Placement Experience and Personal and Professional Development Essay

Placement Experience and Personal and Professional Development - Essay Example In addition, I was also assigned with the responsibility to handle queries of customers who are already in the middle of a tour or those who are about to go on a tour. Queries were mostly related to payment, travel tickets, travel documents, immigration and local guidance. My duty was also to process the queries and delegate them to my superiors in cases where handling those queries were beyond my capability as well as authority. Another major responsibility was to notify clients of any modifications in the tour plans and other updates related to date of departure and arrival (such as, notifying any flight postponement or delay). Alongside that, my job role required me to gather feedback from our customers regarding quality of products and services offered by us. Thereafter, I was supposed to deliver the feedback to my superiors as well as manager in order for them to identify area of strengths and improvements. Lastly, I provided assistance to my manager so as to finish the day†™s task.DiscussionBeing the sales representative in Hino Travel Limited, my major responsibility was to attend customers who come for consultancy and provide them with all necessary information regarding products and services that we had to offer. In such a situation I had to use my presentation skills combined with a positive attitude in order to persuade them to choose the deals that we had on offer. I was able to do so by developing an exhaustive picture of needs and expectations of the customers.

Ethical Treatment of Prisoners Essay Example for Free

Ethical Treatment of Prisoners Essay Ethical Treatment of Prisoners BY MeltssaoT People in society today have rules, regulations, and guidelines to follow in order to maintain freedom, safety, structure, and self-discipline. If any of these rules are broken, there are consequences to follow. It depends on the severity of the crime on what type of punishment or consequence is given to an individual. If the crime is severe enough the individual may be deprived of their rights, freedom of movement, and sent to prison for a duration of time. If one is sent to prison then the ethical treatment of prisoners rights must be taking into consideration and analyzed. A prisoner/inmate is a person that has committed a criminal offence and depending on their criminal history he or she may be put on probation or confined to a county Jail or state penitentiary. Once an individual gets behind those block walls their lives then tend to belong to the deputies, correctional officer or warden that is employed by that facility. Within the prison system there is a division of power that exists. This power can leave feelings of powerlessness and dependency in the prisoners. We all have heard stories of correction officers using their power of authority to abuse and psychologically harm the prisoner. For example a couple of months ago in the state that I live in there was an inmate who was locked up for a minor charge of failure to appear. He was waiting for his dinner this particular evening, and the deputy almost slammed the inmate finger in the door. Of course this escalade into a verbal altercation between the two, and from there a physical fight broke out. The deputy which outweighed the inmate by over 100 pounds picked up the inmate and slammed him on his head onto a concrete floor multiple times until the inmate was unconscious. The Jailhouse officials rush this inmate to the ospital in which he went into a coma, and eventually was placed on life support. The family of this inmate was faced with a difficult situation which was either remove him from life support or leave him there to waste a away. In the end the family made the decision to remove their love one from life support, and the deputy was behind a minor criminal matter the question is did he deserve to be treated less than a human being? Did he really deserve to die? Some people might argue the fact that because he was locked up then he deserved the treatment that he got and others might voice the difference. I personally say no, because this is still a life and even though he made a mistake there should have been a correct way to go about punishment for this inmate if he really had got out of order. When law abiding citizens and correctional officers look at prisoners, it does not matter what the crime was or how severe the punishment, a prisoner is a nobody. In the United States there are many people that may agree and have strong feelings when it comes to this statement. In ethics a utilitarian may say that human beings should focus on the potential rules of an action and determine what would happen if e or she follows the rules. Utilitarian theory states the moral worth of an action should be determined specifically by its usefulness in maximizing utility and minimizing negative utility. The world as a whole has a moral code on how people should conduct themselves, on what is right and wrong. The belief of the utilitarian theory can be used in prisons to help those that really want to be rehabilitated. I am not saying that this theory will work for all, but there are some men and women that deserve another chance in life. We have to realize that everyone makes mistakes n their life, some are worse than others, but in the end everyone still deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, no matter what they may have done. I have heard stories about men that may have raped or killed a little child is sent to prison the correctional officers tend to sometime turn their heads and let the other inmates beat him or rape him until he is almost dead. I dont agree with the fact that he hurt a child but at the same time I dont think that its morally right that they allow the other inmates to Jeopardize what little bit of freedom that they may have behind hose prison walls either. The ethical solution to this is when you do have a child rapist sent to prison put those type of people in a area amongst themselves and maybe have counselors around where they can get a better understanding of this person sick mind because sometimes these people that do these type of things have had some type of trauma when they were a child. It is unethical to confine an individual to a correctional facility and expose this individual to danger. When you talk about ethics in prison, in the eyes of some that is either driving by hat facility yard every day or has never really been behind those thick masculine bars then one may say that these people are animals and they deserve to be behind those bars. Once behind those bars their life changes because they have to be told when to eat, when to sleep, when to walk and talk. If an inmate is not like by a correctional officer or if one does not follow order then they may be deprived of food or even yard time. Torture and beatings will not correct their behavior but will make them more aggressive so that choice is not the best. If any of these things should appen then this may lead to riots and in serious scenarios, killing of security guards. It is best to provide the basic needs such as food to the prisoners so that there is a harmonious reaction between the prisoner and the correction officer. The utilitarian would say that inmates should follow a morally right rule that would result in happiness in which once they are return to society they can determine what rules citizens. Learning positive rules will result to good behavior and a change of mind that life without freedom is something that one may not want to return to. In contrast..

The Pillory in Nathaniel Hawthornes Scarlet Letter Essay example -- S

The Scarlet Letter - The Pillory       The pillory stands tall as "the very ideal of ignominy" amongst the Puritans (52). Its method of discipline involves the convicted criminal standing upon a scaffold, in some cases with their heads confined, for the rest of the population to gaze upon with disdain. It is an outrage against common nature for the culprit to be forbidden to hide his face for shame. By definition, the term "ugly" means morally reprehensible or at fault; consequently, ugly best describes this technique of public humiliation as a sort of punishment. Just as the pillory blatantly defies human nature, so too do the Puritans defy nature by upholding such a practice. Thus, the pillory embodies the ugliness of Puritan society.    The Puritans' sense of justice consists of making those they deem sinners an object of public mockery and a shameful example to the rest of the people. The pillory is portrayed as a "contrivance of wood and iron" constructed in such a way that it was "fashioned as to confined the human head in its tight grasp, and thus hold...

Research Paper On Gun Control

There is a old saying that guns dont kill people, people kill people. This Is a known saying that comes out all the time when this conversation pops up. The media portrays gun control in a positive light, they believe that this is something that would work: believe that gun control will never work and giving people guns to protect themselves and taking guns from people the public judges or deems unfit is a terrible Idea.It Is unsafe, and also endangering people's lives and Is unfair, plus It Is oing against the second amendment which many have died to protect. The Article (â€Å"We Need More Gun control, whether You Know It or Not†) Is an pro-gun article that explains how most americans think you need a background check and go through all these test to be able to buy a gun, â€Å"but such laws don't exist†. First thing that concerns me with this article Is the how he acquired the stats and comments he obtained.Most of them are only from a small group consensus and was n ot open up to the public to thus meaning that it is only one sided and not taking an opinion from thers sides ot this topic. The second bit ot information that was about this article was that he has no ethos and have no real credited sources of his information. An picture I found on the web from (â€Å"accessories. com†) was an perfect example for gun rights. This pictures describes that George Bush is saying â€Å"Free People Ought To Be Armed†.This picture basically saying that George Bush a person that fought for the rights of people Is saying that they should be dble to keep their guns. I Agree with statement the government now is trying to take away guns from people and give uns to untrained people who would hurt themselves and kill someone on accident â€Å"Ilke a kid with a gun†. On the website (â€Å"Twitter. com†) there is an anti-gun control picture. This picture is saying that a man named Joe Salazar Is being claimed an Idlot because he states that college women should not have guns because women fearing rape may â€Å"pop a round at someone†.I agree with this statement. Having untrained women and some men carrying weapons will endanger people around them, the said so person, and his/her self. This is a terrible compromise to having people protected and putting in pro gun ontrol laws which end up benefiting no one In the end of It all. â€Å"l guess Dy nature, I'm a oestructlve one Ana trutn De told, tne saTety was never on. So warning bells should have rung when I was trained wrong. For you knew I was the trigger happy and sought.I'm thinking ‘goodbye' would have been for the best Instead. But now I found you dead, with my bullets in your chest. † A tragedy like this could be avoided if people where to realize that gun control is a terrible idea for the peoples safety and needs to be thinked over. Yes, there will be death cause by insane eople Just unloading rounds into people but thats not a guns fau lt is it the persons who is pulling the trigger that needs to be blamed.

How do the brain and eyes jointly process information?

