Lab Report Final Draft Essay Example

Lab Report Final Draft Paper The student conducted the experiment given, using safe lab practices, that found the polarity of two separate solvents, and it has been shown through experimental exults that the hypothesis formed in the beginning of this experiment is true. It has been deducted from this experiment that solvents which dissolve, or pick-up, water soluble inks are polar, while solvents that dissolve, or pick-up, non water soluble inks are non-polar. Introduction In order to determine the polarity of two solvents, slime and silly putty, an experiment is being conducted that will provide data to formulate a conclusion on the matter. This lab will answer whether or not the tested solvents are polar or non-polar, as well as whether the inks used are polar or non-polar. Information was given in the beginning of the lab explaining that only polar solvents will dissolve or pick-up polar ink, and only non-polar solvents will dissolve or pick-up non-polar solvents. Chromatography will be used to verify conclusions made on the polarity of the inks. Background The lab provided information as the basis for the experiment. It was provided that polar solvents only pick-up or dissolve polar substances, as well as that monopole solvents only pick-up or dissolve monopole substances. We will write a custom essay sample on Lab Report Final Draft specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Lab Report Final Draft specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Lab Report Final Draft specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Also, in the lab introduction, the information examines covalent and ionic bonds teaching that he polarity characteristics of substances are due to their atomic structure and molecular shape. For example: Water is a polar molecule due to the electrons being shared between the oxygen atom and the two hydrogen atoms. As the electrons are pulled close to the oxygen atom it leaves a slightly positive charge on the outside of the hydrogen atoms, while the other side of the molecule contains a slightly negative charge. The knowledge of the polarity of water is a control within this experiment. Objective Using the knowledge of polar and non-polar molecules, we can observe the heartsickness of the effects of the experiment on the inks, and determine the polarity of the solvents. Hypothesis Knowing the composition of the Slime being mainly water, the slime will dissolve or pick-up the water soluble inks and the silly putty will pick up the non-water soluble inks. Materials and Methods Materials: (1) 250 ml Beaker 5 ml 4% Borax Solution Dry Erase Marker (1) 10 ml Graduated Cylinder (1) 100 ml Graduated Cylinder Filter Paper (Disk) Filter Paper (Square) 0. G Guar Gum Highlighter Permanent Marker 1 Popsicle Stick Silly Putty Ruler Wooden Stir Stick [emailprotected] Roller Pen Distilled Water Newspaper Notebook Paper Scissors Part 1: Making Slime 1. Weigh out 0. 5 g of guar gum into a 250 ml beaker. 2. Measure 50. 0 ml of distilled water into a 100 ml graduated cylinder and pour it into the 250 ml beaker that contains the guar gum. 3. Rapidly stir the mixture with a wooden stir s tick for three minutes, or until the guar gum is dissolved. 4. Measure 4. 00 ml of a 4% Borax solution into a 10 ml graduated cylinder and add it to the guar gum and water. . Stir the solution until it becomes slime. This will take a few minutes. If the slime remains too runny, add an additional 1. Ml of the 4. 0% Borax solution and continue to stir until the slime is the slightly runny or gooey. 6. Once you are satisfied with the slime, pour it into your hands. Be sure not to drop any of it on to the floor. 7. Manipulate the slime in your hands. Write down observations made about how slime pours, stretches, breaks, etc. In Part 1 of the Data section. CAUTION: Slime is slippery and if dropped it can make the work area slick. . Place the slime back into the beaker and WASH YOUR HANDS. Part 2: Slime and Putty Ink Tests 1 . On a piece of notebook paper make one 20 25 mm long mark of each of the inks you are testing (permanent marker, highlighter, Dry Erase, and [emailprotected] Roller Pen). Space the marks at least one inch apart. Use a pencil to label each mark with its description. A. Water soluble inks include those in highlighters and certain pens. B. Water insoluble inks include those in a permanent pen/markers, newsprint, and a dry-erase markers. 2. While the inks are drying, select a passage or a picture in the newspaper to test with the slime. 3. Develop a hypothesis stating whether or not you believe the slime produced in Part 1 will pick up newsprint ink. Record this hypothesis in the Post-Lab Questions section. Then, break off a small piece of slime that is 3 5 CM in diameter. Gently place this piece on top of the newspaper print, then carefully pick it up again. 4. Observe and record in Table 1 whether or not the ink was picked up onto the slime. 5. Break off another small piece of slime. Once the inks from Step 1 have dried gently place the slime on top of the first spot on the notebook paper, then carefully pick it up. Repeat this for each of the inks. Observe and record which inks were picked up (dissolved) by the slime in Table 1. 6. Repeat this ink testing two more times for accuracy. 7. Hypothesize which inks the silly putty will pick up in the Part 2 of the Data section. Then, perform the ink tests with the Silly [emailprotected] according to the procedure outlined in Steps 5 6. Part 3: Chromatography of Ink Samples 1. Use a pencil or scissors to poke a small hole in the center off piece of filter paper (see Figure 7). 2. Spot the filter paper evenly spaced approximately 2 CM from the small hole with the two insoluble inks and the two soluble inks that were used in Part 2, Step 1. 3. Obtain a h piece of filter paper. Fold the paper in half several times so that it makes a narrow wick. . Insert the wick into the hole of the spotted paper so that it is above the top of the filter paper by approximately 2 CM. 5. Fill a 250 ml beaker 3/4 full with water. 6. Set the filter paper on top of the beaker so that the bottom of the wick is in the water. The paper should hang over the edge of the beaker with the spotted side up. 7. Allow water to travel until it is approximately 1 CM from the edge of the filter paper. Remove the filter paper from the beaker. 8. Observe which inks moved from where they were originally spotted. Record your observations in Part 3 of the Data section. In the experiment, we were given the above instructions on how to create slime. Silly putty was provided in the lab kit. A 25 CM mark was made on notebook paper using four types of ink: highlighter ink, nun-ball roller pen ink, permanent sharpie ink, and dry erase marker ink. There was also a newspaper clip used to test the solvents on the newspaper ink as well forming the total of 5 experimental groups. The inks are the dependent variables in this experiment. The solvents were then placed on each of the five inks, three times each, to see if they picked-up or dissolved the inks. The solvents are the independent variables n this experiment. The result of whether the solvent picked or dissolved the ink was recorded. After completing this part of the test, filter paper was placed on top of a beaker filled % full with water, with a wick placed through the filter paper into the water. Dots of the four individual inks were placed on the filter paper. The reactions of the inks, as the water traveled up the wick into the filter paper were recorded. The experiment can be explored further in the above experiment procedural steps. Results, Data, and Observation Table 1: Results of Ink Testing for Silly [emailprotected] Name of Ink Picked up (dissolved) Did not pick up Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Newsprint Table 1: Results of Ink Testing for Slime x The above graph illustrates the findings in the experiment. The silly putty picked-up, or dissolved, both the dry erase marker ink, and the newspaper ink. The slime picked-up, or dissolved, the highlighter and unable roller pen ink. Neither the silly putty, nor the slime, picked-up or dissolved the permanent marker ink. When the ink was placed on the filter paper and water was placed in the beaker as the solvent, the highlighter and the roller pen ink were both dissolved and pulled toward the wick. The permanent marker and the dry erase marker both ere unaffected by the water. Discussion, Data Interpretation, and Experimental Conclusions Seeing the results in the tables above shows the polarity of both the inks and the solvents used. Water is a polar molecule which supports the results of the chromatography as well. The information of the water solubility of the inks used was given in the beginning of this experiment, and the information was verified by the chromatography, which showed the inks that dissolved in water. Both the highlighter and the roller pen were soluble inks. Knowing this, and in knowing the properties of water, means they are, in fact polar. After seeing the slime dissolve and pick-up traces of both of these inks, it can be concluded that the slime is polar as well. The newspaper ink, permanent marker, and dry erase marker were insoluble inks. The newspaper ink was not verified by chromatography, however, both the permanent marker ink, and the dry erase marker were; they did not move across the filter paper when water was added. In seeing that the silly putty picked up the dry erase marker ink, and the newspaper ink, it can be concluded that the silly putty is a non-polar solvent. Error was found in my experiment in seeing that the non-polar solvent did not solve or pick-up the permanent marker.

