Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Does one on one tutoring have a positive effect on my students' Dissertation
Does one on one tutoring have a positive effect on my students' attitude about reading - Dissertation Example Furthermore, studies showed a strong relationship between structured and quality tutoring and reading attitudes. Sources indicated, however, that contextual factors must also be considered when understanding attitudes on reading, such as training of tutors and structure of tutor strategies, frequency and regularity of tutoring sessions, close monitoring and evaluation practices, and specially designed curriculum for readers with reading problems or disabilities (McKenna et al., 1995; McKool, 2007; National Institute on Out-of-School Time at Wellesley Centers for Women, 2009; U.S. Department of Education, 1997). Does one-on-one tutoring have a positive effect on students' attitude about reading? I am directly involved in tutoring students to improve their attitude about reading. I am currently tutoring a 4th grader with ADHD, who reads at about a beginning 3rd grade level with poor comprehension skills. This boy has 3 siblings (1 older brother and 2 younger sisters) and a loud, rather disorganized home. The research will also include a 3rd grader who a co-worker is tutoring. This student has a stutter and reads at about a mid 1st grade level with difficulties in vowel sounds. This boy is an only child and I do not have knowledge of his home life or condition. Both boys have parents that are supportive, but only the 3rd graderââ¬â¢s mom is very involved with helping her child. ... This paper reviews the literature on tutoring and reading. Review of Literature The review of literature reveals that are numerous factors that shape reading attitudes, but the most prevalent are children's personal experiences in reading, children's self-confidence in reading, parents' attitudes towards reading, and teachers' teaching strategies. Furthermore, studies showed a strong link between structured and quality tutoring and reading attitudes. Factors that can Shape Reading Attitudes There are a variety of factors that affect children's attitudes toward reading: children's personal experiences in reading, children's self-confidence in reading, parents' attitudes towards reading, and teachers' teaching strategies. Sources indicated, however, that contextual factors must also be considered, such as training of tutors and structure of tutor strategies, frequent and regular tutoring sessions, close monitoring and evaluation, and specially designed curriculum for readers with readi ng problems or disabilities (McKenna et al., 1995; McKool, 2007; National Institute on Out-of-School Time at Wellesley Centers for Women, 2009; U.S. Department of Education, 1997). Childrenââ¬â¢s personal experiences in reading. Children's personal experiences in reading can improve children's attitudes toward reading (Wang, 2000, p.1). It is important that the environment of the children provides easy access to interesting books, because this leads to them experiencing the world of reading as an entertaining experience (National Institute on Out-of-School Time at Wellesley Centers for Women, 2009; Wang, 2000, p.1). Access to quality books, however, is not widely provided by low-income families.
Monday, October 28, 2019
Classical conditioning Essay Example for Free
Classical conditioning Essay Classical conditioning is a form of basic learning the body automatically responds to a stimulus. One stimulus takes on the properties of another. The Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) is credited for discovering the basic principles of classical conditioning whilst he was studying digestion in dogs. He developed a technique for collecting dogââ¬â¢s salivary secretions. Pavlov (cited in Eysneck M.W 2009) noticed that the dogs would often start salivating before they were given any food or saw the feeding bucket or even when they heard the footstep of the laboratory assistant coming to feed them. Quite by accident Pavlov had discovered that the environmental control of behaviour can be changed as a result of two stimuli becoming associated with each other. These observations led to whatââ¬â¢s now called classical conditioning. A neutral stimulus (such as a bell) which normally wouldnââ¬â¢t produce a response (such a salivating) eventually becomes paired with another stimulus (such as the food) this is referred to an unconditional response. When the bell and food (unconditional stimulus) are paired often enough the dogs start to salivate as soon as they hear the bell and before the food is served. When this occurs conditioning has taken place. (Cited in Burns 1995) Pavlov argued that if dogs could be conditioned to salivate then it is possible to apply the process to bodily process that effect illness and mental health disorders. Nowadays classical conditioning is applied in the treatment of phobias and in aversion therapies.(Cited in Burns 1995). Operant conditioning Operant conditioning is the process of a behaviour in which the likelihood of a specific behaviour is increased or decreased through positive or negative reinforcement. The theory is based on Thorndike (1993) law of effects which state that behaviour is a function of its consequences (cited in Oââ¬â¢ Brien 2009). Skinner used observation as a leading approach to operate conditioning. A key principle of operant conditioning was that where behaviour is reinforced (that is where people are rewarded when they behave in a particular way). It will tend to be repeated under particular circumstances. (Cited in Gross R 2010). For example a mother picking up a crying infant and if the baby stops crying when picked up, the probablility of the mother repeating the same behaviour increases since the cessation of the babyââ¬â¢s crying is a reinforced.(Gerry, K et alt page45) . Reinforcers can also be primary or secondary. Primary reinforcers are our basic needs like food, water and shelter. Secondary reinforcers are events that have become rewarded through their association. For example money, because money can satisfy people needs it takes on reinforcing characteristics of its own. Operant conditioning can be used in behaviour management and in education, for example children are rewarded when they do well in school and punished if they fail, if they see someone getting rewarded they are more likely to copy the good behaviour. Operant conditioning can also be used to help people with addictions along with classical conditioning,for example in alcohol and drug addiction. Operant conditioning is also used in pain management and in social skills training. It has also been used to reward schizophrenic patients for good behaviour. For example given them tokens in exchange for sweet when they behave well in hospital.(Aylon Azrin,1968,cited in Eysenck 2009). Social Learning The social learning theory proposed by Albert Bandura (1965), has become the most influential theory of learning and development. Bandura argued that direct reinforcement could not account for all types of learning. He argued that people could learn new information by observing other people this type of learning can be used to explain a wide variety of behaviours.(Cited in Eysenck, M 2009) for example Teenagers wanting to be thin like the models that they observe on the television or on the computer. Bandura (1965) Three groups of young children watched a film about adults behaving aggressively towards inflatable Bobo dolls. In one of the films it showed adults being rewarded for aggressive behaviour. The second group were scolded and the third group were neither rewarded or punished. All children showed increased aggression if offered a reward for what they learnt, and the behaviour decreases if they are punished. (Cited in Gross 2009). for example social learning can be learnt thro ugh the media. Pop stars are often seen as role models, and children of smokers are more likely to smoke when they are adults. Phobic patient benefit more from watching fearful patients gradually overcome their fears. (Cited in Gerry,K.et alt 1996) There are three core concepts in social learning, first learning through observation, mental state is essential part of the process and the theory also recognises that just because something is learnt doesnââ¬â¢t mean it will result in a change in behaviour.(cited in Burns 1995)Positive reinforcement is far more effective than negative reinforcement. Bandura believed that observation and direct reinforcement could account for all types of learning. He argued that emotional behaviour could be switched off through modelling procedure. Learning need not necessarily be correct. Through learning human behaviour can be modified. Learning is very important when working in social care, helpers need to know how to modify clientââ¬â¢s attitude toward their illness so the helper can work with them to recover.(cited in Burns 2005)
Saturday, October 26, 2019
How does war affect relationships in Regeneration? Essay example -- En
How does war affect relationships in Regeneration? "Regeneration" is a novel that combines fact and fiction to describe a soldier's experiences of the war. It does this successfully through a series of relationships, not only of a sexual nature but also relationships between Rivers and his patients, which reveal how difficult it is for rivers to form a trust relationship with patients and how stressful their revelations are on him. There are also examples of friendships, between Sassoon and Graves, and love, in particular between Priors and Sarah. One of the first relationships we come across is the doctor - patient relationship between Sassoon and Rivers. Evidence from their first conversations seems to suggest that at least on an intellectual level they are equal. Sassoon indicates his intelligence when Rivers questions him about his declaration, he is quite aware of how it sounds for a "Second Lieutenant" to say "The war must stop" however he doesn't see how any war can "justify this level of slaughter." Sassoon appears defensive at times during the first conversation, particularly when Rivers refers to Sassoon throwing his medal in the river as "agony." He appears to snap back almost immediately "No agony is lying in a shell hole with your legs shot off" indicating his bitterness towards civilian ignorance at emotional and physical suffering for soldiers in the war. At this point Rivers, indicating the honesty of the relationship, makes his opinion on Sassoon's state of mind clear and tells him that he seems to have "very powerful anti-war neurosis" and that it is his duty to "try and change that." This honesty is essential in the relationship between Rivers and his patients. At this time in the n... ...ctant at first she agrees, as "the thought of being collected from her lodgings by an officer was too much for her." There is irony here, as she complains about the class system and wants it to change, however she is thrilled at the thought of being courted by an officer. In the novel "Regeneration" the portrayal of the different relationships gives us an idea of the effect war had on, not only the soldiers but also the people back home, in particular the women. Which as Prior pointed out in the novel "seemed to have changed during the war." These relationships can also give us an idea of how the soldiers felt connected and became comrades, but also of how, after being at war for so long, the soldiers began to hate the civilians back home for being so ignorant as to what was actually happening and being to concerned with trivial things in everyday life.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Future of English