Introduction The intricacies of the human eye enable us to interpret light and distinguish colour to produce vision. It is, however, the complexity of the processing in the visual pathway from eye to brain along which this information is interpreted and manifested that allows us to create a representation of the surrounding world, otherwise known as visual perception (Gibson, 1950). Whilst vision begins with the eye and ends with the brain, the way these organs work together and the relative influence each has on our perception is fundamental to producing what we see. Light is first refracted onto the cornea of the eye before passing to the pupil and lens. An image is then projected onto the retina, resulting in the production of ganglion cells specialised to describe depth, colour, shape, motion, and light intensity (Nelson, 2007). Nerve spikes from the ganglion cells containing this information transmit to the brain’s optic nerve, by which visual information is passed for interpretation in the visual cortex. The right and left visual cortices comprise part of the occipital lobe of the brain, both receiving information from the opposite hemisphere’s visual field. The estimated 140 million neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) (Lueba & Kraftsik, 1994) fire when visual stimuli appear within their receptive field, and these fields are tuned to receive stimuli of specific orientations and colours (Kandal et al., 2000). The receptive fields of neurons in more complex visual processing areas are able to detect more intricate stimuli such as faces (Kanwisher, McDermott & Chun, 1997) or direction (Allman et al. 1984). The five identified visual areas (V1-V5) are interconnected with varying strengths, allowing information to be projected forward from one to another and feedback to be given. As the visual information passes through this hierarchy, it is proposed that is processed by two pathways of neural representation. These pathways, named the dorsal and ventral streams, are hypothesi sed to deal with spatial attention and the recognition and perception of visual stimuli respectively, and involve the passing of visual information and representation further into the brain integrating it with awareness, attention, and memory functions (Ungerleider & Mishkin, 1982). The process of visual perception, as the eye’s sensory input is interpreted throughout the brain enables us to perceive and construct our own visual world. Gibson (1966) proposed a direct theory of perception, affording the richness of the sensory input with the construction of the perceived visual outcome. He claimed that a variety of environmental cues, or affordances, aid the interpretation of the visual scene. These include brightness, texture gradient, relative size, and superimposition (where one object blocks another). Gibson believed that when combined with invariants (constancies within the environment ie. parallel lines appearing to converge toward a horizon) and optic flow (the pattern of light movement within a visual scene) this was enough to enable the perceiver to orient themselves and the surrounding environment. There are, however, complexities to Gibson’s bottom-up theory of visual processing. It may be overly simplistic to underestimate the role of a top-down influence from the brain. Gibson’s theory does not account for times when the visual system is fooled, or becomes subject to an illusion. Rubin’s Vase (Rubin, 1915) is a classic example of how the human visual system is subject to ambiguity, where one single visual stimulus can be perceived as two distinct images. If the visual system directly processes light into an image, it would follow that a single visual input would lead to a universal and singular output. However, the existence of ambiguity in the perception of a visual stimulus suggests there may be times when the brain cannot decide as to what representation to assign to the visual input. Further questions are raised when looking at the influence of context, and how this can lead us to misinterpret visual stimuli. The Ebbinghaus Illusion, demonstrates perceptual distortion, highlighting the role of contextual cues, where a circle surrounded by large circles is judged as smaller than the same circle surrounded by small circles (Obonai, 1954). This is suggestive of a higher-level process in which the brain applies context relevant logic to the interpretation of a visual stimuli. Additionally, experience provides strong influence over the processing of visual information. ‘Impossible illusions‘ such as Escher’s Waterfall, and the Hollow Face Illusion (Gregory, 1997) exploit concepts of experiential perceptual learning, such as knowledge that adjacent edges must join, and human faces are always convex. These illusions demonstrate how the brain aims to perceive coherence in 3D objects to make sense out of its visual environment, creating a captivating paradox between what we know and what we are actually seeing. Visual perception can be ambiguous, distorted, paradoxical, and even fictitious (Gregory, 1980). It appears to be influenced by context, experience, and expectation, a concept asserted by Richard Gregory (1970) who theorised perception as a top-down process. Deduced from observations of when the human visual system makes errors, Gregory proposed that the brain constructs a visual hypothesis from information processed by the eye based on former experience and knowledge. If the top-down, constructivist theory holds true, there are implications for the constancy of percepts between individuals. We all have idiosynchratic knowledge and experience. Do differences in internal representation lead individuals to perceive visual stimuli differently from each otherAdditionally, what is to be said for the perception of those that have no knowledge or experienceDoherty et al. (2010) observed an absence of suceptibility to the Ebbinghaus illusion in a number of children under seven years of age, perhaps suggestive that experience and knowledge does have an influence on visual information processing. Without the knowledge base, the children were not affected by the contextual cues. MacLeod (2007) proposes that top-down theories are based on times when visual conditions are poor, and bottom-up theories are founded in ideal viewing conditions; neither of which is an all encompassing explanation of perception. Recent research highlights the interaction of both constructivist and direct processes (MacLeod, 2007), with the proposal that when bottom-up, sensory information is abundant there is less input from contextual hypotheses, and when there is an absence of stimulus information, the brain draws on its prior knowledge and experience to comprehend the input (Ramachandran, 1994). It becomes apparent that the study of human perception and how it is influenced by not only the anatomical structure of the visual pathway, but also psychological components such as experience and knowledge will enable us to further understand how the eyes and the brain interact to process visual information. References: Allman, J., Miezin, F., McGuinness, E. (1985) ‘Direction- and velocity-specific responses from beyond the classical receptive field in the middle temporal visual area (MT)† Perception, 14(2), pp. 105 – 126. Doherty, M., Campbell, N., Hiromi, T., and Phillips, W. (2010) ‘The Ebbinghaus illusion deceives adults but not young children’, Developmental Science, 13(5), pp. 714-721. Gibson, J. (1950). The perception of the visual world. Oxford: Houghton Mifflin. Gibson, J. (1966). The senses considered as perceptual systems. Oxford: Houghton Mifflin. Gregory, R. (1970). The Intelligent Eye. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Gregory RL. (1980) ‘Perceptions as hypotheses’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 290(B), pp. 181-197. Gregory, R. (1997) ‘Knowledge in perception and illusion’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, vol. 352, pp. 1121–1128. Kandal, E., Schwartz,J., and Jessell, T. (2000). Principles of Neural Science. 4th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Health Professions Division. Kanwisher, N., McDermott, J., and Chun, M. (1997) ‘The fusiform face area: a module in human extrastriate cortex specialized for face perception’, Journal of Neuroscience, 17, pp. 4302-4311. Leuba, G., and Kraftsik, R. (1994) ‘Changes in volume, surface estimate, three-dimensional shape and total number of neurons of the human primary visual cortex from midgestation until old age’, Anatomy of Embryology, 190, pp.351-366. McLeod, S. (2007). Simply Psychology. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 February 2012]. Nelson, R. (2007) Visual responses of ganglion cells. In: H. Kolb, E. Fernandez, and R. Nelson (eds.), The Organisation of the Retina and Visual System. Salt Lake City (UT): University of Utah Health Sciences Centre. Obonai, T., (1954) ‘Induction effects in estimates of extent’, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 47, pp. 57-60. Ramachandran, V. (1994). In: R. Gregory, and J. Harris, (eds.) The Artful Eye. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 249–267. Rubin, E. (1915). Synsoplevede Figurer: Studier i psykologisk Analyse. Forste Del’ [Visually experienced figures: Studies in psychological analysis. Part one]. Copenhagen and Christiania: Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag. Ungerleider, L., and Mishkin, M. (1982). Two cortical visual systems. In: D. Ingle, M. Goodale, and R. Mansfield, (eds). Analysis of Visual Behavior. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. pp. 549–586.

Tip for a Great Holiday Season Dont Look at the Wall!!

Tip for a Great Holiday Season Dont Look at the Wall!! Heading for a Crash? You’ve probably had the experience of walking down the street and realizing someone is headed directly in a path directly toward you. You shift to the left. They shift to the left. You shift to the right. They shift to the right. Maybe, just maybe, you bump into each other. Why? Because you’re looking at each other! And humans are wired to head in the direction we’re looking. If you want to avoid running into that person, look AWAY from them, in the direction you decide to go! Famous entrepreneur Robert Herjavec was interviewed recently about business and race car driving. His advice, which has been passed down from race car driver to race car driver: Don’t Look at the Wall!! I try this trick on my bicycle when I realize I’m about to run over an inanimate object or hit a pothole. Often I fail to look where I want to go, instead concentrating on the obstacle. The result? A very bumpy ride. There are plenty of ways this metaphor can be applied to business (and maybe you thought that’s where I was going), but Thanksgiving is this week! So I thought I’d reflect on the way the â€Å"don’t look at the wall† rule applies to relationships and family. Changing Family Dynamics Is there one person in your family who tends to be disruptive or otherwise absorbing of attention? Are there moments when all energy goes toward that person instead of toward the connections between everyone else in the room? In those moments, you’re looking at the wall. What would happen if you remembered to look in a different direction? Perhaps you have a sticking point with a member of your family. Every time you see them, the same problem spot rears its head. What if instead you focused on where you want your relationship to be going? What if you identified and expressed what Drs. Bob and Judith Wright identify as universal human yearnings, such as to be loved, to be connected, to matter, and to be seen and heard? I’ve found that it makes a difference simply to acknowledge how things are now, and to talk about how you want things to be. I’ve been surprised with my own family that people I have conflicts or distance with want to work through our issues and get closer- just as much as I do. Heart of the Fight   If you have fights that are running you into walls, or if you want to move through your conflicts faster and with better results, you might like the most recent book by the above-mentioned authors: The Heart of the Fight. What a great time of year to learn how to fight productively! You can use these tools into the new year and beyond. This holiday season, can you be a good race car driver, diverting your eyes from the wall or from that sticking point you’re about to crash into? Can you keep your eye on the ball- the way you want your relationships to work, the love you want in your life, and the gratitude you want to express? Can you use your fights as a path toward intimacy? If so, I’m willing to bet you’ll win the race. Category:Life and LeadershipBy Brenda BernsteinNovember 23, 2015