1984 Essays - Fiction, Literature, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Politics

1984 Essays - Fiction, Literature, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Politics 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four is a compelling novel, written in the period just after W.W.II. It details the life of one man, Winston Smith, and his struggles with an undoubtedly fascist government. The book is set approximately in the year 1984, in which Winston's society is ruled by a governing force known as The Party. At the head of this government is a fictional figure known as Big Brother, to whom all citizens must love and respect. In this society, privacy and freedom do not exist. People are constantly monitored by telescreens, and subjected to a constant barrage of propaganda. Any devious thought or action is dealt with by cruel and deadly punishment. Winston is a worker in one of the government agencies. His job: to rewrite the past so that The Party, specifically Big Brother, appears to be omnipotent. From as long as he can remember, he has despised The Party and what it stood for, although he doesn't reveal his true feelings to anyone around him. When Winston begins a torrid love affair with one of the young women in his agency named Julia, he finds someone else who shares in his beliefs. The two have several meetings throughout the book, in which they discuss their hatred for the government. They join a secret alliance called The Brotherhood, who's specific purpose is the end of The Party. Through the literature of The Brotherhood, they learn about the inner workings of The Party and how it accomplishes its stronghold on the people. The world as Winston knows it comes crashing down when he and Julia are arrested by the thought police, a faction of the government which deals with those who do not agree and abide by the ways of The Party. They are taken to a prison unlike any other. Winston is constantly tortured and beaten, until he confesses to crimes which he didn't commit or never even happened. If the party just killed Winston right away, they might run the risk of making a martyr out of him. Instead they re-educate him with the morals of The Party, using such techniques as pain, starvation, and using Winston's greatest fear against him. Once re- educated, he is introduced back into society. But he is not the same person, just a hollow shell. Winston had once said in the novel that if he could die hating Big Brother, then he would have won. But when Winston is finally killed, the only thing he can think is that he loves Big Brother. As this book was written just after the reign of Hitler in W.W.II, one can easily guess where Orwell got the basis for it. The world was in a general state of disbelief and panic after the atrocities that Hitler had committed. It was hoped that nothing like this would ever happen again. Nineteen Eighty- Four is a good reason why. The novel shows what could have happened if Hitler was able to continue upon his quest for power. The novel can also apply to the present era, as the novel was actually set in more modern times. Not only does the novel apply to Hitler's way of thinking, but also to Stalin. Even though both are at opposite sides of the political spectrum, they both established totalitarian governments. The Party also ran a totalitarian government but on a much larger scale. A large part of the novel deals with the relationship between The Party and society. Many of the techniques used by The Party are similar to those used by Hitler or any controlling government for that matter. One of these ways is by propaganda. With telescreens in everyone's homes, it was very easy to broadcast the views and beliefs of The Party. Also, as this was the only form of broadcasted media, the government could easily control what the people watched and listened to. Another form of propaganda was by means of posters and slogans. In this society it was impossible to go anywhere without seeing a poster of Big Brother and reading slogans such as BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU and War is Peace...Freedom is Slavery...Ignorance is Strength. Hitler was a big fan of propaganda and used it a great deal. Also, The Party controlled all written media, and therefore could write and re-write anything it chooses to. During his reign, Hitler realized that he needed to get younger people involved in

Organized Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Organized Crime - Essay Example Stefano’s leadership of the group collapsed in 1969 because of divided loyalties and in 1974; Stefano died of a heart attack (Kilpinen). This crime organization still operates actively in some parts of New York. Its membership has significantly decreased throughout the years; nevertheless, it is still a major crime organization. In order to investigate this crime organization, I would prosecute the members of the organization under the provisions of the 1970 Organized Crime Control Act, where Title IX is specified as RICO or Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization. RICO specifies various criminal activities in relation to organized crime which are punishable by the law. Activities include bribery, extortion, and murder (O’Connor, 2009). This law also decreased the minimum qualifications of conspiracy, enabling the prosecution of organized criminals even without meeting the strict qualifications of conspiracy. I would also prosecute them under RICO which would allow law enforcement officials to seize the assets, proceeds, and instrumentalities of their criminal activities (O’Connor, 2009). I would offer deals to the younger members of the organization for them to turn states’ witness and testify against the organization. I believe that these younger generations would be easier to c onvince than their older counterparts. Most of them are reluctant to face prison sentences as members of the organization and would prefer to get their lives out of the control of the organization (O’Connor, 2009). In the process of investigating the Buffalo Family, I would also call on the assistance of the Organized Crime Council who shall ask the assistance of other federal agencies like the FBI, DEA, ATF, ICE, IRS, Postal Security, Department of Labor, Diplomatic Security, and the Office of the Inspector General (Finklea, 2010). With all these agencies involved in the process of investigating the Buffalo Family, I would

The Negative Effect Of Middle Name Atsitso Essay

The Negative Effect Of Middle Name Atsitso - Essay Example These myths have made it worse for me especially in an effort to accept that name as my own. This name has really had negative implications in my life. As seen in the research conducted by Crook, it is in the shrines that bodies are laid and at times the reasons behind the deaths are very unclear (67). The author gives a good example of the ones at Bardney that were laid in a shrine (Crook 67). This explains the mysteries that lie in the shrines as the author claims that the ones at Bardney were indeed unclear. Relating this to my name meaning a shrine, I do not like this aspect at all. Persons may relate to the cultic features of the shrine to my name as well as my personality which does not sound good to me at all. In the work as well, Crook is of the thought that shrines are constructed using the remains of materials that were used to put up other buildings (104). A good example is that of Eadwig’s time when shrines were rebuilt using the old front and back plates (Crook 104). In the event that I relate this fact to my life, I strongly feel that I do not want anyone to call me by that name Atsitso ever again. In my opinion, I relate the construction of the shrines as an afterthought of other constructions. I do not believe I am a product of an afterthought. This hurts my self-esteem a great deal; that is why I forbid people to ever call me using that name. In shrines, dead bodies are laid to rest. Even after burials, some bodies are normally raised from the ground and laid to rest in the shrines. Crook gives an example of Aldhelm who was exhumed and laid to rest in a shrine (104). Who would want a name that relates to shrines and a place for dead bodies? This explains why I renounce my name that has a lot to do with ones and dead bodies. At times people ridicule me because of the same. At times people ridicule me because of the same. As the days pass, my personality is greatly affected and will continually ask people to never call me by that name.

Experimental economic summary paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Experimental economic summary paper - Essay Example 25 per cent of the non-economists called â€Å"all of the endowment† as fair investment whereas 75 per cent of them considered it to be â€Å"half or more† of the donation. The behavior of economics students was significantly different. To public account, they offered no more than 20 per cent of the donation. All non-economists said that they valued â€Å"fairness† in deciding about the investment whereas most of the economics students did not know what â€Å"fairness† is. Likewise, Carter and Irons (1991) who compared the behavior of economists and non-economists using an ultimatum bargaining game, found economists to be more complying with the characteristics of the self-interest model in the roles of both the allocator and the receiver than their non-economics counterparts. The charitable giving survey and results of the prisoner’s dilemma also supported the opinion that the likelihood of free riding is more profound in economists than non-econom ists.

