Summary Of Back Pain And Pelvic Fracture

Back pain is a common symptom which is usually traumatic and work related. It can either be of acute or chronic form and it mostly influenced by different psychosocial factors. There has been a lot of different clinical evidence indicating the effects of various therapies such as Non Steroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs usage and the use of Acupuncture. The epidemiology of the back pain indicate that about 70% of adult will experience the symptoms in their lifetime, 25% consult the doctor while about 75% have back pain a year later even after consulting their doctors.Those psychosocial factors include compensation issues, marital problems and work dissatisfaction. Acute and chronic forms of back pain are usually difficult to distinguish and once distinguished, the management is quite different. Management of acute back pain can be classified into major and minor forms of management. The major focuses on advising the patient to stay active, cognitive behavioral therapies and the use of N SAIDs and muscle relaxants while the minor management includes Acupuncture, back schools and TENS.Management of chronic back pain entails exercise, management programs (the patient taught how to handle the psychosocial issues, sleep hygiene), analgesics and ligament injections. Acupuncture and manipulation can also be used to manage all the chronic form of back pain but the effectiveness is yet to be ascertained. The hallmarks of managing both acute and chronic form of back pain are basically alleviating the pain and keep the patient active. This is as a result of the recurrent episodes of the symptom which is seen in most back pain patients.The patient can be taught how to manage the exacerbation associated with the condition. In recent times there has been evidences supporting a combination therapy in managing the forms of back pain. The roles of Acupuncture are to reduce pain and increase the patient’s activity. The patients that need acupuncture have been found to be thos e with mechanical problems, nerve root irritation and the red flag groups. Patients that can’t tolerate NSAIDs, Warfarins and those that don’t need urgent hospital admission can also be managed with acupuncture.The use of acupuncture in the management of the chronic form of back pain is much difficult than it use in acute conditions. Timing and the type of acupuncture are major controversies surrounding the administration of acupuncture. These two factors are majorly influenced by the practitioner’s training and experience, patient’s tolerance to the available types of treatments and availability of appointment. Pelvic fracture is a type of bone fracture involving the bones that forms the boundaries of the pelvic cavity (Pelvis).It is commoner in the growing teens especially those involve in the contact sports and the elderly mostly as a result of the osteoporosis( causing a less dense bones). The fractures could be as a result of avulsion of muscle tendo ns during sudden contraction or falling astride. Some results from from impact sustained during vehicular accidents. The symptoms ranges from severe pain, swollen parts to bruises with most affected individuals trying to adjust their limb to prevent the pain aggravation. Excessive hemorrhage when occur can lead to shock. Patient with this form of fracture needs an emergency care.

Literature Review Essay

Meaning, those who are without a home, that live on the street, abandoned building/make-shift structure/in parks and people who live in shelters. The precarious definition involves those who are at an imminent risk of being homeless. They include: those who are temporarily doubled up with family or friends and those who are in substandard housing. Traditional characteristics of homeless people vs. the â€Å"new homeless† Meanwhile, the definition of homelessness seem to fall under certain subgroups. Causes of h*omeless families These families end up being homeless as a result of sociostructural and psychological factors. The socio cultural factors involve changing labor markets, poverty, the housing system, and the nature of the welfare state while the psychological factors reflect individual agency, including alcohol dependence, substance use, social and behavioral problems. Other examples that seem to fall under both factors include a loss of benefits, eviction and domestic violence and the like. African Americans and other ethnic groups are found disproportionately among homeless families. Frequently, the mothers may end up in these situations that lead to homelessness because of a mental illness, substance abuse addiction and sometimes from an unfortunate circumstance such as losing their job without any form of maternity leave pay while there are in the later stages of pregnancy; Unfortunately, would comes next is a young mother and infant in a family shelter or doubled up with family or friends. Obviously, homelessness places a tremendous amount of stress on a mother with unfortunate and or limited resources. Experiences of families with children in family shelters Parents in shelters that are separated from their children Shockingly, research reveals that little attention is given to the homeless children who are often times taken from their biological parents (by child welfare services) because of some form of abuse and neglect experienced throughout homelessness and are placed in foster care. Often times, these children are already traumatically affected by the sad conditions that cause them to be separated from their family but they are further wounded through the constant changes in placement in regards to foster care. Thus, these changes affect their immediate and future development and mental health. Numerous children in foster care have poor developmental, mental and educational outcomes. Often times they are released from foster care without any counseling or intervention and are left to fend for themselves. Many of them struggle as they transition from foster care to young adulthood and will succumb to poor choices that will prevent them from obtaining an optimal level of health. Current policy initiatives In an effort to discourage panhandling, the National law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, reports on a survey of 50 largest cities of the U. S. noting 86% of these cities have enacted anti-panhandling laws and 73% have enacted laws against sleeping in public places. Over half of the surveyed cities remove homeless people from the public eye. This practice is widespread in cities where there are shortages of emergency shelters and affordable housing. Additionally, the Bringing America Home Bill, aimed at ending homelessness in the U. S. , supported by an extensive campaign and with 57 sponsors, never became law. The NCH also reports that federal agencies such as HUD interpret â€Å"homelessness† very narrowly. In addition to the number of federal and state government agencies aimed at tackling homelessness, there is also a National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) a nonprofit organization that targetspublic and private sectors for a united effort to end homelessness. The NAEH recommends four proactive steps to b taken simultaneouslyto end homelessness: planning for outcomes (by identifying real needs); â€Å"closing the front door† (by shifting the flow of incentives toward prevention); â€Å"opening the back door† (by helping people exit homelessness quickly); and building the infrastructure (by changing homeless assistance to improve the supply of affordable housing and providing adequate income and services for the disadvantaged. ) In a policy environment as complex as the U. S. there are clearly a wide range of public and private initiatives aimed at reducing or alleviating homelessness, including the National Center on Family Homelessness, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, National Health Care for the Homeless Council, HomeAidAmerica, Home Base and Homes for the Homeless. Home Base and Homes for the Homeless is an initiative that attempts to address the many interrelated issues that support a family in maintaining a house (including needs assessment, counseling and access to healthcare and housing search assistance, as well as skills for independent living. Adequacy of the body of research Reforms needed The literature reveals that child welfare services needs to implement more strategies to help homeless families from every vantage point (i. e. vest more interest in public shelters, Child Welfare Services should play a more explicit role in the financing, development and management of transitional and permanent, supportive housing programs for cross-system involved families etc. ) This assistance would likely reduce their homelessness and outcomes of out of home placements and negative consequences of homelessness for children and their families. And finally, a more comprehensive system of housing assistance, that assured poor families of stable, aff ordable, and adequate housing, could both reduce the incidence of homelessness and abuse and neglect.