Broken Window Theory

Broken Window Theory Free Online Research Papers Fixing Broken Windows was written by George L. Kelling and Catherine M. Coles to explain the â€Å"Broken Windows† theory created by George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson. The â€Å"Broken Windows† theory states that if a window breaks in an abandoned building in a neighborhood and it is not fixed, then more windows will be broken and graffiti will occur. In turn, this will make honest people afraid to leave their homes, and only the mischievous people who want to cause trouble will be out on the streets reeking havoc. Thus producing crime. Fixing Broken Windows offers a very desiccated but persuasive look at how to reform the modern criminal justice system by looking at three different aspects: the rise of crime rates in the middle of the 1960’s; the fact that the police are in a reactive role; and how the â€Å"broken windows† theory actually works. The authors state that in the middle of the 1960’s the connection between fear and disorder was recognized. People felt that they had fewer defenses against crime. Rather than moving out of the neighborhoods, citizens purchased guns, knives, and animals to protect them from criminals. Decline and decay increased in many cities. Riots made people focus on disorder. People feared going to parks because they had become threatening places. Americans whites and blacks fled the inner city for the suburbs. The ones that did not purchase weapons or animals locked themselves in their homes and only left when absolutely necessary. People became frightened because the violent crime rates had more than tripled. There was an increase in conviction rates for males ages seventeen through twenty-one, found guilty of criminal acts. Also, the 60’s brought on a greater tolerance for new ideas, equal rights issues and individual expression. However, in the 60s there was a national econom ic decline that caused unemployment and resentment among many of the citizens throughout the country. In addition to these factors, there was the greater visibility of youth and youth permissiveness. Also, there was less censored media. More women began working outside the home. Divorce rates grew which caused more broken homes then before. The atmosphere of the 60s was one of vibrant nightlife. The country had recovered from the war and the 60s was a prosperous time for America. The authors also state that the police are now in a reactive role. This means that they respond to crime, rather than preventing it. Police officers stopped foot patrol and began responding to 911 calls. Many people advocate the restoration of foot patrol for all areas. Foot patrolling is called community policing and consists of two elements community partnership and problem solving. The police must increase positive relationships with citizens to improve crime control and prevention. To be successful, community-policing programs must operate on a neighborhood scale, finding solutions to neighborhood problems. Successful programs recognize that something, which works well in one neighborhood, may be totally inappropriate for another. Problems must be identified and solutions developed one neighborhood at a time. Community Policing does not propose that we stop fighting crime and disorder, but that officers employ new and innovative strategies. We must become pro-active in preventi ve rather than reactive. Enforcement is very much a part of the concept. Officers are encouraged to give warnings whenever possible; however, they are still required to make traffic stops and arrests. There is still an emphasis on drunken driving, drugs and juvenile crime. The community should not have the mistaken perception that all enforcement has stopped just because the officers are being friendly. Simply put, the â€Å"Broken Windows says that if something is not stopped while it is small, then it will grow and grow until it is out of control. The theory is actually a combination of several aspects. First, the community is responsible for the crime rate. The citizens are to try to prevent crime in their individual neighborhoods and thus will protect society. Secondly, the police officers need to be more proactive in preventing crime. The police officers need to get out and do the hard work of foot patrolling and community policing. Thirdly, it is a metaphor used to show how people can become involved in the criminal justice system. To effectively protect society from fear and disorder, police officers, communities, and the criminal justice system must all work together, to reduce and ultimately eliminate fear and disorder. Fixing Broken Windows does give a persuasive account of how to fix the modern problems in our communities concerning crime. I do agree with the authors when they say that a majority of the fear and disorder comes from the reactive roles of the police officers. If they were out on foot patrol, crime would be reduced. I also think that the communities themselves need to be more proactive when it comes to crime. Parents need to control their children and protect their neighbor hoods. I do think that all communities should enforce the â€Å"Broken Windows† theory; they would see a dramatic drop in their crime rates and not just their reported crime rates. I would advise anyone concerned with the crime rate in their community to read Fixing Broken Windows; Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities by George M. Kelling and Catherine M. Coles. Research Papers on Broken Window TheoryThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationCapital PunishmentThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug Use19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresHip-Hop is ArtRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andQuebec and CanadaAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeEffects of Television Violence on Children

The Theodosian Code - Laws of the Middle Ages

The Theodosian Code - Laws of the Middle Ages The Theodosian Code (in Latin, Codex Theodosianus) was a compilation of Roman Law authorized by Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II in the fifth century. The code was intended to streamline and organize the complicated body of imperial laws promulgated since the reign of Emperor Constantine in 312 C.E., but it included laws from much further back, as well. The code was formally begun on March 26, 429, and it was introduced on February 15, 438. Codex Gregorianus and Codex Hermogenianus In large part, the Theodosian Code was based on two previous compilations: the Codex Gregorianus (the Gregorian Code) and the Codex Hermogenianus (the Hermogenian Code). The Gregorian Code had been compiled by the Roman jurist Gregorius earlier in the fifth century and contained laws from Emperor Hadrian, who reigned from 117 to 138 C.E., down to those of Emperor Constantine. The Hermogenian Code The Hermogenian Code had been written by Hermogenes, another fifth-century jurist, to supplement the Gregorian Code, and it focused primarily on the laws of the emperors Diocletian (284–305) and Maximian (285–305). Future law codes would, in turn, be based on the Theodosian Code, most notably the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian. While Justinians code would be the core of Byzantine law for centuries to come, it wasnt until the 12th century that it began to have an impact on western European law. In the intervening centuries, it was the Theodosian Code that would be the most authoritative form of Roman law in western Europe. The publication of the Theodosian Code and its rapid acceptance and persistence in the west demonstrates the continuity of Roman law from the ancient era into the Middle Ages. The Foundation of Intolerance in Christendom The Theodosian Code is particularly significant in the history of the Christian religion. Not only does the code include among its contents a law that made Christianity the official religion of the Empire, but it also included one that made all other religions illegal. While clearly more than a single law or even a single legal subject, the Theodosian Code is most famous for this aspect of its contents and is frequently pointed to as the foundation of intolerance in Christendom. Also Known As: Codex Theodosianus in LatinCommon Misspellings: Theodosion CodeExamples: A great many earlier laws are contained in the compilation known as the Theodosian Code.

THE CAUSES OF CRIME ARE REALLY IRRELEVANT AS FAR AS SITUATIONAL Essay

THE CAUSES OF CRIME ARE REALLY IRRELEVANT AS FAR AS SITUATIONAL REMEDIES ARE CONCERNED - DISCUSS - Essay Example In spite of this definition, some people persist in their behavior and thus commit crimes; the political society reacts by punishment, treatment or prevention.1 The hallmark of criminality is that, it is a breach of the criminal law. Lord Atkin in Proprietary Articles Trade Association v. A-G- for Canada2 stated that â€Å"the criminal quality of an act cannot be discerned by intuition; nor can it be discovered by reference to any standard but one; is the act prohibited with penal consequences?† Criminology is the scientific study of crime and criminals vis-à  -vis society. To know more about crimes they have to be measured and recorded. Measuring crime and Criminal Behavior is one of the most important functions of criminology. The availability and computing of crime statistics is a vital component of law enforcement. Crime statistics provide us with important facts that theories must then explain. Measuring crime and finding the crime rate is essential to discover the root causes of crime. The who, when, where, how of crimes is addressed by the quantitative techniques of measuring crime and which are vital in answering the why of crimes. Measuring criminal behavior is not just an academic exercise in futility, for it can fruitfully be used in evaluating criminal justice policy initiatives, policing, judicial and correctional administration amongst various other uses. The classicists4 believed that criminal behavior was a function of the human ability to choose an individual course of action. This school was based on hedonistic psychology. According to this psychology, man governs his behavior by considerations of pleasures and pains; the pleasures anticipated from a particular act may be balanced against the pains anticipated from the same act, or the algebraic sum of pleasure and pains from another act. The actor was assumed to have a free will and to make his choice

SWOT Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

SWOT Analysis - Essay Example The strengths and weaknesses define the internal environment while the opportunities and threats represent the external environment to a business (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). Managers should analyze all their internal positive characteristics of their organization with an aim of exploiting them. These attributes represent the strengths of such an organization and the analysis helps in indentifying the extent to which these factors can be utilized. The strengths include the resources at the firm’s disposal that ensure all the business practices run smoothly (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). In addition, the positive characteristics are considered as strengths from their capability to sustain the organization’s competitive advantage and the positive aspects of the human resource. The managers should focus on these attributes in order to add value to the business operations. These organization’s strengths are within the management’s control. The weaknesses represent the factors that work toward minimizing the capacity to add value through an organization’s operations. Consequently, these factors reduce the expected value of an organizations operations and leads to a decrease in their competitive advantage in the markets. Such weaknesses include inability to utilize the existing resources maximally, poor quality services and poor positioning in the market. These factors are also within the management’s control (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). Opportunities are aspects of the external environment to an organization. They symbolize the incentives for the existence and the possible progress of business operations in the market. These incentives present an opening to advance business practices and improve the current benefits. They also offer a chance for growth and development of activities that add value to the organizations and its stakeholders (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). These opportunities also lead to

International accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

International accounting - Essay Example In the outcome of the economic and financial crisis that started in â€Å"1997† 2the government took detention of an important part of private sector resources through achievement of corporate assets and nonperforming bank loans during the debt reform process. Since â€Å"1999† 3 the financial system has improved to over 4 to 6 percentage in recent years. The main products of FajarPaper include Fajar Duplex, Fajar Medium and Fajar Liner. Fajar Duplex is covered Duplex Board with Grey bottom and white top layers. It is mainly used for light-weight covering material which needs high class printing. Fajar Liner is brown packaging paper for the surface layer of ridged sheet; it gives useful safety for content and a soft surface for high class printing. Fajar Medium is high class fluting paper it used in the building of carton boxes. â€Å"Its superb characteristics provide good protection during transportation and for use in display stack.† 4 The products of the companies are used in various industries for example household goods and personal care, beverages and foods, toys, electronics, automotive, footwear and others, serving big worldwide firms. The main competitors are Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper, West Java Pakerin and East Java. The suppliers of the products locally and also transferred to other Asian countries, Middle East and Australia. According to the opinion of Deloitte, the associated financial statements current fairly, in every material respects, the financial position of the firm and of the Group as at 31 December 2012, and their cash flows and economic performance for the year then ended in reference to the International Financial Reporting Standards. Financial statement (FS) is an official record of the economic activities of a person, business etc. it gives the information of economic position and performance. FS mainly includes balance sheet,

Mergers And Acquisitions Within The Aviation Sector Dissertation

Mergers And Acquisitions Within The Aviation Sector - Dissertation Example Using a case study approach, the study recruited human participants with direct managerial experience at Air France-KLM and found that human capital advantages were the primary advantages achieved by this merged firm. Followed in order of priority were revenue growth, improved customer loyalties, the ability to utilize price discrimination strategies and superior competitive power. The findings uncovered no detriments of the merger and concluded that Air France-KLM sought the proper strategic direction when deciding to merge both companies. A merger encompasses the blending of two different companies that operate under a single umbrella identity. Merged organizations perform trade of their business operations under a singular name and share both profits and potential losses that originate from the newly merged business. It has been recognized that the aviation sector is one of the most fundamental supports of businesses throughout the world (Bell 2010) Approximately half of all global businesses utilize the aviation industry for travel and for transport services. As a result, companies in this sector put much time and effort into perfecting their business operations by consolidating advantages through processes such as acquisitions and mergers. In most industries, the majority of mergers fail. Porter (1987) offers that most mergers and acquisitions lead to failure as a result of poor performance and inability to establish strategies that productively sustain the new business model formed by the blending of two companies. However, many corporate Board members and top-level executives seek mergers as a means to improve their business. Mergers are expected to produce synergies and provide greater financial benefits since the consolidation of two different businesses will theoretically improve business efficiencies and enhance competitiveness in an  established competitive market.

