Computer Technology Essay Example for Free

Computer Technology Essay Charles Njogu, the name does not ring a bell does it? That is my name. Why should my name matter to you? It should matter because I am one of the biggest success stories to come out of my native country, Kenya. I come from a third world country and nothing I have ever achieved or have in life came on a silver platter. I worked hard to reach my status in my life now and I am working even harder to make sure that I do not waste any of the opportunities lady luck has thrown my way. Completing my education has always been my personal battle. There were some real times in the past when I thought that I would do better to throw in the towel and just give up. But I have a dream, a dream to help my countrymen realize a better life and for the future generation of Kenyans to have a better chance in life than my generation did. This is why I strive to reach even greater heights in my educational accomplishments. I want to be the example every Kenyan will look up to and realize that there is a brighter future ahead of them. All they have to do is keep moving towards the goal. No matter how impossible it seems. Though life was rough for me back home, I never let anyone derail me from achieving my goals. That character trait of mine was built up over the years of failure and hindrances that I had to overcome. Looking back on my educational achievements in Kenya, I amaze myself because I never believe I could all that and much more. I have always had a fascination with Computer Technology. This is why my earliest educational achievements were in this field. The Computer Training Center in Nairobi awarded me an ACP certificate in Computer programming back in 1993. This was quickly followed by an ACP Advance Diploma in Computer Studies as well as another ACP Diploma in Systems Analysis and Design. My interest in computers helped me understand that Management plays an important role in the way any office works. All the best computers and databases in the world will be rendered useless if efficient office management is not firmly established by the office right from the start. So I toyed with the idea of taking some management courses. After all, it has always been a personal dream of mine to own my own business someday and, hopefully, be able to teach my fellow Kenyans all about business management in order to help their business skills. Three years later, in 1996, graduated with a National Diploma in Business Management with an Advanced Certificate in Business Administration from the Kenya Institute of Management. For most people, that would be enough of an achievement to make them feel accomplished in life, but not me. I knew there was more to learn and that Kenya based educational institutions had probably taught me all that I they had to offer me. So I set my sights higher. This time, I was eyeing further advanced education in the United States of America. It was with great pride and joy that I was accepted into Brandeis University in Massachusetts. I attended the school as a masteral student of International Finance and Economics. My major was in International Finance and International Economics. I completed these studies back in 2003. Now, in 2007, am expecting to complete my Master of Science degree in Management and Systems with a major in Leadership and knowledge from New York University. You might ask yourself, with all these accomplishments, why would I still want to complete a Ph. D. in Management at Rutger University? The answer is really part of a very logical process of educating myself that is deeply rooted in my sense of self-accomplishment. I want to be a results oriented businessman with vast experience in business administration, financial management, information technology, knowledge and organizational management. I believe that in order to properly manage a business, I must be highly skilled in strategic planning, implementation and information systems auditing as well as knowing how to properly increase productivity while keeping a streamlined business operational. It is my intention to complete my Masteral Degree in Management because in the future, I wish to see a challenging career as a Business Systems Analyst, project manager, as well as a network engineer / person. These positions will require me to fully utilize all my extensive skills, analytical and leadership abilities in order to realize my potential for future growth. Why should Rutger University even bother to consider me for a student slot in the system? The answer to this lies in my soon to be published thesis entitled Managing Knowledge Capital: How Organizations Measure Knowledge Capital and How the Make It Grow. It was recently reviewed with much praise by Lydia Rich and should be published in the short-term future. In this thesis, I am reminding everyone that computers do not do the managing of businesses although they are an integral part of the management system. I proposed that what really keeps the business running is a thoroughly new, yet proven to be accurate method of determining the value of businesses today through proper management ideas. Lastly, I am sure you will want to know why I want to attend Rutger University. The answer, simply put is that I believe that your university will provide me with fertile ground where in I can learn even higher levels of academic theory and practice based on one of the most admirable Ph. D. curriculums this nation has to offer.