Analysis of the Development of Enterprise Resource

The overall report mainly includes an effective evaluation of the overall ERP system, which could help Disk4U to support their changing business environment. In addition, the study effectively evaluates the case study and identifies the overall requirements of Disk4U. Furthermore, effective business process is mainly depicted, which could help in understanding the business requirement of Disk4U. After the evaluation of the overall business requirement, effective system requirement could be identified. The identification of system requirement is mainly essential for choosing the appropriate ERP system to support the business process (Arvidsson, Holmstrà ¶m & Lyytinen, 2014). The main identification of the overall ERP system is essential for selecting the adequate software, which might be used by Disk4U. Lastly, the identification of adequate vendor is essential for Disk4U to select an effective accounting system (Becker, Kugeler & Rosemann, 2013). Disk4U is a small family owned business situated in Sydney, which only sells CDs and Vinyl Records. The company previously operated only in four outlets, which was spread around Sydney metropolitan. In addition, the company has effectively adopted the use of phone and email for generating the required level of sales. However, the company has currently adopted the use of online sales from eBay platform, which might increase its overall sales. Furthermore, this expansion into the new market could effectively help the company in generating high revenue, which will require an effective accounting system to support the business process. Furthermore, the change in overall business process has indicated to improve the manual process of accounting, which is been currently being used by Disk4U (Arvidsson, Holmstrà ¶m & Lyytinen, 2014). The company mainly requires depicting the overall latest technologies, which could be used in improving the current accounting system for supporting the onlin e presence in EBay. Moreover, an effective improvement in business accounting and report is need by Disk4U within specified budget of $150,000. Disk4U is a small business operation, which mainly provides products like CDs and Vinyl Records. The company has been effectively operating within the small location in Sydney with four outlets, email, and phones orders (Becker, Kugeler & Rosemann, 2013). Moreover, the company has been using manual accounting process, which was effective for supporting the small business operations conducted within a region. However, the adoption of online sales from EBay platform is effective in improving the current sales of the company. In addition, the company mainly aims is carrying the both online and physical sales. Furthermore, the use of effective online business operation could help the business in generating higher revenue. Nwankpa & Roumani (2014) mentioned that companies are mainly able to generate high revenue by incorporating online sales, which increases its customer reach. Moreover, after the evaluation of business processes certain challenges, which the company might face could be i dentified. In addition, effective use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) could be utilised by Disk4U for supporting the current change in business environment. Kilic, Zaim & Delen (2014) argued that high end ERP system could reduce the smooth functioning of the business, which in turn reduce its overall profitability. The changing business requirement could effectively help in improving of Disk4U could mainly need an effective ERP system, which could support its accosting needs. The use of online platform could increase the overall needs of an effective accounting system, which might comprehend the change in inventory. Effective monitoring is mainly needed on stock level, financial performance, and supplier quotation, which might be used in new business operations. Chou, et al., (2014) stated that companies to improve the overall performance by implying effective online system mainly use ERP system. On the contrary, Nwankpa (2015) argued that ERP system mainly loses its friction if adequate analysis is mainly not conducted to identify the accurate requirements of the company. The increased accumulation of data, which is mainly provided by the online platform, is satisfied by the ERP system. In addition, ERP system could automatically identify the overall need of inventory and contact the supplier for replenishing the stock. The adequate flow of orders could effectively be comprehended by an ERP system, which could help in flowing adequate information to relative participants (Becker, Kugeler & Rosemann, 2013). Furthermore, implementation of the overall advanced ERP system could effectively help Disk4U for improving its operational ability. Furthermore, the ERP system mainly needs different types of applications, which could improve the overall experience and reduce problems. The Disk4U for suiting the overall needs could effectively customise the ERP system, which could help in improving its business process. Lin, Zhao & Wei (2014) mentioned that companies are mainly able to customise the overall ERP system for supporting the business requirement. Moreover, with the implementation of ERPs system adequate system needs to be required by Disk4U for increasing productivity. In addition, the use of ERP Cloud, Social ERP and Mobile ERP could also be utilised. In addition, the adoption of overall mobile ERP system could effectively help the company in delivery the information to adequate employee in real-time. Kilic, Zaim & Delen (2015) mentioned that due to technological advancements incorporation of ERP system in mobile device mainly easy the flow of information. Furthermore, the use of cloud ERP system could also be effective for Disk4U to reduce the problem of data loss. In addition, the incorporation of both mobile and cloud ERP system could help the company in improving its productivity and accounting system. Furthermore, incorporation of Social ERP system could also help the company in making a social presence, which might attract potential investors. Shukla et al., (2016) argued that high costs incurred in ERP implementation mainly reduces the overall cash balance of companies and hamper its ability to make any new investments. Table 1: Depicting the costing of three different ERP system From the overall evaluation of different ERP system, Accountmate ERP per year could be used as an effective system, which might be cost effective. In addition, other ERP system is mainly costly and might increases expenses of Disk4U. Jinno, Abe & Iizuka (2017) mentioned that use of effectively ERP system is essential for companies to increase their efficiency and information flow. From the case study, it was gathered that AIS or the ERP systems could facilitate the employees of Disk4U in realizing their issues and offering specific solutions (Antero, 2015). It was also realized from the analysis of the case study of Disk4U, that the organization is dealing with problems that requires being decreased through appropriate implementation of information systems. This is also because of the reason that the smooth business operation of the company is ensured (Arvidsson, Holmstrà ¶m & Lyytinen, 2014). Implementation of ERP systems will make sure of the company several effective business processes, preparing business requirements along with deciding the software and vendor selection. The case study is dealing with the concerns specifically for the identified issues experienced by Disk4U. The Disk4U Company intends to reconstruct the business operations through adopting Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) that is required for effective Business Process Management (BPM) (Bansal, 2013). Identifying suitable software and vendor for Disk4U will help in analyzing the current state of business operation affairs and realization of the areas those requires improvement. Implementation of suitable software and vendor in the company will also support in obtaining increased understanding concerning ways that can be adopted for the betterment of overall business operations of Disk4U (Becker, Kugeler & Rosemann, 2013). Management of the Disk4U Company might consider several business operations in order to ensure efficient data structure, networks, mobile computations, algorithms along with optimization of business process along with scheduling process (Bernroider & Mitlohner, 2015). Along with considering the ERP implementation of the system of business process management along with appropriate design of network, the management of the company can make sure of implementation regarding the integration of Application Programming Interface (API). (Bradford, 2015) discovered the fact that implementation of the Application Programming Interface (API) software will signify allowance along with several business processes in order to deliver programs that is aligned with different programs. Additionally, if Disk4U Company considers the implementation of software-to-software interface, it can facilitate ample vendors to communicate with each other devoid of having any previous understanding or intervention. For instance, ample online channels associated with functions can support the process utilization of integration of API software (Chang, 2016). This can further facilitate the process of entering the accurate information in support of credit cards along with application of API for transferring vital information to a distinct isolated application in order to verify provided information. The â€Å"Business Process Management† set can be employed for viewing at different areas of the upcoming analysis techniques (Dumas et al., 2013). In addition, the design of support process facilitates in delivering support for vital activities employed by numerous resources along with the infrastructure in a specific format. This can be deemed as a vital differentiator that considers several primaries along with support techniques for the development of direct value with regard to target consumers in the situation of major processes (Falkenberg, Hesse & Olivà ©, 2016). Certain examples of support services include relevant information technology management along with effective human resource management as well as infrastructure management. Conversely, the processes of support services majorly include cross-functional limits along with the evaluation in the future years. For this reason, it is included in the managerial capability processes along with the direction of value offered to customers in supporting the total capability of the company (Seethamraju, 2015). This can facilitate efficient offering of products along with th e company’s services. The business process management can take into account implementation of software tools those can be employed in order to deal with major business issues of Disk4U Company. Conversely, this also has a considerable role within business process management that has a difference between the flows of work along with the software of Business Process Management (Jain & Sharma, 2016). This can facilitate the automation of work with unaffected process improvement in a better manner. In addition to that, the management of Disk4U Company can also consider the process of advanced technology implementation for the production business operations. This focuses on implementation of advanced systems to deal with product data, automatic process of planning, manufacturing, execution, and scheduling (Savage, Kautz & Clarke, 2016). Moreover, the company production and marketing products can adopt mechanized process of production, scheduling, planning along with implementation. Additionally, the production and marketing products of the company can adopt mechanized technique of data gathering, Compliance administration, lean manufacturing, and planning, scheduling, total quality management along with management of product life cycle (Esteves, 2014). Therefore, it might be ascertained that the functions of business process have entered within a new stage of rapidly tracked transformation to mature along with improved technologies. The cloud based and mobile applications in addition to progressive analytics with collaboration processes can increase the impacts of properly understood functioning model levers such as shared services, global delivery system, and outsourcing as re-engineering process (Rodrigues et al., 2016). Moreover, the application along with the impact of innovative technologies might not be at a great level. Additionally, it is deemed vital to realize certain technology interventions as well as process re-engineering in consideration to organizational re-design. This includes shared services along with business process outsourcing that is combined within the International Business Service (Altamony et al., 2016). The aforementioned process cab directs the business concerns in focusing on the scarce resources that can finally affect the vital business findings. Such process also supports the process of decrease of intricacies of several distinct processes, which significantly encompass various cross-disciplinary squads (Erturk & Arora, 2017). This team can consider it quite difficult in struggling in order to observe conjoint ground along with language. Conversely, the ability to identify various levels for pulling is not increased and relies on experience collected by transformation, designing and functioning business conducts. The most effective tactic can be to identify partners that can have the capability to manage expenditure along with research on consumption. This can finally also result in risk of losing the momentum along with time in a fierce competitive surrounding (Esteves, 2014). Identifying suitable software and vendor for Disk4U Company will help in analyzing the current state of business operation affairs and realization of the areas those requires improvement. Implementation of ERP systems will make sure of the company several effective business processes, preparing business requirements along with deciding the software and vendor selection (Arvidsson, Holmstrà ¶m & Lyytinen, 2014). Net suite, Account mate and Sage 300 are the three most user-friendly and effective ERP software that can be used by the company. However, Account-mate is considered as the best Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to be implemented by Disk4U Company because of several advantages that this software can offer to the company (Becker, Kugeler & Rosemann, 2013). The advantages that this ERP software implementation can provide to the company are it comes in lowest price, supports multicurrency, effective document management, and superior expense management, or reporting, ef fective LIFO and FIFO process, effective Point-of-Sale option, and integrates with the important business process reports (Bansal, 2013). Moreover, Account-mate ERP software cal also facilitate the company to attain certain benefits associated with its use such as, it integrates with F9, effectively managers sales and tax use, enables effective human resources, consumer relationship management (CRM) and project management (PM). Account-mate ERP software is the most suitable software for Disk4U Company as it facilitates enhanced materials requirement processing (MRP), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and business intelligence (BI) (Dumas et al., 2013). Account-mate ERP software has certain advantageous features such as it is non-profit version along with vertical warehousing, construction and distribution (Frankenberg, Hesse & Olivà ©, 2016). This ERP software can solve the issues faced by Disk4U Company in its business operations though facilitating superior transaction drill down and exceptional â€Å"audit trial report† ability. This software also provides with beneficial features of increased online training and supports functionality along with allowing cut and paste transactions from the spreadsheet of Microsoft excel (Arvidsson, Holmstrà ¶m & Lyytinen, 2014). However, Disk4U Company must also manage few cons associated with implementation of Account-mate ERP software in order to obtain best business operation process advantages from it. These disadvantages include lack of "business process flowchart" navigation, no point-of-sale (POS), or human resource (HR) modules for implementations of ERP. Certain drawbacks of t he ERP software also include limited charting and graphics (Bernroider & Mitlohner, 2015). After implementing Account-mate ERP software for managing its business operations effectively, it must configure the task shortcuts from scratch as no template exists in this ERP software along with no proper dashboards. Implementation of Account-Mate ERP software can support the company’s back-office operations along with financial business processes that encompass inventory, accounting, supply chain, order management, as well as business intelligence (BI). Implementation of this software wholesale distributor is available in several countries that reach out to the new markets and consumer segments through online medium along with decreasing person-to-person administrative expenses (Falkenberg, Hesse & Olivà ©, 2016). Account-Mate ERP Software has self-service vendor centre in which the company offers its self-owned vendors with great access to information that is important to the company’s partnership that encompass purchase orders, data of accounts payable along with major other documents. Account-Mate ERP Software established an international partner network. Purchase and implementation of the software is offered on an on-demand subscription-based service through the web. Moreover, purchase of the software through self-service vendor centre considers no hardware to procure, no high up-front license charges or extremely difficult set-ups (Arvidsson, Holmstrà ¶m & Lyytinen, 2014). With Account-Mate ERP Software’s unified platform, distributors and manufacturers streamline and automate all the major business processes of a company that includes from purchasing the software and manufacturing through to order to cash, fulfillment, multichannel commerce along with effective consumer service that is devoid of complexity and expenses on on-spot IT systems. The overall report mainly included an effective evaluation of the overall ERP system, which could help Disk4U to support their changing business environment. In addition, the study effectively evaluates the case study and identifies the overall requirements of Disk4U. The company mainly requires depicting the overall latest technologies, which could be used in improving the current accounting system for supporting the online presence in EBay. Moreover, the company has been using manual accounting process, which was effective for supporting the small business operations conducted within a region. However, the adoption of online sales from EBay platform is effective in improving the current sales of the company. In addition, the company mainly aims is carrying the both online and physical sales. Furthermore, the use of effective online business operation could help the business in generating higher revenue. Implementation of the overall advanced ERP system could effectively help Disk4U for improving its operational ability. Furthermore, the ERP system mainly needs different types of applications, which could improve the overall experience and reduce problems. Incorporation of Social ERP system could also help the company in making a social presence, which might attract potential investors. The business process management can take into account implementation of software tools those can be employed in order to deal with major business issues of Disk4U Company. Account-mate is considered as the best Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to be implemented by Disk4U Company because of several advantages that this software can offer to the company. Altamony, H., Tarhini, A., Al-Salti, Z., Gharaibeh, A., & Elyas, T. (2016). The relationship between change management strategy and successful enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations: A theoretical perspective.  International Journal of Business Management and Economic Research,  7(4), 690-703. Antero, M., (2015). A Multi-case Analysis of the Development of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) Business Practices. Copenhagen Business SchoolCopenhagen Business School, Institut for IT-LedelseDepartment of IT Management. Arvidsson, V., Holmstrà ¶m, J. & Lyytinen, K., (2014). Information systems use as strategy practice: A multi-dimensional view of strategic information system implementation and use. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 23(1), 45-61. Bansal, V., (2013). Enterprise Resource Planning. Pearson Education India. Becker, J., Kugeler, M. & Rosemann, M. eds., (2013). Process management: a guide for the design of business processes. Springer Science & Business Media. Bernroider, E.W. & Mitlohner, J., (2015). Characteristics of the multiple attribute decision making methodology in enterprise resource planning software decisions. Communications of the IIMA, 5(1), 6. Bradford, M., (2015). Modern ERP: select, implement, and use today's advanced business systems. Lulu. com. Chang, J.F., (2016). Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. CRC Press. Chou, H. W., Lin, Y. H., Lu, H. S., Chang, H. H., & Chou, S. B. (2014). Knowledge sharing and ERP system usage in post-implementation stage.  Computers in Human Behavior,  33, 16-22. Dumas, M., La Rosa, M., Mendling, J. & Reijers, H.A., (2013). Fundamentals of business process management, 1(2). Heidelberg: Springer. Erturk, E., & Arora, J. K. (2017). An Exploratory Study on the Implementation and Adoption of ERP Solutions for Businesses.  arXiv preprint arXiv:1701.08329. Esteves, J. M. (2014). An empirical identification and categorisation of training best practices for ERP implementation projects.  Enterprise Information Systems,  8(6), 665-683. Falkenberg, E.D., Hesse, W. & Olivà ©, A. eds., (2016). Information System Concepts: Towards a consolidation of views. Springer. Jain, D., & Sharma, Y. (2016). Cloud computing with ERP-A push business towards higher efficiency. Jinno, H., Abe, H., & Iizuka, K. (2017). Consideration of ERP Effectiveness: From the Perspective of ERP Implementation Policy and Operational Effectiveness.  Information,  8(1), 14. Kilic, H. S., Zaim, S., & Delen, D. (2014). Development of a hybrid methodology for ERP system selection: The case of Turkish Airlines.  Decision Support Systems,  66, 82-92. Kilic, H. S., Zaim, S., & Delen, D. (2015). Selecting â€Å"The Best† ERP system for SMEs using a combination of ANP and PROMETHEE methods.  Expert Systems with Applications,  42(5), 2343-2352. Lin, R., Zhao, X., & Wei, G. (2014). Models for selecting an ERP system with hesitant fuzzy linguistic information.  Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems,  26(5), 2155-2165. Nwankpa, J. K. (2015). ERP system usage and benefit: A model of antecedents and outcomes.  Computers in Human Behavior,  45, 335-344. Nwankpa, J., & Roumani, Y. (2014). Understanding the link between organizational learning capability and ERP system usage: An empirical examination.  Computers in Human Behavior,  33, 224-234. pcmag.com. (2016).  PCMag India. Retrieved 12 February 2017, from https://au.pcmag.com/se/?q=SaaS+ERP Rodrigues, J., Ruivo, P., Johansson, B., & Oliveira, T. (2016). Factors for Adopting ERP as SaaS amongst SMEs: The Customers vs. Vendor Point of View.  Information Resources Management Journal (IRMJ),  29(4), 1-16. Savage, C., Kautz, K., & Clarke, R. (2016). Fears and Triggers: A Conceptual Study of Vendor-Supplied Maintenance and Maintenance Deferral of Standard Package Software.  arXiv preprint arXiv:1606.00749. Seethamraju, R. (2015). Adoption of software as a service (SaaS) enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).  Information systems frontiers,  17(3), 475-492. Seethamraju, R. (2015). Adoption of software as a service (SaaS) enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).  Information systems frontiers,  17(3), 475-492. Shukla, S., Mishra, P. K., Jain, R., & Yadav, H. C. (2016). An integrated decision making approach for ERP system selection using SWARA and PROMETHEE method.  International Journal of Intelligent Enterprise,  3(2), 120-147.

