Making decisions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Making decisions - Essay Example aineà ­s† (Iris Kempe) Most of the decisions political decisions taken in Ukraine seems to be like the decisions of an emperor rather than a democratic country. â€Å"In November 2004, fraudulent presidential elections in Ukraine touched off seventeen days of mass protests whose goal was to overturn the official result† (Regina Smyth) Though the elections were held in an appropriate manner, the agitations started to began against the legally elected prime minister which is extra ordinary when we compare the elections of a democratic country. Since the Ukrainian people were unaware of the principles of democracy, because of the extended communist rule before, the public began to start agitations against even an elected government. lections on March 26, 2006. International observers noted that conduct of the Rada election was in line with international standards for democratic elections, making this the most free and fair in Ukraines history On April 3, 2007, On April 3, 2007; President Yushchenko dissolved the Supreme Rada and called for preterm elections. Months of political stalemate followed, with the Anti-Crisis Coalition continuing to hold Rada sessions, even after opposition parties Our Ukraine and BYuT resigned their seats and deprived the parliament of a constitutional quorum. On May 27, Yushchenko, Yanukovych, and Rada Speaker Moroz reached a political agreement on new elections, which were held September 30, 2007. (Ukraine) Even though the elections were conducted in an appropriate manner, President has got other ideas which are still unknown to the public. In a democratic setup mostly only after the prime minister loses the confidence of the parliament, the president will dissolve the parliament if no other options are available. But in Ukraine’s case the political observers looking suspiciously over the motives of president in dissolving the parliament. Reports showed that the president and the parliament (Rada) speaker have taken the decisions of

Time Warner Inc. Essay Example for Free

Time Warner Inc. Essay Time Warner Inc. is one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world it is only behind Walt Disney and News Corporation. The main areas of activity are film making, publishing and TV broadcasting. Time Warner combines subsidiaries like Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, Turner Broadcasting, through the last the company runs on air popular channels CNN, TBC and TNT. Also paid channels HBO and Cinemax are ran by Time Warner. The company affects almost all areas of media business thereby covering a large part of the media market. All sort of media productions are being produced to satisfy customers of any age category, gender and interest, which lead to the expansion of the range in concernment of company’s products. In order to have competitive advantage over the rivals, the company is improving service and the quality through their free movie channels, video based cable and new marketing to increase the number of customers, and also they attracted a big number of customers by their broadband and telephone services. To come to the point, Time Warner Cable launched its VoIP telephone service that included voice over IP (VoIP) communications, subscription-based and on-demand video services, and high-speed Internet access, launching this service critical differentiation from the competitors took place in the company, by that taking a large share of customers which used the services of traditional phone companies. One of the brightest strategic examples that the company experienced is Internationalization, a couple years ago Time Warner entered the Asian market, China and India and had 2 different consequences. All attempts to develop its media resources in China were failed because of harsh censorship and too many restrictions, also the company faced with problem of piracy. Favorable environment in Indian market allowed the company to flourish. Their strong competitor Viacom Company has also entered the Indian market with success and become top rated in recent years, Mtv India of this company is broadcasted in more than 30 million houses. For me the next wise decision for the company was collaboration with Netflix Inc. Time Warner gave to this online service a license to broadcast the shows of CW network. There are 2 positive things in this collaboration the first is optimal way of monetizing money and the second is that nowadays more and more people prefer to use internet for watching different shows and news, so this will help to hold customers. Part 2 1) Internationalization strategy. Jeffrey Bewkes chef of the company is going to expand the business overseas. The aim is to capture foreign markets which have future perspectives. They have already spent enough money on acquisition foreign production companies in India and in Eastern Europe and both projects are successful. For Bewkes Germany is a start point for penetration other European countries, and the company realized 19 movies for German market last year. In this strategy Time Warner faced with strong competition with Viacom Company which has spread much in the foreign market the owner of Mtv, Paramount film studio and Comedy Central. Data was taken from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_07/b4166060309334.htm 2) Mobile Strategy. As it is very popular nowadays to use mobile phones and tablets, Time Warner Cable decided to move their business to these devises. The company states that a half of their consumers, choose to order mobile services using their own devices. As a result mobile sales of the company have grown from 0% to 10% in 3 months. Also Viacom Company is now allowing Time Warner subscribers to see their shows on their devices that certainly will have a positive impact. Data was taken from http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/time-warner-cable-exec-20pc-of-digital-sales-come-from-mobile 3) Pricing Strategy. Time Warner Cable introduced their new â€Å"tiered pricing strategy† their aim was that if a customer increases network usage their costs also go up, this tactics should reduce a bill for customers with lower usage The data was taken http://ajnyc.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/the-real-culprit-behind-timewarners-pricing-strategy/ Part 3 1) Proceed Internationalization Strategy – There are still many countries that are favorable to expand business in. For example Russia is a big beneficial market for media companies, people of this country tend to watch western shows but it is not always possible. The company’s competitor Viacom successfully launched Mtv Russia in the mid. 90’s that is an example of successful foreign media project in Russia. 2) Joint Venture- We know about collaboration of Time Warner with companies AOL and Netflix, The first project was failed. But Netflix is a favorable case, it is a chance of expanding company’s capabilities to sell their products in a virtual network. So they should deeply analyze markets of companies that will help them to increase media broadcasting in a wider range. 3) Diversify the content- I think that Time Warner one of the biggest media groups have a potential to diversify its content launching more competitive projects, I would suggest them to open some music channel, it is very popular at present and attracts a large audience all over the world. The simple thing about that, the modern music is easily accepted by any culture in our planet.