The effects of homelessness: Literature and research

The effects of homelessness: Literature and research Mini Paper #1:Intervention Research with the Homeless Introduction The effects of homelessness as a social condition are both wide reaching, and difficult to grasp in its scope. It is a circumstance of varying severity, which people may move through for different lengths of time and for different reasons, making it challenging to establish an accurate breadth of its range (Biswas-Diener Diener, 2006; Parsell, 2011). Link and colleagues (1994) have estimated that 14% of the United States may experience homelessness at some point in their life. According to The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (2011) there may be as many as 400,000 homeless individuals in the United States on a given day, and that 1,500,000 people may experience homelessness within the span of a year (HUD, 2011). A person’s familiarity with the homeless condition will vary depending on whether they experience it chronically, temporarily, or periodically (Rivlin, 1990). People may experience homelessness as a result of unemployment, natural or human-constructed ad versity, mental illness, or a combination of factors (Hagen, 1987). The influences that contribute to the condition of homelessness may also play a hand in the progression and outcome of the person experiencing it, be it mental health or substance abuse issues, personal crisis, or systemic pitfalls (Chamberlain Johnson, 2013). As a result of the potential reasons someone may enter homelessness, the rates and demographics of the homeless population vary among regions of the United States (HRI, 2012), and fluctuate in time. From the period of 2009 to 2012, homelessness as a whole decreased by 1% despite the conditions of the economic downturn, while the number of people who would have been homeless but instead doubled up with friends or family increased by 13% during this same time period (HRI, 2012). Predictors – risk problem While any number of circumstances may contribute to the condition of homelessness, The Homeless Research Institute (2012) has identified four population groups who are at an increased risk of entering homelessness; people living with family and friends for economic reasons, prisoners who have been recently released, people aging out of foster care, and the medically uninsured. At its core, whether or not someone will enter or exit the condition of homelessness is influenced by a person’s income, their access to supports and social service resources, and the cost of available housing. As a result, other socioeconomic conditions associated with marginalization can increase a person’s risk of entering homelessness, such as unemployment or mental illness, and the condition of homelessness itself may even serve to fortify these things (Goodman, Saxe, Harvey, 1991; Thoits, 1982). Knowledge base/theoretical explanations No clear theory explains the phenomenon of chronic homelessness better or more appropriately than another, although the perspective adopted will affect the explanations and constructs that are accounted and controlled for within research. For example, the social estrangement model posits that upon entering homelessness people experience a general sense of alienation and proceed to adapt to a lifestyle that reinforces this estrangement (Grigsby, Baumann, Gregorich Roberts-Gray, 1990). The concept of estrangement has been adapted into a measured scale, and this model has been used in research to examine the reintroduction of employment into the lives of the homeless as a potential intervention to decrease one’s sense of estrangement and reintegrate back into society (Ferguson et al., 2012). Social constructionism has been used to explain homelessness as an artificial construct that is used to describe an extreme form of poverty that actually exists on a spectrum, and is not the binary distinction that is used to give a blanket idea to what actually amounts to a diverse range of experiences within the homeless population (Tosi, 2010). This idea has led to research and programs that operate with a continuum definition of homelessness (Anderson, Tulloch, 2000). Social alienation theory has also been tested in the form of measuring the change of social support network of homeless adults across time spent homeless (Eyrich, Pollio North, 2003). Key research questions/intervention proposals Because of the variety of factors that may exacerbate or contribute to homelessness, there are consequently any number of potential interventions and areas of concern to address. Researchers have found it useful to distinguish among cultural or demographic subgroups within the homeless population to address the concerns that appear to be more pertinent to a given subgroup (Aubry et al., 2012). Such distinctions may seek to reduce destructive behaviors or victimization associated with the homeless lifestyle itself (Justus, Burling Weingardt, 2006). From a broader perspective, investigators may attempt to identify how the homeless will best establish and maintain long-term housing (Groton, 2013), as well as how to maximize retention and participation of services for the homeless in general (Padgett et al., 2008). Intervention research that concerns itself with the homeless population must make educated assumptions about the most salient issues worth addressing, the causes of those issues that may be controlled, and the types of outcomes that should be attained. Meaningful intervention research should attempt to identify questions that address the preventative conditions of homelessness, the exacerbating conditions that may prolong someone’s experience with it, and the opportunities available to exit it. Social networks play an important role in people’s lives, and the homeless are no exception. Some forms of social support may serve to normalize the homeless experience (Auerswald and Eyre, 2002), while others may offer support for exiting homelessness (Zlotnick, Tam, Robertson, 2003). An appropriate research question in this area would ask; what are the characteristics of social networks that serve to contribute to a person’s successful attempts to exit homelessness? An intervention program that would attempt to capitalize on known social support networks that reinforce a person’s decision to exit homelessness could be as simple as incorporating a series of questions into existing outreach programs that are designed to identify such relationships. Once these relationships are identified, practitioners could be instructed to attempt outreach with these social network members to include them in their work with their clients. One of the issues associated with homeless encampments is their proximity to necessary services (Chamard, 2010), of these healthcare access may be included. To build off of research which has identified that demographics as well as distinct lifestyles among the homeless may mean the difference between healthcare access or not (Nakonezny Ojeda, 2005), a further relevant research question may ask how can people living in homeless encampments attain more consistent and accessible healthcare? Intervention work in this vein could seek to implement medical outreach programs in areas known to have higher concentrations of homeless encampments, identify how medical conditions are impacted as a result, and further modify outreach techniques depending on the results. Homeless youth have been shown to have increased rates of victimization relative to their housed counterparts (Tyler, Gervais Davidson, 2013; Tyler Melander, 2012), and that victimization is associated with higher rates of substance use (Bender et al., 2012). Potential interventions in this area could include fusing a program designed to address substance use among homeless youth with training staff to have heightened awareness of who may be at risk for increased victimization, and address individual cases as needed. The potential for intervention research within the homeless population is plentiful. References Anderson, I., Tulloch, D. (2000). Pathways through homelessness: A review of the research evidence. Edinburgh: Scottish Homes. Aubry, T., Klodawsky, F., Coulombe, D. (2012). Comparing the housing trajectories of different classes within a diverse homeless population. American Journal Of Community Psychology, 49(1-2), 142-155. Auerswald, C. L., Eyre, S. L. (2002). Youth homelessness in San Francisco: A life cycle approach. Social Science Medicine, 54(10), 1497-1512. Bender, K., Thompson, S. J., Ferguson, K., Komlo, C., Taylor, C., Yoder, J. (2012). Substance use and victimization: Street-involved youths perspectives and service implications. Children And Youth Services Review, 34(12), 2392-2399. Biswas-Diener, R., Diener, E. D. (2006). The Subjective Well-Being of the Homeless, and Lessons for Happiness. Social Indicators Research, 76(2), 185-205. Chamard, S., United States, Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. (2010). Homeless encampments. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Chamberlain, C., Johnson, G. (2013). Pathways into adult homelessness. Journal Of Sociology, 49(1), 60-77. Eyrich, K. M., Pollio, D. E., North, C. S. (2003). An exploration of alienation and replacement theories of social support in homelessness. Social Work Research, 27(4), 222-231. Ferguson, K. M., Bender, K., Thompson, S. J., Maccio, E. M., Pollio, D. (2012). Employment status and income generation among homeless young adults: Results from a five-city, mixed-methods study. Youth Society, 44(3), 385-407. Goodman, L. A., Saxe, L., Harvey, M. (1991). Homelessness as psychological trauma: Broadening perspectives. American Psychologist, 46(11), 1219-1225. Grigsby, C., Baumann, D., Gregorich, S. E., Roberts-Gray, C. (1990). Disaffiliation to Entrenchment: A model for understanding homelessness. Journal of Social Issues, 46(4), 141-156. Groton, D. (2013). Are housing first programs effective? A research note. Journal of Sociology And Social Welfare, 40(1), 51-63. Hagen, J. L. (1987). The heterogeneity of homelessness. Social Casework, 68(8), 451-457. The Homelessness Research Institute (HRI). (January, 2012). The State of Homelessness in America, 2012. National Alliance to End Homelessness. Retrieved from: http://lhc.la.gov/downloads/esg/TheState_of_Homelessness_in_America2012.pdf Justus, A. N., Burling, T. A., Weingardt, K. R. (2006). Client Predictors of Treatment Retention and Completion in a Program for Homeless Veterans. Substance Use Misuse, 41(5), 751-762. Link, B.G., Susser, E., Stueve, A., Phelan, J., Moore, R.E., Struening, E. (1994). Lifetime and five-year prevalence of homelessness in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 84(12), 1907–1912. Nakonezny, P.A., Ojeda, M. (2005). Health Services Utilization Between Older and Younger Homeless Adults. The Gerontologist, 45(2), 249-254. Padgett, D. K., Henwood, B., Abrams, C., Davis, A. (2008). Engagement and retention in services among formerly homeless adults with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse: Voices from the margins. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 31(3), 226-233. Parsell, C. (2011). Homeless identities: Enacted and ascribed. British Journal Of Sociology, 62(3), 442-461. Rivlin, L. G. (1990). The significance of home and homelessness. Marriage Family Review, 15(1-2), 39-56. Thoits, P. A. (1982). Life stress, social support, and psychological vulnerability: Epidemiological considerations. Journal of Community Psychology, 10(4), 341-362. Tosi, A. (2010). Coping with Diversity. Reflections on Homelessness in Research in Europe. OSullivan, Eoin/Busch-Geertsema, Volker/Quilgars, Deborah/Pleace, Nicholas (Hg.): Homelessness Research in Europe. Brà ¼ssel, 221-236. Tyler, K. A., Gervais, S. J., Davidson, M. (2013). The relationship between victimization and substance use among homeless and runaway female adolescents. Journal Of Interpersonal Violence, 28(3), 474-493. Tyler, K. A., Melander, L. A. (2012). Poor parenting and antisocial behavior among homeless young adults: Links to dating violence perpetration and victimization. Journal Of Interpersonal Violence, 27(7), 1357-1373. US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). (2011). The 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. Washington, DC. (2010 AHAR). Zlotnick, C., Tam, T., Robertson, M. J. (2003). Disaffiliation, substance use, and exiting homelessness. Substance Use Misuse, 38(3-6), 577-599. 1