Economics Indicator Paper and Graph Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economics Indicator Paper and Graph - Essay Example From the diagram above it is clear that the number of houses have increased from the 1940 until it reached a peak in the 1970, from the 1970 to day to the number of houses built has declined over the years. From the above diagram it is clear that interest rates have declines from 1999 until 2004 where interest rates have risen to date, interest rates are the cost of borrowing funds and therefore with the increase in interest rates means that les houses are built or the demand for houses has declined as the cost of funds increase with interest rates. Keynes emphasised the importance of the level of interest rates on investment levels, according to Keynes when interest rates were high then the level of cost of funds was high and the level of investment would be low, if interest rates declined then the level of investment would rise, therefore according to Keynes the interest rate investment relationship can be simplified in the following graph. The classical theorist also recognise the importance of interest rates in the determination of the investment levels, however classical theorist also show the importance of the interest rates as a tool used by the government to fine tune the economy of a country, the interest rates are increased to reduce money supply in the economy in order to avoid inflation. The housing industry is more at home with the classical theories, classical theorist were referred to as classical theorist because any economic theory developed after them have borrowed a leaf from them, they are also referred to as classical because of their unquestionable explanation of economics and because they brought order into economic enquiry. The construction industry in California therefore has been affected by interest rates, interest rates affect the level of investment, when the interest rates affect the investment level then they affect the supply side, further the interest rates also

The promotional strategy of British Airways Coursework

The promotional strategy of British Airways - Coursework Example This research will begin with the statement that the airline sector is a large form of mass travel in the global transportation network. The sector in general involves the organisation of people, airlines, equipment and buildings for transporting mail, freight and passengers to various parts of the world. International air travel is so extensive that it is possible to reach almost any major city in less than a day. Different airline companies deal with different types of cargo, for example companies like British Airways specialise in the transportation of people. This has been by far the largest source of revenue for airlines since the second half of the twentieth century. The different airline companies battle against each other by offering attractive fares and specialised discounts. The passenger services usually offer two areas of travel, first class or coach, first class being more favourable due to comfortable seating arrangements, more elaborate meals and usually more flight pe rsonnel on hand. The coach service is cheaper with a slightly more crowded atmosphere. Other services include the transportation of mail, and freight services. This method of transporting goods is quicker than the old methods of using trains or boats. The current structure of the airline sector is fairly composite. There are many markets, all of which host two main dimensions, product and geographic. The product of which being the passenger, and the geographic being the destination. At all levels, it shows characteristics of oligopoly and competition; however, there is very little evidence to show that the airline industry is a natural monopoly, where one firm stands out from the rest. The characteristics of the industry show that there are few firms, a substantial market share and high barriers of entry, all of which indicate the sector as an oligopoly market structure. So much so that the leading four firms, United Air Lines, American Airlines, Delta and Northwest, make up 64% of the market share. As these companies make up such a high percentage, it makes the industry highly concentrated, meaning that merges are becoming more and more common. This means that the market concentration will increase in the future (Blythe 2005 p 15). Literature review British Airways: Company Profile: British Airways is the biggest world wide passenger airline. The main activities of British Airways and its subsidiary undertakings are the operation of international as well as domestic planned and charter air services for the safe and comfortable transportation of passengers, freight and mail as well as the prerequisite of additional services. The Airline had a total of 373 aircraft in operation as of September 30, 2001 (Proctor 2000 p 56). A total number of employees about 50,000 and a route network comprised of 150 destinations in 72 countries. Its fleet is composed of more than 350 aircrafts. BA is the airline company with the most flights from Europe to North America in the world (Peter 2006 p 90). BA was formed in 1973, as the outcome of the merger between State-owned

Economics Indicator Paper and Graph Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economics Indicator Paper and Graph - Essay Example From the diagram above it is clear that the number of houses have increased from the 1940 until it reached a peak in the 1970, from the 1970 to day to the number of houses built has declined over the years. From the above diagram it is clear that interest rates have declines from 1999 until 2004 where interest rates have risen to date, interest rates are the cost of borrowing funds and therefore with the increase in interest rates means that les houses are built or the demand for houses has declined as the cost of funds increase with interest rates. Keynes emphasised the importance of the level of interest rates on investment levels, according to Keynes when interest rates were high then the level of cost of funds was high and the level of investment would be low, if interest rates declined then the level of investment would rise, therefore according to Keynes the interest rate investment relationship can be simplified in the following graph. The classical theorist also recognise the importance of interest rates in the determination of the investment levels, however classical theorist also show the importance of the interest rates as a tool used by the government to fine tune the economy of a country, the interest rates are increased to reduce money supply in the economy in order to avoid inflation. The housing industry is more at home with the classical theories, classical theorist were referred to as classical theorist because any economic theory developed after them have borrowed a leaf from them, they are also referred to as classical because of their unquestionable explanation of economics and because they brought order into economic enquiry. The construction industry in California therefore has been affected by interest rates, interest rates affect the level of investment, when the interest rates affect the investment level then they affect the supply side, further the interest rates also

Ideological Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ideological - Essay Example Such has been the case with of this author with regards to the topic of prayer in school. As a function of seeking to explain and ideological biography for how this belief has grown and evolved through time, the following analysis will analyze the different stages and approaches that existed within my mind up until the present time. Before delving into the issue, it must be understood that the issue of prayer in school has been one that has been hotly contested and debated within the sphere of politics and current media during my adolescence and childhood. As a result of this fact, the perennial presence of this debate allowed me to be presented with the arguments for and against school prayer at a relatively young age. In keeping with the way in which the majority of society viewed the issue, I was led to believe that prayer in school, although representing a few key benefits, was ultimately against the separation of church and state and should not exist to any degree or level withi n the educational system. Rather than this being informed by a particularly atheist and/or anti-religious viewpoint, this was instead informed as a result of the impact that media and the political debate had upon my own views. However, as I began to mature, I began to note the failures within the educational system as compared to the prior years in which it has been so successful. For instance, my parents, as well as older generations work continually discussing the devolution of the United States educational system and seeking to understand what changes could potentially be made as a means of remedying this decline. As a function of the presence of this issue and the clear and unmistakable fact that the United States educational system was merely a shell of what it was during the time of my parents and/or grandparents, my views with respect to the role of prayer in school began to change. Rather than being diametrically opposed to such an idea, I began to integrate with a level of appreciation with respect to some of the benefits that it might provide. However, of all of the factors that influence this progression of ideology within my own life, perhaps the most important was a level of increased importance with regards to the role in which religion played within my own life. As was the case of many individuals growing up in a religious home, religion did not have a personal impact upon me until such a time that I began to experience religious growth and appreciation within my own life. Realizing the power and help that prayer exhibited within my own life allowed me to come to a greater level of appreciation and understanding with regards to the degree of help and power that prayer could provide within the group setting. Anyone with even a cursory level of understanding concerning the power that prayer can provide understands that group prayer is a particularly powerful means through which intercession can be provided. As such, failing to utilize such a powe rful tool within the educational system is merely ignoring a cost of free and highly successful method through which the educational system and personal development of the individual students can be maximized. All too often, within the current system, millions of dollars are poured into particular programs with little result. However, it is my firm belief, as a result

Columbus City Schools Policies Essay Example for Free

Columbus City Schools Policies Essay The reason I don’t like the rule about fire arm look-alikes is because, if you have a toy gun that your younger sibling has asked you to hold for them in your bag and you forget about it is an instant 5-10 day suspension. I understand why you would suspend someone for that reason; it is because you have to insure the person’s safety and the rest of the schools. But if someone leaves the toy or look-alike in your bag and you forget about its unfair we have to get suspended for that amount of time I get a day or two but 5-10 it’s not fair that is the only reason I have to have a problem with that policy. Insubordination is another one. When a teacher asks you to do something unfair for instance give up your phone when it has fallen out your pocket and they say you have been texting while doing an assignment or cheating is also unfair. Not everyone cheats on their work if our phone happens to slip out why get punished it was an accident not intentional. But I get why you do it, it’s only to insure we aren’t cheating or texting during class. The last one is possession, sale or distribution of drugs other than tobacco or alcohol. If someone has a massive headache and can’t concentrate in class and the student asks you for an Aspirin or Tylenol and you give it to them why put it as possession, sale or distribution of drugs other than tobacco or alcohol. That in my mind is unfair you’re just helping someone out with a legitimate problem that they are having. We are keeping them out of the nurse’s office and having them in class longer so what is the problem with that? The reasons for this and I know why are because of Marijuana, Cocaine and crack or other narcotics you should put narcotics as its own punishment instead of Aspirin or another type pain reliever. If you would only make the slightest change I would greatly appreciate it. also the drug problems we have and leaving the school without permission. Those are the only few changes I would make about the CCS policy.