PESTEL Analysis of McDonalds Food Industry PEST Example

PESTEL Analysis of McDonalds Food Industry PEST Example Introduction McDonald’s is the largest fast food chain in the world. There are approximately 35,000 McDonald’s stores across 119 countries, and they jointly serve around 68 million customers a year (McDonald’s, 2014). Each McDonald’s is either run as a franchise, or by the McDonald’s Corporation itself in the UK, approximately 65% of McDonald’s restaurants are run as a franchise, and the remaining 35% are run by McDonald’s themselves. There is a relatively stringent application process involved in becoming a McDonald’s franchisee – McDonald’s themselves lists some of the requirements, including:a high level of integrity, business experience, experience within the food industry, the time and ability to complete a minimum of nine months franchisee training, a full time commitment to the opportunity, and a high level of investor capital (McDonald’s, 2014b). Such commitment to ensuring the strength and commitment of their franchisees has perhaps contributed to the strength of the McDonald’s brand, which is among the world’s best-recognised and well-regarded, particularly in the fast food market (Moskowitz, 2014) This essay will examine the current business environment McDonald’s operates in through a PESTEL analysis, to examine the general external business environment and the specific industry factors that may affect the business. The results of this essay can then be used as the background for a SWOT analysis to highlight the specific strengths and weaknesses of the McDonald’s business model and its potential future opportunities and threat, which should help to determine the best strategic direction for McDonald’s to take in the coming years. PESTEL Analysis A PESTEL analysis examines the external business environment facing a firm in 6 main areas; Political factor, Economic factors, Sociological factors, Technological factors, Environmental factors and Legal factors. Though a single organisation is normally unable to directly affect the external factors facing it, a conglomeration of companies can exert some pressure on these factors, particularly any political factors through the intelligent use of political lobbying. Proper understanding of these factors allows the organisation to highlight areas of business opportunity when combined with proper understanding of the business’ strengths, and also potential threats to the business when combined with a proper understanding of the firm’s weaknesses (Baines et al, 2011). Thus, for effective strategic planning, analysis of the external factors is the most important step before performing an analysis of the business’ intrinsic strengths and weaknesses through a SWOT analysis. Political The fast food industry is often a target for government initiatives aimed at improving health and reducing obesity, particularly in European countries. In 2003, after the publication of a report by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) on the link between general levels of salt intake among the UK population and heart disease, the UK government introduced initiatives to reduce the amount of salt in many foodstuffs, including many products within the fast food industry in general, and McDonald’s in particular. In response, McDonald’s reduced the overall salt content of its UK menu by around 14% (Food Standards Agency, 2005). In Germany, a recent food labelling initiative required all fast food restaurants to provide clear indications of a number of nutritional factors for each of their meals, including salt and sugar levels, calorie content, saturated and unsaturated fat levels, and a traffic-light label indicating the overall level of healthiness, with green indicating both low calorie and low fat options, and red indicating high calorie, high fat options (Hurt et al, 2010). Similar initiatives have been implemented in the UK, France and the Netherlands, though reports indicate that the introduced food labelling has little impact on overall demand within the fast food industry (Grunert and Wills, 2007). In Denmark, a government initiative in 2003 placed restrictions on the amount of artificially created unsaturated fats, known as Trans Fat, or TFA, which have been shown to be heavily involved in increasing cholesterol and thereby heart disease risk., TFAs are present in many food industries that rely on deep fat frying, as they can be used for far longer than more conventional oils while still staying relatively fresh (Choe and Min, 2007). Prior to the imposed restrictions, a meal of Chicken McNuggets and Medium French Fries at a typical Denmark McDonald’s had, on average, 30g of Trans Fat. After the restrictions, the same meal had on average less than 1g of Trans Fat (Hurt et al, 2010). In the US, by comparison, the fast food industry is far more self-regulating, with little to no government intervention at all, despite many published reports on the link between fast food industry advertising and childhood obesity (Wilson and Roberts, 2012). This is due to two main factors: firstly the US political system as a whole tends to be far more committed to laissez-faire economics than even its most right-wing European counterparts – in general, there is far more political inertia to overcome (Skousen, 2009). Secondly, the fast food industry has an aggressive and concentrated lobbying presence in the capital (of which McDonald plays a significant role), and is politically savvy enough to avoid or negate any proposed regulation that makes it through (Wilson and Roberts, 2012). The fast food lobby has thus far defeated proposed restrictions on Trans Fat content similar to those enacted in Denmark, a proposed ‘soda tax’ on sugary drinks, and policies aimed at controlling the amount of sugar, salt and fat in children’s meals (Wilson and Roberts, 2012). This helps to keep McDonald’s US profit margins higher than those countries where such restrictions have been imposed (Schlosser, 2012). Economical The recent economic recession was incredibly disruptive for firms in many industries, reducing revenues and profits across the board, and decreasing consumer demand for many goods and services (Kliman, 2012). However not all firms and industries were adversely affected – some actually saw revenue and profit opportunities increase during the economic downturn due to higher demand these tend to be firms and industries that are seen to provide ‘value for money’, of which the fast food industry is one (Bems et al, 2010). Fast food restaurants can be seen as imperfect substitutes for more traditional restaurants; many consumers prefer to eat out at a fast food restaurant as a cheaper alternative to a more expensive traditional restaurant. In 2008, near the height of the crisis, the fast food industry in the UK actually saw increased growth in terms of revenue of 4.5%, with an