Future of English as a global language ââ¬Å"A language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every countryâ⬠(Crystal 1997). In the 21st century, English is increasingly becoming the dominant language in global communication. However, the question of where the future of English lies remains unclear. Will English in the future increase in popularity or should we adopt a better alternative? English is undoubtedly one of the most influential languages in the world as more and more people use English as their official or second language. It has been given a variety of labels to represent its popularity. However, social inequalities and injustices have also emerged in the same process, revealing the controversial role English has had internationally. In order to critically examine the future of English as a global language this essay will discuss the following topics in this literature review. 1. Rise of English World-wide 2. English as the language of Science and Technology 3. English language teaching world-wide The number of English speakers in the world has increased at an astonishing rate throughout the last few centuries. According to Crystal he states that by 1983, the number of people speaking English as an official language was over 1,400 million world wide. Moreover in India and its subcontinent, the English language has an official standing. In the late 1990ââ¬â¢s the number of English speaking citizens in China was approximately 220 million. The Olympics provided the motivation for an increase to double these numbers. English has brought benefits, social inequalities and injustices. It remains questionable as to whether or not English would remain a global standard language. Tsuda discuss how the political and cultural neutrality of the common language used internationally is extremely important and is required within the English language. By incorporating English into any society, countries are able to have some share of the globalization benefits but this necessitates the force of implementing English. If this way is adopted, the independence and uniqueness of other cultures will diminish because of one language dominating other ways worldwide and homogenize them into a Western and more particularly an American way of life. Esperanto has been suggested by Tsuda is a language that could be used for the purpose of an equal communication. The Esperanto movement has its philosophy as peace. The author questions whether English has a similar philosophy. THE RISE OF ENGLISH WORLDà ·WIDE English has undoubtedly dominated other languages in the past 20 years. How it came to be so is another story altogether, although some stress it on historical or political spurs while others believe that modern-day socio-economic and scientific motivations led to its popularity. However in my opinion and with some research it is believed that the popularity of English began by the end of World War II. The only major industrialized country unaffected by war was the United States. The United States rapidly began working on scientific discoveries, such as the computer, this led to an increase in exchange of information globally, by design English became the source language for storage of information and its retrieval. The United States spent 40 years, after the war, working on setting up research universities, research and development departments, economic stability and computer networking. Hence becoming the supreme user of information technology as well as its biggest contributor. When you contribute towards something you eventually become its manager, similarly the United States began managing information such as its categorization, storage as well as operating languages and computer system designs. And the only medium it knew best to manage was in the programmerââ¬â¢s natural language i. e. English. So now English not only became the global language of Science but also ecame the global language of Information Technology. The position of English as a dominant language in areas of science and Technology is now quiet secure since most of the modern-day information assemblage are English based. English as the language of Science and Technology: Over the last 20 years, the spread of English has been enormous. Developing Countries desires for economic development, their need for information access and transfer of technology have been the key catalyst behind this domina nce. Although some might see this dominance as a negative impact that will not last for long, in Baileys 1983 article he states: ââ¬Å"People bent on imposing their ways on others have no difficulty in contriving arguments to justify their doing so. The historical and present-day spread of English is no exception to that principle. Also ââ¬Å"The hegemony of English that has steadily grown with the increase in global communication is now beginning to diminish and will shrink further in the immediate futureâ⬠Although such a notion puts forward that English does represent part hegemony, it is the sort of hegemony that will not fade away or diminish in the near future due to some revolution but if it does it will not be as most have expect. However if evidence to date is considered, English is far from being diminished, it is now more than ever still expanding and continuing to secure its role as a global language hence further emphasizing the importance of English in our modern day lives. It should be made clear that any country that wishes to modernize itself and grow in the areas of science and technology and eventually com pete in global markets cannot show a resistance towards English. It is imperative for any country wishing to make its place in the world for any form of trade to communicate in English. Such will be the case until a time comes in the future when other languages are able to provide access to larger information and better technological development, or until a computerââ¬â¢s ability is developed to such an extent that it becomes independent of any specific natural language. Many have termed this statement as an argument for English for Science and Technology (EST) instruction. Of late Garfield (1987) pointed out that 88% of articles present in the Science Citation Index were in English, and from 1978 till 1982 data indicates that this development has been quiet consistent. He further adds that if citation data is to be considered then the dominance of English is seen at large. Around 96% of all citations, from 1978 to 1982, present in the index journal are written in English. Garfield also surveyed that most countries that had an option to publish in their language or a foreign language often chose to publish in English as frequently as in their own language. For example according to Garfieldââ¬â¢s research, from 1978 to 1982, the Japanese Scientists cited their own publications 3 times as much as their Japanese publications. While according to Swinburne (1983) the French scientists cited their publications in English four times as much as their French publications. In the same way the Russian Scientists cited their publications quiet often in English as well. All this suggests that even those countries that value their natural language more are now giving a lot of importance to the use of English as a global language as well as a medium for scientific progression. The major reason behind this acceptance of English is due to the fact that 80 to 85% of all information stored in a computerized data bases around the world are written in either English or in some way abstracted in English. (Kaplan 1980-1982) and (McCrum et al 1986) English is not only the language for Technology but now is widely being used in Medical publications, in a study by Maher(1986) it is pointed out that from 1966 to 1980 a 19% increase in use of English in medical publications can been seen, from 53% to 72% respectively. In more recent research Maher shows that, with Japan being an exception, there is an incline towards the trend in general rather than a decline. English is undoubtedly the prevailing and widely used language of Science and Technology. Therefore it must be understood that for any country to ecome modernize and industrialize and technologically competitive, it is imperative that they access or use information that has been written in English. In the past 20 years the exponential growth in publications, the need for even faster retrieval and access of information and the stark demands generated by private multinational corporations and government industries have created a competition amongst countries to an extent that t he only access to information they have, technological or otherwise is basically in English. So any public or private modern day business or industries wanting to compete in the global markets and magnify their production need to have access to some form of information, latest researches and technological applications. And in order to utilize the research, applications or information the managers or administrators must be able to use English because English will be the language used to acquire information out of a system. This competition and the need for latest information make the position of English as a global language unwavering and steadfast for years to come. According to Forey & Nunan ââ¬Å"Hong Kong is a major international trading, business, banking, and communications center, and English is seen as a key to maintaining its position in these areas. â⬠(Forey & Nunan, 2002) ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING WORLDà ·WIDE In extension to the above rationale that English is the language of Science, it wonââ¬â¢t be wrong to say that wherever a need exists English is to be taught. Over the past 20 years this awareness has grown world-wide and more and more countries are giving English a great deal of importance in their school curriculum. Although the level of English being taught and the measures to be taken for its proper learning is a different issue altogether. Asian countries like China, Honk Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Philippines and Malaysia have added English language in their school curriculum at an early age, with teaching time ranging from minimum 4 hours a week to maximum 50 hours a week. Also a shift in the age at which English is taught is seen, from secondary classes to primary classes. It should be made clear that not all citizens of a country need to understand English, although in doing so they are denying themselves the access to the enormous information available world-wide. Even a country like Japan that holds a strong resistance towards English has introduced the language at high school level. English in China is in some way considered or has become the language for the elite; those who are unable to learn proper English in schools and have a sound family background begin taking private tuitions in order to learn English. This introduction of English in schools at such primary level, as well as the steps various governments have taken to ensure its proper learning of the language simply shows the dominance and importance of English world-wide. CONCLUSION To draw a conclusion that English is indeed a global language and will likely remain one in the near future seems reasonable. English plays a vital role is areas of information retrieval and its access, as well as in Science and Technology. Any country wishing to explore or expand in these areas will need to understand English. Although coming to such a conclusion is not as simple as it may seem, there are many complex issues at stake here but nevertheless, in light of the evidence provided in this paper it will not be wrong to say that English has clearly achieved world dominance and will continue to maintain its position not only as the language for Science and technology but also as world language in general. As Kaplan (1983b) has noted in an editorial in Science: ââ¬Å"It seems reasonable to assert, however difficult it may be to accept, that knowledge of a world language, especially English, is essential to the welfare of the new nations . . New nations must find a balance between the cultivation of indigenous culture-rich language and the need for a world language . . . Any other course is tantamount to restricting their capability for modernization. â⬠Reference List ? Bailey, R. W. (1983) Literacy in English: an international perspective. In Literacy for Life. Edited by R. W. Bailey and R. Fos heim. New York: MLA. pp. 30-44. ? Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ? Crystal, D. (2000). Language death. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Curriculum Development Council. (1999). Syllabuses for secondary schools Englishlanguage (Secondary 1ââ¬â5). Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region, China: Hong Kong Education Department. ? Education Commission. (1990). Education commission report number 4. Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region, China: Hong Kong Education Department. ? Forey, G. , & Nunan, D. (2002). The role of language and culture within the accountancy workforce. In C. Barron, N. Bruce, & D. Nunan (Eds. ), Knowledge and discourse: Towards an ecology of language. London: Longman/Pearson. ? Garfield, E. (1987) English spoken here. The Scientist, 1, 9 (7 September). ? Graddol, D. (1997). The future of English. London: British Council. ? Kaplan, R. B. (1980) A language-planning rationale for English for special purposes. In Language Policy and Language Teaching: Essays in Honor of Clifford H. Prator. Edited by J. Povey. Culver City, CA: ELS. pp. 53-64. ? Kaplan, R. B. (1982) Information science and ESP. Paper presented at the 16th Annual TESOL Convention, Honolulu, HI, May 1982. Kaplan, R. B. (1983b) Language and science policies of new nations. (Editorial) Science, 221,4614 (2 September). ? McCrum, R. , Cran, W. and MacNeil. R. (1986) The Story of English. New York: Viking. ? Maher, J. (1986) The development of English as an international langiage of m&ine. Applied Linguistics, 7, 206-218. ? Swinburne, J. (1983) Information use and transfer by British and French scientists: a study of two groups. Journal of information science 6, 75-80 ââ¬â ââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬â 2010