Huckleberry Finn in High Schools :: essays papers

Huckleberry Finn in High Schools High Schools in the United States should not ban The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book is one of the most important components of American literature in our libraries today, it throws the reader into a time when slavery was lawful and accepted, and gives the reader a new perspective on slavery in general. Until civil rights groups can come up with a better argument than the word â€Å"nigger† creating a â€Å"hostile work environment†(Zwick) it should not be taken off the required reading list of any High School in the country. Every one hundred years dialects change and what is considered â€Å"politically correct†, or socially acceptable, changes. â€Å"David Bradley argues that ‘if we'd eradicated the problem of racism in our society, Huckleberry Finn would be the easiest book in the world to teach’† (Zwick, Jim. â€Å"Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned?†). If we, as a nation, make it a point to rule out all books that could possibly offend students, then every hundred years or so our library of American Literature will be completely different. Even today, modern day authors use vulgar language, lurid sexual content, and racial slurs to get their point across. If The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is taken off of required reading lists across the country, then that could create a never-ending cycle of books being taken off of school shelves every time words and ideas become unacceptable. If this is the way that American society is turning then something must be done, and the Superintendents, Deans, and Principals of every High School around the country must take it upon themselves to do it because the students will not. The people who are trying to ban The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are only trying to block out a part of American history that they would just as soon be forgotten, but every part of American history needs to be dealt with and accepted by everyone at a young age. Trying to shield students from any important part of history is a crime within itself. Hannibal, Missouri is a prime example of this type of crime. Every year they have a citywide celebration of Mark Twain, but they do not celebrate The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson nor do they teach it in their schools. Best stated by Shelly Fisher Fishkin, the theater company in Hannibal â€Å"was upholding a long American tradition of making slavery and its legacy and blacks themselves invisible†(Zwick, Jim.

Genetic Engineering and Cloning :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Genetic Engineering and Cloning What are the principle, ethical issues and experimental procedures used in genetic engineering and cloning? Should Cloning be allowed to continue? In the 1970's, scientists discovered that strands of DNA could be cut using special enzymes, which could cut out genetic combinations. DNA contains information about genes particular organisms hold. Duplicates of genes are also possible through genetic engineering and are very useful for medical purposes. Advances in technology have raised issues such as animal and human cloning. These issues have caused many different sided arguments. Some people feel that cloning should be banned, however never seen to see its medical value. There are already drug and medicine manufactures all over the world that are working on products that can be produced in cows' milk or even sheep or goats milk when the trait is cloned. Right now they are trying to produce vaccines against Malaria, antibodies against HIV, as well as proteins to treat haemophilia, muscle disease, internal intestinal infections, rheumatoid arthritis, cystic fibrosis and emphysema. These same companies are also working on proteins to help digest fat and proteins to serve as nutritional supplements for infants, as well as different proteins, which are found in human blood, in cow's milk. None of these treatments would be possible in the future if cloning were banned. The Safety of genetic engineering is something that presents much concern. Looking at the current precautions and previous precautions of the biotechnological industry can clear up the safety issue. The FDA and State Governments impose limits such as the illegalization of human cloning and limits on other genetic engineering processes. The only legal forms of genetic engineering that are used today are in vitro fertilization, artificial insemination, and sperm banks. The moral question of genetic engineering is answered by looking at the advances in medicine. Today the advancements in medicine are evolving at an extremely high rate. If the science of genetic engineering is wrong, then so are the rest of the advances in medicine. The reason is because genetic engineering is just another form of medical advancement. Gene manipulation is not going to be used for any other purpose except for the treatment and elimination of disease. The one thing that people need to realize is the potential of genetic engineering. Try to visualize what parents of a child is dying from a disease like multiple sclerosis think about the benefits of genetic engineering.

Tacit Oligopoly of the Original Supermarkets of Bogor

Extended Essay in Economics Tacit Oligopoly of the Original Supermarkets of Bog Written By B Diploma Candidate #: Session Word Count: Abstract The grocery market of Bog has been facing a significant change during the past several years. Sudden emergence of new suppliers has more than doubled the number of existing supermarkets. I took interest at the fact that despite of the sudden increase in the number of suppliers, there never was a price decrease. This signifies that the market is experiencing Over Supply.I decided to investigate whether the strain caused by the over supply have hanged a particular part of the market structure of the supermarkets of Bog. I took to compete against new competitors. My first step was to investigate whether the supermarkets shows characteristics of an oligopoly. Several factors are apparent; the number of firms in the market is small, their size is relatively big, their products are slightly differentiated, and the entry barriers are high. To further strengthen my claim concerning the barrier, I have studied a small portion of two legal documents that concerns starting a supermarket business.Afterwards, I have recorded product prices and performed statistical analysis to determine whether the price range is narrow. I then compare the prices of the new supermarkets and all the supermarkets of Bog as a whole. The result shows that indeed there is an oligopoly; yet it extends to reach the new supermarkets. This meaner that the original supermarkets have not segregated themselves to attempt gain business power (e. G. In pricing). New questions are formed based on the results. Among them is whether the oligopoly intentional or has competition with other suppliers, e. G. The traditional markets, caused the price range to be limited?These questions require further researches that are likely to orientate to the Business Studies disciplines. Word count: 295 Table of Contents Part 1: An Introduction to the Essay Part 2: The Present Marke t Profile Part 3: Review of Relevant Theories 2 3 5 7 Part 4: Hypothesis and Methodology of Research Part 5: Data Collection and Analysis Part 6: Conclusion and Evaluation 17 10 12 Bibliography 18 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Acknowledgements Part 1: An Introduction to the Essay 20 21 Bog is a minor city that is founded over two centuries ago, thus by now it is well known by its surrounding cities and villages.The city was established as a center of trade for local agricultural industries (Incarnate). As a citizen of the city ever since birth, I know well that the grocery market of the city is massive. The vast and well known open air market of fresh produces called Papas Bog (or the Market of Bog'), numerous minor grocers, five notable supermarkets, and the easily accessible shopping centers in Jakarta have supplied the household demands of the 3,696,848 citizens residing in Bog (the figure was recorded at a 1997 census) (Incarnate). The market status, however, have taken a significant tu rn during the last 10 years.Numerous new suppliers entered the market; among them are as much as five new supermarkets (doubling the present number), two hypermarkets, and two new mini- market chains. Among the very basic principles taught to economics students is the Market Equilibrium law. It states that the demand and supply of a product is dependent of the price level. The consumers prefer lower prices while the suppliers prefer higher prices. Where the two quantities met, it is called the Equilibrium point. (Collier, 201) Diagram 1. 0 shows this point of importance as (SQL, Pl). Diagram 1. 0.The Micro Economic Model of the Grocery Market shift in the Supply line. Diagram 1. 0 portrays this scenario by having the line labeled ‘Supply 1' shift to become ‘Supply 2'. This shift will cause the equilibrium to increase in quantity but decrease in price (Collier, 191). However, there never was a significant price decrease in the grocery market of Bog. The supply line may sh ift, but the price is maintained at Pl, and theoretically this must result in an Over Supply. An Over Supply occurs when the quantity of supply exceeds the quantity of demand. (Collier, 203) [pick] Diagram 1. 1 . Illustration of the market experiencing Over SupplyThe Over Supply strains the suppliers, since it meaner that some of their stock will remain stagnant and inevitably experience depreciation -which in turn will result in business failure. Despite, logically thinking, the side that was experiencing the biggest lost of consumers will be the suppliers (supermarket, etc. ) in Jakarta; inevitably the local suppliers of Bog too will share part of the strain. However, the pressure will not be as hard on the new competitors as it would be to the original suppliers since all new competitors belong to a nationwide company (details are located in part 2: the Present Market Profile).There is the possibility that the demand line has shift along (or even preliminary) to the shift of the supply line. However, through observation I have noticed that there never was an apparent change in the factors that may trigger a shift of the demand line. Those factors are: price of substitute products, price of complementary goods, general income and taste (preference), the population, and advertisements (Galilee, 24). The original supermarkets (from this point this term will be used to refer to the supermarkets that have existed before the sudden emergence of new competitors) concerned me the most.The Market of Bog and other minor suppliers surely offered the least prize, thus they have a separate market segment. My concern would be whether the business pressure is strong enough for the original supermarkets to from a tacit oligopoly. Thus was formed the research question: Did the original supermarkets of Bog form a tacit oligopoly to compete against the new competitors? The next part of the essay will reveal the present market profile. Following it will be a review of relevant theories, which serves as a base for the hypothesis.After discussing my methods of research to verify my hypothesis, the ATA collected will be presented and analyzed. Thus, a conclusion will be formed, along unanswered questions and possible sources of error. Part 2: The Present Market Profile Original Supermarkets: Ingest Supermarket (3 outlets) Grand Supermarket Shanghai-La Supermarket New Supermarkets: Hero Supermarket Matriarch Marketplace A;G Groceries DAD Supermarket Ramadan Supermarket New Hypermarkets: Giant Hypermarket Hypermarket Hypermarket.New Mini-markets: Intimidator Alfalfa's Other competitors: The Market of Bog Minor Grocers Suppliers (supermarket, etc. ) of Jakarta A ‘minor grocer' is a reference towards traditional Indonesian grocery suppliers, known locally as Warnings'. It tends to be a small store, not often would you found one the size of a typical bathroom. The goods it sells are usually minor needs, such as cigars, sweets, and hygiene products. The app earance of the outlets tends to be ignored and they could be found dispersed around the vicinity of the city.However, the term ‘mint-markets' refers towards literal small supermarkets. Its design and facilities equal those of a supermarket and thus it presents its customers with every benefits of a supermarket besides variety of product. The mint-markets belong to a nationwide chain and they have an outlet in seemingly every residential area of the city. Despite being under the same brand, the three outlets of Ingest Supermarket belong to different people. It originated as a Private Limited company, but now the three branches are run separately by three children of the original founder. Note: ‘Opt†¦ Tab is the Indonesian label for a Public Limited company) Hero Supermarkets and Giant Hypermarket belong to OPT. Hero Supermarket Tab. Matriarch Market Place (a supermarket) and Hypermarket (a hypermarket) belong to OPT. Matriarch Putter Prima Tab. ? Ramadan Supermarket belongs to OPT. Ramadan Alistair Santos Tab. GAG Mart Groceries and DAD Supermarket belong to different companies but both own more than one outlet situated in different cities of the country. The mint-market chain Intimidator belongs to OPT.Indicator Prismatic (a Limited company that belongs to the Indoors group, whose owner once so far as become Indonesian richest entrepreneur). The Alfalfa's mint-market chain belongs to OPT Summer Alfalfa Trinity Biding Shah (a Limited company) and is about to be integrated to OPT Ramadan Alistair Santos Tab that owns the Ramadan Supermarket (see above). Art 3: Review of Relevant Theories Sisters Paramus Sisters Paramus is an assumption that every factor other than the one being discussed remains constant (Galilee, 10). Every part of this essay is written on Sisters Paramus.To investigate whether the original supermarkets of Bog have formed an oligopoly, first the characteristic of that particular market structure and other alternatives must be p re-determined. 1). A Monopoly This is a market where there is a single seller. It has absolute control over the prices of the market due the unavailability of substitute products. Due to this fact, often times monopolies are placed under strict control of the government. (Galilee, 120) A monopolized market requires the highest forms of barrier of entry.This meaner that people interested in entering the market ought to proceed through many difficult requirements which often was impossible to attain. The highest barrier that one may encounter is governmental laws, and indeed it was often intentionally employed to create monopolies. (Collier, 269) A good example would be Indonesian PLAN, its sole electricity supplier for the whole nation. It was the only entity n the market for mass electricity and legal laws forbid any enterprise to enter the market. In this particular case, the government owned the company. This grants them maximum control over the market.The huge sales volume was di rected towards the government's fund. 2). Assumptions of an Oligopoly An oligopoly is a market situation where there are few sellers and each firm may be aware of the activities of another. There are high barriers of entry -but these are lower than those of a monopoly. The products they offered tend to be differentiated goods, this refers to goods that are derived from an original form (e. . Shampoos may be differentiated to anti-hair-loss, scalp oil controlling, etc). (Galilee, 140) The few firms in the market collude together and act like a monopoly formed by many entities.A formal collision is called a cartel, and the original supermarkets of Bog do not belong to a formal cartel. An unofficial collusion is referred to as a tacit oligopoly. (Galilee, 140) The colluding firms will have an agreement about price range, advertising, market share, and possibly corporate business strategies. Their semi-monopoly allows the firm sizes to be big. (Galilee, 140) 3). Assumptions of a Monopol istic Market A monopolistic market is when many firms compete in the same market, selling similar yet differentiated goods or services.The barrier of entry is relatively low compared to the previous two market structures discussed. (Galilee, 114) each other but are differentiated. A consumer may switch his preference from one brand to another and will not experience a significant change in utility. Note however, that when talking about such products, there are several items on the market with very distinguished feature (special brand of clothing, etc. ) that belongs to ice markets. These products are not part of a monopolistic market.The degree of price control (however weak) of a monopolistic market is attributed towards this slight differentiation. If the product is entirely homogeneous, no firm will have control over its prices, turning it into a Perfect Competition Market. (Galilee, 114) 4). Assumptions of a Perfect Competition Market A perfect competition market houses extreme amounts of producers, none of which possessing a high rate of market share. The products are homogeneous (exactly the same), and the barrier of entry is near to non-existent. No firm has any influence over the market's price.The homogeneity of the product does not allow selling above market price (since it will result in severe loss), and the fierce amount of competition did not allow the firms to engage in a price war strategy (setting price lower), since the market price is already set as close to the cost of production as it could be. If indeed the current price is a degree above the average cost of producing the goods, then a firm may employ a price war strategy and enjoyed supernormal profit for a period of time, but other competitors will follow suit immediately.Part 4: Hypothesis and Methodology of Research My hypothesis is the original supermarkets of Bog have formed a tacit oligopoly that is separate from the new supermarkets to gain business power. As discussed in the intr oduction and the market profile section of this essay, it is unquestionable that the original supermarkets experience a degree of pressure from the sudden establishment of new competitors. I believe that it is only logical for them to attempt making the overall competition more endurable by forming a segregated oligopoly.This way, they may attempt corporate business strategies, especially on the matter of racing. To prove this hypothesis, I must attempt to correlate the supermarkets with characteristics of an oligopoly. Those are: Number of firms: few. Products are slightly differentiated (as in groceries). Big. High barrier of entrance. C] Similar price range. Size of firms: relatively The first three characteristics are theoretical and apparent. There are a small number of firms (compared to the monopolistic food and beverage business or the perfect competition green grocers, for example).All supermarkets sell many identical products (common brand and package size) and the nature of these products is in neural only slightly differentiated. The size of the firms too is relatively big, proven to us by the existence of mint-markets which are smaller representatives of supermarkets. As of the barrier of entering the market, it is only logical that it is high. A supermarket is visibly a large scale business -meaning that it requires a big amount of capital to start. Furthermore, the products offered by a supermarket are numerous in variety.For every single product they would have to prepare legal methodologies of payment, storage, delivery, and shelf placement -this surely is a significant entry to the supermarket business is high. The last missing information is their product prices. I will record the prices of all supermarkets and perform statistical analysis to determine their price range. If the prices posed by the original supermarkets are similar to each other, then it is proven that they indeed do form a tacit oligopoly.The next part of the research would be comparing the price of the original supermarkets to the new supermarkets. Afterwards I shall perform identical mathematical analysis as before. If indeed the two results (the first being the price range of the original supermarkets alone and the second data being the price range f all supermarkets) are different, then indeed we would know that the original supermarkets of Bog have formed an oligopoly that segregated them.Diagram 4. 0 shows the Market with the original supermarkets segregating themselves and formed an entirely new team (oligopoly). This way, possibilities to compete better will open to them, e. G. A corporate pricing strategy. However, if their price range is similar, then we may conclude that all the supermarkets as a whole is an oligopoly and so the original supermarkets have not segregated themselves by making an oligopoly of their own. Diagram 4. Wows an oligopoly that includes both the original and the new part 5: Data Collection and Analysis Before proceedin g with the price analysis, I would like to strengthen my claim concerning the high entry barrier. Here are parts of two legal documents that concern opening a new supermarket business. Note that the documents are written in the Indonesian language (Bass Indonesia), thus the translations present are my personal attempt. Here is a transcript from the ‘Peered tenting Pentagonal Shah Industry Separate Bog [Regional Regulation Concerning the Managing of Industries in the Bog Region]':