The Importance of Memory Essay -- Personal Narrative Writing

The Importance of Memory I remember lying in my bed one night when I was six years old, staring at the ceiling in the darkness, covers pulled up to my chin, thinking, â€Å"Someday, I’ll wake up and I’ll be twenty years old. And someday I’ll wake up and be forty. What will I look like? What will I be doing? Will I be happy? Will I remember what it was like to be six?† Memory has always been a concern of mine – mainly, is mine deficient somehow? Everyone else seems able to remember the minutiae of their childhoods, while mine seems mostly fuzzy at best. Sometimes I’ll get little snatches of an image or a feeling, summoned by something I’ve seen or smelled or heard, or sometimes a memory will just float to the surface, unasked for. And other times, I’ll consciously try to conjure up a particular scene or moment, but my efforts are unsuccessful more often than not. I’m twenty-one. I’m probably a foot and a half taller and twice as heavy as my six-year-old self. I’m in school, reading and writing a lot, trying to figure out my life, wondering (still) what forty will be like. Sometimes I’m happy, sometimes I’m not. I aim for contentment now, mostly. This is what I remember. I’m in first grade. My teacher is Ms. Schultz. She would make the perfect grandmother: a bit chubby, short silvery-blonde hair, smiling blue eyes that crinkle in the corners, and a wardrobe consisting primarily of pink and purple sweatshirts, all cute-fluffy-animal-themed. Her face is so soft-looking I want to reach up and touch it. She likes blue eyeshadow. I’m good at first grade. The other kids like my drawings. I know not to color the sky as a one-inch blue strip at the top of my paper. I like drawing horses and unicorns and Pegas... ... and whites. I race raindrops as we coast along the highway. I guess I remember more than I thought. People tell me it’s a terrible tendency I have sometimes of focusing on the past. They say, â€Å"You should live in the now.† They insist, â€Å"You should enjoy the present.† I feel guilty at first, but I smile to see through the eyes of a six-year-old again. The guilt slides away easily because I know not to let a cloud of memories obscure the present, to freight the moment with past regrets. Instead, I use my memories to elevate my experiences now, to see everything around me with greater clarity. The past gives every moment a little more meaning. To me, it seems critical to know where and whence I came from, how I came to be like this, to think the way I do or act the way I do. Memory offers a claim of permanence, a means of positioning myself in time and in space.

Business report on the ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation (KFC) Essay