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
My Grub Box
When Vivian Johnson decided to pursue a college education, it was not because her parents didnââ¬â¢t attend college, it was because she wanted to be in a position of control. She knew that college was her ticket to getting the qualifications needed for the career she envisioned. In ââ¬Å"My Grub Box,â⬠Vivian Johnson recalls her college experience moving from Emmonak, Alaska to the East Coast Ivy League School Dartmouth. Taken completely out of her native environment of the Yupââ¬â¢ik Eskimos, she details a certain adaptation to gain understanding of her perspective.Vivian Johnsonââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"grub boxâ⬠created a signpost for her way of life through the realization that culture is inseparable from being native. The main aspect that set Vivian Johnson apart from other students at Dartmouth is her experiences as a member of a native Eskimo family. Johnson begins her memoir with a description of the function of a grub box and what it has meant for members of her fam ily. On hunting and camping trips she would use her grub box to pack food and supplies to survive, but her grub box that helped her through college contained much more than physical items.She used intangible things that were passed on from her parents, like a sense of identity and how to survive in different surroundings. (Johnson, 201) Another reason that Johnson didnââ¬â¢t fit into the ââ¬Å"normalâ⬠student population at Dartmouth, was the fact that she didnââ¬â¢t come from a socially advantaged family compared to many of the other students. She could not relate to many of the other students experiences simply because her family didnââ¬â¢t take exotic trips or have fancy clothing, jewels, and cars.Not only was Johnson different from other students because of her possessions and experiences, but she also had a different perspective and was used to a different way of thinking. She found it difficult to understand her government professor because she had not been expo sed to that way of thinking before. Also, she at first had trouble discussing certain topics with her classmates such as the ââ¬Å"concepts of land, substinence hunting, and fishing. â⬠Eventually, she had began to anticipate questions about why she didnââ¬â¢t fit in so she formulated answers to better describe her way of life. Johnson, 207) Upon her arrival at Dartmouth, Vivian Johnson realized that she was completely out of her environment. Her grub box helped her transition allowing her to adapt to college life and enabled her to slowly orient herself on her new landscape. She was outside her environment both physically and intellectually. Everything was foreign to her, from the smell and type of trees, wildlife on campus, and formation of the stars, to riding in a taxi for the first time, Vivian needed to adapt to her surroundings in order to survive.The food she received from her grandpa helped her physically because she wasnââ¬â¢t used to the type of food served at Dartmouth, but the intangible qualities served a greater purpose. Those qualities formed a type of support system for Vivian that connected her to her roots as a way to remind her of her culture and heritage in order to combat the overwhelming pressures she faced in this cultural submersion. While Johnson described many of the hardships she had during her time at Dartmouth, she did manage to find a place where she was accepted for who she was and where she came from.When she joined Native American at Dartmouth, Vivian was helped not only academically, but also with small tasks that made her life easier, such as mail, food, and housing. She became part of a social network that appreciated her and considered her to be one in their group, even though she wasnââ¬â¢t Native American. By finding similarities between herself and the other members of Native Americans at Dartmouth, Johnson was able to connect with them because they had similar life experiences. She valued this support gr oup of friends so much, that she credits them for her graduation from Dartmouth. (Johnson, 209)Upon graduation from Dartmouth, Johnson describes her exit ââ¬Å"just as perplexing as her entrance. â⬠(Johnson, 209) Adaptation plays a huge role in Johnsonââ¬â¢s survival attending college with different cultures. In the end, Vivian Johnsonââ¬â¢s experiences she gained at Dartmouth from adapting further adds to her ââ¬Å"grub boxâ⬠enabling her to branch out to individuals in her adult life. The adaptation in Vivian Johnsonââ¬â¢s memoir made it easy for me to relate to her story of going away to college. When I arrived at the University of Wisconsin-Madison there was a sudden sense of culture shock. Also, being on our own when your parents were the ones to feed you, take you places, and lend you money when needed, definitely leaves you to fend for yourself. Adapting to my new environment was no fun but is definitely an experience of having to adapt in order to accom plish new goals and ââ¬Å"fit in. â⬠I realized that everyone has a different set of tools in their ââ¬Å"grub boxâ⬠from adapting to new experiences and when exchanged, form a more global perspective of race in the Unites States. Therefore, Vivian Johnsonââ¬â¢s adaptation to reality serves as a launching pad for individuals to engage in difficult conversations about race.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Should Canada continue its international role as a peacekee essays
Should Canada continue its international role as a peacekee essays Should Canada continue its international role as a peacekeeper? Between 1991 and the end of 1996, 24 new peacekeeping missions were set up under the UNs flag- six more than the total established during the preceding 43 years. At the peak of UN activity in the mid-1990s, there were nearly 80,000 UN peacekeepers deployed around the globe. [Canada and Peace...] The numbers show that since the end of the Cold World, peacekeeping has become more and more important in the complicated international society. Being the most enthusiastic peacekeeping force, Canadian Military has deployed more than 125,000 Canadian military personnel and thousands of civilians. [Canada: the...] However, people have started arguing whether the Canadian Military should keep its reputation or change its military status in the world. Based on Canadian peacekeeping history, fifty years of peacekeeping experience and participation in an overwhelming majority of peacekeeping missions has established an international reputation for Canada. It builds on its established peacekeeping tradition to make strong and significant contributions to international peace and security. [Canada and Peace...] Therefore, in my point of view, the term a peacekeeper has become one of the most famous national identities of Canada, and to keep playing the role as a peacekeeper is the proudest and most proper way to act on the world stage for Canada. Nevertheless, the Canadian Military still needs to have some improvements or changes in its personnel, equipment, and policy to make itself an absolute peacemaker. Firstly, the Canadian Military should be more strict and specific about how personnel are selected. Now the Canadian Government isnt too selective when choosing army personnel, and some people are not competent enough to be peacekeepers. This has resulted in the past with poorly disciplined personnel and embarrassing situations for the ...
Monday, October 21, 2019
June Calendar of Holidays and Fun Days to Celebrate
June Calendar of Holidays and Fun Days to Celebrate June marks the beginning of summer and signals freedom for many students as they stream out of schools, ready for lazy days, outside activities, swimming, climbing and traveling.à But, June also marks a month of special days to celebrate.à Learn about holidays you never heard of, as well as important milestones to commemorate. From Dinosaur Day to I Love My Dentist Day an interesting holiday coming just one day after Donut Day there are plenty of ways for you and your family can celebrate the days of June. Early Month Aesop, the famed Greek fable-teller, is said to have been born on June 4, while Sesame Street character Oscar the Grouch was also born in early June. Also during the month on June 2 à Guglielmo Marconi, after years of struggle, was granted a patent for hisà invention, the radio. The early part of June also marks the date of the first U.S. spacewalk in 1965, as well as the first hot air balloon ride. As you snack on donuts, eat cheese or bake gingerbread men, youll find plenty of interesting days to celebrate and commemorate. June 1 Dinosaur DayStand for Children DayOscar the Grouchs birthdayDonut Day June 2 I Love My Dentist DayNational Rocky Road DayRadio patented June 3 Egg DayFirst U.S. spacewalk June 4 Aesops birthdayFirst Ford madeNational Frozen Yogurt DayCheese Day June 5 National Gingerbread DayFirst hot air balloon flightWorld Environment Day June 6 National Yo-Yo DayFirst roller coaster opened June 7 National Chocolate Ice Cream DayDaniel Boone Day June 8 First indoor swimming pool builtVacuum cleanerà patentedNational Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day June 9 International Young Eagles Day Mid-Month Flag Day, an important commemoration of this enduring U.S. symbol of freedom and liberty, is celebrated during this part of the month; indeed, an entire National Flag Week begins on June 10. The late oceanographer and explorerà Jacques Cousteau was born on June 11. But, if youre in the mood to celebrate lighter fare, theres always National Peanut Butter Cookie Day or National Lobster Day. Theres even a Pop Goes the Weasel Day celebrating the origination of the famous song. June 10 National Flag WeekMaurice Sendaks birthday June 11 Jacques Cousteaus birthday June 12 National Peanut Butter Cookie Day June 13 National Juggling DayNational Lobster Day June 14 Pop Goes the Weasel DayFlag Day June 15 Power of a Smile DayFly a Kite Day June 16 Fudge Day June 17 Iceland Independence Day June 18 Fathers DayInternational Picnic Day June 19 JuneteenthLou Gehrigs Birthday Late Month As June winds to close, you can observe Paul Bunyon Day, which celebrates the famed, mythical lumberjack, as well as the birthday of an equally famous real-life hero,à Helen Keller. On National Meteor Day,à people turn their eyes to the heavens in hopes of spotting the glow of a falling star, notesà National Day Calendar,à making June 30 a perfect day for you and your family to end the month by staying up late, going outside and gazing at the heavens. June 20 West Virginia Admission Day June 22 U.S. Department of Justice established June 23 Typewriter invented June 24 Deaf-Blindness Awareness Week June 25 National Catfish DayEric Carles BirthdayVirginia becomes the 10th state June 26 National Chocolate Pudding DayToothbrush invented June 27 National Orange Blossom DayHelen Kellers Birthday June 28 Paul Bunyan Day June 29 Camera Day June 30 Meteor Day