Analytical Essay About Leaders Essay

What is a leader? A leader is a person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. There are many types of leaders. A leader can be a laissez-faire leader that lacks direct supervision and fails to provide regular feedback to those they lead, an autocrat that possesses total authority and take decisions upon their own will without consulting those who are following or even a participative leader who has the responsibility of making the final decision but greatly includes the opinions, ideas and feedback of those they lead. Leaders can also be transactional leaders who receive certain tasks to conduct and give rewards or punishments to those under them based on their performance or transformational leaders who motivate followers and increase productivity using communicative techniques and involvement in the tasks they set. Not only that, a leader also has to have some traits that correspond to their types of leadership. For example, transformational leaders have to be patient with their followers otherwise relationships can break down and the whole idea of efficiency is destroyed. Leaders need to be persuasive as well to motivate and convince their followers to believe in an idea or their ability to do a task which they hesitate to do or think they are unable to. As seen in history and many novels, leaders lead differently than other leaders as ideas, methods and perceptions of perfection differ between them. For example, the ideas and methods used by Queen Elizabeth the First differed from those used by Sampath Chawla from the novel entitled ‘Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard’ written by Kiran Desai as well as Mark Antony from the play entitled ‘The tragedy of Julius Caesar’ written by the famous William Shakespeare. The three of them all differed in how they led their followers and using which ideas to do so. Despite differing in many aspects, they all shared some common traits that are the bases of leadership. In ‘The Tragedy of Julius Caesar’, some conspirators had killed the almost roman emperor, Julius Caesar. They did so, giving the false reason that they wanted to rid him of the fear or worry of death. Mark Antony, using persuasive techniques, managed to change the mindsets of the public who believed in the conspirators’ reason into believing that Caesar was a good man and had no bad intentions, which is what the conspirators’ thought. Mark Antony uses persuasive techniques like repetition, false intentions and sophistry. He uses these in his speech at Caesar’s burial to convince the crowd into believing his ideas by first commending Brutus on how honorable he is but then repeating how honorable he is to make the crowd question their faith in Brutus. He also says that he did not arrive to praise Caesar but to bury him which is exactly the opposite of what he wanted to do. Another false intention was that he did not want to disprove Brutus which is exactly what he did by using appropriate facts. Lastly, his speech was sophisticated and so led the crowd to believing that he was superior to Brutus which cemented his gaining the crowd’s support. In ‘Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard’, the main character, Sampath, is a leader later on in the novel after losing his job at the post office where he reads every letter that passes him. He becomes a sort of spiritual leader as he passes on some of the knowledge, both useful and downright senseless, to those who believe he is one. He manages to convince the people who come to him for advice, as he seemingly has an answer that seems meaningful and wise, using persuasive techniques that include loaded language and glittering generalities. An example of the responses he gives to people is when someone asked him if anyone could comprehend all there is to know about god to which Sampath replied ‘‘ Once you have broken the bottle you can no longer distinguish the air inside from the air outside’’ This represents the colorful and loaded language Sampath represents as well as his ability to confuse and manipulate people into thinking meaningless sentences like these have greater meaning and that is the reason they cannot understand. He is also a leader because he represents a symbol of knowledge and religious importance and this gives people something to look forward to, believe in and rely upon. Queen Elizabeth the First was a leader as well when she ruled over England in 1588. She was brave, intelligent, caring and because of this, loved by the people. At this time, England was about to go to war with Spain. The units in concern were the naval fleets of both nations that were about to engage in combat. The Spanish fleet, nicknamed the Spanish Armada, were in comparison to the English fleet, bigger, stronger and heavily armored and this caused the soldiers to doubt their own ability to win and caused large bouts of cowardice. Despite this, the English fleet came out victorious. Queen Elizabeth, on the eve of the Spanish Armada, gave a powerful speech that motivated her soldiers and showed her love and respect for the country. She used persuasive techniques like bandwagon appeal to bring out the desire to belong in the soldiers, rewards that gave incentive to the soldiers to fight, win and return, loaded language to appeal to her audience, a tone of self-assurance to show that she knows the position of power she is in and how she is not threatened by anything on the outside and lastly, the most powerful technique she used was to keep using the word ‘we’ to show how they are all united and how she was willing to give up everything for the nation. This inspired the confidence needed to win the battle. A leader is a person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. This is what all three leaders have shown, the ability to lead. They have shown this in their own ways and with their own ideas. They all share this common trait as well as being persuasive and adapting intelligently to fit the situation. That is the basic leadership trait that all successful leaders throughout history have shown and that is all that is needed in order to be a successful leader.