Reflection Journals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflection Journals - Essay Example Reflection. The above summary shows the importance of reducing lead poisoning. Lead poisoning can be avoided. Lead poisoning can be reduced to allowable levels. Lead poisoning can be acquired by inhaling lead that if floating in the air or eating lead-contaminated food. Sometimes people unknowingly drink lead from crystal clear tap water.Hazardous Effects of Lead Poisoning. Lead poisoning can destroy the average person’s health. The excessive intake of lead elements can hinder the development of the brain. Lead triggers the malfunctioning of the human nervous system and reduces the children’s intelligence capacity. Children are most susceptible to lead poisoning. The pregnant woman’s taking of lead elements will harm the fetus (Hembra, 2008). Government Must Act to Prevent Lead Poisoning. The government agencies cooperate to eradicate lead poisoning from the environment. The government’s environmental protection agency or EPA monitors and implements lead p oisoning programs. To help reduce lead poisoning incidences, the government agencies disseminate lead poisoning information to the public in order (Hemba, 2008).People should help eliminate Lead Poisoning. People should do their share to eliminate lead poisoning. To reduce lead poisoning, the parents must avoid lead-based jobs. The family should avoid lead-contaminated communities. The community must act to eliminate lead from entering the child’s body. The community leaders must distribute leaflets and other information on how to avoid being victims of lead poisoning.

