: Equity of 80:20. Other significant values are fixed assets, cash, inventory and financial service receivables. The horizontal common size analysis of Income statement and balance sheet taking 2005 as base year showed a healthy growth trend for years 2006-2008, whereas for year 2009, it exposed a decreased trend of profitability significantly in operating profit, Profit before tax and Profit after tax. The balance sheet shows increasing and decreasing fluctuations when looked at individual items but overall can be considered relatively stable and improving. The Ratio analysis of financial statements is done to evaluate the performance of company in a given year using relations between different balance sheet, income statement and cash flow items. Volkswagen analysis of different financial ratios over the period of 5 years enabled us in seeing the performance of Group under five heads: Assets efficiency, liquidity, cash flow, profitability and solvency. Assets efficiency: These ratios are used to check the efficiency of a company i.e. how efficiently assets of company are used in generating revenue. The fixed asset turnover and total asset turnover ratios are lower in magnitude over the time period under analysis. Generally the greater the magnitudes of these ratios the efficient are the assets of a company are considered in generating sales revenue. Volkswagen group assets turnover ratios for last five years vary within range of 0.5 and 1.2 which is not quite impressive. The inventory turnover ratio over the last five years shows a mixed trend whereas the receivable and payable turnover are also a concern as payable turnover should be greater in magnitude than receivable whereas its the opposite case here. Profitability: The profit margins for past five shows an increasing trend till 2008, however for year 2009 profitability is effected due to decreased sales and pressures on costs. The trends for Return on assets and equity, are also the same, whereas the magnitude of these is moderate. The earnings per share for the group is attractive enough just declines much for year 2009 i.e. from â‚ ¬4.6 in 2008 to â‚ ¬0.9 in 2009. Liquidity: These are the ratios derived from balance sheet and measure ability of company to generate liquid funds to pay its debts. The current and quick ratios for Volkswagen fall within the range of 0.9 and 1.2 for past five years which is considered well enough for liquidity purposes. The cash conversion cycle is the number of days cash is tied up in production and sales process. Our analysis shows a mixed trend which is observed to decrease in 2009 which is a good indicator. The receivable collection and payable deferral periods are also in favor of companys liquidity requirements. Cash flow: The cash flow ratio of less is one is indicative of greater chances for bankruptcy. Volkswagen cash flow ratio over past five years is consistently low and need attention. Debt /Solvency: These show the overall debt load of company. The debt as compared to assets does not portrays greater risks, however greater dependence if debt as compared to equity increases leverage and so the risk scope for the Volkswagen.

Big Game and Greasy Lake: two stories depicting a similar theme Essay

T. Coraghessan Boyle’s "Greasy Lake" and "Big Game" are similarly structured but completely different short stories that explain the transitions of people from fake slaves of their image to genuine and realized individuals. If not portrayed in the stories, the development in the characters certainly escapes into the reader’s imagination and almost magically makes them the learned. The plot of the two stories is one of the strongest lines connecting them together by way of foundation, but at the same time it establishes completely different story lines that follow the same beat. Boyle’s evolution from "Greasy Lake" to "Big Game" has also provided for a progression in his style. Evident from the two stories is the contrasted amounts of detail and abstract detail. In some sense, Boyle has mellowed over the two stories by leaving out many of the twists and turns of "Greasy Lake" in "Big Game," but in the same sense has become more exciting with more violence and action. The plots in the two stories are similar in structure and pattern of action. They both include violence and regretful lessons learned the hard way, and seam to involve similar events and characters. A definite change in Boyle’s plot over the course of the two stories however, is the loss in significance and importance of the plot and the take over by setting and character instead. &...

Mono Basin Volcanism Essay -- Geology Volcanoes Volcano Papers

Mono Basin Volcanism The last basin in the Basin and Range before the Sierra Nevada Mountain range is the Mono Basin. The Mono Basin consists of landforms such as the Mono-Inyo Craters, Black Point, Negit Island, Paoha Island, Mono Lake, Devils Punch Bowl, Panum Crater, and some others (Hamburger et al; 2004). All of these landforms were created by volcanism. Actually, the Mono Basin is in one of the most volcanically active places in the world (Forest Service; 2004). Paoha Island, Negit Island, and Panum Crater are the most recent volcanoes to erupt, which are the furthest north in the basin. The volcanoes' ages tend to get older the further south they are from Panum Crater; with the exception of Paoha. Eruptions in the Mono Basin have tended to occur in five hundred year intervals over the past two thousand to three thousand years (Molossia; 2004). Hot springs and fumeroles and other signs show that this area is still active (USDA; 97). Though there has not been any volcanic eruptions in the las t six hundred years, there is still evidence of volcanic unrest in the Mono Basin area. (The Picture above compliments of USGS). The Mono Craters were all formed within the last forty thousand years. These craters are localized on a north-trending fissure system that starts at the south of Mammoth Mountain up through the western moat to the north shore of Mono Lake; this system extends about fifty kilometers (USGS;2004). There are thirty domes that formed together (Molossia;2004). They were originally formed by the intrusion of a dike. About six hundred years ago when the magma began rising in the southern end of the Mono-Inyo Craters there was a series of eruptions and ground cracking. The dike was spreading both hor... ...is Panum Crater that is six hundred and forty years old (Topinka:2001). (Picture below compliments of USGS). Sources Molossian Institute of Volcanology. Long Valley Caldera. 2004 http://www.molossia.org.org/volcanology/longvalley.html Topinka, Lyn. Mono-Inyo Craters. Last updated 11/09/01. http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/livingwith/volcanicpast/places/volcanic_past_long_valey.html. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mono Basin. National Forest Scenic Area. Inyo National Forest. 11/97. U.S Geological Survey. Long Valley Observatory Website. Mono Lake Area, California. 2004. http://lvo.wr.usgs.gov/Inyoeruptions/inyoflows.html http://lvo.wr.usgs.gov/history.html Wood and Kienle, 1990, Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada: Cambridge University Press, 354p.,p.256-262. http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/volcanoes/nevada/description_nevada.html