Sunday, October 20, 2019
6 Effective Ways to Survive Through College Finals
6 Effective Ways to Survive Through College Finals College finals are challenging, we all know that. The pressure on a student in this period is immense. But you can pull it through! To help you out, we have prepared a few college finals tips and tricks on how you can avoid stress and increase your productivity during your exams. When finals week gets closer, one can often meet students with bags under their eyes holding the fifth cup of coffee. You can almost see this stressing tension in the air. So, when the finals week is the only thing that stands between you and hot summer days of chilling and fun, its not surprising that you might feel a little overwhelmed. When feeling so, its hard for your brain to be focused and organized. Its not a rare case when students fail exams in spite of being well acquainted with the subject and because of not being able to pull themselves together. So, we are going to give you tips on how to survive finals week and stay calm. 1 Eat and Drink Well A lot of students feel like they are running out of time before final examinations. In pursuit of saving time, they commonly skip their meals and eat poorly. However, its not the best choice for you during this period because your body needs a lot of energy in order to keep you organized and productive. Before the finals, your body and your brain need a lot of nutritious components and water to stay hydrated. Your meal plan for this time should contain: Omega-3 fatty acids (salmon, trout, herring, nuts, olive oil, coconut oil) Iron (apples, pumpkin seeds) Vitamin C (oranges, lemons) Vitamin E (pumpkin, spinach) Flavonoids, caffeine (dark chocolate, coffee) Lutein and Zeaxanthin (eggs, broccoli, grapes) Drink at least 4-5 glasses of water every day to stay healthy and energized. If you face difficulties with eating healthy and inexpensive in college, our tips will be useful to you. 2 Plan and Prioritize When you have a lot of material to revise, its easy to fall into a chaotic state when you are just flipping through your books and notes. However, when you have a detailed plan, you can structure information better and remember it without mixing it up in your head. Create a plan of studying and put the most challenging exams first and dedicate more time to them. Make sure to review your notes right before the exam to freshen up your memory. 3 Follow a Schedule Having a schedule is the most important step when preparing for exams. Its quite easy to succumb to anxiety and sit with your notes till the late night. But this is not the best way to make your brain and concentration work. Get up in the morning and go to bed at the same time every day. Make the list of subjects that you are going to dedicate time on a certain day and schedule little breaks in between your study sessions to relax. For example, you can watch your favorite TV show or listen to music. This way it will be easier for you to stay focused and process the information. 4 Have a Great Sleep Pulling all-nighter is never good for you, so take naps whenever you can. During sleep, your body relaxes and accumulates energy for you to continue your studying. Moreover, good sleep for at least 8 hours a day increases your productivity and attentiveness. 5 Prepare Your Notes Even though you might think that its better to study for an extra hour, your ability to retain information at the end of late studying sessions is getting drastically low. So, there is no need to force yourself to stay up, better go to bed earlier. Structuring information helps with retaining and perceiving information better. Find the most effective way for you to remember the information and match your notes with the method that you chose. For example, people of the visual learning style will find organizing information on the paper effective. Different diagrams, infographics and educational videos on platforms like Coursera or Youtube will work the best. For people of auditory learning style podcasts and recorded lectures will be the best way to rehearse the material. So, prepare your notes and organize them in the best way for you. You might also use markers to highlight some points while you are rereading them or write down some quick thesis statements. Check out other useful pieces of advice for higher grades. 6 Exercise A lot of students find exercising very useful during intense study sessions, and this is not surprising. Besides helping you lose weight, sport releases hormones and helps your brain fight with stress and anxiety. Moreover, sometimes you just need to distract yourself from depressing thoughts and a good run or workout will do the magic. If a gym is not your cup of coffee, try out yoga, meditation or swimming. You will see that these simple activities will boost your energy and positive mood. The time of the day when you are the most productive is also essential when planning your study sessions. So, check out our tips on how to choose the best time to study for finals. These were our tips on how you can pull yourself through hard times of college finals and help your stress go away without using any medications.
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Application Question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Application Question - Essay Example Nonetheless, Television presents the economic performance on main economic players within a country and presents. The television is always accurate in presenting the share indices of companies trading in the stock exchanges thus a useful source for the public and other stakeholders who wish to invest in such firms (White, Angappa, and Matthew 47). However, provision of economic information on the television sets tends to undermine local entrepreneurship and Instead of promoting local economic drives individuals to favour multinational enterprise. Television, as a creative industry, has also been instrumental in integrating cultural needs and expectations of the public through various programs (White, Angappa, and Matthew 47). Television is always vital in upholding cultural heritage of a country through awareness creation among the locals or residents. So often, it is common to witness a country promoting its local culture through television as the most preferred mainstream media. To individuals who prefer to uphold their cultural heritage, television is a modest way of accepting their culture and belonging. More important, television is a way of creating cultural tolerance since the programs are always multinational (White, Angappa, and Matthew 47). However, television breeds bad behaviours among the public bringing into question the role it plays in integrating cultural needs and expectations. The implication is that television promotes externally imposed cultural values making individuals to disregard their local norms because they prefer affluent cultures that they watch on their television sets. Of the two significances, economic integration is the major contribution of television that steers development in any given country. The implication is that economic integration focuses on accessibility of information which is very crucial for development and generation of investment
Friday, October 18, 2019
Organizational Theory Design and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3
Organizational Theory Design and Change - Essay Example Each stage has its own crisis that must be resolved to move on to the next stage. Growth through creativity may result in crisis of leadership because of lack of skills in the entrepreneurs. This crisis results in difficult recruiting of top-level managers and strategy makers. Growth through direction face crisis of autonomy in which the creative employees lose control over the development of new product and professional managers take the control and the decision making is centralized. Growth through delegation faces crisis of control occurring due to power struggles between top-level and lower-level managers. Growth through coordination faces crisis of red tape during which organizations become extremely bureaucratic. Growth through collaboration may result in the organization becoming organic which can be difficult for the managers. Works Cited Jones, G. Organizational Theory Design and Change. NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009.
World philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
World philosophy - Essay Example My beliefs were supported with my experiences with the cognitive world, and with the aid of a rich imagination, I was able to attach the like elements to those that I do not personally experience. Just as it is with the Indians who believe in the truth that the sun lives in the earth, their culture caters to the idea that all things in the Indian world are connected to each other, in ââ¬Å"profound unity,â⬠may it be inanimate or animate, life is believed to exist in the essence of these things (Momaday, 190). With the sun, the Indians have attached to it a nature that can almost be human by virtue for its behavior in the heavens with which they can somehow relate to. As Momaday writes, ââ¬Å"the sun-watcher among the Rio Grande Pueblos, whose sacred task it is to observe, each day, the very point of the sunââ¬â¢s emergence on the skyline, knows in the depths of his being that the sun is alive and that it is indivisible with the earth, and he refers to the farthest eastern mesa as ââ¬Å"the sunââ¬â¢s houseâ⬠(190), the sun-watcher courts the sun which is like a maiden being wooed, and the sun being that character is expected to go homeward. They see this oc currence as a fact because the sun undergoes changes just as a person would, and appears to move across the heavens as would a traveler, and these the Indians bear witness. They take into account what they perceive as simply as what their sight would lead them to understand. For what could be more factual than to actually experience first hand through their own senses the mechanism of that was around them. Alongside the Indiansââ¬â¢ reverence to a ââ¬Å"livingâ⬠sun is their different perception of a timeframe. And this diverse concept of time, which is quite departed from our Western Industrialized concept of time, retains an element of preservation of moments. And perhaps this is much better, speaking about respecting
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Define both faith and reason Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Define both faith and reason - Essay Example Reasoning is the name of explanation with justification. Justification in turn is drawn from universally acknowledged facts and beliefs. Almost always, there is no ultimate reason that can be raised in support of a particular faith. Many reasons can be offered to justify a faith, and there acknowledgement varies from individual to individual depending upon the individualââ¬â¢s way of thinking and perception of the world. Relationship between faith and reason: There is a very strong relationship between reason and faith. Reason is the fundamental element that supports faith but it can never take its place. It is not possible for faith to exist without any reason, though faith can and does exist quite frequently without the existence of a profound knowledge or reasoning in its support. It is important to note that reason and faith are never antithetical. Reason and faith are never opposite. They are also never mutually exclusive and are hence, inseparable from each other (Albl 1). T herefore, it is quite normal and rational to find reason for having faith. Description of faith: ââ¬Å"Biblical faith is having the belief and assurance from God in something that is unseen and/or not yet realized which has some probability of being correct, where the probability is determined using the brain and the intellect as guided by Godâ⬠(angelfire.com).