Benefits and problems concerning traditional approach to budgeting

Benefits and problems concerning traditional approach to budgeting In order to advise two different businesses about the benefits and problems associated with traditional approach to budgeting and budgetary control, i have collected and compiled the information regarding budgeting and divided it into different parts so that the reader may easily understand . 1.INTRODUCTION : A budget is a planning and controlling tool for an oraganisation.This tool can work effectively only when it is used with due care.It is not only the a cost monitoring mechanism but also an integral part of an organisations planning and control activities.It aims at achieving organisational objectives and motivating the personnel concerned.For the success of budgetary system gathering the essential informationand choosing an appropriate budgetary system etc.are necessary. The ideal budegting system is one that encourages goal congruence(i.e. a situation where the personal goals of the employees match the oraganisational goals).Ensuring the greater participation of the supervisory level in the management process can ensure goal congruence. Budgets may be of different types to suit the different practices followed by different organisations.An organisation using a conventional systemof budgeting may somtimes need to switch over to another to suit its requirements.Changing a budegtary system is not a simple task.An oraganisation has to face certain difficultiesin the form of resistance to change by the personnel of the organisation,changes required in the existing support systems etc., inorder to change its budgetary system.The Success of a budget is also largely dependant on the level of accuracy in estimating the revenues and costs for the budget period.There are several statistical techniques which may prove useful in forecasting the figures to be incorporated in budgets. 2. TRADITIONAL BUDGETING: 2.1. Introduction: First of all we begin this topic with the simple definition of budget.In short budget can be defined as Quantitative economic plan made with regard to time. Therefore, for something to be characterised as a budget it must comprise the quantities of economic resources to be allocated and used, it has to be expressed in economic i.e. monetary terms, it has to be a plan not a hope or a forecast but an authoritative intention, and it must be made within a certain period of time (Harper, 1995, p. 318). Only a plan that has such characteristics can be called a budget. However, if a budget is looked upon in its wider context, it can be defined as a management tool that puts executives in control of the financial health of their company. It is an objective measure of the financial structure of companys operation and a tool that forces management to be accountable in a structured and objective way. Budgets as management tools by themselves are neither good nor bad. How managers administer budgets is the key to their value. When administered wisely, budgets facilitate planning and resource allocation and help to enumerate, itemize, dissect and examine all of the products and services that a company offers to customers (Seer, 2000, p. 187). In short and taken at its simplest level, a budget is a mathematical exercise, but in reality it is much, much more than numbers on spreadsheets, which is what following text will definitely show. The purpose of budgeting is that it gives management an idea of how well a company is meeting their income goals, whether or not expenses are in line with predicted levels, and how well controls are working. Properly used, budgeting can and should increase profits, reduce unnecessary spending, and clearly define how immediate steps can be taken to expand markets (Thomsett, 1988, p. 5). In order to achieve this, management needs to build a budgeting system, the major objectives of which are to (Viscione, 1984, p. 42): Set acceptable targets for revenues and expenses. Increase the likelihood that targets will be reached. Provide time and opportunity to formulate and evaluate options should obstacles arise. Since budgeting as a process is very complex, it comes as no surprise that budgets are trying to fulfil numerous functions such as (Harper, 1995, p. 321, and Churchill, 1984, p. 162): Planning a budget establishes a plan of action that enables management to know in advance the amounts and timing of the production factors required to meet desired level of sales. Controlling a budget can be used to help an organization reach its objectives by ensuring that each of the individual steps are taken as planned. Coordinating a budget is where all the financial components of an organization Individual units, divisions, and departments are assembled into a coherent master picture that expresses the organizations overall operational objectives and strategic goals. Communicating by publishing the budget, management explicitly informs its subordinates as to what exactly they must be doing and what other parts of the organization will be doing. A budget is designed to give managers a clear understanding of the companys financial goals, from expected cost savings to targeted revenues. Instructing a budget is often as much an executive order as an organizational plan since it lays down what must be done. It may, therefore, be regarded by subordinates as a management instruction. Authorising if a budget is a management instruction then conversely it is an authorisation to take budgeted action. Motivating in that a budget sets a target for the different members of the organization so that it can act to motivate them to try and attain their budgeted targets. Performance measuring by providing a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured, a budget clearly plays a crucial role in the important task of performance measurement. Decision-making it should never be assumed that a budget is set in concrete and when changing course a well-designed budget is a very useful tool in evaluating the consequences of a proposed alternative since the effect of any change can be traced throughout the entire organization. Delegating budgets delegate responsibility to the managers who assume authority for a specified set of resources and activities. In this way budgets emphasise even more the existing organizational structure within the company. Educating the educating effect of a budget is perhaps most evident when the process is introduced in a company. Operating managers learn not only the technical aspects of budgeting but also how the company functions and how their business units interact with others. Better management of subordinates a budget enhances the skills of operating managers not only by educating them about how the company functions, but also by giving them the opportunity to manage their subordinates in a more professional manner. The requirements that all these functions impose upon a budget make it difficult for one system to meet them all. It is precisely because these requirements differ, that role conflicts in budgeting system arise. These need to be appropriately dealt with so that dysfunctional behaviour like budget padding or other damaging budget games for the company do not appear. Since there are three major roles for any budgeting system, at least three conflicts may arise (Barrett, Fraser, 1977, p. 141): Planning versus motivation For a budget to be most effective in the planning role, it should be based on a realistic assessment of the companys operating capabilities and on managements judgment about what is most likely to happen in the future. Yet this kind of budget runs the risk of setting targets so low that motivation is adversely affected since to motivate properly, budget objectives should be set higher than those for planning and be difficult yet attainable. On the other hand, these difficult yet attainable objectives lead to an overly optimistic budget and run the risk of falling short and under using company resources. Motivation versus evaluation There is a widely held belief that budget objectives should be set as fixed standards against which performance can be judged. Managers are also likely to be more committed to achieving this kind of objective since they know that the performance standards by which they are evaluated are not constantly changing. On the other hand, managers motivation can be impaired by rigid application of a fixed standard philosophy which doesnt consider the impacts of uncontrollable or unforeseeable events and doesnt allow for their removal from budget standards. Planning versus evaluation The planning roles requirement of providing realistic assessment of future prospects can conflict with the need to eliminate the effects of uncontrollable or unforeseeable environmental variables from the budget used for evaluation purposes. Yet, because they are separated in time, the conflict between these requirements is considered a minor one since it can be considerably reduced if appropriate adjustments are done at the end of the budget period. As can be seen in the previous paragraph, functions that typical budgets want to cover are very wide. It comes then as no surprise that those budgets are being used today in practice for many purposes. Bunce, Fraser and Woodcocks (1995) survey showed that general uses of budgets can be divided into financial and operational type of uses. Figure 2 clearly indicates that, of the various uses of budgeting for management, the most important are those financially oriented like the use of budgets for financial forecast, cost control, cash flow management, and capital expenditure supervision. The operational management uses of budgeting have been less common but the interviewed companies have concluded that, in todays business environment, they are of growing importance. The need to improve performance is intensifying to the point that it is no longer enough just to control costs, but That company must also pay attention to things like strategy, communication, and employee evaluation. These are purposes for which budgets have not been used so much in the past. As stated in the opening definition, budgets are plans set for a certain period of time, such as a month, quarter, and year and so on. This time period is then usually broken into smaller sub periods. The most frequently used budgets are annual budgets that are subdivided by months for the first quarter and by quarters for the remainder of the year. Of course, actual time periods for which budgets are made depend mostly on their purpose and use, and it is solely the decision of individual companies as to what time periods will be utilized for their budgeting process. 2.2. History of budgets: The English word budget stems from the French word bougette and the Latin word bulga which was a leather bag or a large-sized purse which travellers in medieval times hung on the saddle of their horse. The treasurers bougette was the predecessor to the small leather case from which finance ministries even today in countries like Great Britain and Holland present their yearly financial plan for the state. So after being used to describe the word wallet and then state finances, the meaning of the word budget in 19th century slowly shifted to the financial plan itself, initially only for governments and then later for private and legal entities (Hofstede, 1968, p. 19). It was only then that budgets started to be considered as financial plans and not just as money bags. The use of budgets as financial planning and control tools for business enterprises is historically a rather young phenomenon. In the US, early budgetary principles in companies were mostly derived from the budget techniques in government. The other source of budgetary principles for business in the US was the Scientific Management Movement, which in the years between 1911 and 1935 conquered the US industry. Many historians agree that early budgeting systems can be seen as a logical extension of Taylors Scientific Management from the shop floor to the total enterprise. However, it was not until the depression years after 1930 that budget control in US companies started to be implemented on a large-scale.Budgets with their focus on cost control simply became a perfect management tool for that period of time (ibid., p. 20). In Europe the idea of using budgets for business was firstly formulated by the French organization pioneer Henri Fayol (1841-1925). There was, however, little appli cation in practice. Another practical stimulus came from the ideas of the Czech entrepreneur Thomas Bata (1876-1925) who introduced the so-called departmental profit-and-loss-control as a tool for decentralizing his international shoe company into a federation of independently run small businesses. Nevertheless, the main inducement for the development of budgets and their implementation in European companies came from across the Atlantic in the years following the Second World War (ibid., p. 21). Companies like Du Pont and General Motors in the U.S., Siemens in Germany, and Saint Gobain and Elà ©ctricità © de France in France, which pioneered the M-form (multidivisional) organizational structure in the 1920s, first started to use budgets to support their rapid growth as they expanded into new products and markets. This was to help them to reduce the complexity of managing multiple strategies (Hope, Fraser, 1997, p. 20). The enormous diversity in the product markets served by these vertically integrated corporations required new systems and measures to coordinate dispersed and decentralized activities. In this kind of environment, budgets and ROI measure rightly played a key role in permitting central management to coordinate, motivate and evaluate the performance of their divisional managers, and perform a proper allocation of internal capital and resources (Johnson, Kaplan,1991, p. 11). However, it is was only in the 1960s that accountants started adding to budgets other functions (like management performance evaluation and motivation) in addition to those functions for which they had originally been devised planning and control (Hope, Fraser,1999b, p. 50). In that period, budgets became the central and most important activity within management accounting or in the words of Horngren, Foster and Datar: the most widely used accounting tool for planning and controlling organizations (2000, p. 178). This is exactly how budgets have remained to this day. The only thing that has changed in the meantime is the competitive environment in which todays companies operate and which has provoked many discussions about budgets disadvantages and their alternatives, some of which will be presented in later parts of this assessment. 