Variable Pay Plan: Gain Sharing

Employers are often faced with the challenge of looking for ways to boost productivity and profitability while at the same time, motivating employees to accomplish organizational goals. For many employers, variable pay plans have risen to meet this challenge. A variable pay plan ties pay increases to increased performance and productivity. One of the more popular group variable pay plans is called gain sharing. Under gain sharing pay programs, both the employer and the employee benefit from increased productivity. Therefore, gain sharing has often been referred to as a win-win pay program since it is an incentive strategy that ties pay to productivity. Gain sharing is a type of incentive plan designed to increase productivity by linking pay directly to specific improvements in a company†s performance. Gain sharing is used primarily when quantitative levels of production are important measures of business success. Gains are shared with unit/department employees on a monthly, quarterly, semiannual or annual basis according to some predetermined formula calculated on the value of gains of production over labor and other costs. The plan lets employees reap some of the rewards of their efforts through teamwork and cooperation and by working smarter and harder. Gain sharing plans offer the following:  · Directly ties pay to some important measure of company performance  · Results in productivity improvements when installed  · Appropriate for all groups of employees  · Improves communications and teamwork among employees  · Increases employee awareness of â€Å"the big picture†  · Improves job satisfaction and employee relations  · Increases employee participation through involvement in the system Gain sharing pay programs have the following disadvantages:  · Time consuming to design, implement and administer  · Requires employee orientation, education and training  · Accurate and timely production and cost data must be available  · If not already in place, gain sharing requires a shift to participative management and employee involvement Once you decide to add a gain sharing plan to your company you must pick the type of plan you wish to implement into your company. The following is a description of different types of plans a company could implement. A Value Added Plan is the cost of materials and services is subtracted from sales to determine a value added figure. Employee costs are then compared to this figure to arrive at a value added index. This index is compared to value added for future periods to determine if there has been an improvement in productivity. To the extent that employee costs are less than would be the case by applying a value added index to a value added, there is a productivity gain to be shared. A major challenge with this type of plan is removing the effects of automation from productivity gains. The Rucker Plan, essentially, this is a value added plan that contains special adjustments to account for base wage and other price changes, capital expenditures, and other costs unrelated to employee productivity. The Scanlon Plan is one of the more familiar gain sharing plans. It involves calculating total payroll costs and dividing by sales plus finished inventory figures to determine a plan ratio. Employee shares of productivity gains are determined by improvements of this ratio. The Improshare plan tells that increased productivity is determined by looking at the number of working hours that are saved in producing a number of finished units in a given period of time as compared to a base period. Its proponents stress that this measure leads to less waste and better quality control since only finished products are used in measuring the gains. The next is the Par Plan. This plan goes beyond other gain sharing plans by rewarding any successful effort to improve productivity. It does not single out gains solely from a productivity improvement standpoint. A â€Å"par† figure is determined based on all manufacturing costs compared to sales. Any improvement in this ratio determines the gain to be shared. The Gallway Plan gives employee incentives. The incentives under this plan are based solely on reduction in labor costs. The labor value of each product is determined and becomes a basis for determining the gain in productivity that is shared with employees. The first step in designing a gain sharing program is to determine what is to be accomplished by instituting a gain sharing plan. Is the objective to improve productivity? To reduce costs? To maintain or increase market share? Is the objective to improve organizational communication, employee relations or to promote employee participation in the organization? Is the objective to replace a compensation structure that no longer reinforces organizational goals such as improved product quality or customer service? The next stage is to determine how employees will be grouped under the program. Will employees be grouped by geographic location, product or service line, organizational group, payroll category or other employee characteristics? However the group is defined, it is important that it be self-contained and able to function as a â€Å"team. † The third step in developing a gain sharing plan is to determine what measures of performance are necessary to meet the stated objectives of the gain sharing plan. Measurements may be financial, operational or a combination of financial and operational. The fourth step in developing a gain sharing plan is to design the key elements of the program. Key issues at this stage include how do you measure productivity measures and award bonuses, handling variations in performance, and allocating or sharing the gains. After the plan has been developed and administrative issues addressed, the next step is to implement the plan and get employees actively involved in a team approach to performance improvement. This step might be accomplished by using formal or informal suggestion systems, quality circles, training sessions or set managed work groups with regular meetings. The final step after the plan is implemented is to ensure that it stays current with the development of the organization. During this phase of the process, a clear statement of plan documents outlining conditions under which the plan may be suspended, terminated or modified should be developed.