John Locke and the Tacit Consent Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

John Locke and the Tacit Consent Theory - Essay Example John Locke’s Theory of Tacit Consent is actually necessary but should not be the only basis of the legitimacy of a government. According to John Locke, the so-called Tacit Consent Theory refers to the notion that â€Å"one can only become a full member of society by an act of express consent† (Tuckness), which may translate as â€Å"simply by walking along the highways of a country a person gives tact consent to the government and agree to obey it while living in its territory† (Tuckness). This is, in fact, a rather self-explanatory definition of tacit consent. The point of Locke then is that â€Å"a government can only be legitimate when its citizens have consented to it† (Greenwood). Tacit consent, therefore, becomes for Locke an implication or indication not only of consent but also of obligation. This means that the idea of being in a particular place implies two things – that one â€Å"voluntarily† or â€Å"tacitly† consents to be ing under the governance of the law of that place, and that one therefore is obliged to follow the law of that place. Furthermore, this obligation to the law is also tantamount to consenting to be subject to the sanctions that will result if the law is not followed. This idea – the Tacit Consent Theory, however, no matter how logical it may sound, lends itself to several flaws. One objection to Locke’s theory of tacit consent is that Locke cannot possibly expect political obligation from the citizens since, based on the theory of tacit consent, it is the citizens’ consent that precedes and determines the legitimacy of the government, and not the other way around. According to Locke, â€Å"a government can only be legitimate when its citizens have consented to it† (Greenwood). This means that unless the citizens consent to the dictates and laws of the government, this government may exist but will remain illegitimate. The citizens’ consent therefore is essential to determining the legitimacy of the government. If, therefore, the actions of the government – imposing laws and sanctions – are dependent upon this legitimacy, then these actions are all dependent upon the consent of the citizens. In simple terms, if the citizens do not consent to the legitimacy of the government – or if there is no public trust – then the government cannot therefore impose laws on the citizens as well as sanctions if they violate these laws. However, Locke would answer this objection using his idea of the â€Å"majority,† which is clearly stated in Sections 97 and 98 in Chapter VIII of his Second Treatise of Government. Although negatively stated by Locke in Section 97, his point is that â€Å"†¦every man [should] submit to the determination of the majority [or else he] would signify nothing and be no compact, if he be left free, and under no ties than he was in before in the state of nature† (Locke). M oreover, Section 98, although also negatively stated, claims that â€Å"if the consent of the majority shall not†¦be received as the act of the whole, [this] will necessarily keep many away from the pubic assembly† (Locke). If Locke therefore would argue with the first objection stated above, he would simply state, based on the provisions of Sections 97 and 98, that the government is simply synonymous to the â€Å"majority† who declare among themselves that certain laws and sanctions should be imposed on the whole body of citizenry. In short, the government, to which some citizens may claim that they have no compulsory allegiance or political obligat

Electronic Health Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Electronic Health - Research Paper Example E-Health provides services which let the doctors have an access to their patients’ data by maintaining their records and information about their diseases in databases and other e-Health tools, rather than using paper documents. They can assess the data, prepare prescriptions to be sent to the pharmacies via communication technology, get instant and accurate results from the laboratories directly, communicate with their patients on a regular basis no matter which part of the globe they live in, and give better suggestions regarding their health and lifestyle. On the other hand, the patients, here referred to as ePatients, can have access to doctors all around the world with the use of information and communication technology, telemedicine and e-Health systems, get diagnosis (known as remote diagnosis) and treatment regarding their diseases, and thus, remain better informed about their problems in particular and health care in general. There are a lot of e-Health forums, softwar e and web links on the internet which allow e-patients to communicate with their doctors and with other fellow patients as well. ... It has created a trustworthy doctor-patient relationship as e-Health systems ensure the patients’ privacy. It has also made it possible to achieve online education about healthcare through online sources. It provides tools, known as e-Health tools which facilitate health services like diagnosis and treatment. These include electronic databases, mobile monitors, health portals, and many more. E-Health is also cost-effective as money is not spent on staffing and traveling resources. The European Union (EU) is the leader in the development of e-Health systems and tools. According to a rough estimate, EU has spent almost â‚ ¬500 million of research funding on e-Health since 1990 (Europa). Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who do not have access to computer and internet, or they have less knowledge about technological advances, and thus they cannot benefit from the services of e-Health, despite the fact that such people are the most deserving of getting proper h ealthcare. In short, E-Health not only acts as a platform where the health care providers, authorities and hospitals can work closer to each other, but also acts as a medium between the doctors and patients- a medium that is just in accordance with the latest technology and the modern era. E-Health is not merely a big step in the new technology, it is also â€Å"a state-of-mind, a way of thinking, an attitude, and a commitment for networked, global thinking, to improve health care locally, regionally, and worldwide by using information and communication technology† (Eysenbach). Table 1 summarizes the advantages of e-Health described so far. Why the issue is important to me? The issue of e-Health is important to me because it can

Companies with Similar Gross Profit Figures and Different Net Assignment - 4

Companies with Similar Gross Profit Figures and Different Net Operating Income - Assignment Example There are four levels of profit and profit margins- gross profit, operating profit, pre-tax profit, and net profit. The term â€Å"margin† can apply to the absolute number for a given profit level and/or the number as a percentage of net sales/revenue. Profit margin analysis uses the percentage calculation to provide a comprehensive measure of a company’s profitability on a historical basis (3-5 years) and in comparison to peer companies and industry benchmarks. Another online resource tells how to calculate operating margin. According to the Allstarsstock online, Key measurement of the financial strength, by Walden, G â€Å"Operating income / total revenue= operating margin.† Hence, from the above references, we can easily abstract the impact of operating margin on the overall operating income of the company. Therefore, two companies having the same gross profit can also have different operating income. Thinking of personal skill as the products and selling them in the market is just like selling your company’s products in the market or sometimes you can purse for new market opportunities. According to the book by Chaudhry, A. The Craft of selling yourself. 2009, â€Å"Job hunting is similar to selling anything. It’s selling of one’s skills, ideas, time, talent, energies, and expertise. It’s like being available for value addition as any other product does; and in return, you get paid in cash and kind.†Ã‚  Therefore, in order to hunt new market opportunities, we have to enhance our skills as well look for the new opportunities created in the market. All we need to take crucial steps towards our career path planning. It is very vital to achieving a certain level in society, which is considered as or you can say most suitable for us while considering our overall qualifications and skills we are having. In order to achieve the target market in terms of new market opportunities in regards to career planning, we should take a look at the latest happenings and current market situation. Therefore, according to the author of the book, managing your Career. 2010,† each one of us has the ability to control the path that our careers take. It requires that we truly self-aware so that we can identify what our own interests and passions are – what will truly make us happy in our career.†Ã‚   I do agree with the statement mentioned above, other than people like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. According to the colloquium on tax policy and public break issued by New York University School of Law, Tax deductions for charitable contributions: domestic activities, foreign activities, or none of above, 2011, â€Å"Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and a bevy of other billionaires have pledged to give half of their wealth for charitable purposes.† This statement shows that the topmost billionaires in the United States are giving more than half of their overall wealth for charitable purpo ses. Nevertheless, in most cases, the above statement is quite right.

HUMINT Intellegence Effectivness during the War on Terror Research Paper - 1

HUMINT Intellegence Effectivness during the War on Terror - Research Paper Example This essay stresses that intelligence is data or information that is evaluated, analyzed, and translated into a product to sustain a specific customer. Intelligence is both a product and process. It has played a significant purpose in warfare and diplomacy throughout history. Human intelligence often referred to as the HUMINT is the utilization of human beings as reliable sources of intelligence data or information. The security agents attain crucial information via interrogation of the detainees and elicitation of data or information from unwitting individuals. Despite the technological advances that have been made in gathering intelligence such as communication intercepts and data collection with satellites, HUMINT stands out as the most reliable source of information. This paper makes a conclusion that HUMINT has been used by countries to obtain important information about their enemies and plans. The operational agents attain crucial information via interrogation of the detainees and elicitation of data or information from unwitting individuals. In addition, HUMINT derives firsthand information from captured terror suspects, which may reveal the activities of terrorists or insurgencies. Despite its success in providing crucial intelligence information, HUMINT has failed to work other intelligence bodies. This behavior has left the national security of the U.S exposed to terrorists.

Reasons to Immigration to America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reasons to Immigration to America - Essay Example Till date, one can find traces of both cultures in every nook and corner of the country. The case for this paper is that of America. As a country, America has been blessed with the great 'salad bowl' syndrome, wherein it enjoys a plethora of people who have come to the shores of this great country in search of opportunity. The basic reason for people migrating to a certain part of the world is the lure of opportunity as opposed to whatever threat might have met them in their home land. In this regard, the paper will discuss the work of Ronal Tataki, as he sets about describing the mindset of the Irish Americans who came to set up homes in America. Also, this paper will use the work of Jon Gjerde who has described the attitudes of the German Americans from the Strearn County. These works have been used in order to demonstrate the expectations of the people from various quarters like Scandinavia, Germany and Ireland, as they migrated to America. The quintessential 'land of opportunity' called America enjoyed the Irish as its oldest settlers when they came forth to call America their home during the traumatic 1840s. A simply set of people, they came under tremendous pressure due to the potato blights that started from the year 1840 only to gain momentum in 1847. The final blow was rendered to the Irish when the population began to dwindle and the remaining people began to succumb to various diseases like typhus and fever. (Hovi, 2001) The Irish, with their minimal skill sets and predominantly rural exposures owing to a similar background filled with farming and allied activities, settled mostly around areas New York, the Great Lakes, Mid West as well as San Francisco and New Orleans. (Hovi, 2001). These people took to growing urbanization that was found in most of the cities enumerated above, despite their rural experiences. Thus, they managed to attract some sort of culture, which in turn refined them and put them in a position to command more respect. This helped them develop into a business class with the growing opportunities that the civil war later presented. It was found that in the beginning, the Irish settled for jobs that involved high work load due to their inadequacy when it came to experience and training in arts that were fast becoming a part of the urban world. According to Tataki, in general these people came to America looking for prosperity and some amount of respect attached with the same which they more or less achieved by virtue of being one of the oldest settlers in the land. Scandinavians The Scandinavians are probably as old as their Irish counterparts when it comes to migration. Having come from further up north, these people had a tendency towards desiring the more simple things in life. The Scandinavians came in droves basically from Norway. According to records and other original documents, the years between 1825 and 1914 saw the highest number of immigrants coming in from any country in Europe, with 750,000 people migrating to America from Norway alone. (Hovi, 2001). The primary reasons for Scandinavians moving to America were economic in nature. As a country, Norway had suffered extreme economic crises in the 19th and 20th centuries. This propelled the people into a mood of despair and bitter feelings. With nowhere else to go, the only ray of hope came from America. This held true for Sweden and Finland as well, where the people