2.3. Budgeting Process: The process of budgeting generally involves an iterative cycle which moves between targets of desirable performance and estimates of feasible performance until there is, hopefully, convergence to a plan which is both feasible and acceptable (Emmanuel, Otley, Merchant,1990, p. 31). Alternatively, if we look beyond many details and iterations of the usual budgeting process we can see that there is a simple universally applicable budgeting process, the phases of which can be described in the following manner (Finney, 1994, p. 16): Budget forms and instructions are distributed to all managers. The budget forms are filled out and submitted. The individual budgets are transformed into appropriate budgeting/accounting terms and consolidated into one overall company budget. The budget is reviewed, modified as necessary, and approved. The final budget is then used throughout the year to control and measure the organization. The inevitable dependence of individual budgets on one another requires that budgets be prepared in a hierarchical manner. Figure 3 indicates a common hierarchical form of the budgeting process together with the necessary data flow between particular budgets and phases of their making. This picture shows that despite having only a few general phases, the budgeting process, due to its linearity and iteration loop, is in fact a very complex and time consuming process. Since it is so complex and important, the budgeting process requires lots of decision making on the particular choices that developers of budgets have at their disposal. Churchill (1984, p.151) has provided a list of eight budget choices that managers have to be concerned with when setting up the budgeting system. Thereby, these concerns vary according to whether the company intends to use its budgets primarily for planning or for control. These budget choices are: Whether it is to be prepared from the bottom-up or top-down, How it is to be implemented, How the budget process is linked to the strategic planning process, Whether it should be a rolling budget and how often it should be revised, Whether performance should be evaluated against the original budget or the one relating to the actual activity level of the organization, Whether compensation/bonuses should be based on budgeted performance, What budget evaluation criteria should be used, and What degree of stretch should be incorporated into the budget. In general, accounting theory suggests that large companies should be concerned more with operational efficiency and emphasize coordination and control aspects of budgets, while smaller innovative firms should concentrate more on the planning aspects of their budgets. 2.4. Types Of Budgets: A budget is not a unitary concept but varies from organization to organization. The basic concept of budgeting involves estimating future performance, comparing actual results with the estimate, and analyzing the differences between them. Factors that are relevant in determining the type or style of an organizations budget and its effects include: the type of organization, the leadership style, personalities of people affected by the budget, the method of preparation, and the desired results of the budgeting process (Cherrington, Cherrington, 1973, p. 226). In general, budgets can be classified into two primary categories (Cohen, Robbins, Young,1994, p. 171): Operating budgets: Operating budgets consist of plans for all those activities that make up the normal operations of the firm. The main components of the firms operating budget include sales, production, inventory, materials, labour, overheads and RD budgets. Financial budgets: Financial budgets are used to control the financial aspects of the business. In effect, these budgets reveal the influence of the operating budgets on the firms financial position and earnings potential. They include a cash budget, capital expenditures budget and pro forma balance sheet and income statement. In figure 4, all major budgets that can be used in a typical company and how they are linked and interconnected within the larger system of the master budget can be seen. This confirms what has already been said about the budgeting process that individual budgets are dependent on one another which requires that they be prepared in a hierarchical manner. Except for the usual division of companies budgets into operational and financial, budgets can also be differentiated based on expenditure authority. Using this approach, two major groups of budgets can be defined (Kemp, Dunbar, 2003, p. 3): Line-item budgets These are budgets where the name of each line is set, as is the amount of money that can be spent on each item. If one works within a line-item budget, one can not overspend a specific line item and then compensate this with savings on other line (or vice versa). The authority to move money from one line item to another must be granted at a higher level. Block budgets These are the opposites of line-item budgets. Here a block of money is given. The details of the budget are presented but, later on, if one wants to spend more money on one item and less on another, one is free to do so. As long as the block of money is not overspent before the end of the year, the budget remains under control. 2.5. Budgets as planning tools: Welsch, Hilton, Gordon (1988, p. 73) have defined the budgeting process as a profit planning and control process and in that way not only have identified the two most important functions of budgets in organizations, but have also presented budgeting process in a wider context than it is usually depicted. Figure 5 clearly shows that the budgeting process is more than just a process of combining quantitative financial plans. It is a tool with which top management cascades strategy goals to operating levels. Budgets are ideal for this purpose since they are in essence the detailed quantification of targets for short-term choices of actions. Before continuing, it must be emphasised here that budgeting is not planning it is just the quantification of planning. Since the budget is fundamentally a plan, planning is the first important element of budgeting work. Planning is one of the elementary functions of management. It is the process of developing enterprise objectives and selecting a future course of action to accomplish them. It includes establishing enterprise objectives, developing premises about the environment in which they are to be accomplished, selecting a course of action for accomplishing the objectives, initiating activities necessary to translate plans into action and current replanning to correct deficiencies (Welsch, Hilton, Gordon, 1988, p. 3). It is a phase that involves the interpretation of the broader strategic policies derived during the formulation of strategy and their translation into more specific shorter-range plans. Once these short-term plans are quantified, they become budgets. That is why in many instances short-term planning and budgetary planning are used as synonyms. However, as figure 6 will show, connect ion between planning and budgeting is not isolated from influences of other elements that constitute corporate planning system and it is precisely the coherent functioning of the complete system that allows corporate planning to be implemented, period by period, through the budgetary process and its two elementary phases budgetary planning and budgetary Control (Lucey, 1996, p. 104). Apart from the purposes of setting desired objectives and goals and linking them with strategic long-range and tactical short-range plans, the fundamental objective of management planning within budgeting system is to provide a feedforward process for operations and control. It is this feedforward process that renders the planning phase of the budgeting system vitally important since it allows control and corrections of plans before they are even implemented. The difference between feedback and feedforward concepts is that feedback monitors past results to detect and correct disturbances to the plan, while feedforward reacts to immediate or forthcoming dangers by making adjustments to the system in advance in order to cope with the problem on time, i.e. feedback monitors, feedforward warns (Lucey,1996, p. 144). Since in any organizations it is unlikely that pure feedforward or pure feedback control could operate in isolation because feedback control is too slow, while feedforward control is too risky, these two concepts usually function within a single budgeting system as can be seen in figure 7. 2.6. Budgets as control devices : At the beginning of the period, the budget is a plan. At the end of the period, the budget is a control device to measure performance against expectations so that future performance may be improved. Control is achieved through continuous reporting of actual progress and expenditures relative to plans i.e. budgets (Shim, Siegel, 1994, p. 15). The aim of budgetary control is to provide a formal basis for monitoring the progress of the organization as a whole and of its component parts towards achievement of the objectives specified in budgets (Lucey, 1996, p. 147). Budgetary control process usually functions in a closed loop. This loop, which is illustrated in figure 8, starts with the planning phase, then records actual transactions, and finally reports against the plan and generates management response. In accounting literature, budgeting is also known as responsibility accounting. This means that plans and the resulting information on the performance of the plans are expressed in terms of human responsibilities because it is people, not reports that control operations. We can define responsibility accounting as a system of accounting in which costs and revenues are analysed in accordance with areas of personal responsibilities so that the performance of the budget holders can be monitored in financial terms (Lucey, 1996, p. 147). So the crucial thing for profit control is the division of authority and responsibility to managers. This means that managers should accept responsibility only over those figures that they have control. However, in practice, controllability1 is difficult to pinpoint for at least two reasons (Horngren, Foster, Datar, 2000, p. 195): Few costs are clearly under the sole influence of one manager. Over a long enough time span, all costs will come under somebodys control. For this reason, companies, alongside traditional responsibility centres2, also usually set up budget centres. These can be defined as a part of an organization for which a given manager has responsibility and authority and to which profit control data can be assigned (Harper,1995, p. 320). For budgeting control purposes, a special type of budget is prepared called the flexible budget. In order to understand why only those budgets can be used for the accurate measurement of performance, firstly the difference between them and fixed budgets must be explained. The fixed budget is based on the level of output planned at the start of the budget period. On the other hand, the flexible budget is developed using budgeted revenues or cost amounts based on the level of output actually achieved in the budget period (Horngren, Foster, Datar, 2000, p. 220). For this reason, from a control viewpoint, the fixed budget is likely to be inappropriate (unless by pure chance the actual level of activity turns out to be the same as the planned level which is highly unlikely) and should not be used for control purposes. It is with respect to this sort of budget that the old saying the budget is out of date before the budget period even begins is often a correct one (Harper, 1995, p. 336). 2.7. Benefits and problems associated with traditional budgeting: It is claimed that today as many as 99 percent of European and US companies are using budgets and have no intention of abandoning them (Better Budgeting: A report, 2004, p. 2). However, on the same page, it is stated that as many as 60 percent of those companies claim that they are not completely satisfied with their current budgeting systems and are continuously trying to improve them (ibid., p. 3). From this evidence, it is obvious that budgets carry with them many benefits and problems. Here is a list of some of the benefits that traditional budgeting can bring into organization if properly implemented and administered (Lucey, 1996, p. 161): It is a major formal way by which the organizational objectives are translated into specific plans, tasks and objectives related to individual managers and supervisors. It is an important medium for communication of organizational plans and objectives and of the progress made towards meeting those objectives. The development of budgets helps achieve coordination between the various departments and functions of the organization. The involvement of all levels of management in setting budgets, the acceptance of defined targets, the two way flow of information and other features of a properly organized budgeting system all help to promote a coalition of interest and to increase motivation. Managements time can be saved and attention directed to areas of greatest concern by the exception principle which is at the heart of budgetary control. Performance at all levels is systematically reported and monitored thus aiding the control of current activities. The investigation of operations and procedures, which is part of budgetary planning and the subsequent monitoring of expenditure, may lead to reduced costs and greater efficiency. The regular systematic monitoring of results compared to the plan (i.e. the budget) provides information upon which current operations are adjusted to bring them into line with the previous plan or, adjustments are made to the plan itself where this becomes necessary. The integration of budgets makes it possible to better manage cash and working capital and makes stock and buying policies more realistic. Nobody has better summarized in one sentence all the advantages of traditional budgeting as did Umapathy in his major work on budgeting practices in U.S. industry from 1987.Umapathy stated: There is no other managerial process that translates qualitative mission statements and corporate strategies into action plans, links the short-term with the long-term, brings together managers from different hierarchical levels and from different functional areas, and at the same time provides continuity by the sheer regularity of the process (Umapathy, 1987, p. xxii). It is exactly because of this that budgets will soon celebrate their century long existence. Since budgets encompass so many different functions and are used for so many things in organizations, it is obvious to expect them to have certain weaknesses. A group of authors at the Cranfield School of Management made an extensive review of budgeting literature. As part of their research, they identified 12 significant weaknesses of traditional planning and budgeting practices. These factors fall into three principal categories and can be listed as follows (Neely, Bourne, Adams, 2003, p. 23): Competitive strategy Budgets are rarely strategically focused and are often contradictory. Budgets concentrate on cost reduction and not value creation. Budgets constrain responsiveness and flexibility, and are often a barrier to change. Budgets add little value since they tend to be bureaucratic and discourage creative thinking. Business process Budgets are time consuming and costly to put together. Budgets are developed and updated too infrequently, usually annually. Budgets are based on unsupported assumptions and guesswork. Budgets encourage gaming and dysfunctional behaviour. Organizational capacity Budgets strengthen vertical command and control. Budgets do not re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ect the emerging network structures that organizations are adopting. Budgets reinforce departmental barriers rather than encourage knowledge sharing. Budgets make people feel undervalued. Furthermore, one of the biggest problems with budgets is that they tend to promote an inward-looking, short-term culture that focuses on achieving a budget figure, rather than on implementing business strategy and creating shareholder value over the medium to long term. For all these reasons, it is believed that these weaknesses lead collectively towards business underperformance and should therefore be dealt with (ibid). The above listed benefits and disadvantages of budgeting system have been present since the first d