overall increase in demand for McDonald’s products of around 4% (Key Note, 2009). Other countries that saw similar increases in demand in the fast food industry in general and McDonald’s in particular include Japan, France and Belgium (Economist, 2010). By comparison, in the US the demand for McDonald’s products over the recession did not increase as in Japan, the UK and France, but more importantly it did not decrease either – this during a time where demand in the overall US restaurant industry fell by around 6% (Economist, 2010). These figures paint a picture of the fast food industry being relatively recession proof; however, as a Moody’s report (2009) cautions, this may not always be the case. Consumers may choose to eat at home rather than going out in particularly severe recessions, substituting home-cooked meals for restaurant ones, value-for-money or otherwise. They may also focus their demand on low-cost, ‘budget’ menu items with particularly low profit margins. Indeed, during the recession Burger King saw its US profits fall by around 6% as customers increasingly turned to its dollar menu options which it had chosen to focus on as a marketing strategy during the recession, with demand for those items increasing by as much as 20%. A number of Burger King franchises actually sued the corporation after requiring them to promote and sell double-cheeseburgers at $1, when they cost $1.10 to make (Economist, 2010). Such poor marketing strategies undoubtedly led to Burger King’s fall in profits during the recession – in contrast, McDonald’s continued to focus on its more expensive standard menu options, and actually increased marketing spend by 7%, as many companies cut back (Ritchie, 2010). Sociological While McDonald’s and the fast food industry in the US has manage to dodge most proposed regulation aimed at reducing the unhealthiness of many of their products, they have been perhaps less successful in dodging the negative public opinion over the same issue. Fast food in general has seen its public image decline as society in general becomes more health conscious –the preceding decades have seen a rise in many societal health-based food initiatives, such as increased demand for unprocessed and organic foods, and a growing public awareness of obesity and heart disease and its links to high-fat foods. In 2004 Morgan Spurlock, an American social-commentary filmmaker in the same vein as Michael Moore, created the documentary Super-Size Me (2004), where he ate only McDonald’s for 30 days, for 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). He did not allow himself to have any other food during that time, and had to upgrade to a super-size meal whenever asked, which had double the amount of fries of a medium sized meal, and also came with a 42 ounce coke. After the 30 day period, he had gained 1 stone and 10.5 pounds of extra weight which represented a 13% body mass increase, had a cholesterol level of 230 (where levels below 200 are considered healthy) and had developed cirrhosis of the liver (Spurlock, 2004). There have also been many damaging reports made about the fast food industry in general and McDonald in particular, including a number of studies that have suggested fast food addiction shares many of the same characteristics as drug addiction (Garber and Lustig, 2011; Volkow and Wise, 2005). A paper by Johnson and Kenny (2010) found that high-fat food triggered many of the same dopamine receptors in rats as those triggered by cocaine or heroin, and can override standard eating responses and lead to bout of compulsive, addictive-like eating. In response to this, McDonald’s has phased out the super-size option for all of its US meals (the UK supersize meal option had been phased out in 2001 due to very low demand, and had not been introduced in any other countries) and began offering more healthy menu options, including fruit smoothies, salads, milk, water and fruit (Pompper and Higgins, 2007). They have also launched a number of innovative marketing campaigns aimed at highlighting the new range of healthy alternatives, a policy that is estimated to cost an additional $35million in marketing costs (Vizard, 2013). Such an approach appears to have been effective, with no sales decline reported in any month over the last 10 years (Vizard, 2013). Technological The advent of the internet has opened up many opportunities for low-cost, high-impact marketing across a range of firms and industries. Increasingly, firms are being judged more and more strongly on their online presence and perceived technological savvy – it can seriously harm a business’ image if they are seen as out-of-touch with the modern technological world (Chaffey, 2009). Marketing opportunities using the internet are many and varied and can range from intricate, involved, multi-layered viral campaigns, through website design and functionality to a simple social media presence. While the fast food industry was slow to catch on to the benefits of internet marketing in the beginning, most firms have now embraced its potential, and McDonald’s is at the forefront. As well as taking the (now somewhat standard) step of establishing a strong social media presence, with the creation of both a Facebook page and twitter account in 2009, McDonald have also run a number of successful online marketing campaigns, including an ‘Ask McDonald’s Youtube campaign in 2012, where over 20,000 questions from the public were answered, with most being based around the quality and supply chain of McDonald’s food and burgers. Many of the questions were answered through short Youtube videos, some of which have gathered over 10 million views, and most of which were received very positively (Macmillan, 2012). However, as with most other firms, the internet has proved to be a double-edged sword in terms of marketing success for McDonald’s. There have also been a number of negative articles posted on Facebook and Twitter about the company and its products, including an obvious hoax post that claimed a batch of McDonald’s hamburgers in Oklahoma had been found to have been contaminated with ‘human meat’ (Hooton, 2014, p1). Despite the obvious falseness of the claims (the posts were taken from a joke news site, satirising the Tesco horse meat scandal of 2013) many people online believed the stories, claiming to be sickened by them, and declaring they would boycott McDonald products from now on (Hooton, 2014). Such false information is easily spread online with little to no information regulation; firms can be at the mercy of false accusations and internet pranks. Also, in direct contrast to the successful Youtube campaign was a perhaps less successful Twitter campaign, where McDonald’s promoted the #Mcdstories hashtag for twitter users to post their stories and positive experiences with the firm. However, as there was no ability to either control or properly interact with