Work, People and Productivity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Work, People and Productivity - Essay Example sses engage in questioning and interactive transformational process, it makes jobs more satisfactory by ensuring substantial reduction in the cost of recruitment. Furthermore, it enhances retaining of experienced workforce while motivating them to increase the productive levels of the business. As part of highly reliable company, I would be resilient and mindful towards motivating the employees on their duties while assessing the capabilities for assured performance. The problem of high reliability and assertiveness has become an important issue towards the business development. As such, high reliability aims at ensuring that employees work under conducive environment that is free and fair to allow them have expansive thoughts on innovative elements vital to the organizational success. Based on the security concern of the overall organization, high reliability should prioritize on a culture of a better attitude. Such concentration aims to decentralizes and embrace decisions of reducing less productive members of the business. Based on ethics and humanity and as a reliability manager, I would use the authority bestowed in me to learn and change employees through incidents and accident free environments as illustrated by (Miller, 2009). Applying reliability ideas in an organization, I should remain competitive in an increasingly dynamic environment, as a leader will have to help employees learn to cope with the tension of conflicting aims in contrary having conflicting goals that cause confusion within an organization (Persil, 2014). Putting myself into the place of a reliable leader, I should identify both adaptive and technical problems like this form than foundation in tackling any problem that befalls leadership responsibility. Due to constant changes experienced within the business parameters, safety of employees has become a serious challenge to most leaders. Therefore, I should employ the best strategies that comply with the current conditions that would

The Difference Between Two Orphans Essay Example for Free

The Difference Between Two Orphans Essay Last week, every newspaper in Korea printed two American names with two Korean faces. But Toby Dawson and Jae Harrell made the newspapers for very different reasons. Every year, Korean orphans are being adopted by American parents. Last year alone, an estimated thousand six hundred and thirty children were taken in from South Korea to America. This is not so surprising, considering that Americans have been adopting orphans from South Korea from a long way back. This is where Toby Dawson and Jae Harrell’s stories begin. Both of them have been born in Korea, and both have left their country when they were adopted by Americans. They both felt loneliness and isolation: suddenly, they found themselves in another country with nobody they knew, with a language they do not understand, and with people who looked so different. They grew up realizing that it was them who looked different in this world of Caucasian people – they were Americans, but their faces revealed their heritage.   We can imagine how they suffered – not only with the fact that they knew they were adopted and were having issues with their identity as to who their biological parents were and where were they and why they were separated from them, but growing up in a different country and being reminded of that fact everyday as they look in the mirror, they must have felt the pang of isolation more vividly. But whatever pain they felt, the similarities they shared ended there. Toby Dawson was born Bong-seok in Pusan, South Korea. His father, Kim Jae-su, was a truck driver. On one fateful day, his mother lost him in the market. By the time his father got home from work, it was already too late to look for him. His father searched for him in the market and nearby places, in different orphanages, but to no avail. Defeated, his father gave up looking for him. But the fates must have smiled at Bong-seok, because soon an American couple, ski instructors Mike and Deborah Dawson. The couple took him to their home in Vail, Colorado. He was three. Toby did not know English, and for the first year that he stayed in the country he had nightmares, screaming in his sleep almost every night. Everything was so different – the culture was different, and he was living with adoptive parents when he knew he used to have parents back in Korea. He struggled with his sense of identity, with being different, with being adopted, with being a minority in this part of the world. He accepted his situation and decided to make the best of it. He attended summer camp for adopted children from South Korea and other Asian countries, and made friends and shared bonds with other children like him who were going through the same ordeal. He learned to ski at a young age, although probably because his parents wanted him to learn how to ski, but eventually skiing became an outlet for his aggression. Toby worked hard on his skiing – he has had his share of accidents and broken bones, but still he keeps at it to become the best in his field. He has competed in the major skiing competitions like the World Cup Circuit, and even won a bronze in the Olympics. He also has not forgotten the pain he endured in his childhood – whenever he has time, he spends it with the kids, volunteering for the summer camp that helped him so much before. It seems that everything is going his way, and the only thing left is to make peace with his past. And after his Olympic fame, Toby finally decided to meet his parents. With his new status, a lot of Koreans came forward to claim him as their own, but genetics has a way of clearing things up, and soon Toby found out who his real father was. Toby and Kim met, together with his younger brother. He did not reproach his father for abandoning him – instead, he even told him: I have been waiting a long time, Father. And Kim was moved and proud to see that despite everything, his son has grown up to be a wonderful man. Toby Dawson’s story is made known to all of America last Tuesday in Oprah. But with all the good fortune that has come his way, it must be remembered that Toby worked hard to make the best out of what life has to offer. He faced life and all its challenges bravely, and for that he is reaping the fruits of his labor. On the other hand, things did not fare as well with Jae Harrell. Adopted when he was a newborn baby by Ruth Harrell and her husband, Toby must have felt isolated just like Toby when he was growing up when he realized that he did not look like his parents, that he looked different. Unlike Toby, Jae took a different path. Whereas Toby spent his time in summer camp to cope with all the things that are happening to him, Jae turned to drugs and alcohol. Whether for fun or consolation or he just needed to forget, Jae’s reliance on alcohol and drugs did him no good, and soon he was on a list for mental health watch. He let remorse and hatred overcome him, and perhaps he felt anger towards his parents in Korea who sent him away, and maybe he felt anger too with the position he found himself in this country, and he had no productive outlet for his aggression. Charged and found guilty of retail theft in November, he was sentenced to three years in jail but was granted parole last January. But he did not stop there. His anger took over him and he ended up killing his mother, the one who adopted him and raised him up. Jae had been charged with battering his mother Ruth a year ago, but the charges were dropped after his mother declined to show up in court. This time, she was not so lucky. After an argument with Ruth, Jae struck his mother with a hammer on the head and then strangled her. He put her in her car and drove her to local school’s parking lot, and checked back if somebody found her. Seeing that the body was not discovered, he drove the car to I-290 and left it there. The car and the body were found by a worker from the Illinois Department of Transportation, and Jae Harrell has been arrested and bail set at $ 300 million. Toby Dawson and Jae Harrell were both orphans, both adopted from South Korea. They both had a difficult time adjusting to their situation here in the United States. However, they led significantly different lives. It was the decisions they made that took them where they are now. Toby’s effort, hard work and optimistic attitude made him a successful skier and gave him happiness. Jae’s negative attitude, his reliance on drugs and alcohol, and his failure to see the good things in life gave him disgrace and this tragic affair. In the end, it does not matter where we are from or what we look like because what matter is what we are inside.