In evaluating how well a company’s present strategy is working, a proper understanding of the company’s resource capabilities and deficiencies, its market opportunities, and the external threats to its future is essential. The really valuable part of SWOT analysis is understanding and evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and drawing conclusions whether a firm’s business position is fundamentally healthy or unhealthy. In a nutshell, SWOT analysis is a basis for action. KFC, being one of the world’s most recognizable brands, has its own internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats, which are identified and analyzed below. ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation (KFC) was the world’s largest chicken restaurant chain and the third largest fast-food chain in 2000’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-203). The statement suggests that the brand-name image or the company reputation of KFC is very strong. Such buyer goodwill can be classified into valuable intangible assets, which is an internal strength itself giving KFC enhanced competitiveness. Also, KFC was one of the first fast-food chains to go international in the late 1950’s and was one of the world’s most recognizable brands. This means that KFC had a high degree of organizational agility in gaining wide geographic coverage and had a strong global distribution capability. Such competitive capability can be identified as KFC’s internal strength. KFC’s international strategy was to grow its company and franchise restaurant base through several high-growth markets. This suggests that the company was able to evaluate the right market opportunities available of serving additional customer groups or expanding into new geographic markets and market openings to extend the company’s brand name or reputation to new geographic areas. ‘According to the National Restaurant Association, food-service sales increased by 5.4 percent, to $358 billion, in 1999’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-207). This was a result of a number of  demographic and social trends, which influenced the demand for food eaten outside of the home. The full-service and fast-food segments were expected to make up about 65 percent of total food-service industry sales in 2000. This could be identified as KFC’s external market opportunity since it could use its ability, internal strengths and resource capabilities to grow rapidly because of sharply rising demand in the fast-food industry. However, such a boom in the fast-food industry could also be identified as a potential external threat to KFC’s well-being since increasing intensity of competition among industry rivals may cause squeeze on profit margins. According to the National Restaurant Association, other food items that were growing in popularity since 1990s through 2000 included chicken, which offered and external market opportunity for KFC to expand. ‘During 1999, KFC continued to dominate the chicken segment, with sales of $4.4 billion’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-210). This is because KFC’s customer base remained loyal to the KFC brand because of its unique taste. This could be identified as KFC’s distinctive competence, since KFC did the fried-chicken well in comparison to its competitors. Such uniqueness provided KFC with a competitively valuable capability, which proved to be a corner stone of every strategy. Despite its dominance, KFC was losing market share as other chicken chains such as Chick-fil-A and Boston Market increased sales at a faster rate. Such mounting competition from potent new competitors could be identified as a potential external threat to KFC’s market position. However, KFC’s leadership in the U.S. market was so extensive that it had fewer opportunities to expand its U.S. restaurant base, which again was an external threat to KFC’s future profitability and competitive well-being. The greatest concern for fast-food operators was the shortage of employees in the 16-to-24 age category since many high school and college graduates enjoyed a healthy job market. This was a result of low unemployment, since U.S. economy began to expand during early 1980s through 2000. Such environment is again an external threat for KFC’s profitability. Also, the labor costs made up about 30 percent of a fast-food chain’s total costs. Mounting competition made it difficult to increase prices, since consumers  made decisions about where to eat primarily based on price. Such labor costs and increasing intensity of competition among industry rivals which squeezed profit margins posed external threat to KFC’s profitability. However, the demographic trends offered KFC with a potential opportunity by which costs could be lowered and operations made more efficient by increasing the use of technology. ‘According to the National Restaurant Association, most restaurant operators viewed computers as their number one tool for improving efficiency’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-213). Hence, computers which could improve labor scheduling, accounting and payroll can be identified as KFC’s external market opportunity which is a big factor in shaping the company’s strategy. However, higher costs and poor availability of prime real estate was one of the adverse demographic change that negatively affected profitability of such fast-food chains and hence posed an external threat. International operations carried by fast-food chains like KFC carried risks not present in domestic-only operations. Long distances posed several problems such as quality, transportation, servicing and support problems. Moreover time, culture and language differences increased operational problems. Such problems could be identified as potential threats to KFC’s international strategy, which was focused on several high growth international markets. However, rising per capita incomes worldwide and the development of the Internet, which was quickly breaking down communication and language barriers were wildly attractive market opportunities for food-chains such as KFC seeking to quickly develop global brands and a worldwide consumer base. KFC had trouble breaking into the German market during the 1970s and 1980s, however McDonald’s had a greater success penetrating the German market, because it made a number of changes to its menu and operating procedures to appeal to German tastes. This could be identified as KFC’s internal weakness since there was a lack of competitively important skills or expertise to attract new customers as rapidly as McDonald’s did. Moreover, many of KFC’s problems during the 1980s and 1990s surrounded its limited menu and inability to quickly bring new products to market, which could be identified  as KFC’s potential weakness, since it was behind its rivals such as McDonald’s in putting capabilities and strategies in place. An example of this is when KFC suffered one of its more serious setbacks on experimenting with the chicken sandwich concept when McDonald’s test-marketed its McChicken sandwich in the Louisville market. As per the circumstances, Latin America could be identified as KFC’s wildly attractive market opportunity because of the size of its markets, its common language and culture, and its geographical proximity to the United States. KFC could well evaluate the market opportunities available from Latin America and identified its own resource capabilities required to capture it, the result of which was KFC’s Latin America Strategy, which represented a classic internationalization strategy. KFC’s early entry into Latin America gave it a leadership position over McDonald’s in Mexico and the Caribbean with 438 restaurants in 2000. Mexico, in Latin America could be identified as highly attractive market opportunity for KFC because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which went into effect in 1994 and created a free-trade zone between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Other fast-food chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s were rapidly expanding into other countries in Latin America such as Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Such mounting competition from potent new competitors was an external threat for KFC’s competitive well-being. Another threat came from Habib’s, Brazil’s second largest fast-food chain, which opened its first restaurant in Mexico in 2000. Another potential external threat to KFC’s well-being was the long-term value of the peso, which has depreciated at an average annual rate of 23 percent against the U.S. dollar since NAFTA went into effect. This translation risk lowered Tricon Global’s reported profits and damaged its stock price, subsequently affecting KFC’s profitability and market position. Industry and Competition Analysis An industry’s competitive conditions and overall attractiveness are big strategy determining factors. In other words, good industry and competitive  analysis is a prerequisite to good strategy making. Hence, it is very essential for a firm to evaluate whether the industry environment it is in is either attractive or unattractive to protect its future profitability. Porter’s Five Forces – A MODEL FOR INDUSTRY ANALYSIS The industry and competitive analysis used to evaluate an industry’s environment involves a process to discover what the main sources of competitive pressure are and how strong each competitive force is. Porter’s five-forces model is a powerful tool for identifying the principal competitive pressures in a market and assessing how strong and important each one is. Michael Porter provided a framework that models an industry as being influenced by five forces, which are discussed below in context to the FAST-FOOD INDUSTRY and KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN CORPORATION. ?a Rivalry: – If rivalry among firms in an industry is low, the industry is considered to be â€Å"attractive†, however the competitive structure of an industry is clearly â€Å"unattractive† from a profit-making standpoint if rivalry among the firms is very strong. Looking at the fast-food industry there was increasing intensity of competition among rivals. In the chicken segment, KFC was losing market share as other chicken chains such as Chick-fil-A and Boston Market increased sales at a faster rate. Many industry analysts predicted that Boston Market would challenge KFC for market leadership. Popeyes and Church’s were potent new competitors, trying to compete head-on with fried-chicken chains. McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s were rapidly expanding into other countries, which subsequently posed a threat. However, even when the rivalry among firms in the fast-food industry is very strong, the industry can be competitively attractive for KFC whose market position provides a good enough defense against competitive pressures. Moreover, to formulate a better strategy and pursue an advantage over its rivals, KFC could lower prices to gain a temporary advantage, improve product differentiation, creatively use channels of distribution, and exploit relationships with suppliers. ?a Barriers to Entry / Threat of Entry: – The competitive structure of any  industry would be identified as â€Å"unattractive† from a profit-making standpoint if low entry barriers are allowing new rivals to gain a market foothold. ‘According to the National Restaurant Association, food-service sales increased by 5.4 percent, to $358 billion, in 1999. More than 800,000 restaurants and food outlets made up the U.S. restaurant industry, which employed 11 million people’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-207). Also as the U.S. market matured, many restaurants expanded into international markets as a strategy for growing sales. After McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, and Pizza Hut, at least 35 chains had expanded into foreign countries by 2000. This suggests that the fast-food industry had relatively low entry barriers, allowing new rivals to gain a market foothold. Such low entry barriers could possibly result from common technology, easy access to distribution channels, little brand franchise, and low scale threshold. Hence, as per the above discussion, fast-food industry is clearly â€Å"unattractive†. However, it depends on the incumbent firms such as KFC to offer only passive resistance against a new entrant or aggressively defend their market positions using price cuts, increased advertising, and product improvements to give them a hard time. ?a Threat of Substitutes: – The competitive structure of an industry remains â€Å"unattractive† if competition from substitutes is strong. As a rule, ‘the lower the price of substitutes, the higher their quality and performance, and the lower the user’s switching costs, more intense is the competitive pressures posed by substitute products’ (Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. 