Volleyball Essay -- essays research papers

Volleyball The sport of volleyball was created by a man named William G. Morgan of Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1895. Morgan was a physical education teacher at the YMCA and called it "mintonette". It was an indoor or outdoor pastime that had characteristics of both handball and tennis. The first rules were written down by Morgan himself. He wrote that the game called for a 6 foot 6 inch net and a court of 25x50 feet. A match composed of 9 innings and 3 serves for each team in each inning. In case of a serving error they got a second chance just like in tennis. If the ball it the net on a serve it was considered a foul and it caused a side out or a point was taken away. In 1896 after a demonstration at the YMCA in Springfield and the name "Mintonette" was replaced with the name "Volleyball". In 1900 the rules were modified and the height of the net went up to 7 feet 6 inches. Also a match length was set at 21 points. Also in 1900 Canada was the first foreign coun try to adopt the game of Volleyball. In 1906 the country of Cuba discovered volleyball thanks to Thanks to a North American army officer named Agusto York who took part in the second military intervention. In 1908 volleyball reached Japan. Hyozo Omori a graduate at Springfield college in the United States who was the first to demonstrate the rules of the game at the YMCA in Tokyo. In 1910 volleyball officially landed in China. Between 1912 and now many of the rules changed and changed again. In 1924 it was demonstrated at the Olympics in Paris under the show of American sports. In 1938 the Chzechs perfected blocking and was officially introduced to the rules. In 1942 William G. Morgan the creator of volleyball died at the age of 68. He felt no jealousy when the sport he created grew and developed. In 1945 the first volleyball postage stamp was released in Romania. In 1947 Egypt was the first Arab and African country to organize a national federation. In 1952 the first women's world championship was held in Moscow and won by the USSR. In 1960 the first World Championship for men was held outside of Europe in Brazil. In 1965 the first world cup was held in Poland and was won by the USSR. In 1973 t... ... the serving team, fails to pass through the crossing space, lands out or lands after a screen. The definition of an attack it is directing the ball toward the opponent except a serve or a block. The attack hit is completed after the ball crosses the plane of the net. An illegal service leads to a side-out and change of service. Things that lead up to this call would be a violation of the service order or messes up the toss twice. There are many restrictions to a back row player. They cannot attack and put a foot in front of the ten foot line while hitting but can land in the ten foot zone. The Refing staff usually consists of two line refs. An up Ref. And down Ref. are located at each ends of the net. Volleyball is truly one of the great All - American sports. It has grown and developed a lot since it was first made up and changes are still being made. Volleyball has not hit such a great national level as it has in other countries and is not a sports gold mine like the NBA or NFL but maybe, hopefully one day it will be just as or more popular. From 1895 to now from Mintonette to the Olympics, volleyball has improved and has been almost perfected.

Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Preschool Children Essay

Pervasive Developmental Disorders is the umbrella term for   neuro-developmental disorder exhibited in children which is characterized by language deficits, impaired social skills and abnormal behavior. PDDs include PDD-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Asperger Syndrome, Autism-, Chidhood Disintegrative-, and Rett Disorder. Increase patterns of autism disorders for the past 15 yrs at England may indicate changes in PDD and the study attempted PPD estimation in a defined geographic region.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Population under case study were obtained from child center developments Stafford, Cannock, and Wightwick in the Midlands, England from July 1998 to June 1999 with a target population of 15, 500 children born on and between January 1, 1992, to December 31, 1995, that were identified as residents for the specified area on June 6, 1998. Case identification for the disease proceeded by four consecutive stages. Stage 1 was primarily concerned with screening by health practitioners and/or pediatricians at 0 wk, 6 wk, 6-9 mo, 18-24 mo, and 3.25-3.50 yr and then their subsequent referrals for the possible children displaying the symptoms for the disease. five hundred seventy-six underwent this stage. The referred children undergo secondary screening, â€Å"Stage 2†, under the trained eye of a child development physician or a child development teamand when they have failed the test, they will undergo subsequent 2 wk assessment conducted by a multidisciplinary team —speech and language therapist, pediatric physical therapist, occupational therapist, dental nurse, nutritionist, and a nurse specialist in PDDs and associated intervention— using 2-hr activity and play to make PDD diagnosis. For stage 3, one hundred three children were diagnosed with PDD and 95 % of them underwent Stage 4. Parents naturally accompany their children during the activities. Strong suspects for the disease were further assessed (stage 4), with Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised algorithm by developmental physicians and those positive for the disease undergo further psychometric assessment— Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence and the Merrill-Palmer—conducted by a senior educational psychologist. Final diagnosis were carried out using DSM-IV diagnostic criteria to classify the PDD type of disorder. To test reliability of the study, blinding of 3 trained raters for the 38 AD-R tapes were carried out and then assessed for intraclass correlation coefficiency ( Ï social interaction=0.82; Ï verbal c. = 0.85, Ï non-verbal=0.87; Ï repetitive behavior =0.59, ÃŽ £=0.86) and personal assements. Results matched perfectly for the original diagnosis. PDD patients were undergo full laboratory chemistry tests as well as gene map, X test, electroencephalogram, and possibly CT and/or MRI scans (for neurologic damage suspects). Comparison analyses were assessed at ÃŽ ¡0.05 using Kruskal-Wallis and one-way ANOVA followed by post hoc Scheffà © pairwise comparisons.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Analysis for the 97 PDD referrals health visitors as having the highest number of referrals (81%) with the children averaging 35.7 mo at the referral time and 41 mo at the time of clinical diagnosis. Pairwise comparison indicates the order of mean age at the time of the referral for the different groups: Asperger Syndrome (47.5 mo )> PDD-NOS (37.2 mo)> AD (30 mo). ANOVA indicates significances at 11.3 mo and Post-Hoc Schaeffer test indicates similarity of order of mean age to that of non-parametric pairwise comparison.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There were no found differences for syndrome proportionality in the 77 males of the sample population. Thirty percent of the sample population was found to exhibit language impairment characterized by repetitive three-word phrases which was directly correlated to AD subtype. Psychrometric test reveals almost 26 % mental retardation. Two childen with CDD and Rett scored under moderate mental retardation. Chi-square test, P

Counselors as Companions and Ethics in Human Services Essay

1. Every person we come into contact with on a daily basis is able to teach us a little something about life. You just have to be open to learning. This particular counselor who was introduced to Steve for whatever cosmic reason, but left the encounter more knowledgeable about the human condition than when initially introduced. At first glance and without knowing any background on Steve the counselor could have just chalked Steve up as a special needs student who in no way was going to succeed being away from home. The councilor however took time out and got to know his student and found all the triumphs that he had been faced with and had overcome throughout the years. The counselor was able to determine that this student was in no way going to give up and fall between the cracks due to a series of unfortunate events. Every child I come in contact with on a daily basis has their own story, many of which are heart wrenching or unnerving, but yet many persevere and will become productive members of society because someone along the way has showed that they care. 2. Steve was able to benefit just as much as the counselor through this interaction. He was able to persevere and complete his education. All that Steve needed was for someone else to also see the end of the tunnel as well as he saw it. Having someone on the same page and able to stand with you through your goals is beneficial to all those involved not just the single individual with the goal. I think the biggest push anyone could ever get is having someone who does not know you say â€Å"you can’t do that†; it provides all the more motivation to prove them wrong. According to the National Organization of Human Services (NOHS), a code of ethics is an explicit statement of the values, principles, and the rules of a profession, regulating the conduct of its members† (Barker, 2001, p.84) There are two statements found in the NOHS though that best summarize this code and make it applicable to the field in which I am currently surrounded by. STATEMENT 45 Human service educators demonstrate full commitment to their appointed responsibilities, and are enthusiastic about and encouraging of students’ learning. STATEMENT 46 Human service educators model the personal attributes, values and skills of the human service professional, including but not limited to, the willingness to seek and respond to feedback from students. In reading Steve’s journey on the Hero’s Path there is an identifiable moment that relates to my current position that I have been witness to and assisted with. As a guidance secretary for a public school I have seen man types of students walk through our door. Our most recent students who have come in search of a chance to blend in with a traditional student body are two students who found themselves being best friends despite each other’s complex issues. One is an overweight 16 year old and suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome and sneaks food from our cafeteria any chance he gets. The other a 17 year old was born with malformation of the mouth and hands. Both are part of our special education program. Because of their outward appearances, both are shunned by the other student, which has had very little effect on them. To assist them in this effort of blending in our Administrative Resource Teacher, who is popular and liked by the student body because of her understanding and helpful nature has essentially deputized these two during our busiest lunch period. In order to keep the child with Prader-Willi from stealing uneaten food and his friend from stealing anything for him, they eat their lunch and when they are done, are placed on crime watch patrol around the perimeter of the school, with our ART. The child with Prader-Willi gets exercise and it removes him from tempting treats left behind by students such as milk and chips. Both also get the satisfaction of knowing that despite their abnormalities they are regular students. During pep assemblies when the excited student body is a little overwhelming, these students also know that my office is a safe haven for them. They know that they must do work alphabetizing or organizing but they each have a task. I’ve heard many of our administrators repeat this saying time and time again â€Å"you need to know our students, in order to teacher them†, the same applies in any interaction with them. Students don’t just learn in the four walls of a classroom, they learn in every kind of environment. If you make that environment one in which they are comfortable students will return time after time to seek your guidance and model attributes they found and have seen demonstrated. References Halstead, Richard A. (2000, January). From tragedy to triumph: counselor as companion on the hero’s journey. Counseling & Values, 44(2), 100. http://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hs-professionals