Different Color, Different Treatment (Research Paper) Research Paper
Different Color, Different Treatment ( ) - Research Paper Example Many of these spheres are defined by stereotypes. Those stereotypes determine the nature of the space that is inhabited. How someone reacts to the others around them must be understood through the culturally developed stereotypes that define the potential of the experience that someone has in coming into contact with others on the street. The experience of the American street is a place where visceral prejudices come alive. Where in social gatherings prejudices can be dampened, set aside in order to create relationships that cross boundaries and develop into meaningful interactions, when one encounters an unknown person on a street, the only framework in which to define the potential of that experience is through culturally developed ââ¬Ëtypesââ¬â¢. The unfortunate consequence of these types is that the nature of some are automatically considered to have a negative connotation. The concept of the young African American male brings forth a sense of fear, the nature of his repres entation in culture being angry and violent. The media represents the young African American male through concepts that have developed through stereotyping that occurs on television, through music videos, and through past prejudices that created the concept of the militant angry young African American youth. ... This, of course, is not limited to the African American male. There are many stereotypes that become prominent in public spaces when encounters are not framed through introductions. Part of the problem is the high level of population condensed into cities in which most of the people have no interconnections to one another. Because the nature of modern life has created smaller and more intimate conditions of community, there are far more strangers in the world than were once part of American life. In addition, with some of the more prominent crime sprees that have happened, including terrorist acts, more people are now considered ââ¬Ëenemiesââ¬â¢ which creates a type of anxiety that ends in a hyper vigilance that performs as a barrier between people. Being open to interactions with strangers leaves one open and vulnerable to ââ¬Ëdangersââ¬â¢ that are perceived through the many communications that have framed ââ¬Ëtypesââ¬â¢ for their ââ¬Ëinclinationsââ¬â¢ toward s creating chaos. Prejudice In 1954, Gordon Allport wrote a seminal book on the nature of prejudice and how it affects human relationships. He states as he begins to define the concept of prejudice that ââ¬Å"No corner of the world is free from group scornâ⬠, which is an appropriate way in looking at the nature of prejudice. Society groups people into categories in order to impose order upon the integration of multiple cultural backgrounds that ends in differences that can be visually seen in ethnic qualities. The way in which language is used to define groups, by suggesting that someone is African American, Native American, or Asian American, suggests that when someone has ethnic markers, this places them in a different social groups. However, it is important
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Define both faith and reason Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Define both faith and reason - Essay Example Reasoning is the name of explanation with justification. Justification in turn is drawn from universally acknowledged facts and beliefs. Almost always, there is no ultimate reason that can be raised in support of a particular faith. Many reasons can be offered to justify a faith, and there acknowledgement varies from individual to individual depending upon the individualââ¬â¢s way of thinking and perception of the world. Relationship between faith and reason: There is a very strong relationship between reason and faith. Reason is the fundamental element that supports faith but it can never take its place. It is not possible for faith to exist without any reason, though faith can and does exist quite frequently without the existence of a profound knowledge or reasoning in its support. It is important to note that reason and faith are never antithetical. Reason and faith are never opposite. They are also never mutually exclusive and are hence, inseparable from each other (Albl 1). T herefore, it is quite normal and rational to find reason for having faith. Description of faith: ââ¬Å"Biblical faith is having the belief and assurance from God in something that is unseen and/or not yet realized which has some probability of being correct, where the probability is determined using the brain and the intellect as guided by Godâ⬠(angelfire.com).
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Legalizing Same-sex Marriage in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Legalizing Same-sex Marriage in America - Essay Example Scientific research to date proves that homosexuality is genetically inclined, and those who are indeed homosexual, have a genetic predisposition of sorts to their sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is not a ââ¬Å"sexual preferenceâ⬠; itââ¬â¢s not something that one can change, therefore, those with homosexual orientation should be granted each and every single American right that heterosexuals have, including marriage, parenting, etc., otherwise America, who takes pride in being a nation of equality, is making their claim on fraudulent terms. While proving that sexual orientation is not a choice and that homosexuality is indeed the genetic makeup of an individual, it should be recognized by the U.S. government that homosexuality is a ââ¬Å"normalâ⬠orientation just like heterosexuality is, and those of a homosexual orientation should be granted the same equal rights as heterosexuals, Whites, Africans, Hispanics, and everyone else who call this great nation their à ¢â¬Å"homeâ⬠. Genetically speaking, it has been discovered that antibodies in the womb can attack the Y chromosome in an unborn male, causing him to be gay. This normally happens when a woman already has several, several, meaning two or three, ââ¬Å"straightâ⬠male sons; her body just builds up an antibody to carrying males, and these antibodies attack the Y chromosome in the unborn male, making him homosexual (Independent). For every prior male brother who is ââ¬Å"straightâ⬠, the chances of the next male becoming gay later in life, increases by one third (Independent). This study, conducted by Canadian scientists in 2006, proves that homosexuality in men is of a biological nature and nothing else. Gay men are ââ¬Å"createdâ⬠(Independent) meaning; they are born with a genetic predisposition to homosexuality. Thus proving that homosexuality is not a choice, but completely biological, even before birth (Independent). Also, it is common that most homosexual mal es have reported the same feelings concerning their identities and such during childhood. Many say that they ââ¬Å"felt differentâ⬠at an early age and often had to defend their masculinity (Handbook). They also reported that from a very, very young age, they did not take interest in the same games, toys, clothing, etc. as other ââ¬Å"straightâ⬠males their age, and also felt an overwhelming attraction to the same sex, even from as early as 2 to 5 years old (Handbook). These young males reported that they often enjoyed playing with toys made for the opposite sex and also enjoyed wearing clothes of the opposite gender as well. The males said they did not take much of an interest in masculine games, such as sports and ââ¬Å"boyâ⬠toys. ââ¬Å"My cousin, who is now an openly gay, nineteen year old male, always collected Barbie dolls,â⬠says Bessie Cherry, an award-winning journalist from Tennessee. ââ¬Å"It was always a question ââ¬Ëifââ¬â¢ my cousin was g oing to be gay or not. He loved to play with toys of the opposite sex, often carried a purse, and wore girlsââ¬â¢ jeans and shoes. He was always very interested in things that boys his age were not, like collecting antique dishes and such. He never wanted to play football, like the rest of his male cousins his age. He never wanted to play with ââ¬Ëboyââ¬â¢ toys, such as trucks and cars; it was always Barbie dolls and ââ¬Ëgirlyââ¬â¢ things that he chose to play with instead. When my cousin became a teenager, he was so handsome that so many of the girls
The law of equity Essay Example for Free
The law of equity Essay By the end of the 13th century, the central authority had established its precedence at least partly through the establishment of the common law. The Courts of Exchequer was a court originally dealing with disputes involving revenue, taxation and revenue laws. The Court of Common Pleas was where pleas between subject and subject were brought. And the Kings Bench heard actions to which the King was a party. The common law however, had a number of defects. The inflexibility of the writ system appeared to lead to injustice because matters that were not within the scope of writes recognized by the common law were dismissed. Furthermore, the common law did not recognize rights in the property other than those of strict legal ownership. Nor did it recognize security for loans (mortgages) or the right of third parties in general. The common law courts had no power of enforcement. Also, it did not allow any form of oral evidence. The only remedy provided by the common law were damages, which were inappropriate in certain cases. This led to injustice and the need to remedy the perceived weaknesses in the common law system. The more general a rule, the less likely it is to do justice in all the particular cases to which it applies. Moreover, an attempt to construct in advance the qualifications to the rule necessary to do justice in all cases would lead to a system of rules too complex, even if all the problems could be foreseen. The Court of Chancery emerged as a solution to the common problems faced by the common law system by administering the law of equity. Proceedings before the Chancellor were simple, and were in other respects advantageous when compared with the proceedings of the common law courts. Plaintiffs unable to obtain access to the three common law courts would turn for help to the Chancellor. Moreover, the Chancellor developed several remedies which were not available in other courts, most notably injunction, specific performance, recessions and rectifications. Other improvements made by equity are the imploration of additional obligations on an individual while recognizing his or her rights at common law. By accepting that a trustee is the legal owner of property while requiring the individual to hold it benefit of another. Equity is concerned with individual justice. Therefore, it is only available at the discretion of the court. Also, this means that anyone who seeks equitable remedies must not themselves be guilty of misconduct in the case. The division between the common law courts and the Courts of Equity were eventually combined under the Judicature Acts 1873-1875. Matters of both law and equity is now determined in the course of one set of proceedings: if there is any conflict between rules or law and rules of equity, the latter are to prevail. Injunction is as an order that prevents a person from performing or continuing to perform a particular act. In the case of Kennaway Vs. Thompson, the plaintiff sought an injunction to restrain a motor boat racing club from committing nuisance by excessive noise. The Court of Appeal granted the injunction, holding that the rights of the plaintiff shouldnt be overridden by the interest of the club or the general public. In considering whether to grant an injunction or damages in lieu under Lord Chairns Act, the public interest does not prevail over private rights. In this case, damages wouldnt have satisfied the plaintiffs private rights. Specific performance is an order that requires a person to perform or continue to perform a particular act. In the case of Jones Vs. Lipman, the defendant entered into a binding contract to sell some land to the plaintiff. After the date of the contract, the defendant changed his mind, and sought to avoid specific performance by selling the land to a company acquired by him solely for this purpose and controlled by him. While specific performance would not normally have ordered against a vendor who no longer owned the property, here the defendant was still in a position to complete the contract, because the company was a sham in an attempt to avoid recognition by equity. Thus, specific performance was decreed against the vendor and the company. Recession is an order that returns parties to contractual agreement to the position they were in before the agreement was entered into. Cooperà Vs.Phibbs, Phibbs was the legal owner and trustee of land which, unknown to either party, belonged in equity to Cooper. Phibbs improved the land and agreed to let it to Cooper. On discovering the facts, Cooper sought to rescind the letting agreement. The House of Lords held that, subject to a lien for Phibbss expenditure, it should be set aside. If parties contract under a mutual mistake and misapprehension as to their relative and respective rights, the result is that agreement is liable to be set aside as having proceeded upon a common mistake. Rectification is an order that relates to the alteration, under extremely limited circumstances, of contractual documents. In A.Roberts and Co. Ltd. vs. Leicestershire County Council, the plaintiffs had undertaken to build a school for the defendants. The agreement provided that the school should be completed within the period of 18 months, but the officers of the Council altered the period to 30 months in the draft contract without making it clear to the company. The company signed the contract without noticing the change, and one of the defendants officials was aware of the mistake. Rectification was ordered. In conclusion, equity has greatly ameliorated the common law system. Various forms of remedies other than damages have been made available under specific circumstances such as, injunction, recessions, rectifications and specific performance. However, in most instances there are differences between the operation of law and equity rather than conflict. For example, different remedies may be available in respect of what both systems acknowledge to be wrong. In respect of a nuisance, damages and injunction come into conflict. Bibliography Gary Slapper David Kelly, The English Legal System 6th Edition. M.L Barron R.J.A Fletcher, Fundamentals of Business Law 4th Edition. Helena Wray. Smith, Bailey Gunn, Modern English Legal System, 4th Edition, London Sweet Maxwell. Brenda Barrett, Principles of Business Law, Helena Wray. Paul Latimer, Business Law, 1988 Edition, CCIT Editorial Staff. Clive Turner, Australian Commercial Law, 22nd Edition, LBC Information Services 1999. www.lectlaw.com/files/lws65.htm Jill E. Martin, Hanbury Martin Modern Equity 14th Ed, London Sweet Maxwell Ltd. 1993. Jill E. Martin, Hanbury Martin Modern Equity 13th Ed, London Sweet Maxwell Ltd. 1993.