the responses as with the Youtube campaign, the campaign collapsed almost immediately with a glut of negative anti-McDonald’s tweets, outweighing the positive responses by around 10 to 1 (Kolowich, 2014). Careful monitoring of the company’s online presence and quick response to such incidents will go some way to mitigating the potential damage. Environmental In recent years, environmental issues have come to the forefront of public consciousness with the rise of many green initiatives and movements. In response, many businesses now include some form of environmental damage mitigation to counteract the negative environmental aspects of their typical business production methods; typical methods include the replanting of trees to offset carbon emissions caused by the transportation of goods, a reduction in the amount of paper used in the administrative side of the business, energy-saving initiatives such as the turning off of lights, electrical appliances and computers when facilities are not in use, and a reduction in the amount of packaging used in the production process (Satya, 2002). Environmental concerns about a business’ operations are particularly pronounced in the food industry, as food production techniques are often associated with poor environmental controls, particularly in emerging third world economy producers, and budget meat suppliers (Foster et al, 2007). Indeed, a number of protests have been levelled at many fast food firms in general, and McDonald’s in particular – on 19th July 1985, Greenpeace in the UK declared an â€Å"anti-McD Day of Action† (Veggis, 2014, p1) which involved demonstrations, protest marches and pickets of many McDonald’s stores across the UK. The ‘Day of Action’ has been repeated every year on the same date, and protests against â€Å"the promotion of junk food, the unethical targeting of children, exploitation of workers, animal cruelty, damage to the environment and the global domination of corporations over our lives† (Veggis, 2014, p3). In 1997, two of the protestors were sued by McDonald’s for libel, after repeating some of these claims in many McDonald’s restaurant. The judge found in favour of McDonald’s for some of the allegations of libel, but found others had some truth to them and could not be considered libellous, including claims that they â€Å"falsely advertise their food as nutritious, risk the health of their long-term regular customers† and â€Å"are culpably responsible for cruelty to animals reared for their products† (Justice Bell, 1997, p13). In response to this, McDonald’s have initiated a number of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies centred on reducing the environmental impact of the business; they currently participate in ‘Earth Hour,’ an initiative that encourages many businesses to turn off their lights and unused equipment on a specific hour each year, to reduce their carbon footprint. They have also sought to reduce the environmental impact of their packaging, seeking out more biodegradable packaging in many markets; they have initiated paper-reduction policies in many of their administration centres, and they have also instigated investigations into the care and management of the animals reared for their product supply, with a view to ensuring no unnecessary cruelty or inhumane treatment is taking place (McDonald’s, 2014c) Legal The specific legal environment in which McDonald’s operates is highly dependent on the specific country and market in question; however, most of the markets that McDonald’s operates in have some form of a Health and Safety legal framework, particularly with regard to food preparation. Many, if not all of the countries McDonald’s operates in has some form of public health inspection system with regard to food producers in the UK, it is the Food Standards Agency, while in the US, it is the Food and Drug Administration (Campbell et al, 2008). In both markets, any employees with food-handling capabilities must take part in food-hygiene training at the company’s expense. McDonald’s has implemented a system that adds additional controls to those required by either health agency, and as their customer-facing website states, â€Å"there are at least 70 safety checks on beef and chicken every day. In fact, McDonald’s rigorous standards have been used by government agencies as models for their own regulations† (McDonald’s, 2014d, p1). In this way, their dedication to food safety over and above that required by law can be used as a marketing tool, to emphasise their commitment to quality (Campbell et al, 2008). There are also a number of employment laws to consider in each market, including those regulating the maximum length of an employee’s daily and weekly working hours, the requirements for employee breaks and facilities, tax and payroll requirements, business registration and accountancy standards for reporting profit and loss (Jones, 2013). McDonald’s tends to adhere to the same legal standards across markets for each of these areas, even in markets with less stringent regulations or legal requirements than those of the UK or US markets (McDonald’s, 2014a). Conclusion In conclusion, McDonald’s faces a number of challenges from its external environment, including the threat of further government health regulation in the US, social concerns about the unhealthiness of their products, adverse publicity from hoaxes or failed marketing campaigns on the internet, and additional protests regarding the environmental impact of the business. Through understanding these challenges, McDonald’s marketing and strategy managers can use the business’ strengths, such as its commitment to food quality and safety, its successful marketing campaigns, and the overall strengths of its brand, to turn these challenges into potential business opportunities. In order to do so, they can use the information provided by this PESTEL analysis as the groundwork for a comprehensive SWOT analysis, to enable the intelligent setting of future strategy for McDonalds. In this way, they can help to ensure McDonald’s remains a market leader in the fast food industry. References Baines, P, Fill, C and Page, K (2011), Marketing, 2nd Ed, Oxford: Oxford University Press Bems, R, Johnson, R and Yi, K (2010), ‘Demand Spillovers and the Collapse of Trade in the Global Recession’, IMF Economic Review, Volume 58, Issue 1, pp295-326 Campbell M, Gardner C, Dwyer J, Isaacs S, Krueger P, and Ying J (2008), Effectiveness of public health interventions in food safety: a systematic review, University of York: Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Chaffey, D (2009), Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice, Harlow: Pearson Education Choe, E and Min, D (2007), ‘Chemistry of Deep-Fat Frying Oils’, Journal of Food Science, Volume 72, Issue 5, ppR77-R86 Economist (2010), The changes facing fast food: Good and hungry [Online], Available; http://www.economist.com/node/16380043 [Accessed 9th October 2014] Food Standards Agency (2005), UK salt reduction initiatives, London: FSA Foster, C, Green, K, Bleda, M and Dewik, P (2007), Environmental impacts of food production and consumption: final report to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Brussels: UN Food and Agriculture Organisation Garber, A and Rustig, R (2011), ‘Is fast food addictive?’, Current Drug Abuse Review, Volume 4, Issue 3, pp146-162 Grunert, K and Wills, J (2007), ‘A review of European research on consumer response to nutrition information on food labels’, Journal of Public Health, Volume 15, Issue 5, pp385-399 Hooton, C (2014), Those human meat found in McDonalds factory stories and Facebook posts are a hoax, obviously [Online], Available; http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/those-human-meat-found-in-McDonalds-factory-stories-and-facebook-posts-are-a-hoax-obviously-9784592.html [Accessed 9th October 2014] Hurt, R, Kulisek, C, Buchanan, L and McClave, S (2010), ‘The Obesity Epidemic: Challenges, Health Initiatives, and Implications for Gastroenterologists’, Gastroenterol Hepatol , Volume 6, Issue 12, pp780-792 Johnson, P and Kenny, P (2010), ‘Dopamine D2 receptors in addiction-like reward dysfunction and compulsive eating in obese rats’, Nature Neuroscience, Volume 13, Issue 1, pp635-641 Jones, L (2013), Introduction to Business Law, 2nd Ed, Oxford : Oxford University Press Justice Bell (1997), Justice Bell’s Verdict: 19th June 1997 [Online], Available; http://www.mcspotlight.org/case/trial/verdict/verdict0_sum.html [Accessed 10th October 2014] Key Note (2009), Fast-Food Home-Delivery Outlets Market Update 2009, London: Key Note Kliman, A (2012), The failure of capitalist production: Underlying causes of the great recession, 1st Ed, London: Pluto Press Kolowich, L (2014), The Rules of Twitter Hashtags: Hits and Misses From 7 Big Brands [Online], Available; http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/twitter-hashtag-campaign-examples [Accessed 10th October 2014] Macmillan, G (2012), How McDonald’s created a social media success with questions campaign [Online], Available; http://wallblog.co.uk/2012/08/20/how-McDonalds-created-a-social-media-success-with-questions-campaign/ [Accessed 8th October 2014] McDonald’s (2014a), Corporate Info [Online], Available; http://www.McDonalds.com/us/en/our_story/Corporate_Info.html [Accessed 7th October 2014] McDonald’s (2014b), McDonalds International Franchising [Online], Available; http://www.McDonalds.co.uk/ukhome/Aboutus/Franchising.html [Accessed 7th October 2014] McDonald’s (2014c), Striving for a Sustainable Future [Online], Available; http://www.McDonalds.co.uk/ukhome/Ourworld/Environment.html [Accessed 10th October 2014] McDonald’s (2014d), Food Safety [Online], Available; http://www.McDonalds.ca/ca/en/food/making_informed_choices/food_safety.html [Accessed 10th October 2014] Moody’s Investors Services (2009), Fast-Food Advantage, New York: Alacra Store Moskowitz, D (2014), McDonalds Brand Strength Still Dominates Its Peers [Online], Available; http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/03/McDonalds-brand-strength-still-dominates-its-peers.aspx [Accessed 8th October 2014] Pompper, D and Higgins, L (2007), ‘Corporation-bashing in documentary film: A case study of news media coverage organizational response’, Public Relations Review, Volume 33, Issue 4, pp429-432 Ritchie, J (2010), How McDonald’s Thrived During the Recession [Online], Available;https://www.mint.com/blog/trends/McDonalds-recession-09212010/ [Accessed 9 th October 2014] Satya, L (2002), ‘Environmentalism: A Global History (review)’ Journal of World History, Volume 13, Issue 2, pp525-529 Schlosser, E (2012), Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, 1st Ed, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Skousen, M (2009), The Making of Modern Economics, 2nd Ed, New York: M E Sharpe Spurlock, M (2004), Super-Size Me, Documentary, New York: The Con Production Company Veggis (2014), Whats Still Wrong With McDonalds: Same date every year [Online], Available; http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=50 [Accessed 10th October 2014] Vizard, S (2013), McDonalds vows to ramp up marketing of healthy options [Online], Available; 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Social Work :: essays research papers

Service Learning Research Paper Dictionary.com defines homelessness as the state or condition of having no home (especially the state of living in the streets), people without homes considered as a group, having no home or haven. The homeless are the most noticeable of America’s social tribulations. You can see homeless individuals everywhere in cities, town, suburbs, and rural areas. Believe it or not everyone has a reason to why they are homeless.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Well if that is the case, why do many individuals choose to be homeless is the question? Who are the homeless? Are they comfortable with their living situation? Do they have any family? What are wrong with shelters? Who actually goes to shelters? These are many questions you ask yourself. As an issue homelessness first really hit the public consciousness in the early 1980s. By 1987, the federal government had decided to help, passing the McKinney Act, which directed federal money to support homeless shelters. Yet 15 years later, the cycle continues.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It has been suggested that newly homeless people are more likely to bypass the shelters and use their homeless assistance money to stay in a motel. Because the government assistance is not sufficient to help the most needy† (Seltser & Miller, pg 48). Again you ask yourself what is the meaning of being homeless? Just think about people who sleep on a park bench thinking warm thoughts, while you’re sleeping in a bed as comfortable as a cloud. Talley, Eitzen, & Timmer stated that, public welfare fails to supply adequate levels of wages and housing support that would avoid them from becoming homeless. People might lose their homes due to loss of employment, overwhelming medical expenses and debt, or domestic violence. Homelessness can affect people of any age or gender, but the majority of homeless people are elderly men, single women with young children, and teens who have run away from home. You can categorize homelessness as a social class. Race also plays an important role, since people of color are among the extremely poor. There are people with many different problems that force then to become homeless. They do however all have one thing in common they have nowhere to live. Some factors that contribute to homelessness in America that make it unpreventable are the lack of education, economic factors and mental illness. Lack of education is something that is looked down upon in today’s society.