European Government in the 19th century1 essays

European Government in the 19th century1 essays During the twentieth century, Europe went through many changes in politics and trends. On June 28, 1914, Serbian revolutionaries assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian and Hungarian thrones, and his wife, Sophie. With Germany behind Austria-Hungary, Austria attacked Serbia on July 28th. The following day, Russia ordered full mobilization and in effect declared full all out war. Germanys plan was to knock out France by going through neutral Belgium and then taking out Russia. On August 2, 1914, Germanys plan to pass through neutral Belgium failed when Belgium refused to let German forces through. Germany intern attacked Belgium. On August 3rd,Great Britain joined forces with France, which started the First World War. A major social impact in Europe occurred during World War I. With almost all able-bodied men fighting in the trenches, this caused a great demand for workers. Jobs were available for everyone. This also brought about change for labor unions. The roll of women changed for the better during this time. Women basically took over the labor forces in Russia. In Great Britain, women were driving streetcars and buses. Women became more prominent in society. Showing up as mail carriers, bank tellers, and even police officers. In 1917, Russia went through two revolutions that cause Russia to with draw from the war. In March of 1917, the Duma declared a provisional government. A month later, Lenin returns from exile to denounce the provisional government. All social classes were in favor of this drastic move. It would create better wages for workers and more food. In 1920, Lenins Red army retook Belorussia and the Ukraine. In the spring of 1918, Germany launched its last attack on France. With the United States backing Britain and France, the triple entente finally crushed German forces. In January of 1919, in Versailles, The Treaty of Versailles was signed...

Corporate responsibility SAS essay

Corporate responsibility SAS essay Corporate responsibility SAS essay Corporate responsibility SAS essayCorporate strategy is shaped, first of all, by corporate mission, vision, values and goals. The presence of clearly defined values and goals reinforces the strategy and shapes the corporate environment. Furthermore, job values and goals have a strong impact on job motivation, satisfaction and in general on job attitude of employees; the above-mentioned factors, in their turn, have a strong impact on turnover, performance and business efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to identify key goals and values of SAS, to research the attitude of employees to working in SAS and to analyze the effect of goals and values of SAS on job satisfaction and motivation using the Job Characteristics model.Company backgroundSAS Institute Inc. is a software company founded in 1976 (SAS, 2014a). The company is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. Initially, the acronym SAS stood for statistical analysis system the software which initiated the creation of the corpor ation (SAS, 2014a). Currently SAS software is one of the leading packages used by large companies to collect, store, report and analyze business data and to make business decisions. It is notable that 91% of top 100 companies listed in Fortune 500 use SAS to analyze business information and to enhance their decision-making (SAS, 2014a). Overall, SAS software is used in more than 70,000 sites in 136 countries (SAS, 2014a).SAS values and goalsSAS defines its mission in the following way: SAS delivers proven solutions that drive innovation and improve performance (SAS, 2014a). The key values listed by SAS on its website are: approachable, customer-driven, swift and agile, innovative and trustworthy. SAS currently has 13,677 employees which are located worldwide: in the United States, in Canada, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and Middle East. The values of SAS are also demonstrated by the corporate responsibility section of its website: the company emphasizes the importance of ethical management and governance, invests into education philanthropy and environmental programs. Furthermore, SAS has a world-renowned culture based on trust, flexibility and values (SAS, 2014b). In terms of employee culture, SAS provides numerous workplace options and features for employees, provides workplace awards, displays artworks in the offices, invests into employees and their education (SAS, 2014b).Working at SASSAS was rated by Fortune as the second best company to work for after Google. The company has been on the list of best employees for 17 years, and in 2013 SAS also was also rated as second best employer. Voluntary turnover at SAS is only 2%, while job growth is 3.6% per year. The company offers onsite childcare, provides access to onsite fitness centers and sponsors gym memberships of employees (Fortune, 2014). Although SAS does not pay for 100% of healthcare costs, the company has a decent range of healthcare options offered in its onsite health center. There are numerous options for having a good work-life balance such as job sharing and compressed work weeks (Fortune, 2014). Employees receive training and are highly motivated. 95% of SAS employees look forward to the new working day and 97% of them are proud to be working at SAS (Great Rated, 2014).Job Characteristics ModelHigh motivation and positive attitude to work among SAS employees can be explained using Job Characteristics Model. Job Characteristics Model consists of five key elements of job design which have a direct impact on motivation and performance: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback (Hellriegel Slocum, 2007). The first three factors contribute to elevated work meaningfulness, autonomy provides for increased work responsibility, the presence of feedback creates the knowledge about job results and performance. Hence, Job Characteristics Model relies on Herzbergs model of motivation and outlines the factors which determine the presence o f high motivation, satisfaction, performance and low turnover (Hellriegel Slocum, 2007).In the case of SAS, job variety, task identity and task significance are high because of two core values innovative and swift and agile. IT industry as such consists of complex and varied tasks, and SAS is not an exception. Cutting-edge research and development require various skills, and Agile approach used in IT industry allows to achieve high task identity. Task significance in SAS is essentially high because of the companys market leadership and wide use of SAS in top worlds corporations. The employees are aware that their product will be delivered to a variety of people and will have a direct impact on strategic business decisions, so the degree of task significance is high.The levels of task autonomy at SAS might be varied, but employees at SAS receive regular feedback and are awarded for their achievements. SAS characterizes its workplaces as such that offer unprecedented challenges, opp ortunities and support for employees (SAS, 2014b). Therefore, according to the Job Characteristics Model, SAS effectively reinforces at least four out of five factors that have a positive influence on job satisfaction, motivation and performance.ConclusionSAS goals, such as driving innovation and improving performance worldwide, as well as corporate values such as agility, swiftness, innovation, approachability and attention to customer needs have a positive impact on at least four out of five Job Satisfaction Model factors skill variety, task identity, task significance and feedback. This is a model which should be adopted by the majority of businesses due to its flexibility and time-proven efficiency. The analysis of SAS using Job Satisfaction Model shows that employees in this company should be highly motivated and should have low turnover; these conclusions are proven by low turnover rates in SAS (voluntary turnover is about 2%) (Fortune, 2014) and high level of satisfaction (4 out of 5) (Great Rated, 2014). Therefore, SAS model or its elements could be recommended for adoption by other businesses.

Film Review (African Women in Films) Movie Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Film (African Women in Films) - Movie Review Example The film shows the flagrant gender discrimination in these countries. The film took second place in the 1994 Monte Carlo film festivities. The film showed the rest of the world that some sectors of our global society still implement gender discrimination acts. The film strives to persuade the world to do their share to help free the women from their current chain of gender equality and other human rights abuses. Further, the convincing and excellently planned film set rightfully shows the realities of gender inequality (Moscowitz 2). The well-research film poignantly starts with a female reciting a poem. The author did not overlook anything significant. The author is not biased. Furthermore, the poem recitation informs the film audiences that the women’s society requires them to tow the line or implement their role us unwilling victims of society’s gender inequality and human rights abuse culture (Moscowitz 3). The film strengths lie in the use of real victims to bring the message across to the global audiences. The film’s weakness is that it does not include women in other societies. The final scene brings to mind that the movie audiences must do their share to help women victims out of their misery. Moreover, the poem shows the women’s role in life, serving the husband and children (Moscowitz 2). To accomplish this role, the women must not learn how to read or about how to survive in life alone. Likewise, the women accept their fate. The film shots vividly show fate includes doing everything in their power to please the male gender, especially the husbands. The film’s close-up shots include correctly focuses on several discriminatory issues (Klevan 87). One of the issues is the compulsory genital mutilation of the women. The mutilations are often done during their childhood years. Likewise, the women have no right to follow their heart. The women cannot marry the person they love. Forced or arranged

Critically analyse the requirements for protecting the shape of a Essay

Critically analyse the requirements for protecting the shape of a product as a registered trademark and as a registered design u - Essay Example Critically Analyse the Requirements for Protecting the Shape of a Product as a Registered Trademark and as a Registered Design under EU Law By Student Name Course Institute Date Introduction Intellectual property rights protection and enforcement are usually left to national laws of the EU member states. However, as a result of the common market principles, the EU has increasingly harmonized intellectual property protection and enforcement. ... n the Regulation relative to the Community designs as they have direct effect in the Community whereas Directives provide the content that Member states are required to implement into law.11 However, since a number of important cases were decided under the EC Directive on the harmonization of trademarks, the EC Directive and Regulation will be discussed relative to the EU’s trade mark law and protection of shapes. This paper will be divided into two main parts. The first main part of this paper will discuss and analyse the EC Regulation and Directive and case law relative to the registered protection of shapes as a registered design. The second main part of this paper will discuss and analyse EC Regulation and Directive and case law relative to the registered protection of shapes as a registered. The Requirements for Protection of Shapes as Registered Design By definition a design is a â€Å"legal instrument† that provides protection for â€Å"creations that take the f orm of the external shape of products or of parts of products†.12 However, in order to be a registered design and to be accorded Community protection, the shape must be â€Å"new† and have â€Å"individual character†.13 Even where the shape is new and has individual character, and forms part of a design, it must be â€Å"visible during normal use†.14 Normal use is defined as â€Å"use by the end user,† and does not include â€Å"maintenance, servicing or repair work†.15 The visibility rule is obviously meant to ensure that any part of the design or any shape to which protection is sought as a registered design, must be seen by those who use the product. After all, one of the main functions of intellectual property protection is to prevent imitations and free riding off the reputation and labour of another.16