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Classification Of Facility Layout Problems
Classification Of Facility Layout Problems The purpose of this literature review is to explore the general facility layout problem, the dynamic facility layout problem, the models that have been used to represent the facility layout problem and the algorithms that solve the models,. Classification of Facility Layout Problems Determining the most efficient arrangement of physical departments within a facility is defined as a facility layout problem (FLP) (SMTF Ghomi et al, 2011). Over the period of several couple of decades, FLP have been studied by several researchers to a significant extent for establishing optimum and universal method to solve the problem and a large variety of solution procedures based on algorithms have been proposed. Facility layout problems are classified into two categories, static facility layout problem (SFLP) and dynamic facility layout problem (DFLP). Static facility layout problem (SFLP) The static facility layout problem (SFLP) is the determination of the most efficient arrangement of departments within a facility with scope of improvement only within the layout boundary. The facility can be manufacturing plants, administrative office buildings, or service facilities,( Alan R, jin et al 2005). The static facility layout problem (SFLP) approach generally assumes that flow between machines, product demand, and levels of product mix are constant during the planning horizon. Dynamic facility layout problem (DFLP) When material flow assumes varied path between departments during the planning horizon, the problem becomes the dynamic facility layout problem (DFLP). Under a volatile environment, demand is not stable. It changes from one production period to another. To operate efficiently under such environments, the facilities must be adaptive to changes of production requirements. From a layout point of view, this situation requires the solution of the dynamic layout problem (DLP). (Adil, Turkay et al 2005) Tree representation of the layout problems Essential feature of layout problems are characterized in tree representation diagram as shown in fig. Tree representation of the layout problems (Amine,henri et al 2007) Algorithms for Solving facility layout problems There are two types of algorithms for solving facility layout problems. One is heuristic algorithm and another is optimal algorithm. Heuristic algorithms These algorithms provide a solution which possibly might not just be the best fit for the problem. A good heuristic approach usually produces the best solution for most of the small problems. A heuristic algorithm works towards an optimal solution but ends its search when it finds a good enough solution. As computation increases, these algorithms will approach the optimal solution. The purpose of the heuristic algorithm is not to find the best or optimal solution but to find an acceptable solution in an acceptable amount of time using an acceptable amount of computer memory. Heuristic algorithms can also be classified as construction algorithms and improvement algorithms. Construction algorithms In Construction algorithms layout is constructed from the beginning and facilities are assigned to a site, one at a time, until the complete layout is obtained. (andrew, et al 1987). The plant layout software using a construction type algorithm will first construct a solution in an open floor area from raw data. The algorithm basically takes relationships between activity areas into account and generates a block layout. Their basic approach is to find a starting point or initial activity placement and then add the remaining activity areas according to certain rules. In some algorithms the rules are similar to Muthers vowel letter sequencing (A-E-I-O-U-X) for closeness relationships. Three well known examples of construction algorithms are CORELAP, PLANET, and ALDEP. CORELAP Computerized Relationship Layout Planning (CORELAP) is a construction algorithm and was developed by Robert C. Lee. It is the oldest construction algorithm based on Richard Muthers manual procedure of converting the Relationship Chart into a layout. The basic inputs required by CORELAP are the relationship chart and the area requirements of each department. CORELAP begins by calculating the total closeness rating (TCR) for each department where TCR is the sum of the numerical values assigned to the closeness relationships (A=6, E=5, 1=4, etc.). A disadvantage of CORELAP is that it has problems when an attempt is made to fix departments in a certain location. CORELAP does not take into account the building and is dependent on the layout arrangement. It is useful for new plants where the objective is to determine new building design and not for buildings that are already in existence.( Altaf et al 1995) ALDEP Automated Layout Design Program (ALDEP) was developed within IBM and was presented by Jerrold Seehof and Wayne Evans. It was first published in 1967. ALDEP has the same basic data input requirements as CORELAP. It differs from CORELAP in using the Total Closeness Rating for placement of departments; ALDEP selects and places departments randomly. CORELAP attempts to construct the one best layout while ALDEP constructs many layouts and rates each layout and thus leaves the final decision of selecting the appropriate layout to the facility designer. Advantages of using ALDEP include rectangular or square layouts. It is also capable of handling facilities with up to three floors and provides the capability to fix departments in a certain location and to include docks, elevators and stairwells. The disadvantage of ALDEP is that it randomly picks departments for consideration in the layout process. Hence, ALDEP should be executed several times to assure that the layouts generated are the b est layouts. The best layout will eventually generated will be presented to the facility designer for selecting the most appropriate and feasible layout. PLANET Plant Layout Analysis and Evaluation Technique (PLANET) is another construction type algorithm. It uses the same input requirements as CRAFT. PLANET is flexible in that it will accept material flow data in three formats and that there are three different layout construction phases available. The three phases that are available to generate a layout are as follows: The first phase involves the translation of the input data so that it is useful to the algorithm in PLANET. The second phase involves the selection of the order in which the departments are to be considered in the layout. The third phase involves the determination of the placements of the departments when they are considered for the layout (placement priority from the highest to the lowest is 1 to 9). PLANET converts the materials flow information from either a from-to cost chart, a from-to chart or a penalty chart to a flow-between cost chart. This is done by adding the values in both directions between departments and then entering the sum for the flow in each direction. The basis for the PLANET selection algorithms are the flow-between cost chart and placement priorities The advantages of using PLANET are that it is very flexible in allowing inputs such as materials flow data to be entered in three formats and having three methods in constructing a layout. The disadvantages with PLANET are that in its conversion of inputs to a flow-between cost chart, it considers the closeness relationships between departments but conceals the direction of flow among departments. This may result in layouts that have a considerable amount of backtracking among the departments. Improvement algorithms An improvement algorithm always begins with an initial layout. The algorithm exchanges department locations until a layout is found that cannot be improved. The quality of the layout generated depends upon the initial layout and the ability of the algorithm to exchange multiple departments at a time. The basic approach of improvement algorithms is to minimize transportation cost or movement cost by reducing the distance on the most traveled routes. Popular examples of improvement type computer routines are COFAD, CRAFT and BLOCKPLAN. CRAFT Computerized Relative Allocation of Facilities Technique (CRAFT) was the first improvement type algorithm used in computerized facilities design. CRAFT was developed in 1964 by Armour and Buffa. CRAFT begins with an initial layout that is entered by the analyst. The layout is evaluated, and pair wise exchanges of departments are made to try to improve the layout. Layouts are evaluated on the minimization of material flow cost between departments. Pair wise exchanges are only made between departments that are of equal size or have common boundaries. CRAFT can handle up to 40 departments and is preferred by many over CORELAP and ALDEP due to its evaluation of layouts. CORELAP and ALDEP minimize the quantity of flow between departments and maximize closeness ratings, while CRAFT minimizes the cost of flow between departments. The initial layout utilized by CRAFT restricts the boundaries of all layouts generated from it. CRAFT does not work well with departments having unequal areas beca use it is unable to shift the layout to allow nonadjacent departments of unequal areas to be exchanged. (jin et al 1996) used CRAFT to solve the failure-to-fit problem by changing the size and/or shape of the departments in a systematic manner without the help of humans COFAD Computerized Facilities Design (COFAD) is a modification of CRAFT. COFADs algorithm first tries to improve the initially inputted layout by a procedure that Is similar to CRAFT except that COFAD is capable of considering straight line as well as rectilin2ar distances between departments being considered for interchange. This is useful for materials handling systems that use conveyors that do not have to follow aisles in a rectilinear fashion. COFAD then determines the cost of performing each move using the feasible materials handling system alternatives available. This is dependent on the type of material handling system chosen (ie. fixed path equipment such as conveyors or mobile equipment such as tote carts). COFADs next function is to use the above move costs to determine a minimal cost of materials handling system. The disadvantages of using COFAD are that the sensitivity analysis within COFAD only considers variations in the total flow volume for a predefined product mix and doe s not evaluate changes in product mix. (Vic Kichodhan et al 1990) BLOCKPLAN BLOPLAN stands for Block Layout Overview with Computerized Planning. A computer routine which allows the use of random, construction, and improvement type algorithms is BLOCPLAN. It was developed by Dr. Charles E. Donaghey, Chairman of the Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Houston. BLOCPLAN is an interactive program used to develop and improve both single and multi storey layout BLOCPLAN is a departmental location system that includes random, construction and improvement type algorithms for developing layouts It is a simple program which generates good initial layouts due to its flexibility based on several imbedded options. It uses both quantitative and qualitative data to generate several block layouts and their measure of fitness. ( Pinto, et al 2007). BLOCPLAN can display a layout graphically on the screen. The inputs that are required are: the no of department (maximum 18) The Names of the departments, their corresponding areas, and a relationship chart. The chart relationship format is the same as suggested by Mather in his Systematic Layout Planning procedures. Once the relationship chart has been entered, BLOCKPLAN then displays a relationship vector of Code equivalent Score. The purpose of this is to allow the facility designer to indicate the importance attached to the rating of the relationship chart, BLOCPLAN needs to use some quantifiable factor to rake decisions when it generates and scores layouts. It uses the CES vector to assign a numeric value relationship chart. The default CES vector values are 10, 5, 3, 2, 1, 0, and -10. This means that has A rating is worth 10, an E rating is worth 5 and so on. .An X rating is worth -10. The facility designer can also set his/her own values if desired. (Vic Kichodhan et al 1990) The procedure that BLOCPLAN uses to generate layouts is that it first determines an Importance Rating (IR) for each department in the layout. The rating is the sum of all the relationship scores for each