88). There are no such substitutes in any other industry to stand in competition with the firms in fast-food industry, which is very unique. However, there are various segments in the fast-food sector of the restaurant industry, which may be identified as substitutes for each other. These segments are sandwich chains, pizza chains, family restaurants, grill buffet chains, dinner houses, chicken chains, nondinner concepts, and other chains. Usually, such chains have price cuts and improved quality and performance as a part of their strategy and since the buyers can switch to any segment of the fast-food industry easily, there are comparatively high competitive pressures among such segments. Hence, for KFC (chicken chain), the fast-food industry is not an attractive one to be in, since sandwich  chains made up the largest segment of the fast-food market and dinner houses made up the second largest and fastest-growing fast-food segment in 1999. ?a Buyer Power: – The power of buyers is the impact that customers have on a producing industry. Looking at the fast-food industry, it is more likely that the buyers (customers) can exercise considerable bargaining leverage, which again makes the competitive structure of the industry â€Å"unattractive†. This is because buyers’ costs of switching to competing brands or substitutes are relatively low in the fast-food industry. Moreover, the mushrooming availability of information on the Internet is giving added bargaining power to individuals. It is relatively easy for buyers to use the Internet to compare the different prices offered by various fast-food outlets in the industry. In a nutshell, the more information buyers have, the better bargaining position they are in. Also, the prospect of losing a brand loyal customer not easily replaced often makes a seller more willing to grant concessions of one kind or another. ?a Supplier Power: – A producing industry requires raw materials – labor, components, and other supplies, which are received from suppliers. Suppliers, if powerful, can exert an influence on the producing industry, such as selling raw materials at a high price to capture some of the industry’s profits. However, in the fast-food industry, the suppliers possibly have little or no bargaining power or leverage over rivals since the items they provide are commodities available on the open market from numerous suppliers. In fast-food industry it is relatively simple for rivals to obtain whatever is needed from any of several capable suppliers. Hence, the suppliers being able to exercise little or no bargaining power or leverage over rivals’ makes the competitive structure of the fast-food industry clearly â€Å"attractive†. As a conclusion, the collective impact of competitive forces in the fast-food industry is relatively stronger, which subsequently lowers the combined profitability of participant firms. However, even when the five competitive forces are strong, an industry can be competitively â€Å"attractive† or â€Å"favorable† to firms such as KFC whose market position and strategy provides  a good enough defense against the competitive pressures to earn above-average profits. Key Industry Success Factors Key industry success factors (KISFs) by their very nature are so important that all firms in the industry must pay close attention to them. In other words, KISFs are the prerequisites for industry success and are the rules that shape whether a company will be financially and competitively successful. Looking at the fast-food industry, there are various KISFs necessary to gain sustainable competitive advantage. Manufacturing-related KISFs for the fast-food industry would be low-cost production efficiency (to permit attractive retail pricing and ample profit margins), quality of manufacture (to provide customers with better taste in comparison to the rivals), high-labor productivity (to reduce cost since labor costs are about 30 percent of a fast-food chain’s total costs). Distribution-related KISFs would be short delivery times and having company-owned retail outlets. From the marketing point of view, clever advertising (to induce customers to buy a particular brand repeatedly), courteous customer service and attractive styling of packaging would be identified as important KISFs for fast-food industry. Skills-related KISFs would be quality control know-how and an ability to develop innovative recipes. In apparel organizing, the KISFs would be an ability to respond quickly to shifting market conditions, superior ability to use Internet and other latest technology to conduct business and managerial experience. Some other important KISFs are favorable image or reputation with buyers, convenient locations of the stores (important for food-outlets), and access to financial capital (important in newly emerging industries). Hence, the above stated key industrial success factors for the fast-food industry are cornerstones for a firm’s strategy formulation and trying to gain sustainable competitive advantage over its rivals. Company Analysis Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation (KFC) is one of the successful fast-food chains, which was the world’s largest chicken restaurant chain and the third largest fast-food chain in 2000. KFC dominated the chicken segment, with sales of $4.4 billion in 1999 through 2000. KFC was in the lead position in the U.S. market, however had fewer opportunities to expand its U.S. restaurant base due to the entry of new rivals such as Chick-fil-A and Boston Market. Despite gains by Boston Market and Chick-fil-A, KFC’s customer base remained loyal to the KFC brand because of its unique taste, which could be identified as one of the most important resource strengths of KFC. However, KFC faced several internal problems under its various owners, which adversely affected its financial performance and competitive strength. Heublein, Inc., which was in business of producing alcoholic beverages and had a little experience in the restaurant business, acquired KFC in late 1970s. Conflicts quickly erupted between Colonel Sanders and Heublein management since the quality-control and restaurant cleanliness badly deteriorated under Heublein, Inc. By 1977, the restaurant openings had slowed down, since service quality declined under Heublein management. However, KFC did fairly well under the management of R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc., which had little more experience in the restaurant business than Heublein. PepsiCo introduced several changes after the acquisition of KFC. Staff at KFC was reduced in order to cut costs and many KFC managers were replaced with PepsiCo managers. ‘KFC’s culture was built largely on Colonel Sander’s laid-back approach to management’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-206). Employees enjoyed good job security and stability. However, PepsiCo’s culture was characterized by a much stronger emphasis on performance, which reinforced the feelings of KFC managers that they had few opportunities for promotion. As a result, a strong loyalty created among KFC employees over the years was lost. The Original Recipe Chicken allowed KFC to expand through the 1980s without significant competition from other chicken chains and thus new product  introductions was not a part of KFC’s marketing and overall business strategy. Such limited menu and inability to quickly bring new products to market made KFC face several problems during the 1980s and 1990s. However, KFC’s current strategy has been refocused. The cornerstone of its new strategy was to increase sales in individual KFC restaurants by introducing a variety of new products and menu items that appealed to a greater number of customers. Also, from the marketing point of view, KFC introduced a three-pronged distribution strategy that increased sales to a considerable level. The strategy firstly focused on building smaller restaurants in non-traditional outlets such as airports, chopping malls, universities, and hospitals. Secondly, it continued to experiment with home delivery. Third, KFC established â€Å"2-in-1† units that sold both KFC and Taco Bell (KFC/Taco Bell Express) or KFC and Pizza hut (KFC/Pizza Hut Express) products. KFC’s early entry into Latin America gave it a leadership position over several other food-chains in Mexico and the Caribbean. KFC’s Latin America Strategy was an example of a classic internationalization strategy. KFC firstly expanded into Mexico and Puerto Rico because of several external opportunities such as geographical proximity and other political and economic relations with United States. As KFC’s experience in Latin America grew, it expanded its franchise system throughout the Caribbean. Only after sustaining a leadership position in Mexico and the Caribbean did it venture into South America. However, KFC faced difficult decisions in regards to the formulation of an effective Latin American Strategy over the next 20 years, since limited resources and cash flow limited KFC’s ability to aggressively expand in all countries at the same time. Statement of alternative options Looking at the fast-food industry and the highly intensive competition prevailing, a better possible option for KFC would be to merge with other growing chicken chains such as Popeyes, Chick-fil-A, Boston Market, Church’s, and El Pollo Loco. Such merger would possibly create one of the largest chicken chains in the fast-food industry. Merging with another company would dramatically strengthen KFC’s market position and open new  opportunities for competitive advantage. In the fast-food industry, such mergers enable the companies to have much stronger technological skills, more or better competitive capabilities, a more attractive lineup of services, wider geographic coverage and greater financial resources to expand into new areas. However, it would still be essential for KFC to tailor a strategy that fits its particular strengths and weaknesses so as to hold a lead position in Latin America by operating several company-owned restaurants in the targeted countries. Recommendations Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation, the world’s largest chicken restaurant chain and the third largest fast-food chain, has several internal weaknesses and resource deficiencies which needs to be identified and improve to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals. Moreover, today’s fast-food industry offers several external opportunities and poses potential threats to the rivals’ well-being and market position. It would be essential for the managers of KFC to identify firm’s resource strengths and weaknesses and its external opportunities and threats, which would provide a good overview of whether a firm’s business position is fundamentally healthy or unhealthy. This would further complement in formulating strategies so as to expand firm’s business activities over a wider geographic coverage. Latin America is an attractive location for investment because of the size of its markets, its common language and culture, and its geographical proximity to the United States. However, it would be difficult for KFC to penetrate the market successfully as a result of mounting competition from several competitors. It would be a wise recommendation for KFC to merge with other growing chicken chains, which would possibly fill the resource gaps and allow the new companies to do things, which KFC could not do alone. Such a merger would allow KFC to operate several franchised and company owned restaurants in the targeted countries of Latin America, which is more effective in building a significant market share in individual countries. This is because market leadership often requires a country subsidiary that actively manages both franchised and company owned restaurants. Such  strategy would also enable KFC to better control quality, service and restaurant cleanliness. REFERENCES Aaker, DA 1992, Developing business strategies, 3rd edn, Wiley, New York. Faculty of Business and Law 2003, Guide for students, 4th edn.   Perry, C 1992, Strategic management processes, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne.   Thompson, AA & Strickland, AJ 2003, Strategic management, 13th edn, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.