Assumptions Made in the U.S. Economic Decisions Assignment - 2

Assumptions Made in the U.S. Economic Decisions - Assignment Example The rates by banks and mortgage in the country experienced a considerable decline and a consequent effect on the economy (Eavis, 2012). The mortgage and banking industries’ decision to lower lending rates was incorrect (Henning, 2011) given the assumptions made. One notable assumption was that the price of real estate would always be on an escalating trend. Banks, therefore, decided to drop lending standards. This turned to be a wrong move in maintaining a stable standard of the economy. The second assumption was that mortgage lenders’ decisions are always trusted. The second assumption rendered transactions with real property securities as safe. Insurance companies and firms rating such securities did not attest the loans provided for real estate, which constitutes their key role. Â  Although a free market experiences a number of challenges, the condition was avertable. Insurance companies and firms need to attest securities provided for loans. This would create a legitimate rating of such securities. A legitimate security rating would help to reduce the lending rate that spilled the real estate with investors. Banks need to maintain their rates (Nagle, 2009) to levels that ensure desired economic states. Perfect and sure decisions made by the banking and mortgage industries would help solve the economic stalemate experienced. A though research in market trends would help contain the economy and avoid such assumptions. Â  

Policy And Practice In the Education of Bilingual Children Essay

Policy And Practice In the Education of Bilingual Children - Essay Example The physical environment of the school and classroom Upon entering the school, a large map welcomes people with the sign that read: â€Å"Welcome to our school. We come from all over the world and we speak 27 languages†. For each language, it was connected to the country of origin as indicated in the map. This sign gave a very warm welcome to anyone who visited the school no matter what culture he or she comes from. An IT room is available for any EAL learner to use whenever one needs to consult a computer for spelling or grammar or anything that pertains to the English language. This additional resource to support their learning is another indication that the school anticipates learners’ needs and provides them when called for. The classroom observed had a big inflatable globe which represents a wide range of diversity is accepted there. The children can freely explore the globe and search for their own countries and link it to their native language. A trained EAL teac her was employed by the school to help facilitate the cognitive, language and literacy development of foreign children. Adults play a huge role in the language development of children, as they need someone who uses simple language in correct form and is flexible enough adjust his language to suit the child’s (Clay, 1988). Having a good second language teacher is essential to learning the language more fluently. The researcher does not discount the fact that imitation of proper pronunciation and intonation is necessary. Hence, learners should have attentive ears and retentive minds, and of course, cooperative tongues to be able to speak fluently in such language. Children also need opportunities to practice speaking and listening to the second language outside the language lessons, so that... This paper approves that in EAL, scaffolding comes in three forms, One is scaffolding by adults by making their expectations clear by sharing learning objectives and criteria for success with the students by way of modeling and demonstrating the English language, ‘recasting’ of the children’s language from their L1 and providing them with opportunities to use their whole language repertoire to aid them in understanding their L2. The teacher may also use scaffolding through visual support, via pictures, props, models, frames and language prompts, graphic organizers, diagrams, maps, plans and essentially all the print and picture cues they put up in the environmental setting. This report makes a conclusion that the numerous issues on second language learning, especially English, only prove that it is creating much impact on the development of children from diverse cultures. More and more people consider its advantages and possible disadvantages. Such amount of attention is worth it because people think up of ways on how to maximize its benefits. Learning another language apart from one’s native language helps children be ready to be highly competent in an increasingly globalized world. However, although they become bilingual, it should not be forgotten that they also become bicultural, and learning of one language and the culture that goes with it does not mean forgetting their original one. Teachers should take into consideration that their non-English speaking students should learn English in both its context and language elements so the students gain a better understanding and appreciation of the English language.

Psychological Disorders and Therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Psychological Disorders and Therapy - Essay Example PTSD symptoms can be clustered into intrusive symptoms – flashbacks reliving traumatic experiences, avoidant symptoms – withdrawal from possible triggers (place, event, people) of traumatic experiences, and hyperarousal – the feeling of being threatened always occurring as insomnia, irritability, extreme startle response. Nevertheless, PTSD is curable. Effective treatment to PTSD is a combination of psychoanalysis – a therapy that deals with the patient’s unconscious and repressed memories, and drug therapy. SSRIs are the first line of medication approved by the US FDA as it was proven effective to decrease anxiety, depression, and panic reducing aggression, impulsivity, and suicidal thoughts in patients. a. Features: PTSD is a complex disorder, classified as anxiety disorder (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder par.1) or emotional disorder (Dryden-Edwards 1). DSM-IV-TR described it a â€Å"normal reaction to abnormal events† (qtd. in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder par.1), wherein terribly threatening experiences like rape, military combat, torture, genocide, extreme disasters, etc. have disrupted the patient’s memory, emotional reactions, mental processes, and nervous system (PTSD par.1-2; Dryden-Edwards 1), making PTSD a unique psychiatric disorder, since its diagnosis depends on factor/s outside the victim – a deviance from psychiatry’s general emphasis on factors internal to individuals (PTSD par.2). b. Symptoms: DSM-IV-TR identified six criteria symptomatic of PTSD: (1) Traumatic stressor – patient’s exposure to life-threatening horrifying experiences; (2) Intrusive symptoms – flashbacks reliving traumatic experiences; (3) Avoidant symptoms – withdrawal from possible triggers (place, event, people) of traumatic experiences; (4) Hyperarousal – a threatened feeling always occurring as insomnia, irritability, extreme startle response; (5) Symptom duration – one month

Reflection on Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reflection on Leadership - Essay Example The leadership experience that I have gained is only from my studies especially when associating with my peers. My main strong point is my ability to communicate. I believe that communication is the main contributor to success. I therefore base my communication skills as my strong points. The area that I need some improvement on is the ability to work in a group setting. I tend to find myself more independent as opposed to been interdependent. I should improve on that so as to be able to work in a group setting. The activities that would help me improve on the skills are to engage myself in more group settings so as to be used to working with people. The other activities would be to engage in social activities so as to get used too many people. That means that I will be able to work in a group and I will also be able to engage my communication skills in the group setup (Luthans, and Avolio,

Policy And Practice In the Education of Bilingual Children Essay

Policy And Practice In the Education of Bilingual Children - Essay Example The physical environment of the school and classroom Upon entering the school, a large map welcomes people with the sign that read: â€Å"Welcome to our school. We come from all over the world and we speak 27 languages†. For each language, it was connected to the country of origin as indicated in the map. This sign gave a very warm welcome to anyone who visited the school no matter what culture he or she comes from. An IT room is available for any EAL learner to use whenever one needs to consult a computer for spelling or grammar or anything that pertains to the English language. This additional resource to support their learning is another indication that the school anticipates learners’ needs and provides them when called for. The classroom observed had a big inflatable globe which represents a wide range of diversity is accepted there. The children can freely explore the globe and search for their own countries and link it to their native language. A trained EAL teac her was employed by the school to help facilitate the cognitive, language and literacy development of foreign children. Adults play a huge role in the language development of children, as they need someone who uses simple language in correct form and is flexible enough adjust his language to suit the child’s (Clay, 1988). Having a good second language teacher is essential to learning the language more fluently. The researcher does not discount the fact that imitation of proper pronunciation and intonation is necessary. Hence, learners should have attentive ears and retentive minds, and of course, cooperative tongues to be able to speak fluently in such language. Children also need opportunities to practice speaking and listening to the second language outside the language lessons, so that... This paper approves that in EAL, scaffolding comes in three forms, One is scaffolding by adults by making their expectations clear by sharing learning objectives and criteria for success with the students by way of modeling and demonstrating the English language, ‘recasting’ of the children’s language from their L1 and providing them with opportunities to use their whole language repertoire to aid them in understanding their L2. The teacher may also use scaffolding through visual support, via pictures, props, models, frames and language prompts, graphic organizers, diagrams, maps, plans and essentially all the print and picture cues they put up in the environmental setting. This report makes a conclusion that the numerous issues on second language learning, especially English, only prove that it is creating much impact on the development of children from diverse cultures. More and more people consider its advantages and possible disadvantages. Such amount of attention is worth it because people think up of ways on how to maximize its benefits. Learning another language apart from one’s native language helps children be ready to be highly competent in an increasingly globalized world. However, although they become bilingual, it should not be forgotten that they also become bicultural, and learning of one language and the culture that goes with it does not mean forgetting their original one. Teachers should take into consideration that their non-English speaking students should learn English in both its context and language elements so the students gain a better understanding and appreciation of the English language.