department, using the CES vector values. Second, a menu for the facility designer is displayed. The options are: Random Layout. Layout Algorithm. Improvement Algorithm. Adjust Relationship Information. Manually Insert Departments. Review Saved Layouts. Stop. Save Problem Data Selecting option one, Random Layout, will cause layout to be developed without regard to the relationship chart. The Departments will be located randomly in one of the eighteen zones that the software has generated. BLOCPLAM divides the building layout in to three tiers, with three zones per tier. Each zone can be further divided into its left and right side giving the possible eighteen zones. BLOCPLAN randomly selects one of the eighteen locations for each department and assigns it to a particular location. After all the departments have been assigned a location, the software proceeds to draw the layout. It looks at the departments that are located in Tier 1 up to six departments can be located in Tier 1. The total required area of a tier is the sum of all the areas for the departments located in that particular tier. Each department is drawn in proportion to its area and the departments are rectangular in shape. If a department with a small area is the only one located in a tier, it will be drawn as a long narrow department stretching across the entire layout. BLOCPLAN continues with this procedure for all the tiers. The layout generated is scored by the scoring algorithm based on an adjacency criterion. The CES scores for departments that share a common boundary in the layout are summed and then divided by the sum of all the positive CES scores from the relationship chart. A score of 1.0 indicates that all good relationships in the relationship chart have been satisfied in the layout Selecting option two, Layout Algorithm, will cause the software to make available to the facility designer a layout algorithm. The algorithm places departments that have high IR scores in the center of the layout and then surrounds them with departments with high relationships. Departments with an X relationship are separated as much as possible. This method of locating the departments produces layouts that are better than the random process. Selecting option three, Improvement Algorithm, will cause the software to try to improve on a layout that has been saved in memory. The improvement algorithm interchanges each pair of departments in the layout and then displays its score before moving to the next interchange when the facility designer hits the Return Key. The number of interchanges is the combination of the number of departments taken two at a time. For example, for ten departments there will be forty five interchanges. The optimum layout can be obtained by using option two, Layout Algorithm, and then using this option, Improvement Algorithm, to improve on the previous saved layout. Selecting option four, Adjust Relationship Info, allows the relationship information to be changed. The facility designer can change the relationship information and the CES scores that were originally entered. This allows the effects of changes in the relationship chart to be evaluated Selecting option five, Manually Insert Departments, will allow the manual placement of departments in the layout. Each department can be manually placed in the desired tier and zone. This is the same as fixing a department in a layout The advantages of BLOCPLAN are that it is a useful tool to facility designers in that layouts can be generated or evaluated, the effects of changing the values in a relationship chart can be analyzed, and it only requires a microcomputer as opposed to a mainframe to operate. Although the processing time varies with the number of departments that have to be located, the limitation of BLOCPLAN being able to only handle eighteen departments limits the processing time to a reasonable amount. The disadvantages of BLOCPLAN are: BLOCPLAN can only handle layouts with eighteen departments or less. BLOCPLAN can only store twenty layouts in memory. All the layouts are displayed on the screen within a rectangular drawing that has a horizontal length of 6.75 inches and a vertical height of 4.75 inches regardless of the number of departments in the layout or their placement in the layout. Simulated Annealing Algorithms Simulated Annealing (SA) is a method based on Monte Carlo simulation, which solves difficult combinatorial optimization problems. The name comes from the analogy to the behavior of physical systems by melting a substance and lowering its temperature slowly until it reaches freezing point (physical annealing). Simulated annealing was first used for optimization by Kirkpatrick et al. (1983). In the numerical optimization framework, SA is a procedure that has the capability to move out of regions near local minima. SA is based on random evaluations of the objective function, in such a way that transitions out of a local minimum are possible. It does not guarantee, of course, to find the global minimum, but if the function has many good near-optimal solutions, it should find one (George D. et al 2002) Simulated annealing was also used in General Facility Layout Problems (GFLP) considering facilities areas, shapes and orientations or in Machine Layout problems (MLP) considering machines pick-up and drop-off points (Leonardo Chwif et al 1998). SA was also used for dynamic facility layout problems for solving the problems for arranging and rearranging (when there are changes between the flows of materials between departments) manufacturing facilities such that the sum of the material handling and rearrangement costs is minimized (Alan R et al 2006). Wang et al (2001) developed a model to solve the facility layout problem in cellular manufacturing system. In the model, they assumed that the demand rate varies over the product life cycle. The objective function was to minimize the total material handling cost and solve both inter and intra cell facility layout problems simultaneously. Simulated annealing heuristic for the DFLP with budget constraint, and show the effectiveness of this heuristic on a set of numerical experiments (Ramazan et al., 2010). Artificial Neural Networks Neural networks are a potent method of optimization which relies on developing systems that exhibits self organization and adaptation in a similar, though basic, manner to the way in which biological systems work. A kind of artificial neural network model has been implemented for computation to solve a wide variety of discrete combinatorial optimization problems. A neural expert system is an interactive classification system with justification capability. This system begins with the knowledge representatives from a set of training examples, learns through representatives, and then develops the capability to correctly classify new cases based on learned knowledge. This classification capability makes the proposed neural expert system generate a conceptual construction layout in the form of the learned symbolic knowledge resonant to the input layout requirements. ANN can be a system comprising N ÃÆ'- N neurons based on an artificial two-dimensional maximum neural network for an N-facility layout problem. ANN algorithm has given improved solutions for several benchmark problems over the best existing algorithms (Kazuhiro Tsuchiya et al 1996). The annealed neural network combines characteristics of the simulated annealing algorithm and the neural network for rapid convergence of the neural network, while preserving the solution quality afforded by simulated annealing (Yeh, 2006). This have also found implementation in solving the facility layout problem Genetic Algorithms GAs came to the fore in the 1960s, through the work of Holland for solving many industrial and service sector problems that proved extremely difficult to solve with the available methods known at that time. The main contribution of GAs is solving optimization and search problems by providing a solution which is not the optimal one but which is nevertheless a good approximation to the optimal one. As a result of the enormous increase in the capacity of computer technology, applying GAs, in recent years has become more and more well-known, since the problem of the cost of using computer facilities which might have arisen, is in reality only a minor one (A.Gomez et al 2003). With cyber technology gaining impetus software based on GA have been developed for problem solving. An improved hybrid genetic algorithm (IHGA) was developed to use a robust local improvement procedure as well as an effective restart mechanism that is based on so-called shift mutations and applied to the well-known combinatorial optimization problem and quadratic assignment problem (QAP) (Alfonsas Misevicius et al 2004). Extensive computational experiments for solving quadratic assignment problems using various variants of a hybrid genetic algorithm were carried out (Zvi Drezner et al 2008). Simple tabu and modified robust tabu as improvement algorithms in a hybrid genetic algorithm are superior than other tabu searches (concentric tabu, ring moves, all moves, robust tabu) (Jasmit singh kochher et al 1997) outline a GA based algorithm for solving the single floor facility layout problems for equal and unequal size department. (Ming-Jaan Wang et al 2005) is focus on the unequal areas department facilities layout problem, and implements analysis of variance (ANOVA) of statistics to find out the best site size of layout by genetic algorithm. The dynamic plant layout problem (DPLP deals with the design of multi-period layout plans Although an optimal solution method based on dynamic programming is available, it is not practical for large DPLPs and heuristics based on genetic algorithms can solve large DPLPs. (Jaydeep Balakrishnan et al 2003) extend and improve the use of genetic algorithms by creating a hybrid genetic algorithm and a computational study is carried out to compare the proposed algorithm with the existing genetic algorithms and a recent simulated annealing algorithm. An important methodology in facility layout problems that can be used to gauge current and emerging trends in new design objectives and methodologies that address combinatorial optimization aspects and presents a state-of-the-art review of the application of the Genetic Algorithm (GA)(Kundu A et al 2010) NP-hard problem of arranging a number of facilities on a line with minimum cost, known as the single row facility layout problem (SRFLP) and to solve this type of problems permutation-based genetic algorithm (GA) is used. (Dilip Datta et al 2011) Tabu Search Algorithm TS technique is a meta-heuristic search that is used to solve the combinatorial optimization problems TS, is usually dominated by neighborhood solutions in searching for an optimal solution. Unlike the GA, it is highly dependent on the values of the algorithms control parameters. TS is based on flexible memory structures in connection with strategic restrictions and aspiration levels as an approach for exploiting solutions. The search begins when the parameters are chosen and a feasible solution to the problem is generated. The main parameters of TS technique are the neighborhood size, the size of tabu list, the aspiration criteria and stopping criteria. The operator that can be altered in order to generate neighborhood solutions is move. This operator can place each element to move from its location to any other location in the solution. From move, a set of neighboring solutions is generated through a pre- defined change to the current solution. Then the best solution is selected from the current set of neighboring solutions and this becomes the new current solution. Again, a new set of neighboring solutions is generated from the new current solution and the process repeats itself until the stopping criteria are met. (Lou Y. Liang et al 2008). There are two new reaction strategies for the tabu search algorithm. The first strategy treats the tabu search algorithm as a target system to be controlled and uses a control-theoretic approach to adjust the algorithm parameters that affect search intensification. The second strategy is a flexible diversification strategy which can adjust the algorithms parameters based on the search history. These two strategies, combined with tabu search, form the Self Controlling Tabu Search (SC-Tabu) algorithm. The algorithm is implemented and tested on the Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP). The results show that the