Plan for Closing the Achievement Gap for Latino Students

Plan for Closing the Achievement Gap for Latino Students Chapter 1 Definition of the Problem The American education experienced long and sustained period of school reforms filled with significant challenges. The policymakers as well as the governors made the school reform movement their top project priority since the 1980s (Sindelar, Shearer, Yendol-Hoppey Liebert, 2006). The school reform movement undergone profound achievements in the past and continues to tackle significant challenges although it has achieved its goal in creating changes to school conditions, student performance, and institutional policy. The National Governors Association for Best Practices is looking into the achievement gap challenge facing the schools today (Grant, 2009). This requires creating new policies and developing old policies to close in the achievement gap problems happening in several states. The policy primer discloses the nature of the achievement gap problem, its history, and the different states efforts to solve the existing problem. The primer also discusses alternative solutions and strategies at state level including important issues and factors to avoid in implementing solutions. Understanding the achievement gap context The achievement gap context is all about the differences one sees between people coming from different race and class (Chubb Loveless, 2002). There is an increasing difference concerning the performance of students coming from the disadvantaged minority as compared to the performance demonstrated by white students of the same grade level (Chubb Loveless, 2002). This achievement gap is a clear issue of racism and the effects of the power of the privilege. Educational institutions, educators, and policymakers face genuine lack of understanding creating and developing schools that can cope up with the context of a diversified society. The challenge goes on with the creation of correct policy that could help close the achievement gap. Federal response to the urgent persisting achievement gap problem The No Child Left Behind Act or NCLB is an attempt by the Federal government to close the achievement gap (Chamberlain, 2004). The policy set forth a new accountability practice for American schools to set the same standards with detailed plan for testing performance to ensure students meet preset standards of the schools. The framework of the NCLB allows a student to transfer to other schools located at the same district if he fails to pass the test performance set by the school. It is the responsibility of the school district to provide persistently failing students supplemental services as well as choices to study at other schools operating within the same district (Chamberlain, 2004). The school needs to demonstrate adequate progress about the problems of persistently failing students. Failure to show progress makes them open for state law corrective action (Chamberlain, 2004). The schools focus their performance targets based on the conditions of the students with disabilities a nd coming from disadvantaged family background. This includes students coming from ethnic or minority group that possess limited English language skills and proficiency. However, well performing schools are still required to alter school practices, policies, and governance to accelerate and enhance the educational experience of the disadvantaged group of students. The state considers a school as well performing only when they become successful in bridging the achievement gap. The intervention of the new Federal law on the educational scene has created quite a stir among schools struggling to meet the new set of policies and criteria. How do you measure the achievement gap? NCLB Act is clearly a Federal strategy to challenge the achievement gap brought by the effects and challenges of inequality among students in the US. Schools measure achievement gap by comparing African-American test scores and academic performance with the Hispanic group and white Americans using standard assessment tests (Chamberlain, 2004). Survey statistics gathered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reflected a narrow gap between Hispanic and African-American 17 year old students reading scores for the period 1975 to 1988 (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). The gap becomes wider or somehow constant in the areas of mathematics and reading during 1990 to 1999. The NAEP charts on achievement gap raised concern over the intelligence and skills of the disadvantaged minority students. The Education Trust analysis on the NAEP data bothered policymakers. It concluded that the grade 12 level disadvantaged minority students performed similar to the level of the students studying four years behind them (Ferguson Mehta, 2004). The skills of the Latino and African-American 17 year old students are comparable to the skills possessed by the 13-year-old White students in the subjects of English, science, and mathematics (Ferguson Mehta, 2004). The educational attainment is another way to measure the achievement gap between races. The different ethnicities showed wider gap as to the highest educational level of attainment they had achieved in the past. The groups showed gaps in all discipline. Dropouts among African-American and Hispanic groups in high school are heavier even though the tuition fee rates are lower than those rates given to the Whites (Ferguson Mehta, 2004). The Whites show more effort in trying to get a college degree than the Blacks and Hispanic young adults. Policymakers and schools do not overstate the importance of achievement gaps but actually noted the big difference between Whites and other ethnic groups educational achievement specifically Hispanic and African-American groups (Chubb Loveless, 2002). The achievement gap is the outcome of local and national standard test measures between diversified groups of students mostly categorized by ethnicity and socioeconomic status (Chubb Loveless, 2002). The other forms of category applicable to the groups are their gender and ability. There are many ways that a school can measure the achievement gap between the groups such as test scores resulting from standardized test and average grades obtained by each group. The dropout rates, highest level of educational attainment, and population of college enrollees are other ways to measure the achievement gap between ethnicities (Strictland Alvermann, 2004). Although the results of this statistic survey came from different American states, the same thing is also happening with other countries. These achievement gaps noted across countries showed the possible effects brought by discrimination and social injustice. The government made a good move eradicating social discrimination. The move to bridge the achievement gap between ethnicities also responds to their effort to solve existing social discrimination at the same time. Eradicating the gap as a public policy would help eliminate the other problem of social discrimination. However, some people disagree that the core causes of the achievement gap come from a persons class, culture, or even biology. These people believe that policymakers can directly influence economics and education using progressive education based on multiculturalism. This idea is more effective in helping them achieve equality among ethnic groups. Identified factors causing the widening achievement gap Researchers do not have any clear idea about the real reason for the increasing achievement gap between ethnic groups. Structural as well as cultural factors played a major role to the widening discrepancy. Students lacking the cultural capital portrayed by the middle class are likely to show low academic scores and achievements especially if they experience little parental involvement concerning their education and home coursework (Strictland Alvermann, 2004). Annete Lareau stated that better resource students demonstrate more accomplishments in academics and life (Lareau, 2000). Other researchers believed that a persons ability to achieve more in life and academics largely depends on its socioeconomic condition and the classification of race from which he belongs. It is evident that students belonging to the disadvantaged minority suffer the adverse result of the achievement gap because they find themselves at a disadvantage position than the White students. Understanding the effects of the environment and culture to students performance The culture, traditions, beliefs, social roles, and environment of the student influence the students performance and are factors that need extra consideration and study when dealing with the core causes of achievement gap (Lareau, 2000). It would be for the researchers advantage that he should look into the lives, environment, economic condition, and practices of the disadvantaged minority to ascertain and identify specific cultural differences that can help explain the differences of the child-parent relationships between ethnic group families (Lareau, 2000). Cultural differences shaped the childs behavior and motivation to become achievers. The authors Jencks and Phillips argue that a child belonging to the Black family do not have much motivation and encouragement from their parents because of the lack of understanding about the benefits of education and obtaining academic skills (Jencks Phillips, 1998). The lack of awareness resulted to Black children going to school with little vocabularies than their White counterparts. Studies claimed that students with parental involvement such as homework assistance show more progress in school (De Carvalho, 2001). In comparison, the disadvantaged minority consists of single parents have to spend more of their time looking for money to cope up with their household economics and other needs rather than staying and getting involve with their childs homework (De Carvalho, 2001). The minority group also consists of parents that do not understand nor speak English well. The study points two major causes of the childs difficulty namely unavailable English speaker at home and lack of parental involvement for homework. Researchers highly believed that children from the minority group do not attend school because they are not willing to find themselves in comparison with the Whites and accused as behaving like the White children by their peers (De Carvalho, 2001). The children of the minority group simply lack the motivation and the understanding to pursue higher education because they do not see and believe the benefits and role of education in their future. They possess little understanding about the benefits that knowledge and higher education bring to their lives and how it could improve years of hard work (De Carvalho, 2001). The common minority behavior from lack of motivation to do better in school is plain rejection of the idea to achieve something more in their future. It is like giving up their potential and the ability to do more by not studying and working hard to make any progress in their social status as well as to receive higher wages. Furthermore, researchers found that schools often set up their performance measures based from the students knowledge as well as familiarity about the White group that belongs to the middle class cultural capital. It is obvious that the disadvantaged minority is not familiar about the middle class cultural capital background of the White group. Schools need to change their test for students performance and base it on their understanding of the subject matter. The test should be solely base on how they understand and perceive the subject they are taking. How structures of the institutions influence the students? Students coming from the disadvantaged minority group definitely go to schools categorized by the district as poorly funded schools (Danielson, 2002). Children belonging to low-income household attend poorly funded schools because it is the only affordable form of education. Schools belonging to the poorly funded school category have limited resources and employ teachers with less qualification (Danielson, 2002). Schools tried to solve the achievement gap between ethnicities by placing students in tracking education groups. The framework of the tracking education group assigns students within the same school into several groups base on their skills and academic abilities (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). The schools then tailored the teachers lesson plans to meet the varying requirements of the different sets of learners abilities (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). The strategy made dramatic progress to some learners. However, some schools based their grouping from the students cultural capital and socioeconomic status that results to the disadvantaged minority overly representing the lower educational group (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). This made schools placed the African-Americans and the Hispanic students into the lower educational group. Their perception about the minority group wrongly placed the African-Americans and the Hispanic students, which reflects practice of institutional racism (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). This confirms some researchers beliefs that the initiation of the tracking education groups implies the existence of racial segregation within the school system itself. Several studies performed on tracking education groups provided negative results. The implementation of the tracking education groups harmed the potential of the minority students to learn more skills because the teachers assigned to their groups are less qualified (Molnar, 2003). The curriculum design for the minority group is also less challenging and provides less opportunity for advancement in their academic fields. The peers as well as the teachers of the students belonging to the lower tracking educational group labeled them as slow learners. This greatly affected their self-confidence and motivation to continue their studies, which resulted to increasing minority school dropouts. Concerned psychologist claimed that the schools tracking groups outcomes might not be beneficial to all groups (Molnar, 2003). They cannot identify any lasting benefit to the grouping. Chapter 2 Rational The schools explanation over the creation of the tracking education widely varies. The goal to find applicable institutional and policy solutions to narrow the achievement gap gave birth to drafting education reforms. The categorization leads schools to provide remedial classes as well as tutoring sessions for identified less performing students. Strategies applied to narrow the ethnicities achievement gap The school provided tutoring sessions to the less advantaged and low performing students after school. They also offer remedial classes to help underperformers. The main problem noted with the categorization program is the pressure it gave to minority students. The program pushes minority students or underperformers to learn at a fast pace in an attempt to catch up with the performing groups usually comprise of their White counterparts. The catch up required more efforts from the teachers and gave much pressure to the students. The schools changed their categorization by race to grouping the students according to their ability. This new grouping criteria enabled schools to provide fair quality education for the students without considering ethnicity. The detracking scheme made schools and teachers perceive students equally (Burris Welner, 2005). This also made schools provide more teachers that are qualified to the different groups, design their curriculum appropriately, and provide more resources to the learners. Understanding the condition of the minority The Blacks and the Latinos usually describe the low-income minority of the United States (Aragon, 2000). These students usually come from poor families and