Reflection on Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reflection on Leadership - Essay Example The leadership experience that I have gained is only from my studies especially when associating with my peers. My main strong point is my ability to communicate. I believe that communication is the main contributor to success. I therefore base my communication skills as my strong points. The area that I need some improvement on is the ability to work in a group setting. I tend to find myself more independent as opposed to been interdependent. I should improve on that so as to be able to work in a group setting. The activities that would help me improve on the skills are to engage myself in more group settings so as to be used to working with people. The other activities would be to engage in social activities so as to get used too many people. That means that I will be able to work in a group and I will also be able to engage my communication skills in the group setup (Luthans, and Avolio,

An analysis of the influence of technology on contemporary interior architecture Essay Example for Free

An analysis of the influence of technology on contemporary interior architecture Essay The analysis of the articles is based on the influence of technology on interior architecture education and of employer’s expectations in the interior design industry. This also addresses the issues faced by interior designers in today’s world and how technology is hindering/fostering their creativity. Talking about the article on â€Å"Technology Changing the Face of the Modern Fit out†, it addresses a strong point of how the interior design industry was never considered as a crucial part of the industry and was dealt with a stereotype attitude that interior designers dealt only with the part of â€Å"decorating† the space until technology gained importance. Technology has now given a 180-degree turn to the industry because of which the industry has finally started gaining the deserved recognition. The underlying point in the article â€Å" is technology hindering or fostering the creativity in interior design†, although is on similar lines like the above mentioned article about the positive aspects of technology, it also talks about the pitfall side of technology on the industry. Their argument is supported with an example cited of a professor from a state university of how although he accepts that the technology has given the students, the most innovative platform to communicate their design ideas, somewhere down the lane, the students who are the prospective interior designers are lacking the basic creative skills and hand drafting techniques. â€Å"Interior Designers’ Perceptions of the Influence †¨of Technology on Workplace Performance† article gives us a different perspective of the influence of technology and how it caters to the interior designers. The statement is supported by examples cited by employees from the industry who have been interviewed of how 2D and 3D software have enabled the designers to get their work done in reduced time in comparison to how it was in the past. It also talks about what the expectations of the employers from new hires are , 2 which includes being efficient in 2D and 3D software which will enable them to be proficient in expressing their design ideas. The other side of the coin is that it is hindering the employers in certain ways. This point is well supported by examples they cite of how in case if the computer crashes the students are unable to come up with a hand made drawing ready for a meeting. The over dependence on the computer has led to this state where the new graduates are finding it tough to inculcate sketching and hand drafting although their competent computer skills enable them to complete a design project in no time. The articles that we have looked at firmly state that the influence of technology has its pros and cons. The use of technology has catered to designers in various ways in terms of the time factor, design output etc. But the basic thing we have to understand is every opportunity has both sides. So technology is definitely fostering the designers but having said that it is better that we don’t become over dependent on it that it hinders our creative and innovative skills of designing. 3 Works Cited (Melinda Lyon 2009) (Moore 2011) (TAUTE 2005) Melinda Lyon, Shiretta Ownbey, Mihyun Kang. International Journal of Instructional Technology and distance learning. January 2009. http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_09/article07.htm (accessed August 2013). Moore, Tim. Design Build Source. October 05, 2011. http://designbuildsource.com.au/technology- ­Ã¢â‚¬ changing- ­Ã¢â‚¬ modern- ­Ã¢â‚¬ fitout (accessed August 28, 2013). TAUTE, MICHELLE. IIDA. 2005. http://www.iida.org/content.cfm/compass- ­Ã¢â‚¬ vs- ­Ã¢â‚¬  computer (accessed August 28, 2013).