Police Essay

Some more Information about the investigation to date: The Australian Crime Commission and the Crime and Misconduct Commission (SLD) had been kept In the loop by the QPS since the early stages of this Investigation, because of their interest in illicit firearm sales and organized crime. Upon learning of Crag's arrest, the AC expressed an interest in interviewing him about his knowledge of and connections to a high-profile outlaw motorcycle gang operating on the coast. Craig:Craig was arrested by QPS officers at his home. He made It clear that he intended to exercise his right to remain silent, so no QPS interview took place. However, as the investigation falls within the ambit of the Sac's Highest Risk Criminal Targets Special Investigation, an AC examiner has available special powers that can compel Craig to attend and give evidence at an AC hearing. The AC decides that this Is an appropriate way to proceed at this stage. Answer the following questions 1. Can Craig refuse to attend the hearing? What would happen if he did?Provide 2 thoughtful arguments why you think the establishment of ‘new investigators' such as the AC or CM is necessary and/or appropriate. 4. Provide 2 thoughtful arguments why you think the establishment of ‘new Investigators' such as the AC or CM Is not necessary and/or appropriate. Police Essay By Soapstone Some more information about the investigation to date: had been kept in the loop by the QPS since the early stages of this investigation, because of their interest in illicit firearm sales and organized crime.Upon learning of Craig arrest, the AC expressed an interest in interviewing him about his knowledge Craig was arrested by QPS officers at his home. He made it clear that he intended to attend and give evidence at an AC hearing. The AC decides that this is an Craig attends the hearing and provides the examiner with useful information to continue the investigation into the outlaw motorcycle gang, although not sufficient investigators' such as the AC or CM is not necessary and/or appropriate.

Business Skills Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Skills - Personal Statement Example A web presence will be crucial, optimised for search engines. Consumers are impatient with poorly designed sites, or sites which do not provide them with instant gratification to the answers they are seeking. Besides the inbuilt functions, it is possible to design a data capture application customised to the needs of the business. This could be something as simple as a quotation application, all the way through to an accounting package. Project management is increasingly important to the property professional. I used this tool to assist in scoping a project, in terms of resources such as manpower, time and money. It can be used in a variety of ways, for example as a time-management tool for the itinerant business man, all the way through to costing a major property development. The seasoned professional needs to take on board the basic underlying principles involved. At the heart of ADR is the importance of Customer Relationship Management. Throughout the whole exercise - from initial contact through to sign off - it is crucial to ensure that the client understands, accepts and agrees the terms and conditions of the proposal. I find it important to keep written/typed records of all communications made with a client. This assists in determining where - if at all - mistakes were made and provides learning opportunities to prevent such situations arising again. Although the lettings sector is not as heav

Evaluate the way in which 'Big Four' Tour Operators ( TUI, MyTravel, Essay

Evaluate the way in which 'Big Four' Tour Operators ( TUI, MyTravel, First Choice and Thomas Cook) have established a cartel within the package holiday market i - Essay Example In 2000, the ‘Big Four’ controlled over 75% of all outbound package tours. As the travel industry undergoes a change, the Big Four show that one size does not fit all (PWC, 2006). This paper evaluates the way they have established a cartel within the package holiday market in the UK but changing trends have revolutionized the industry. The UK is the fourth most important generating market for holidays, after US, Germany and Japan (Meyer, 2003). As the British prefer to use the services of a tour operator for long-haul destinations, this sector had increasingly become mainstream with British tour operators. The main trends in the industry are economies of scale and vertical integration. These strategies give the tour operators tremendous buying power and control over the supply and distribution of their products. Vertical integration means investment into other suppliers which gives them control over quality, availability, access and price, and the ability to reach consumers. Besides, it helps to limit competition. The regulatory authorities have been challenging how the Big Four exercise control at several stages in the distribution chain. The Big Four are all vertically integrated. This vertical integration takes the form of control, normally through ownership by a single group, of a tour operator, an airline and a retail travel agent (R&M, 1999). The travel agent Lunn Poly, owned by TUI, UK had 800 shops in 2000. Going Places is owned by MyTravel, Thomas Cook has 700 travel agents and First Choice owns 361 shops under the name of Travel Choice and related brands (Meyer). If a customer walked into a Travel Choice office he would not know that he was buying a First Choice package. To reduce such misunderstandings, the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC), ordered that the notice of ownership must be displayed outside the shop, in brochures, on official stationery and in advertisements. All the Big Four tour operators had some airline in

Metrics and measurements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Metrics and measurements - Essay Example Overall, human resource metrics and measurements translate human resources capabilities to measurable strategic value, which facilitates better understanding of human resource data, and improves human resource connection with the rest of the organization (Jamroq and Overholt 3; Strategy2Act). According to Strategy2Act, an organization that develops solutions for obtaining valuable information out of files created with popular office tools, the most common human resource measurements and metrics are typically related to "employee attitudes, employee turnover, employee skill levels, as well as outsourcing costs, service center operations, the number human resource transactions processed, staffing process, training programs utilization and effectiveness, and promotions". These metrics and measurements are used by 25% to 75% of all organizations (Strategy2Act). "Employee turnover" metric includes indicators such as cost per hire, turnover cost, turnover rate, time to fill, and length of employment. Cost per hire includes calculation of advertising fees, employment agency fees, headhunter fees, employee referrals rewards, relocation benefits, recruiter pay and benefits costs, and the number of hires. Turnover cost includes calculation of termination, new hire, vacancy, and learning curve costs. Turnover rate is the rate at which employees leave the organization. Time to fill is the period from job requisition approval to new hire start date. Length of employment takes into account the job designation, department, etc (Strategy2Act). For example, Carphone Warehouse found that every retail employee who left the company within six months cost 4,875 in gross profit margins. If they could reduce turnover by only 2% they could cut 585,900 in recruitment and training costs and lost productivity (Carrington 38). "Recruiting" metric includes vacant period, new hires performance appraisal, manager satisfaction, turnover rates of new hires, and financial impact of bad hire. Vacant period is the number of overall days the jobs were vacant. New hires performance appraisal is the average performance appraisal of new hires, compared to previous period. Manager satisfaction is the satisfaction of hiring managers, compared to previous period. Turnover rate of new hires is measured for a specific period. Financial impact of bad hire includes the cost per hire and the turnover cost. For example, Carphone Warehouse uses recruitment metrics to "get the right people at the right time - and first time". "Retention" metric includes overall employee turnover, preventable turnover, diversity turnover, and financial impact of employee turnover. Overall employee turnover emphasizes the key positions. Preventable turnover takes into account the reasons why the employee left the organization and what measures may be taken to prevent it. Diversity turnover classifies the turnover rate into three categories based on professional, managerial, and technical positions. For example, Scottish Power uses a scorecard system to monitor retention of its retail business that employs call center staff, meter readers, and sales person where retention rate is low. "Training and Development" metric includes learning and growth opportunities, on-the-job learning satisfaction, and opportunities for new hires. Learning and growth

NCLEX-RN article review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

NCLEX-RN article review - Essay Example NCLEX-RN ® pass rates are of interest to the faculty in professional nursing programs, institutions, and the profession, as they represent a measure of faculty and program effectiveness; accreditation agencies and state boards of nursing expect graduate success; and the profession of nursing needs prepared practitioners as it faces a shortage of licensed professional nurses in the workplace. NCLEX-RN ® pass rates are of special interest to potential students who may choose a program due to reported rates, and graduates who are not successful may face anxiety and financial loss. Keywords: NCLEX-RN ®, nursing, logistic regression December 2010 NCLEX-RN ® Success: Are There Predictors The National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN ®, hereafter NCLEX-RN) was instituted in 1984, moved to computerized testing (CAT) in 1994, increased in difficulty in 1998, 2004,[ 7] and again in 2010. Since the beginning of licensure examinations for nurses, there has been variable interest in studying factors related to pass rates with interest heightened during periods of declining pass rates. Success on this examination has widespread ramifications for students, nursing schools, and employers. The stakes are high related to first-time pass rates. The identification of factors affecting NCLEX-RN success is useful for nursing schools in making decisions about admission requirements and curriculum issues. Variables associated with performance on the NCLEX-RN may be categorized as academic and nonacademic. Academic variables include scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT), performance in pre-nursing courses and selected nursing courses, and scores on standardized nursing assessment tests. Nonacademic variables associated with NCLEX-RN ® performance include the taker's age, gender, ethnicity, English as the primary language, and critical thinking skills.[ 4] The purpose of this study was to examine student academic variables from a baccalaureate nursing program to determine which factors may be predictive of student success on the NCLEX-RN examination. This nursing program, like many others, saw a decline in NCLEX pass rates after the difficulty of the examination was increased in 2004. Rather than attempting to make changes to the curriculum haphazardly, the faculty decided to do a systematic assessment of variables that could be influencing the pass rates. Systematic assessment provides evidence so that students who are at risk for failure can be identified early and remediation and/or curriculum changes may be instituted. Review of Literature Beeman and Waterhouse used a convenience sample of 289 baccalaureate nursing students who graduated between 1995 and 1998 to examine predictors of success or failure on the NCLEX-RN examination.[ 1] The most significant predictor of NCLEX-RN failure was the number of C+ or lower grades received in nursing theory courses (r = -.394, P†¦000 1). Higher grades in other core nursing courses and pathophysiology were also correlated with NCLEX-RN success. Discriminant analysis was used to predict 94 percent of the students who passed and 92 percent of the students who failed NCLEX-RN. The authors noted that "all this data is available by the end of the first semester of our students' senior