comprise the less performing group in school. The schools can easily identify minority students based on their SAT scores. Minority students often obtain lower scores than their White peers (Aragon, 2000). The schools broke down their SAT scores according to their socioeconomic status. The results showed that the Blacks and the Latino students usually achieve lower SAT scores than the Whites. However, Asians still achieve higher SAT scores than their White peers who belong to the same family income level. The analysis of the authors Steven G. Rivkin and Eric A. Hanushek fully explained the core causes of the increasing achievement gap. In their book published last 2006, the authors discussed the effects of the schools effort to group the students according to their socioeconomics and ethnicity (Hanushek Rivkin, 2006). The racial concentration in certain groups created the unequal distribution of experienced teachers and the inexperienced teachers (Hanushek Rivkin, 2006). The study noted the increasing achievement gap in the grades 3 and grades 8 levels. Looking into the structure of the high performers that belongs to the minority group There are minority students who managed to excel in their grade levels. One great example of minority high performers is the students attending at Davidson Magnet School of Augusta, Georgia. The other school with minority high performers is the Amistad Academy located in New Haven, Connecticut. The schools strategically employ traditional and rigorous training instructions that include providing direct instruction to students. Researchers found direct instruction effective and efficient in developing the skill levels of the learners coming from the inner city of the research title Project Follow Through (Harris Graham, 2007). Black schools sometimes perform higher than their White counterparts do. The results of the annual test during the later part of the 19th century at Washington, DC can prove this claim. The Blacks performing higher than the Whites do continued until the middle of the 20th century. The M Street School gave quite a performance during this period by exceeding on the national standardized test. The author Carl L. Bankston III and his partner researcher Stephen J. Caldas claimed that the achievement gap causes the segregation of the schools in US (Caldas Bankston, 2005). The book titled â€Å"A troubled dream: The promise and failure of school desegregation in Louisiana† published in 2002 and the other book titled â€Å"Forced to fail: The paradox of school desegregation† published in 2005, clearly pointed that students benefit more when placed in the same school with high achieving students (Caldas Bankston, 2005). Their research also showed that students experienced academic disadvantage when they interact more with low achieving schoolmates. This proves their perception about the achievement gap as the core cause of school segregation. This means that parents played a major role and are greatly involve in the creation of school segregation for the fact that many parents even avoid sending their children to schools with larger minority student population (Caldas Bankston, 2005). Understanding the standards based form of education reform The standard based education reform based its classification by the education characteristics and income level of the student regardless of performance (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). Most schools in US decide to adopt the education reform. The policymakers believed that students regardless of race and gender have the potential to become achievers and receive higher pay levels. There is a need to study the content and context as well as the effects of the states education policy and compare them with the education policies of other nations. Improved performance is attainable using the standard based assessments with clear set of incentives such as examination for high school graduation (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). The student reforms of whole language, multiculturalism, affirmative action, block scheduling, desegregation, inquiry-based science, and reform mathematics were not successful in improving the achievements of the students. The recent NCLB legislation requires students to take annual testing and demonstrate progress at an acceptable rate every school year. The federal government imposed sanctions to schools with larger population of under performing students. Obviously, the schools having the greatest attendance of minority and poor students face the problems of coping up with the legislation and working on the skills of the students. Those who favored the traditional education claimed that the schools are not designing the education reforms in a constructive way because the reforms are not curriculum and student based. The IQ tests and the SAT are widely accepted as norm-referenced tests. Some people claimed the ACT as limiting chances for the minorities. Many people favored the standards based assessment because they have a clear definition and design of the criteria for the reference test (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). The criteria are acceptable and regarded as free from any cultural bias. The students can easily pass the reference test criteria. In 2006, states like the Washington questioned the effectiveness of the approach. The assessment became a mandatory requirement for graduation. Terry Bergeson, a Superintendent, believes that students coming from the disadvantaged minority can compete and are capable of achieving higher scores (Thomas, 2005). However, these minority students need additional help to perform more. MCAS in Massachusetts showed higher percentage of graduating students for all races. In the Fairtest point, there are still many minority students dropping out and performing less than the Whites and Asians. Although the Washington state has narrowed the achievement gap, researchers cannot find any conclusive evidence that the standard based reforms are effective in closing the achievement gap. The author of the book titled â€Å"The Bell Curve†, Charles Murray, looked into the point gaps and its relative improvement (Locke, 1995). His analysis implied that the test is theoretically easy to pass but actually difficult to answer. The test consists of open-response questions that are mostly problem solving, reading, writing, and mathematics. Minorities who fail the test are about twice or even four times than the population of the students that achieve high scores of the testing history. In 2006, only one sophomore student belonging to the minority group passed the standard test. One needs to pass WASL to obtain a diploma. The tasks of keeping American public schools from educational failure depends on how fast policymakers and educators provide efficient policies and effective structure of framework for teaching that can respond to the students individual differences and capabilities. There is a rising need for educational institutions to meet projected challenges posed by changing demographic trends and requirements. The most crucial part is the transmission of societal values from diversified students of differing religion, philosophy, history, and political context. The lack of understanding of each ethnic group values and culture endangers the opportunity of any education reform to work for the learners. Chapter 3 Significance of the problem The American Indian group always ranked below the Latino and the African American students in terms of graduation rates and standardized test scores. The three groups always showed significant numbers concerning dropout rates. The achievement gap persists in the US history. The study published in the Education week revealed that American Indian or Alaska Native students graduation rate is about 47.4 percent. The foundation of the couple Bill and Melinda Gates funded the study. The statistics showed that American Indians were 30 points below their White peers, which means that about half of the graduating students belonging to the minority failed. The Council of Chief State School Officers report in 2006 declared that the low attendance of American Indian students across the country is a significant problem among the states specifically West Mississippi (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2006). The persisting problem about the achievement gap of the African Americans, Hispanic, Asian Americans, and Caucasian students present a challenge to the present structure of public education (Zajda, 2005). The gap narrowed a little during the 1970s and the 1980s and then started to widen again in 1990. The gap persists to widen until today (Vanneman, Hamilton, Anderson Rahman, 2009). There were about 22% grades 4 White students who scored below the basic NAEP test for reading in 2007. The report also showed about 50% Hispanic and 54% Black students who obtained scores below the basic NAEP. There were about 16% White students at grades 8 who scored below the basic mark required to pass the reading test. There were about 42% Hispanic and 45% Black students performing below the basic mark required to pass the reading test. The wide achievement gap reflected in their math scores also. Some people argued that district resegregation across the states reinforced the rising disparity problems. This is especially true in the northern and southern districts (Kozol, 2005). The White parents enroll their children in high quality suburban schools while the African-American as well as the Hispanic families enroll their children in racially isolated schools. These racially isolated institutions normally provide school instruction of very low quality and normally face other types of problems (Zajda, 2005). The California state is the most affected state in the US. Jack OConnell, State Superintendent, considers the task of helping the minority as moral, economic, and ethical imperative (Gerston Christensen, 2009). The California Department of Education (2009) revealed the state needs to prepare and train the students especially the African-American and the Latino to compete in the global economy. This would make California gain a competitive edge over world economic leaders. The success of the task largely depends on how well the students respond to the NCLB standardized test. Taylor (2006) is the main advocate of the Critical Race Theory. He tried to bring awareness about the racial minority and institutionalized oppression hidden under the Federal as well as state policies. Although the Federal government created the NCLB in an attempt to bridge the achievement gap, Taylor claimed that the Federal regulation puts too much pressure over the educators and students in trying to improve academic performance. Taylor claimed that the movement did not correctly address the issues stated in The Colors of Poverty by Lin and Harris. Taylor claimed that putting pressure to perform better does not respond to the racial segregation practices and policies. People and policymakers do not even understand the occurrence and the consequence of the practices nor do they have the ability to reverse its occurrence (Taylor, 2006). Understanding the context of differentiated instruction Differentiated instruction makes students the center of learning and teaching based from the theory that students come to school bearing different skills implying unique differences on their learning needs (Tomlinson, 1999). The varying degrees of differences may refer to their personal and educational context, community or environment background, and academic skills. The educators under the differentiated instruction design and employ several methods of instruction that can facilitate the learning experiences of the diversified students in the classroom effectively. The goal is to match students skills to the resource materials in a qualitative manner. The program includes blending the needs of the whole class with the design of their individual instruction using effective approaches and methods to expedite the processing of knowledge, input and output, of the learners. This requires constant assessment of the students progress by their respective classroom teachers. Policymakers considered the differentiated instruction movement as a proactive approach to educational issues facing practitioners today (Tomlinson, 1999). The proactive approach makes the students become more comfortable in pursuing their education. Educators refine and tailor their instructions according to the needs of the students. This also entails adjusting the curriculum to fit the students academic needs. Teachers committed to this approach understand that the students they teach shape their teaching style and practically believe that students create awareness on teachers how to shape them. The students personality and learning style necessarily influence the instructors teaching philosophy and methods (Tomlinson, 1999). This is the only way to get through them and seems the only possible way that they get to learn things. Creating a model for differentiated instruction requires student centered approach that supports the key elements of interest, readiness, and learning profile (Allan Tomlinson, 2000). The Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, declared that people receive and learn more things when they are ready to learn these things (Daniels, 2001), which is the theory behind the differentiated instruction movement. The differentiated instruction approach matches the individuals interest and methods of learning. This approach supports the student interest, which is one of the key elements of differentiated instruction. Jerome Bruner claimed that the moment a teacher gains the interest of the student is the specific moment that a student starts to learn and the learning experience becomes more rewarding (Tomlinson Allan, 2000). The American psychologist who wrote about the multiple intelligence theory, Howard Gardner, claimed that a human being is a unique individual that possesses different levels of intelligence and perceives learning in different ways. This led him to suggest that schools need to look into the possibility of providing individual-centered approach. The framework tailors the curriculum to the intelligence and preferences of the child (Tomlinson Allan, 2000). This suggestion fits to the different student learning profile key element of differentiated instruction. The context of differentiated instruction supports and integrates the learning styles of the students to the conditions of their brain development. This constructivist learning theory details and analyzes the various factors that influence the readiness, intelligence preferences, and the interest of the students that motivate and engage them to learn at school (Anderson, 2007). Kathie Nunley, an educational psychologist, stated that the movement for differentiated instruction is crucial to the classroom makeover from the 1970s homogeneous groupings to the present heterogeneous learners (Nunley, 2006). Educators using the differentiated instruction approach are able to ascertain and meet the differing needs of the students, help each student in their learning process, and exceed expectations from established standards (Levy, 2008). Tomlinson believed that the need to implement differentiated instruction came from the fact that learners are unique individuals that vary in different ways. The student population is also fast becoming academically diverse, which presents higher probability that diversity will continue for a long time. Pre-assessment criteria for differentiated instruction The most crucial part of the differentiated instruction program is the assessment, identification, and determination of the students skills and knowledge. Educators need to understand the level of their skills for identification and design of the instruction methods and approach. The students skill levels and knowledge base are crucial