Evaluation Of Coca-Cola Corporation Environment

Evaluation Of Coca-Cola Corporation Environment Coca-Cola was established on May 8, 1886 by Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia. It was first sold in Jacobs pharmacy for five cents per glass. Initially Coca-cola was sold as a drug, Pemberton during that time considers Coca-cola as a cure for diseases such as dyspepsia, morphine addiction, headache and impotence (North America Operating System, 2008). Coca-cola Company is one of the most popular companies in the world. Aside from the fact that it is also one of the oldest corporations that was able to withstand World War II and other changes in the economy over the past years. The fact still remains that it is one of the most famous brands of Cola in the world (The Coca-Cola company case n.d.). The Coca-Cola Company was able to resist the hindrances that occurred; the company was able to utilised change management as efficiently as possible to withstand the obstacles. As mentioned earlier, changes in management is caused by three different factors which are the external environment, internal changes and the proactive reaction to possible threats and difficulties. Temporal Environment Evaluation- over the past decades, the Coca-Cola Company has faced a number of changes in the external environment that have transformed the management of the company. One of the best examples is during the World War II. The company was able to maintain the status of the company, at the same time, was able to enter new markets despite the environment. Instead of lying-low because of the war, the company became more aggressive through providing free drinks for the GIs during the World War II. Through this the corporation was able to hit two birds at one stone. First, because the carbonated drinks sent by the company, it became a patriotic symbol by the United States soldiers in which led to consumer loyalty. Second, the company was able to take advantage of the situation and established the product in newly-occupied countries by the Ally forces and because of that the company established plants in various locations worldwide paving the way for its post-war expansi on. Another aspect in the external environment is the change of taste and expectations of the consumers. During the mid-1980s wherein the Americans favoured the sweet taste of the rival product, the company created its counterpart but became a commercial failure; however instead of backing down, Coca-Cola changed its management strategy and returned the old formula, and just renamed it as Coca-Cola Classic. And with the rise of obesity in the United States and consumers became health conscious the company released new versions of Coke in order to address the needs of these type of consumers, such products include Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero. In addition, according to Bool (2008) companies such as Coca-Cola are compulsory to transform due to trends that have a huge impact on their business, and one of these trends is the health and fitness. A number of people are noe investing more in their health, and in order to keep up with the trend, Coca-Cola introduced their new product which is a calorie burning soft drink, the Enviga. Moreover, Coca-Cola is collaborating with the Swiss company Nestle. Coca-Cola is dealing with innovation and change. During the Asian Financial Crisis, Coca- Cola was also triggered to change its course of management in that particular region. The responses and reactions of Coca-Cola with the external environment are its internal changes. Internal Changes- as mentioned earlier, Asia experienced its financial crisis in 1997. According to Barton, Newell and Wilson (2002) as the financial crisis swept the Asian region, the chief executive officer, Douglas Daft responded to this by mobilising his executives to workshops about how Coca-Cola would seize new growth opportunities. Barton et al, stated that Coca-Cola gave emphasis on acquisition opportunities, Coca-Cola bought acquired bottling business in South Korea which gave more access in retail stores in South Korea, as well as, better entry in China, Japan and Malaysia. Coca-Cola disregarded its country-defined market perspective and focused on regional strategic view and acquired local brands of tea and coffee. In the case of health trends and changing taste of the consumers, Coca-Cola responded to this through innovation and change. Innovation is accomplished through development of new products such as the Enviga, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, and other variants of Coke. The change is incited by the trend in health and fitness and consumer tastes which had an impact on the business of Coca-Cola. During World War II, the response of Coca-Cola to the situation is to provide free drinks to the GIs in order to access new markets in which the company was able to do. Organisational Change Management- this theory presents a general procedure for managing the change in the side of the people at an organisational level (Kotter, 1996). According to Hiatt and Creasey, the organisational change management is consists of three phases, which are, preparing for change, managing change and reinforcing change. The theory of organisational change management was effectively utilised by Coca-Cola. Different managers in various parts of the world have used organisational change management in order to address the issues that the Coca-Cola faced. From the case study (The Coca-Cola company case n.d.) these people are: One of the most notable CEOs of Coca-Cola Company is Mr. Gouzueta, he was the chief executive officer of Coca-Cola for seventeen years. He was able to determine the problem against other manufacturer of carbonated drinks. Mr. Gouizetta played a huge role in measuring the operation of Coca-Cola and developed strategies that aided the Coca-Cola to defeat competition. In addition, Mr. Gouizetta played important roles in planning and leading the tasks in achieving the goals and objectives. In addition, Mr. Gouizetta also appointed Mr. Ivester whom transformed the weakness of Coca-Cola into opportunities and strengths (The Coca-Cola company case. n.d.). Furthermore, the paper of Pigseye, the following organisational management changes that occurred in Coca-Cola over the past years. Coca- Cola has distinguished various forms of its advertisements in order to target different forms of consumers instead of focusing on one group. The company changed the packaging of Coke. Coca- Cola also developed new products such as Gatorade and it extended globally which is composed of the African group, Middle and Far East group, the Latin America group and the European Group (The Coca-Cola company case. n.d.). Interventions As part of the interventions, it is very vital to identify the leveraging changing in an organisation. In identifying the leveraging changes in the Coca Cola Company a Force Field will be used. Force Field Analysis according to Bass (2008) is a technique created by Kurt Lewin in order to analyse the forces that are opposing to change. The current state of the Coca Cola stores in Hong Kong is pretty good and it is still one of the top distributors of softdrinks in Hong Kong. However, if it will be compared to other Coca Cola convenience stores in the world the inventory, marketing, and performance of the personnel is not equal to other Coca Cola company. The company hopes to increase the efficiency of the marketing and inventory, as well as the productiveness of the workforce through implementing management change programmes. If the changes will be applied within the management and businesses, Coca Cola projects that there would be an increase in the output of the company. On the other hand, if changes will not be implemented the inventory, performance and other marketing would deteriorate and continuously be inefficient, therefore there is a possibility that the competitors might be at par or even overtake the market. According to the presented case, the main emphasis of the Coca-Cola is to meet the needs of their customers with excellent product manufacturing and product distribution. The companys change management is very fragile since they predicted that there are some marketing challenges in the near future that they need to face. In order to address the changes in the Coca Cola Company, there should a concrete identification of problems present in the company. The employees and other stakeholders of Coca Cola Company will be affected of this so-called radical changed. Basically, the route of the change is towards the workforce development and not on the services since the company has already established a reputation of delivering good services in the market. The change is also about the possible financial problems that the company may face in the near future. From this discussion, the following figure shows the force-field analysis of the change management procedures suggested to the application of change management within Coca Cola Company. Figure 1. Force-Field Analysis From this force-field analysis, it can be seen that the computed forces to change is much higher compared to the forces against change. Force-field analysis is very vital in change management (Bass, I. 2008). Meaning to say, the plan is quite logical with respect to possible opposition. Actually, change management is basically defined as the formulation and assimilation of change in a methodical process (Kotter, J. P., Schlesinger, L.A. 1979). Meaning, the major objective of change management which is the introduction of new systems in the work organisation i.e. total change project is normal to companies that are engaged in change management. This can similarly be compared to the adoption of new marketing strategies. Businesses like Coca Cola Company must normally undergo change in order to evolve to a higher level of for instance, stability, management or production. And since Coca Cola Company wanted to have an extreme development or a radical change, the CEO of Coca Cola may inc lude changing the companys mission, reforming business operations, application of new technologies, major group efforts, or adoption of new programs. Usually, the organisation is encouraged on settling on change management due to external influences, usually termed as the environment (Nickols, 2004). Thus, change management can alternately be defined as the response of different business to changes brought about by environmental influences in which organisations have minimal or absolutely no control over. Perhaps the space between the new organisation design and implementing it into actuality is the whole coverage of organisation change and development. As mentioned in the introduction, people are adaptive to change. However, certain skills must be present from the initiators of change so as to successfully implement their project. Thus, managers need to have the necessary abilities not only on detecting what needs to be changed but also how to introduce the change effectively. Thus, in this review of related literature, some of the approaches, common problems, influences, case studies and best practices in change management will be analysed in relation to the research problem. Recommended Plans With respect to the force-field analysis that has been previously conducted, the following details are the recommended plans for managing change in Coca Cola. Renewing Systems and Structures The organisational form of Coca Cola is the Entrepreneurial start-up or the simple structure. According to Mintzberg (1992) the structure is described as having a little or no technostructure at all, it also has few support staffers, restrained division of labour, minimal differentiation in the work place, and a small hierarchy in management. Moreover the behaviour within the organisation, particularly in the convenience store is not that formalised wherein it utilises minimal planning, training and liaison devices. In the new organisational form of Coca Cola businesses in Hong Kong, it would be Machine Bureaucracy. According to Mintzberg, the machine bureaucracy is an organisational structure wherein there is a clear configuration of the design parameters wherein it consistently held up researches it includes specialised routinely operating procedures, formalised procedures in the centre of operations, propagation of rules and regulations, proliferation of formalised communication throughout the company, dependence on the functional basis for tasks wherein it needs group work, comparatively centralised power for decision-making, and a complexly detailed administrative structure with sharp differences between the line and staff. In this form of organisational structure Coca Cola will be able to monitor the efficiency of the performance of the workers because there would be standard procedures and more elaborate structure of management. Cultural Web Routines and Rituals- the Coca Cola, Inc. does not have any formal training with its work force particularly within the convenience stores. There are no specific routines emphasised in the organisation, and just like most companies, the managers and workers come in to the work place to perform their job and the cycle goes on. This behaviour does not encourage any worker to perform their job better and if ever changes will be implemented within the organisations it will not look peculiar. The new training programs that will be implemented will focus on customer service. In industries like in Coca Cola customer service is a very important aspect in sustaining the loyalty of the consumers. The routines can easily be changed due to the fact that there is no particular routine in the work place. Organisational Structures- the management within the stores have limited hierarchy and the overall setting is informal because there are no strict rules and regulations within the convenience except for the usual the punctuality and absenteeism. The management structure in Coca Cola encourages collaboration with Coca Cola but competition with other organisations in the same industry. The power structure within Coca Cola is democratic because prior to the changes in the management sectors that will feel the impact of the changes directly will be educated and informed and also their opinions will be heard. Control Systems- In Coca Cola the most closely monitored is the distribution of softdrinks. The company does not emphasise punishment and rewards to the employees, apart from the usual which is the bonus for rewards and removal from the job for punishment. There are few controls in the workplace and the control in the workplace is associated with the history of the company wherein it provides the customers fresh products. Power Structures- the main beliefs of the senior management of Coca Cola is that the success of the company is due to the efficient evaluation of the challenges in the workplace, as well as, the market and quickly respond to the opportunities. The power is distributed to three management teams, the senior leadership team, vice presidents and the division leadership. The dominant culture of the organisation is its being practical and open to the opportunities given to them. The changes in the management programmes can be implemented easily because the proposals of the company are attainable and do not have a negative impact on its employees. Overcoming Resistance Resistance of the employees in the change management programmes in any company is inevitable however overcoming the resistance is important in order to implement the required changes in the management strategies. According to Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) there are six approaches that an organisation can use in dealing with the resistance by the workforce and these are: Education and Communication- In order to overcome the resistance in Coca Cola the employees should be educated and informed regarding the transformations within the company before implementation to prevent incorrect information that will surround the work area. Participation and Involvement- the employees must be involved with the planned changes in the management programmes of the company because once they become involved the employees will not resist but instead will participate in the transformations that will be undertaken. Facilitation and Support- Some of the employees will resist the changes because they are unable to adjust with the new programmes implemented by the management to avoid resistance the management must support the employees that are having a hard time with the changes, establishing a support system will aid the employees to quickly adjust. Negotiation and Agreement- Coca Cola should talk and negotiate with the employees, and during the talks the management must discuss the incentives they will receive once they accepted the changes in the management strategies. Manipulation and Co-option- if the other approaches did not work inviting the union leader to participate and be a representation in the change process will aid in overcoming the resistance to change. Explicit and Implicit Coercion- if all approaches did not work the last step would be forcing them to accept the implemented changes and threaten them that if they will not comply the employees will lose their jobs. Conclusion Change management is basically defined as the formulation and assimilation of change in a methodical process. The major objective of change management is the introduction of innovative means and systems in the work organisation. This can similarly be compared to the application of certain information technologies in the company or the adoption of new marketing strategies. Businesses must normally undergo change in order to evolve to a higher level of for instance, stability, management or production. Appointing a new head officer, for example, can greatly enhance his subordinates based on his management principles and personality. From these discussions, we may conclude that change management is a process in which all companies undergo. This is an important procedure because it enables the organisation to make decisions that will be advantageous and beneficial to the company. In addition, organisations that are open to change are generally more successful compare to companies that re sist it. In a globalise market, new technologies and procedure are emerging rapidly, in order to keep up with this progress a company must be willing to adapt to management changes. The international, as well as, the local market has a very stiff competition, therefore in order to be on top change management must be utilised by companies. Coca-Cola is one of the best examples of companies that utilised change management efficiently and have yielded positive results. The evidence is the dominance of Coca-Cola in the soft drink industry not just in Asia but all over the world.

Sylvia Plaths Poetry Essay -- Sylvia Plath Poem Essays

Sylvia Plath's Poetry Wrapped in gaseous mystique, Sylvia Plath’s poetry has haunted enthusiastic readers since immediately after her death in February, 1963. Like her eyes, her words are sharp, apt tools which brand her message on the brains and hearts of her readers. With each reading, she initiates them forever into the shrouded, vestal clan of her own mind. How is the reader to interpret those singeing, singing words? Her work may be read as a lone monument, with no ties to the world she left behind. But in doing so, the reader merely grazes the surface of her rich poetics. Her poetry is largely autobiographical, particularly Ariel and The Bell Jar, and it is from this frame of mind that the reader interprets the work as a complex, crushing, confessional web that most truly describes the mythic Sylvia Plath. Her two most significant volumes of poetry, The Colossus and Ariel, flesh out her poetic lexicon: wading through the deep, patterned labyrinth of her poetry with her life as a guide. Title piece to her first collection of poems, â€Å"The Colossus† is a daughter’s attempt to reconstruct her dead father in the fallen statue at Rhodes: â€Å"†¦his death nine days after her eighth birthday left an imprint upon her imagination that time did not erase or soften† (Butscher 3). Because Plath never really knew her father as a healthy man (Stevenson 12), she likens him to this decrepit stone which, as an archaeologist, she must piece together â€Å"with gluepots and pails / of lysol† (Plath C. 20). In reality, she must function as an emotional archaeologist in order to reconcile her loss, to revenge herself on her father for leaving her. She attempts, continually, to prove herself to him; as a child she continually showcased her artis... ...Colossus. 1998. New York: Vintage International; New York: Alfred Knopf, Inc., 1962. Rosenblatt, Jon. Sylvia Plath: The Poetry of Initiation. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1979. Stevenson, Anne. Bitter Fame. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1989. Van Dyne, Susan R. Revising Life: Sylvia Plath’s Ariel Poems. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1993. â€Å"Fueling the Phoenix Fire: The Manuscripts of Sylvia Plath’s ‘Lady Lazarus’† . Sylvia Plath. Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989. 133-147. Works Consulted Broe, Mary Lynn. Protean Poetic: The Poetry of Sylvia Plath. Colombia: University of Missouri Press, 1980. Plath, Sylvia. The Journals of Sylvia Plath. New York: Anchor Books, 1998. Strangeways, Al. Sylvia Plath: The Shaping of Shadows. Cranbury: Associated University Presses, 1998.