The Effects of Text Messaging on Young Novice Driver Performance Essay

Monash University (Melbourne, Victoria) conducted a study on the effects of text messaging on young novice driver performance; the results were published in February 2006 by Simon Hosking, Kristie Young, and Michael Regan. The study was sponsored by the National Roads and Motorists Association (NRMA) Motoring and Services, and NRMA insurance. This essay will cover the background to the study and accompanying information such as the research question, and the objectives. Secondly, this essay will analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the study. Lastly, the findings as a result of the research project and the subsequent conclusions will be discussed. It is estimated that about one-quarter of motor vehicle incidents are caused by the driver becoming distracted. It is expected that with the increased prevalence of mobile phones, there is potential for the number of distraction-related incidents to increase, with this in mind, young drivers need to be educated about the dangers of becoming distracted while driving. It was reported by Telstra that 30% of Australians surveyed had used their cell phone while driving and that one-in-six admit to doing it regularly (Telstra, 2003). The aim of this study was to extend the findings of previous research on the effects of receiving and sending text messages while operating a motor vehicle. The participants to the study were all aged between 18 and 21 years old, and were undergraduate students at Monash University. They were asked to take part in a practical driving test, as well as a pre-drive demographics questionnaire, a post-drive questionnaire and a subjective workload inventory. The 20 participants for the study consisted of people who were on their Probationary driver’s license; this... ...elated incidents. MUARC also suggests there should be harsher punishment to assist in deterring drivers from using hand-held cellphones while driving. The research highlighted a need for mobile phone safety awareness; the study provided strong evidence against the use of cell phones, not only for young, inexperienced drivers but for all drivers. The result of less distraction would be heightened road safety, and in turn, a safer community. Works Cited Conaway, M. (1999). Repeated Measures Design. Vanderbilt. Tennessee. Holah, M. (2009, 19 November 2009). Repeated Measures Design Retrieved 16/04, 2012, from http://www.psychexchange.co.uk/glossary/repeated-measures-design-263/ Telstra. (2003). Telsta, Police and NRMA Insurance join forces to target mobile phone use on Australian roads, Telstra News Release. Retrieved from www.telstra.com.au/newsroom

Loyset Compère Motets (Orlando Consort) :: Composer Music Musical Musician Essays

Loyset Compà ¨re Motets (Orlando Consort) Loyset Compere, an accomplished yet not very well-known composer of the 15th century, has been neglected as a figure in musical history. Historians through the ages have somehow left him out of most of their writings. Therefore, as modern researchers and discoverers, we have very little resources from which to gather information about Compere. In fact, even his date and place of birth are argued upon by historians. Thus, our study is limited to what we see on the pages of his music and what we glean from the music we hear (MCD 1490, Carapetyan). It is believed that Compere wrote some motets for the French Royal court during his years there. Among these motets was the canon Asperges me Domine, a beautiful four-part canon in 4ths. It was written sometime between 1500-1505, although the exact date is not known for sure. This was towards the end of Compere's life when his experience as a composer was at its peak (Carapetyan and Finscher 255). The canon was a popular musical form of this period; however, a canon in 4ths was not. There are many aspects of this piece that make listening to it fascinating. The following pages will explore the intrigues of Aperges me Domine including its structure and its ties between music and text. Asperges me Domine is broken up into three sections, each section starting with a solo chant from the superius voice. After the chant, each section then continues with a canon starting in one of the four voice parts. The first section, which we will call section I, starts with the opening chant and ends with a strong cadence on measure 18. It uses six overlapping phrases to express the first sentence of text. The first canon starts with the bassus voice, but the starting voice changes throughout the piece. However, each canon, throughout, is sung at the fourth. There are four strong cadences, m. 2, m. 5, m.10, and m. 18, each marking the end of a thought in the text. There are also many other places that exhibit a kind of pseudo-cadence where the modern ear expects to hear a resolution, and the resolution is reached; however, movement among the middle parts nullifies the effect of the cadence. For example, in m. 12, the superius and the bassus parts seem to reach a cadence point, but the tenor and alto parts continue to move catching the listeners attention away from the cadence point.