Middle Managers

Managers are the most important human resource in any organisation because they are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the organisational goals are achieved within the specific time through spending less financial resources. Both organisations and people need each other to further their different goals or objectives. Therefore if mutuality is missing, it makes no sense in trying to assemble a group and develop a cooperation because there is no common base on which to build. Therefore, for attainment of organisational effectiveness, human resource and especially the middle level managers is the most important asset that must be paid attention by the management.Management practices are employed by middle managers in order to enhance the effectiveness of any organization including learning institutions, and these management activities are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The middle managers through the planning function is responsible in coming with a schedu le of business activities that will result to attainment of the set goals. The middle managers outline what to be done and the expected output from the employees.The organizing function of any organization has to deal with the issue of allocating the tasks to the employees respectively according to their competence. Resistance by the workers may be experienced if the allocating process used is viewed to be inappropriate and oppressing which always leads to poor organization performance. So middle managers have to convince the employees that everything will be okay and there interests will be taken care of.The leading/directing function of any organization is faced with the tasks of demonstrating to employees how to do various activities and also involves the employment of charismatic leaders in form of middle managers who can influence the employees towards positive attitude of performing their work and also capture the attention of the top management. The Controlling management pra ctice by the middle managers is responsible for monitoring the results of any undertakings and thus can make any corrections or adjustments if need to do so arise. (Maund, 2001)There are three levels of management in any organisation. The first level is the top level managers who include the senior managers and the executive officers and they are responsible for formation of organisational goals and objectives and they play an important role in decision making process. The second level is that of middle level managers who are responsible for ensuring that all the functional strategies from various departments are workable and can be achieved with certainty.This level of management is the most critical one in that both the lower and top management attracts attention regarding to various activities within the firm.   For example, the top management may exert pressure on them to achieve better results while the lower management may want them to reduce their level of supervision withi n the workplace. The third level is that of operational management or lower level managers who ensures that organisational activities are undertaken to achieve the set objectives or goals. . (Dale, 2001)How Middle Managers can meet their demandsAccording to the latest research, reports suggests that middle level managers have a discrete and decisive function in all organisations   particularly in the learning institutions and they do not only act as a medium between the top managers and the subordinates. Middle managers in many learning institutions in an effort to be effective and efficient in the workplace have the responsibility of balancing the ever competing demands of their roles brought about by conflicts from both the top management and the subordinates or the low level management. In order to attain the above objective this middle level managers have embarked on various critical roles in order to avoid any misunderstandings in the workplace and thus achieve the desired ou tput. Such roles include the following: (Fiddler, and Atton, 1999)Middle managers in learning institutions act as change agents within these organisations. Globalization has taken the centre stage almost in all sectors of the economy including learning institutions. There is increased interaction of people from different cultures, societies, and various backgrounds in undertaking various business activities with the aim of achieving their goals for example opening learning branches in other countries. Because of invention of advanced technology the world has increasingly become a village and as a result global business is the modern form of business in this 21st centuryBecause of globalization in relation to learning institutions there have been great disregard to national borders, governments have lower hand in controlling the flow of their economies and large companies including learning institutions are now not restricted to only one particular country as it was before. Middle le vel managers in learning institution have to cope with changes brought about by this aspect of globalization and they should brief the top management on decision making process. They also have the task of ensuring that the teachers in this institution are equipped with skills, expertise, and knowledge that can tap new knowledge from other people from different countries without hindering the learning process.Middle managers have the duty of being a strategist in order to cope with the increasing demands from both the top management and the low level management. This implies that they have the tasks of ensuring that the strategies formulated by the organisation are implemented and executed in a good way that will lead to achievement of goals. They should therefore have the ability to interpret direction from the top managers in to functional departmental strategies and policies that will avoid any conflicts in the organisation and those plans must be viable and supportive for the mis sion of the organisation. (Baker, 1999)In order to enhance this responsibility the middle level mangers must pay much attention  Ã‚   to formulation of workable strategies. A strategy may be defined as the calculated means by which the enterprise deploys its resources to accomplish its purpose and basic objectives under the most advantageous circumstances. Therefore the middle level mangers have the task of ensuring that the organisation   for example learning institution must be overall low cost effective system which will ensure good returns for example high performance through use of competent teachers and using of advanced technologies. So the work of middle managers is to ensure sourcing of competent teachers and application of approved high quality technologies e.g. the use of white boards.Middle level managers must also act at ethicists in any organisation in order to balance the competing demands brought about by the interactions with both top and low level managers. Thi s role implies that the middle managers especially those from learning institutions should develop a system that will help them sustain pressure from both top managers and subordinates in the process of promoting moral conduct within the organisation   that will foster good results. For example teachers will be motivated to lecture/teach and students too will be motivated to work hard and achieve their results.   The other role middle managers have to embark on is the responsibility of being a team player in the organisation or in the workplace. (Klagge, 1998)This implies that the middle managers must show commitment and support cooperation among the top management, low level management or the subordinates and themselves. For these middle managers to maximize the concept of teamwork in the organisation then they should emphasize on formation of groups within the workplace.A group can be defined as social unit which people interacts face to face when working. If an organisation e mphasises group work then it is more likely that good results will be achieved. Sometimes some kind of work require teamwork participation in order to achieve goals, so managers should encourage group decisions too because they bound to succeed unlike individual decisions. With the concept of teamwork for example the subordinates will be motivated when they work together with the subordinates e.g. head teachers working together with teachers in trying to achieve good learning process.The other role that will help balance the competing demands in an organisation is that of being the mentor of employees especially the subordinates.   Leading by example for example engaging in groups with the subordinates and demonstrating what the subordinates are supposed to do. Also to get admiration from both the employees and the top management they should act as top manager’s advocate to subordinates as well as being subordinate supporter to top level managers.Another useful role that wi ll balance the competing demands is that of middle managers embracing the concept of being tacticians. This means that middle managers have to understand the organisational environment e.g. internal and external factors that may cause conflicts within the organisation. The main aspect of being tactician is that of middle managers encouraging collective decision making thus parties involved in carrying out duties will be motivated to work because they were part of the decisions arrived. (Fiddler, and Atton, 1999)Advice to Middle ManagersFor these level of managers to be effective and efficient in the organisation   and more so to be able to balance the competing demands they need to be committed in their roles and especially being change agents in the learning institutions. Proper communication is essential to any organisation or group effectiveness and learning institutions are not exceptional. Research indicates that poor communication is probably the most frequently cited source of interpersonal conflicts. It is only through transmitting meaning from one person to another that ideas and messages can be conveyed.Communication can play the following functions; controlling employee’s behaviour, motivating the workforce, provides a release for emotional expression of feelings and performs the role of facilitating decision making in organisation. Proper channels of communication should be put in place in learning institution and this will help the organisation to attain their set goals for example teachers reporting to their head teachers then the head teachers to senior managers then to the executive arm respectively if there have been a problem to be solved. (Edmondson, Bohmer and Pisano, 2001)Leadership is another concept that middle level managers should emphasize on. Without proper leadership, organisation’s effectiveness and efficiency cannot be achieved and bad leadership in an organisation may cause poor results and thus lack of attainment of objectives.   It should also be noted that not all managers are leaders and not all leaders are managers. Leaders can emerge from within a group as well as by formal appointments to lead a group. A good leadership style should be adopted in an organisation and especially in the learning institutions.This implies the way in which the functions of middle managers with particular regard to the concept of leadership are carried out. Styles like autocratic style of leadership should be discouraged as this does not give the opportunity subordinates in decision making and only top managers are responsible to do so. Learning institutions should prefer the use of democratic style of leadership whereby the focus of power is more with the group as a whole and not in the top managers and there is greater interaction in the group. The middle managers of learning institutions should practice laissez faire style of leadership in that the employees especially the subordinates are left to choo se groups for themselves and make their own decisions that will help them achieve the organisational goals. (Azzar, 2001)The middle managers’ impact on control mechanisms in any organization is great and immeasurable.   It is therefore important that managers look for convenient, cost-conscious and appreciated ways of control mechanisms in order to build a dynamic, committed and, a motivated workforce that will result in better productivity and profitability of the organization thus enhancing effectiveness and efficiency of the organizationConclusion:For middle level managers to meet the demands of top management as well as that of subordinates they should fully define their roles to avoid conflicts that may arise in the course of work. They should also use proper leadership and good communication skills in order to achieve the organisational effectiveness. Middle level managers has a greater need to understand organisational   behaviour in order to achieve the organisati onal   effectiveness and particularly in learning institutions and much attention should be directed to people, structure, technology and the environment.Organisational   effectiveness can only be achieved if the middle management is be able to incorporate good leadership, motivation, a well defined organisational   structure, forming group dynamics and setting up good structures for communicating in the workplace. The organisations should also be flexible in the sense that they should be ready to cope with change without affecting their productivity.References:Ardts, J. (2002): Developing people in line with corporate needs. Human Resource Management International.Azzar.J. (2001): The Heart of School Leadership-Educational LeadershipBaker, D. (1999): Strategic Human Resource Management-Performance, alignment, and management. Librarian Career Development.Bhindi, N. (2003): Practicing creative leadership- Pipedream or possibility? The Practicing AdministratorDale, M. (2001): Th e Art of HRD: Developing Management Skills  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   , Vol. 3, New DelhiCrest Publishing HouseEdmondson, A. Bohmer, R. and Pisano, G. (2001): Speeding up team learning. Harvard Business Review.Farson, R. and Keyes, R. (2002): The Failure-tolerant leader. The Innovative EnterpriseFiddler, B. and Atton, T. (1999): Dealing with poor performance and range of solutions in poor performing staff in schools and how to manage them. London and New York, RoutledgeKlagge, J. (1998): The Empowerment Squeeze-Views from the Middle Management Position. Journal of management development, 17(8)Maund, L. (2001): An Introduction to Human to Human Resource Management: Theoryand Practice: Macmillan, Palgrave