Latin American Financial Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Latin American Financial Markets - Essay Example This situation reached a crisis in August 1982 when the government of Mexico announced a moratorium on the payment of capital totaling approximately $20 billion dollars scheduled for 1982 and 1983. This resulted in a complete suspension of new loans to indebted nations, placing a heavy burden on those countries in Latin America where almost 50 percent of worldwide debt was concentrated. The closure of international financing sources obliged the debtor nations, including Venezuela, to adopt adjustment policies that had a severe recessionary impact. Against this background, the Venezuelan government and the central bank agreed, in February 1983, on the establishment of a foreign exchange control system based on differential exchange rates. This allowed the granting of foreign exchange for basic imports and debt servicing at a preferential exchange rate, while the other transactions were directed toward the free market where the exchange rate was progressively devalued. The goal of thes e measures was to protect international reserves and to decrease aggregate demand, reduce consumption and investment expenses, while generating exchange savings that would permit servicing the foreign debt. These policies, however, affected the potential earnings and future possible consumption by the population. Therefore, it was necessary to arrive at an agreement with international creditor banks regarding the refinancing of public-sector foreign debt, to achieve an important reduction in the servicing burden. The Venezuelan government began contacts with the banking community in 1983, and in 1986 a restructuring agreement was signed. This had to be modified in 1987 due to the fall of oil prices, but this proved to be only a transitory solution until a new restructuring agreement was designed in 1990 in accordance with the Brady Plan mechanism. In this regard, it should be pointed out that 1988 ended for Venezuela with mounting pressures in the foreign exchange market and an increasingly adverse economic outlook. The presence of negative real interest rates gave rise to the inefficient allocation of resources and an accelerated capital flight. As a result, and in spite of existing exchange controls, net international reserves fell steadily and in amounts that fluctuated between $926 million and $4,900 billion between 1986 and 1988. Additionally, in 1988, the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GNP reached 7.4 percent and the inflation rate surpassed 30 percent, which was the highest level reached in Venezuela until that time. Unfortunately, the inflation rate became even worse in 1989, when it reached 80.1 percent, the highest registered until now. The 1990 Restructuring Agreement For the purpose of guaranteeing the viability of the economic adjustment and reform program adopted in 1989, it was essential to resolve the problem of servicing the public-sector foreign debt. The servicing of such debt on average represented almost 40 percent of the value of oil exports between 1982 and 1988, while the interest payments represented slightly more than 20 percent of the total fiscal expenses between 1987 and

Assessment Tool Essay Example for Free

Assessment Tool Essay †¢ Assessment is an ongoing process that includes collecting, synthesizing and interpreting information about pupils, the classroom and their instruction. †¢ Testing is one form of assessment that, appropriately applied, systematically meas- ures skills such as literacy and numeracy. †¢ While it does not provide a complete picture, testing is an important tool, for both its efficiency and ability to measure prescribed bodies of knowledge. †¢ Alternative or â€Å"authentic† forms of assess- ment can be culturally sensitive and pose an alternative to testing, but they require a larger investment in establishing criteria for  judging development and training evaluators. †¢ Child assessment has value that goes well beyond measuring progress in children – to evaluating programs, identifying staff development needs and planning future instruction. †¢ The younger the child, the more difficult it is to obtain valid assessments. Early develop- ment is rapid, episodic and highly influenced by experience. Performance on an assessment is affected by children’s emotional states and the conditions of the assessment. Policy Recommendations: †¢ Require that measures included in an assess- ment be selected by qualified professionals  to ensure that they are reliable, valid and appropriate for the children being assessed. †¢ Develop systems of analyses so that test scores are interpreted as part of a broader assessment that may include observations, portfolios, or ratings from teachers and/or parents. †¢ Base policy decisions on an evaluation of data that reflects all aspects of children’s development – cognitive, emotional, social, and physical. †¢ Involve teachers and parents in the assess- ment process so that children’s behaviors and abilities can be understood in various contexts and cooperative relationships among families and school staff can be  fostered. †¢ Provide training for early childhood teachers and administrators to understand and inter- pret standardized tests and other measures of learning and development. Emphasize precautions specific to the assessment of young children. NIEER Assessment of preschool-age children who may not reliably or uniformly respond to inquiry has been the subject of much debate. The growing emphasis on testing young children as a means of holding programs accountable for their learning has intensified the discussion. Though there are legitimate concerns regarding standardized testing, it and other forms of assessment are necessary  components of all high-quality early education programs. Properly conceived assessments are important to understanding and sup- porting young children’s development. They are also essential to documenting and evaluating how effectively programs are meeting young children’s educational needs. For assessments to be effective, they must be practical, cost-efficient and meet reasonable standards of efficiency and validity. Testing usually involves a series of direct requests for children to perform, within a set amount of time, specific tasks designed and administered by adults. These tasks have predetermined answers. Alternative forms of assessment are more open-ended and often look at performance over an extended period. Examples include structured observations, portfolio analyses of individual and collaborative work, and teacher and parent ratings of children’s behavior. What Can Be Learned Assessment can provide the following four types of information for and about children and their parents, teachers and programs: †¢ Screen children to see if they need intervention—particularly when par- ents and teachers suspect a problem. †¢ Plan instruction for individuals and groups of children. †¢ Identify program improvement and staff development needs. †¢ Evaluate how well a program is meet- ing goals and needs for children. Data should be aggregated to determine whether desired outcomes are being achieved. Why Assessment is Important Preschool Policy Facts â€Å"Assessment is the process of collecting, synthesizing and interpreting information to aid classroom decision-making. It includes information gathered about pupils, instruction and classroom climate. â€Å"Testing is a formal, systematic procedure for gathering a sample of pupils’ behavior. The results of a test are used to make generalizations about how pupils would have performed on similar but untested behaviors. † — Peter Airasian, Assessment in the Classroom 2 The quality of an assessment depends in part on decisions made before any meas- ure is administered to a child. Project designers should be able to explain why specific measures are used and what they hope to learn from the results. Assess- ment strategies can be formal (standard- ized testing) or informal (observation, portfolios, teacher and parent ratings). The selection of a strategy is guided by the purposes and goals of the assess- ment and is also affected by the available resources in terms of time, money and staff. Formal and informal assessment  strategies each have strengths and weak- nesses. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment requires a multi-method approach in order to encompass the many dimensions of children’s skills and abilities. Standardized Testing †¢Most rigid of assessment strategies, places the greatest constraints on chil- dren’s behavior. Considered objective, time- and cost-efficient, and suitable for making quantitative comparisons of aggregated data across groups. †¢ Preschoolers’ performance is highly influenced by children’s emotional states and experiences, sometimes causing unstable scores over time. Most individual tests of cognitive  ability must be administered in a controlled, relatively quiet area. Observations †¢ Intrude minimally into children’s activities, which naturally integrate all dimension of development— intellectual, motivational, social, physical, aesthetic, etc. †¢ Should be used to complete develop- mental scales of proven reliability and validity, they are not sufficient alone. Portfolios †¢ Involve multiple sources and methods of data collection, and occur over a representative period of time. A collection of student work, the process provides richer information than standardized tests. †¢ Encourage collaboration – between  students, teachers, and parents – and integrate assessment with instruction and learning. Teacher Ratings †¢Can be used to assess children’s cogni- tive and language abilities as well as social and emotional development. †¢ Can be specifically related to other types of assessments, including stan- dardized test scores, other validated assessment tools, or global assessments of children’s traits. Parent Ratings †¢ Encourage parents to observe and listen to their children. †¢Inform parents about the important behaviors and milestones in young children’s development and allows teachers to involve parents as partners  in assessment. Assessment Methods Preschool Policy Facts 3 Issues and positions involving assessment are summarized in a document from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE) titled Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment and Program Evaluation: Building an Effective, Accountable System in Programs for Children Birth through Age 8. Given the pervasive use of testing and its probable expansion, when and under what conditions can this type of assessment be used appropriately with preschool-age  children? What characteristics of tests and their administration will guarantee that we â€Å"do no harm† to children and that we â€Å"do help† adults acquire valid informa- tion? Also, given that even the most well-designed tests can provide only limited data, how can we maximize the use of non-test assessments so they add valuable information beyond that obtained through standardized testing procedures? To produce meaningful data and minimize the risk of creating a harmful situation, all assessment tools for preschool-age children, whether formal or informal, should satisfy the following criteria: †¢ Assessment should not threaten children’s self-esteem, make them feel they have failed, or penalize them for what they do not know. †¢ Information should be obtained over time, or if time-distributed measurements are not feasible, unusual circumstances in the situation (e. g. , noise) or child (e. g. , fatigue) should be noted to avoid invalid, single-encounter results. †¢ Information should be obtained on the same content area from multiple and diverse sources, such as standardized tests, classroom observations and parent ratings, especially when repeated instances of data gathering are not feasible. †¢ The length of the assessment should be sensitive to young children’s interests and attention spans and therefore should probably not exceed 35-45 minutes. †¢ Testing for purposes of program accountability should be administered to a representative sample of students whenever feasible to reduce the overall time spent in testing and to minimize the chances for placing undue stress on children and burden on teachers and classrooms. Reliable and Valid Preschool Assessment To be reliable and valid, standardized testing should: †¢ Contain enough items to allow scores to represent this diverse range of indi-  vidual ability, in order to identify and distinguish among children of low, average and high levels of ability. †¢ Take place in a controlled environment that at least approximates the condi- tions experienced by the population on which the measure was standardized. †¢ Be administered by appropriately trained examiners who are familiar with testing materials and procedures and with working with young children. To obtain scores that resemble natural performance, informal assessments should: †¢ Take place in or simulate the natural environment in which the behavior being evaluated occurs to avoid meas-  uring the child’s response to an artifi- cial environment rather than the child’s ability to perform on the content. †¢ Be conducted by an assessor who is knowledgeable regarding the assess- ment materials and familiar with the children being assessed. When an outside researcher or evaluator must administer the assessment, it is best if the individual spends time in the classroom beforehand. †¢ Measure real knowledge in the context of real activities, resembling children’s ordinary activities as closely as possible. In addition, parent or teacher ratings should evaluate naturally occurring  behavior. †¢ Be conducted as a natural part of daily activities rather than as a time-added or pullout activity. This fact sheet is based on the policy brief â€Å"Preschool Assessment: A Guide to Developing a Balanced Approach† by Ann S. Epstein, Lawrence J. Schweinhart, Andrea DeBruin-Parecki and Kenneth B. Robin. The brief includes full references and is available at www. nieer. org. It was made possible by the generous support of The Pew Charitable Trusts. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Preschool Policy Facts.