Jjt Task 1

For the five years Unique. com has been in business they have identified Social Responsibility as a core value within the organization. It has been the driving factor of our company’s culture and will continue to be in the future. We believe that every stake holder is impacted by the choices we make as a company. In our eyes, Social Responsibility represents the values of our business. Values in which we operate our business by on a daily basis. These and that demonstrate our integrity, respect and commitment. We are sincere in our level of concern for employees, vendor and supplier relationships, our community and the planet.We have had the same Social Responsibility plan in place for the past five years. Strategically, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team heads up the development of our CSR Plan and supports the implementation and facilitation of the company’s program. This team is made up of managers from various departments within the company. Every employ ee of UniqueSquared is responsible for the development of our Social Responsibility Plan. As employees we are all expected to challenge and encourage the company and others within our organization to exceed our current level of CSR.Together they develop and execute recycling programs for paper and card board that represents global best practices and research. Through the coming years, we will look to continue building upon our commitment to be a socially responsible company. We have a long-term goal of incorporating CSR into every appropriate aspect of our business. Unique strives to be a leader in not only our industry but also in corporate social responsibility. We plan to achieve this through leadership in recycling practices, environmental awareness, employee and community support programs and economic growth.SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PROGRAM OVERVIEW UniqueSquared is an online e-tailer of pro-audio equipment. With the distribution of over 5,000 packaged orders per day, we are also responsible for protecting the environment. We have a vested interest in the sustainability of our economy, the environment and people. As the company may strive to increase profits, the main focus is on the triple bottom line, People, Planet and Profit. Our Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives are focused on the following three areas and directly impact and support the Triple Bottom Line concept: 1.Environmental (Planet) 2. Social (People) 3. Economic (Profit) Environmental: As a company we stand on the belief that we must do the right where we live and where others live as well. We plan to reduce our carbon footprint by implementing initiatives that improve and measure our recycling program. We ship and receive tens of thousands of boxes per week. It is most important that we discard these boxes in a way that is environmentally safe. A program will be developed to recycle and reuse empty boxes. We are requiring all of of suppliers and vendors to do the same.To be a preferre d vendor, supplier or manufacturer doing business with us you have to participate in our cardboard box recycle/reuse program. Boxes will be either reused or recycled into packing paper to be used in place of styrofoam peanuts and plastic bubble wrap. It is important to us as a company that the companies we do business comply and support this effort to save the environment. Social: We are committed to earning and keeping the trust of our local community. We also believe in contributing to programs that support the music and art.The schools in our area have lost most or all of their funding for music and art programs. We have taken on the responsibility of providing resources and funding to keep these programs available to the families in our community. Employees are encouraged to volunteer a minimum of five hours per month, 60 hours per year to the improvement of our community or assisting with the community music and art programs. We do not only want to be a company that is viewed a s being a leader in the pro-audio retail industry. We strive to be an employer that is viewed by our community as ne that is ethical, uplifting, caring and invested in the community we exist in as well as the world. Economic: Our economic growth and sustainability benefits our local community, our state and our country. We contribute to the prosperity of our community by not only being a local employer, but one that believes in hiring local people. Supporting the development and growth of our community by investing in the area. We provide opportunities for growth and development within the community by offering college scholarship and program sponsorships.We believe that we are only as strong as those we are surrounded by. Legal: CSR failures are becoming popular amongst corporations. These failures are impacting not only their reputations, but also their financial stability. When a company has not met their communicated CSR plan their stock price and market share can be poorly affe cted. UniqueSquared will engage legal council as we revise our CSR strategy. We must ensure that the company and all stakeholders are protected. Our legal team will take part in the development of our CSR strategy and the performance indicators.According to Carroll (1991), â€Å"Legal responsibilities reflect a view of ‘codified ethics’ in the sense that they embody basic notions of fair operations as established by our lawmakers. † Although it is important to maximize profits, we have a legal obligation to conduct business in a way that is in alignment with the requirements of government and law. As we push to excel and be a profitable company, being in compliance with local, state and federal regulations is a must. Our legal team will ensure we are fulfilling all of our legal obligations and that we are meeting or exceeding all legal requirements.Since July, 1996 a mandatory recycling ordinance has been in effect. It requires offices buildings and warehouses wi th 15,000 square feet or more of office space to recycle office paper, newspaper and cardboard. The City conducts annual site inspections of businesses that are required to recycle. Although the company continues to practice being socially responsible, internal and external communication, documentation and evaluation are areas for improvement. Communication of the plan can be stronger and more frequent to gain buy-in through out the company.Many employees are not aware of the requirements or the expectations for the company. If all departments are not aware of the social responsibility plan, it makes it very difficult to be successful. Quarterly newsletters and company wide reminder emails would be very helpful in providing plan updates, changes and successes to the entire company. The plan