How to Win a National Merit Scholarship

How to Win a National Merit Scholarship SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Being named a Finalist is the highest academic recognition you can achieve from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). It is a national distinction that places you at the pinnacle of academic achievement. Not all Finalists are chosen to receive scholarships, however. Only about 8,000 of 15,000 students gain this award. In this article we’ll talk about what scholarships are available through NMSC and what you need to do to get one. The Path to This Point First, 1.5 million high school juniors take the PSAT/NMSQT. Only 16,000 students are named Finalists, and, after an extensive application process, only 15,000 of these students achieve Finalist status. If you haven’t read our detailed articles yet on the steps to take to become a Semifinalist and Finalist, check them out here: National Merit Semifinalist and National Merit Finalist. Now that you know what it takes to get to this point, read on to learn about the three scholarships available, how much money they give, and how Finalists qualify for scholarship awards. 1. National Merit Scholarships Every Finalist is given consideration for a National Merit Scholarship. Finalists are named Scholars (in other words, receive the scholarship) based on the strength of their applications. Scholars have outstanding applications that demonstrate academic commitment, extracurricular and community involvement, passion, and drive. Your first choice college is not a factor under consideration for National Merit Scholarships. In fact, the NMSC committee members do not even see this information. These scholarships are awarded to only 2,500 Finalists, or about 1 in 6 Finalists. They are a one-time award of $2,500 and are not renewable throughout your years of college. To sum up: Every Finalist is given consideration for the National Merit Scholarship based on their applications. 2. Corporate-Sponsored Scholarships The second type of scholarship offered by NMSC is a corporate-sponsored scholarship. Finalists are also automatically given consideration for these scholarships based on their applications and the information they provide about parental employment, intended majors, and career plans. Most corporate sponsors give awards to students whose parents or guardians work for them. A small number award non-employee children if they indicate an interest in a major or career choice that the corporation wants to support. As this changes year to year, you should check with your corporation of interest to learn about their award criteria. Sponsor corporations include UPS, Boeing, Macy’s, BP, Southwest Airlines, and the General Mills Foundation (see the full list here). About 1,000 students receive corporate-sponsored awards, and they range greatly in amount. They are usual renewable, or awarded annually, and tend to be transferable to any four-year accredited college. To sum up: Finalists are automatically given consideration for corporate-sponsored awards based on their applications and the parent employment information they indicate therein (or occasionally, major and career interest). 3. College-Sponsored Scholarships Finalists who do not receive either the National Merit Scholarships or a Corporate-Sponsored Scholarships are considered for College-Sponsored scholarships. Check thelist of college sponsorsto see which schools are eligible. Some popular sponsor colleges include Boston University, Boston College, Tufts, Bowdoin, Colby, University of Chicago, University of Southern California, and Pomona. Some colleges who do NOT sponsor include Harvard and the other Ivy Leagues, MIT, Williams, and Middlebury. Students must indicate one of the sponsor colleges as their First Choice college on their applications. Students who put â€Å"Undecided† will not be considered. So, even if you’re not sure, you should still put one of the sponsoring colleges as your first choice or add one to your application ASAP. Students can log into their NMSC applications and change their first choice college up until May 31st, UNLESS they have already received an award offer from the college they indicated. NMSC sends rosters of Finalists to sponsoring colleges in March. Scholarship offers start in early May and continue for the next few months. Page 3 of the application goes over the College-Sponsored Scholarships process in detail. If you have any questions about it, definitely clarify by calling NMSC Scholarship administration at 1-847-866-5100. About 4,100 students receive college-sponsored scholarships in an amount between $500 and $2,000. Colleges may award even more merit-based awardsif that’s the case, NMSC will cover up to $2,000, and the rest of the award will come from the college or other sources. Since every school differs, students should contact the school directly to discuss their merit-based financial awards. College-sponsored scholarships are renewable annually and non-transferable. To sum up: You must put a sponsor college as your first choice in your NMSC application to be considered for a college-sponsored scholarship. Since college awards and policies differ, you should contact the school of interest itself to learn how much merit-based scholarship money you might be eligible to receive. Want to build the best possible college application and financial aid package? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. What Do You Need to Do to Maximize Your Chances? Put together an outstanding application. Review instructions for Semifinalists here: http://nationalmerit.org/Merit_RI_Leaflet.pdf. What story do your extracurricular activities and community service tell? Do they show a progression to a position of leadership? Do they show â€Å"depth over breadth†? Besides having flawless grammar and spelling, does your personal essay show that you are thoughtful, reflective, and draw meaning from your experiences? How strong is your recommendation? Give your teacher a â€Å"brag sheet† of the qualities, accomplishments, and even adjectives you would like them to include to make your recommendation stand out as one of the best. If you were on the committee choosing which Finalists become Scholars, what criteria would you use? What would impress you about a candidate and make you want to award him/her a scholarship? Research sponsor corporations and be aware of your parents’ employment. Make sure to include any relevant information on your application so you will be considered for a corporate-sponsored scholarship. Indicate a sponsor college as your first choice on your application. Make any changes by May 31st. Page 3 of your application explains this process in greater detail. Put Your Best Foot Forward - A Timeline Maximize your chances of getting a scholarship by following these steps and meeting all the deadlines. Prep for the PSAT in sophomore year. Make sure you're scoring above the score cutoff for your state, or else you won't qualify as a Semifinalist. Take the PSAT in the fall of your junior year and qualify for Semifinalist by scoring in the top 1%. Study for the SATs in the spring and summer and take them in the fall of your senior year. Get a high score that shows NMSC that your PSAT scores weren’t just a fluke. Submit your NMSC application in early October of senior year. If for some reason your school received late notification of Semifinalists, just let NMSC know. In this instance, they won’t penalize you for having a late application. Receive word that you made Finalist in early February of senior year. Receive word that you won a scholarship starting in early May of senior year. Preparation Is Everything Start preparing as early as possible to become a National Merit Finalist and Scholar. This doesn’t just mean studying for the PSATs and SATs. It also means joining clubs, gaining a leadership position, and cultivating good relationships with your teachers. All of this preparation will not only help you succeed on the PSAT and SAT, but will set you up for success in your future academic and professional careers. What's Next? Make sure you read about our National Merit Semifinalist and Finalist articles to have the best chance of qualifying for each stage of the competition. The National Merit Scholarship uses the PSAT, but the SAT is far more important for college admissions. What's a good SAT score? Learn what a good target score is, based on your college goals. Aiming for a perfect score on the SAT? Read our guide to getting a perfect SAT score, written by one of our perfect scorers. Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points?We have the industry's leading SAT prep program. Built by Harvard grads and SAT full scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so you get the most effective prep possible. Sign up for our free 5-day trial today:

Advancing Cultural Mindset and Integration Assignment

Advancing Cultural Mindset and Integration - Assignment Example To have a global mindset helps individuals to think widely and to work with people from different cultures. For example, global managers are different from the local managers due to their state of mind and the ability to work across boundaries and appreciating cross culture. Therefore, to have a difference in mindset and approach to problem-solving makes one has the ability to work internationally. In addition, individuals should not assume that their way of doing things is right. It is important to understand how people operate in this complex world. Moreover, having a global mindset entails the willingness of an individual to adjust their behavior and way of thinking. If an individual keeps on doing what they are used to, they miss opportunities to become successful. There are various ways used to integrate varied perspectives to be successful in a culturally diverse society. Firstly, one needs to understand and appreciate the acquired culture. This entails learning how people communicate, how they make decisions, and generally how they do things. This will help solve the cultural differences among the different employees and the executive team. Secondly, organizations need to put in place a cultural integration plan. This will help identify the strengths of the different employees as well as identify where the big risks are and to have plans for mitigating them For instance, it will help identify managers who are struggling with their new teams and which teams have a difficulty in working within their limits. Thirdly, it is important for organizations to evolve culture. This entails educating people to overcome the justifiable ‘us’ and ‘them’ culture and instead embrace the ‘we’ culture.

Oil drilling on federal land Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Oil drilling on federal land - Research Paper Example The United States ranks first in natural gas production and third in oil production owing to increased domestic exploration, which poses uncertainty considering that the country holds about 4% of the world natural gas and oil reserves (The Wilderness Society 1). The proponents of onshore exploration justify their actions as those of seeking energy security by making use of the country’s mineral reserves. As such, millions of acres of federal lands have been leased to oil and gas companies accounting for thousands of wells drilled every year. It is for the alarming rate of this endeavor that has attracted significant scrutiny from citizens, stakeholders, and government officials calling for regulation. This follows risks involved in exploration procedures and consequent fallout effects that range from environmental effects to human health. Therefore, it is important to examine the benefits and detriments of onshore drilling with aim of evaluating its sustainability in the long term. Equally important is examination of the resolve that seeks to open federal lands and waters for oil and gas exploration. The move to enhance the use of federal lands and waters to oil and gas exploration has its benefits to the country’s energy economics. ... With this in mind, it is important that a quick resolution to mitigate negative impacts to the economy is formulated and implemented to the letter. Leasing of federal land to oil and gas companies is seen as the best move to ensure economic stability in the country. This gives the oil industry a chance to participate effectively in domestic energy production and limit uncertainty. This is achieved though exploration of the natural resources, which is vital the country’s energy and economic security (Alleman 2). With exploration on federal lands and waters, the country becomes independent and does not rely on the foreign oil market for its energy. The potential of the US oil reserves remains unknown following restrictive federal policy on onshore drilling, and thus limits the chances of gaining energy independence. Such independence would guarantee a low cost of living owing to a significant drop in the cost of energy. Domestic onshore drilling also serves to benefit the societ y with regard to providing employment opportunities in various capacities ranging from primary to tertiary jobs. Drilling premises require specialized technicians, scientists, and laborers in addition to essential supporting services such as health, hospitality, and transport. This is an important aspect of the regional economy as leased federal areas benefiting from exploration activities (SWCA Environmental Consultants 4). This has been demonstrated by the state of affairs in western states where authorization has been approved. With the approval of the resolve to free up federal land, affected regions should expect a surge in the demand for skilled labor. In essence, the expansion of the energy production into