A Report On International Marketing Strategy Marketing Essay

A Report On International Marketing Strategy Marketing Essay This paper focuses on the international marketing strategy of two companies: one operating in the developing world and one operating in both the developed and developing worlds. These are Spice Jet, operating in India only and JetBlue airways, operating in USA, Mexico and Central America. Jet blue is a low cost service provider in the airline industry. JetBlue headquarters are situated in the Forest Hills near New York. Their major operations are in the United States, Mexico and Central America. In just five years, JetBlue has become one of the most profitable start-up airlines. They have managed to be profitable during the present recession. JetBlue operates in a very competitive low fare sector of the airline industry. The positioning of JetBlue has been done as an affordable and quality airline with extra facilities. JetBlues CEO David Neelemen and a few Southwest Airlines employees. The second most important thing after security is customer service for JetBlue Training staff, and this very well justifies what Mr. Gareth Edmondson-Jones, VP of Corporate Communications JetBlue said- We want to bring humanity back to airline travel. Its not enough just to launch a low-fare airline that can be unsold by big carriers[1]. According to 2008 reports there are more than 10,000 employees working for JetBlue and 134 aircrafts to 54 destinations in 6 countries. MARKETING STRATEGY of JetBlue Reaching the Customer Within the initial 2 years, JetBlue established a widely recognized brand name. They also have a customer loyalty program known as True Blue[2]. JetBlue mainly competes with its competitors on high quality service provided by its employees[3]. It has been positioned as a low cost and high quality service provider. To keep its operations cost effective JetBlues fleet consists of only one type of aircrafts i.e. AIRBUS A320 because this brings down their maintenance cost. JetBlues marketing strategy is attracting potential customers by effectively communicating its idea that low fares and good quality service are not always mutually exclusive[4]. The main reasons for JetBlues operations being so cost effective are the importance given to technology and innovation and the search for highly skilled and efficient staff known as Crewmembers. While hiring, they seek to match their corporate values with individuals values. In the last 10 years JetBlue has adopted a strategy of innovative marketing and profitability in the industry. Customers are given a $5 discount for booking online. They use different methods to advertise their offers and services such as promotional efforts, newspapers, radio, television and targeted public relations. JetBlue also relies on promoting through Word-of-Mouth. They are socially responsible and believe in CSR- Corporate Social Responsibility. After the earthquake in Haiti on January 12th 2010, they collaborated with American Red Cross and asked people to donate for those who have lost their families and their lifes earnings in the devastating earthquake[5]. DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING WORLD FOR JETBLUE JetBlue is a young and dynamic low fare airline but it has been facing problems due to the economic downturn. But they have been successful in differentiating their services from their competitors by providing high quality service at low fares. They have always tried to increase the number of their operating destinations to overcome the financial crunch and increase their market base. Currently JetBlue operates in USA, Mexico and Central America and the advantage it has of working in developed countries like USA and the developing ones like Mexico and Central American countries is that they have similar culture and similar expectations from their airline services and substantial amount of American population is Mexican so there are numerous frequent fliers which increases their customer base by substantial numbers. According to Pew Hispanic report of 2008, there were 12.7 million Mexican immigrants living in USA in 2008[6]. There are potential threats also while operating in both developed and developing worlds i.e. the different political environment and their economies being interdependent. Due to the economic crisis in USA, economy of Mexico was also hugely affected. There are different rules and regulations for the airline industry in different countries which also depend on their economic condition i.e. whether they are developed or developing. Developed economies would probably deregulate more and developing economies would try to protect their own airline companies from the ones who come from outside to tap into the local market because this way they actually import services and the local currency goes out. This depreciates their currency with respect to other foreign currencies. Government regulations, political stability and economic condition of the countries differ from each other which make operations of industries like the Airline industry very difficult and makes the business environment very uncertain. SPICEJET AIRWAYS Spice jet is the second largest low cost airline in India. Earlier it was Modiluft airline. ModiLuft airline was the partnership between Indian industrial group Modi and Lufthansa. It is based in New Delhi and offers domestic short haul services with 195 daily flights to 18 destinations in India including the big cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Hyderabad[7]. SpiceJet is using a single-aircraft-type fleet like other low cost airlines. They are currently using 16 Boeing 737-800 and 5 Boeing 737-900ER. MARKETING STRATEGY SpiceJet is using the names of various spices for eg. Cinnamon, thyme etc. for their aircrafts. They handle their marketing campaigns with very catchy tag line Flying for everyone. As SpiceJet is low cost airline, they are more focused upon offering lowest air fares to gain more market share. They entered the market using vary different pricing strategy i.e. Rs.99 fares for 99 days and 9000 seats available at this rate[8]. SpiceJet maintained their low price spice fare strategy and started to sell the air tickets for Rs.500 and Rs.999. The main idea behind this is that they wanted to keep their prices very similar to first class tickets of Indian Railways so that any person who affords that fare can be attracted by these airline fares. Another advantage of doing this is that saves in travel time. Corporate benefit programs, Students discounts, discounts on group bookings are also one of the parts of their marketing strategy. They also offer air tickets with Rs.0 basic fare. Another thing we can observe is that almost 25% of their sales are on their website which shows that SpiceJet encourages the online bookings to eliminate the travel agents thus to bail out travel agents fee. They are also planning to increase their number of fleets in order to increase their market share. They also rely on Word-of-Mouth like JetBlue does. SpiceJet also launched a new communication strategy which clearly moves away from strategies based on price to value based strategies. This strategy focuses on long term prospects and positioning SpiceJet in a different way[9]. COMPLEXITIES REGARDING MARKETING AIRLINE INDUSTRY IN DEVELOPING WORLD The market size for the low fare airline services is really small i.e. just 18 cities in 28 states. That amounts for a very small size of the total population. Airline is not like other products with which consumers have to interact with on daily basis. The regular Indian traveler expects the same whether they are traveling from a low fare airline or a full service carrier with respect to some services like normal sanitation etc[10]. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Spicejets fleet includes Boeing 737-900ER, which earlier was fine for them to use because of cheap fuel prices but lately fuel prices have increased. Therefore to decrease their operating cost they can also include more fuel efficient aircrafts like ATR-72 for short distance flights and Airbus 320 for long distance flights. They can also increase the number of destinations to reach economies of scale and to increase their revenues. STAY HERE OR EXPAND Given the current economic condition of other countries and the financial situation of Spicejet they should stay in India only because in the developed countries the competitors are more financially stable and they can have a competitive advantage with respect to price and also being there before SpiceJet. Other airlines already operating in the developed countries have well established network and the experience to operate their because the government rules and regulations regarding differ from place to place and also depends on the current economic condition of the country. The cultural difference and the standard lifestyle of the customers are also different. The meaning of a low fare airline might be different for people from different countries and the minimum expectation from the airline services as well. Its true that to increase the revenues they should tap into the other markets but right now its not the right time to that. When they decide to do so they can consider an opti on of collaborating with some other players in the developed country market and gain some experience and know how while working with them before they decide to enter the market themselves. CONCLUSION [1] http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?id=41 [2] https://trueblue.jetblue.com/web/trueblue/home;jsessionid=F854ECF662888C47BD9AD0E3415B9862.l1 [3] http://www.jetblue.com/about/ourcompany/annualreport/2002/our-people.html [4]http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/chr/pdf/showpdf/chr/research/casestudies/AAJetBFinal_with_2002_financials.pdf?my_path_info=chr/research/casestudies/AAJetBFinal_with_2002_financials.pdf [5] http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=corp_evergreens_company=jetblueairways-pubs_companycontent=jetblueairways-pubs_active=1s_dis1=0s_dis2=0s_dis3=1s_genops=0s_national=0s_military=0s_international=0s_local=0s_match=0s_src=FZZWGW00s_subsrc=jetblueairways-pub [6] http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/47.pdf [7] SpiceJet Retrieved Jan 20 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpiceJet [8] SpiceJet Debuts with Rs.99 fare for 99 days   Retrieved Jan 20 2010 http://www.spicejet.com/newspage.asp?strNews=99fares [9] http://www.campaignindia.in/news/2009/08/10/spicejet-s-new-communication-strategy-attempts-to-delivervalue- [10] http://www.campaignindia.in/news/2009/08/10/spicejet-s-new-communication-strategy-attempts-to-delivervalue-