self-controlling features of the algorithm make it possible to achieve good performance on different types of QAP instances. (Nilgun Fescioglu-Unver et al 2011) Two extensions were suggested and tested for concentric tabu search for the quadratic assignment problem to include more permissible moves (Zvi Drezner et al 2005). The optimal solution for special case of Single Row Facility Layout Problem (SRFLP) was proposed through a theorem by Hamed Samarghandi et al in 2010. He proposed a new algorithm based on tabu search for the SRFLP and suggest computational results of the proposed algorithm on benchmark problems show the greater efficiency of the algorithm compared to the other heuristics for solving the SRFLP. Slicing tree based tabu search heuristic for the rectangular, continual plane facility layout problem (FLP) had been designed with procedure to calculate the layout corresponding to a given slicing tree on the basis of bounding curves (Daniel Scholz et al 2009). These layouts are slicing structures which are able to contain empty spaces to guarantee that stringent shape restrictions of facilities are kept. Due to these features this approach is better suited for practical use than so far existing ones. Graph Theory Graph theory (Seppanen and Moore, 1970) can be used as a means to create good layouts based on the flow matrix. A relationship diagram can be drawn as a weighted graph with the nodes signifying the departments and the edges representing the flow between the department pairs. The dual of this graph is a block diagram layout. Graph theory approach, relationships (or flows) among facilities can be represented by a (relationship) graph in which vertices denote facilities and edges denote existence of flows or relationships between facilities. A requirement for existence of a block layout satisfying the relationships represented by a graph is that the graph be planar. A graph is planar if it can be drawn in the plane and each edge intersects no other edges and passes through no other vertices. The relationship graph may not be planar. A planar sub graph of a relationship graph is called a maximal planar graph (MPG) if no edges can be added without making the graph no planar. The dual of a (primal) planar graph can be constructed by placing a dual node in each face of the primal planar graph and by joining vertices corresponding to two faces (in the primal graph) that share an edge in their common boundary. (Here, faces are regions defined by a planar graph.) The dual of a planar graph is planar as well. (J-Y KIM et al 1995) Russell D. Meller et al 1996 tells about developing a layout in the graph-theoretic approach requiring the following three steps: (1) Developing an adjacency graph from department relationships (which departments are adjacent), (2) Constructing the dual graph of the adjacency graph (represent departments as adjacent regions having specific boundaries), (3) Converting the dual graph into a block layout (specifying departments with regular shapes and specific areas) Graph theoretic approaches were also used to handle the unequal area block plan. In these approaches a block plan is constructed as the dual of a planar graph where nodes represent spaces and links represent required adjacencies. While it is always possible to construct a block plan from a planar graph which meets the given adjacency requirements between spaces and between spaces and the outside area, the resulting plan may not meet size and shape requirements imposed on each space. Constructing a block plan that meets size and shape requirements is a nontrivial problem. (Robin S. Liggett et al 2000). Other industrial problems like furniture production line designing were also solved using graph (Wilsten and Shayan 2007). The main problem concerned with applying graph theory to facilities layout is the conversion of the dual graph to a block layout (S. A. IRVINE et al 2010) gives a new method of producing a planar orthogonal layout or floor plan of a set of facilities subject to adjacency and area constraints. It improves upon previous approaches by accepting any maximal planar graph representing the adjacencies as input. Simple selection criteria for choosing the next facility to be inserted into the floor plan are used. Further, any sensible orthogonal shape for the facilities in the resulting floor plan can be generated. Optimal algorithm During the 1960s considerable research was done in developing optimal algorithms. Optimal algorithms find the best solution. However they are not practical due to limitations on computer time and space. Some optimal algorithms are classified as given below. Quadratic Assignment Model The quadratic assignment model (Koopmans and Beckman 1957) represents the problem of locating numerous facilities that required material flow between them. The name QAP was given because the objective function is a second degree function of the variables and the constraints are linear functions of the variables. The objective function maximizes the revenue gained by assigning the departments to a location, less the cost of the material flow between the departments. The mathematical model of the quadratic assignment problem (QAP) is: The integer variable, Xij is equal to 1 if department i is assigned to location j, otherwise the variable is equal to 0. The constant aij is the area required for department i to location j and fik is the material flow between departments i and k, and Cjl is the cost of material flow between location j and l. The first constraint ensures that each location will be assigned exactly one department and second constraint ensures that each department will be assigned to exactly one location. Layouts generated using the quadratic assignment models are often used as a tool in formulating a final layout. The QAP takes into consideration the material flow between departments, however, the model operates under the assumption that all department areas are equal which in many cases is impractical to presume. For this reason, the layout generated by the quadratic assignment problem often serves as a starting point for developing a final layout. (Ekrem Duman et al 2007) used the quadratic assignment problem in the context of the printed circuit board assembly process. (A.S. Ramkumar et al 2008) concentrates on multi-row machine layout problems that can be accurat
Saturday, October 12, 2019
A Comprehensive Financial Analysis Essay -- essays research papers
A Comprehensive Financial Analysis Of TOYS R US TABLE OF CONTENTS Company Overview ....................................................... 4 Key Facts........................................................................ 4 Business Description.................................................... 5 History ............................................................................ 6 Key Employees .............................................................. 7 Major Products And Services..................................... 12 Products And Services Analysis................................ 13 SWOT Analysis ............................................................ 14 Top Competitors .......................................................... 18 Company View ............................................................. 19 Locations and Subsidiaries........................................ 24 HISTORY Toys "R" Us was established in 1948 as a baby furniture store in Washington DC, by Charles Lazarus at the young age of 25 . Mr. Lazarus began a business totally dedicated to kids and their needs just in time for the post-war baby boom era. The store started off by selling baby toys first, and then toys for older children, as it responded to customer demand. In 1957, Lazarus opened the first toy supermarket, which combined specialty retailing and off-price positioning. In May 1999, the company formed a new division, Toysrus.com. The following year, Toysrus.com teamed up with Amazon.com to form a co-branded online toy store. ANALYSIS OF TOY R USââ¬â¢ MAJOR INDUSTRY Toys "R" Us specializes in the provision of toys, apparel and baby needs to children and their families. The Toys "R" Us family, which includes Toys "R" Us, Babies "R" Us, Imaginarium and Toysrus.com. It has operations in 25 countries, mainly the US, Japan, Canada, and Europe, and sells toys, games, bicycles, sporting goods, VHS video tapes, electronic and video games, small pools, books, infant and juvenile furniture and similar items and electronics, as well as educational and entertainment computer software for children. DESCRIPTION OF PRODUCT AND SERVICE LINE Toys R Us, Inc is engaged in the operation of retail stores consisting of U.S. locations comprised of toy stores under the name Toys R Us, children's clothing store... ...; 1.8233 Z-SCORE ABOVE 2.99--YOU'RE IN GOOD SHAPE Z-SCORE BETWEEN 2.99 and 1.81--WARNING SIGNS Z-SCORE BELOW 1.81--BIG TROUBLE--COULD BE HEADING TOWARD BANKRUPTCY CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The liquidity ratios show an increase in the current and acid-test (quick) ratios during the last three years. This coincides with an increasing/stockpiling of inventory and an increase in short-term debt which is detrimental to Toys R Usââ¬â¢ immediate debt paying ability. The Debt to Equity ratio is within the industry average which is welcome news to long-term creditor but unwelcome to common stockholders because they benefit from assets provided by creditors. The asset utilization ratios (Account receivable, Inventory turnover, Total asset turnover, etc) are all increasing which is a positive. However, the companyââ¬â¢s turnover ratios are much slower than the industry average which indicates too many obsolete goods on hand and/or overstocked inventory. The Gross margin ratio is much lower than the industry average which indicates managements inability to control productions costs and a lower measure of profitability. The debt utilization ratios
Friday, October 11, 2019
Promote Child and Young Person Development Essay
1. Explain the factors that need to be taken into account when assessing development When assessing a child/young person we must be careful to take in to account confidentiality before carrying out any observations. Within my setting, we have an Welcome pack (aka Induction Pack) with lots of forms for the parents to sign which gives us permission to observe them and the child/children with in the assessment centre. All of the confidential material surrounding the parents and children are locked away in a secure cabinet in the office so no unauthorised access is allowed. The only time confidential is breached is if the child is at risk and we only share this information with other authorised professionals. When carrying out observations either in the room or via camera we have to take the Childs wishes and feelings in to consideration, if the child is at real risk we stay present but if they child clearly doesnââ¬â¢t want you there we must leave the room. For example, we had a family with a toddler and baby and during the night when mum fed the baby we were present in the room, but often having this person in the room woke the toddler and caused him unnecessary upset so instead watched intensely via the CCTV. When we assess a child we must take account of their ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds as these can play an important role in how the child acts and the understanding of the words being used. Disability or specific requirements need to be taken in to account when carrying out any assessment/observation of a child can be underestimated and the observations will be unreliable. In my setting we receive all the information of each family from the Local Authority who have referred them to us, its vital we receive relevant and up to date information so we know exactly what the concerns are and get an accurate picture of the Childs development, if this information was incorrect it could harm the childââ¬â¢sà development. Avoiding bias is important in my role, we must remain completely objective, we are not here to judge our families, we observe and document facts of every aspect of their day to day lives they live out with in the assessment centre, our focus is the child and our main responsibility is there safety. We have a large staff team who all individually work with each family and we each document what we see, then once social workers and assistants have read the ass essment forms, patterns can emerge.
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