needs to be documented and published for everyone to be aware of the company-wide expectation in regards to social responsibility. A documented plan is useful in communicating the plan, identifyi ng gaps and necessary changes to the plan.With a clearly documented plan internal departments would know what the plan entails. Shareholders, vendors and the community would also benefit from this plan improvement. This information can be published to the company website for external parties to be able to view and download. As well as being available on the internal company website for employees to access easily. Although the company has done a lot to be socially responsible, there is no set evaluation plan in place to identify success or needed improvements. How do we know when the plan is successful?How do we know when we our current plan is no longer relevant or needs to be updated or revised? With an evaluation plan, it would help in answering these questions and more on an ongoing basis. Annual plan evaluations can be sent to solicit feedback, status and opinions from the employees, vendors and the community. Ethical Leadership The concept of ethical leadership can be difficult to explain for it is more than leaders doing the right thing. Ethical leadership addresses the areas of leadership through the appropriate handling of the situation, event or occurrence.The areas to be addressed are constantly changing and are not always the same for every organization. Leaders must gain the trust of those they lead. The culture of every organization may vary and the challenges will be different. How a leader addresses the challenges is essential to social responsibility and the community as a whole. Ethical leaders not only have a solid understanding of ethical ideals, they also understand the purpose, vision, and values of the organization and the community. They are able to connect the goals of the organization with that of the internal employees and external stakeholders.It is one thing to tell the story being ethical as a leader. Ethical leadership requires leaders to live the story. PROPOSED 2012 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PLAN Goal To have a vested interest in th e sustainability of our economy, the environment and the people in our community. As strive to increase our profits, we put focus on the triple bottom line, People, Planet and Profit. Strategy: 1. By incorporating the Social Responsibility Plan as part of the overall UniqueSquared business strategy, we will improve awareness an buy-in from all levels of employees within the company. . With measurable initiatives, we can ensure that we are meeting our CSR objectives that are also based on the company strategy. 3. Documentation is necessary to encourage stakeholder buy-in. We will provide ample documentation of buy-in by stakeholders to support the strategy as well as direction. 4. Legal council is needed and should be engaged to provide guidance and ensure we are in compliance with all regulations. One major risks of the CSR program is that we can be out of compliance unknowingly. This can be due to changing regulations and laws.They will also ensure the company and all stakeholders are legally protected. 5. By researching best practices in recycling and reusing cardboard boxes, and integrate into UniqueSquared’s operational plan. This will hopefully give us an advantage over our competitors who may not have a CSR program or strategy in place as well as those that currently do. Strategy Initiatives: 1. Integrate recycling and reuse principles into the UniqueSquared business strategy to ensure that all organizations within the company are provided with processes and procedures to promote and support the recycling and reuse program. . Develop policies and procedures that support UniqueSquared’s recycling and reuse program as we comply with recycling regulatory standards and mandates. 3. Develop supervisors, managers and executives to facilitate company-wide training programs on the recycle program policies and procedures. REFERENCES A. B. Carroll (1991, July-August) The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organ izational Stakeholders. Retrieved from http://www. cbe. wwu. edu/dunn/rprnts. pyramidofcsr. pdf

Heteronormativity Kritik Essay

This chapter is about sex, but not the sex that people already have clarity about. ‘Outer space’ as a human, political domain is organized around sex, but a ‘sex’ that is tacitly located, and rarely spoken, in official discourse. The poli ­ tics of outer space exploration, militarization and commercialization as they are conceived of and practiced in the US, embody a distinction between public and private (and appropriate behaviours, meanings and identities therein) highly dependent upon heteronormative hierarchies of property and propriety. The central aim of this chapter is to show how US outer space discourse, an imperial discourse of technological, military and commercial superiority, configutes and prescribes success and successful behaviour in the politics of outer space in particularly gendered forms. US space discourse is, I argue, predicated on a heteronormative discourse of conquest that reproduces the dominance of heterosexual masculinity(ies), and which hierarchically orders the construction of other (subordinate) gender identities. Reading the politics of outer space as heteronormative suggests that the discourses through which space exists consist of institutions, structures of understanding, practical orientations and regulatory practices organized and privileged around heterosexuality. As a particularly dominant discursive arrangement of outer space politics, US space discourse (re)produces meaning through gendered assumptions of exploration, colonization, economic endeavour and military conquest that are deeply gendered whilst presented as universal and neutral. US space discourse, which dominates the contemporary global politics of outer space, is thus formed from and upon institutions, structures of understanding, and practical orientations that privilege and normalize heterosexualiry as universal. As such, the hegemonic discursive rationalizations of space exploration and conquest ,re)produce both heterosexuality as ‘unmarked’ (that is, thoroughly normal ­ ized) and the heterosexual imperatives that constitute suitable space-able people, practices and behaviours. As the introduction to this volume highlights, the exploration and utilization of outer space can thus far be held up as a mirror of, rather than a challenge to, existent, terrestrially-bound, political patterns, behaviours and impulses. The new possibilities for human progress that the application and development of space technologies dares us to make are grounded only in the strategy ­ obsessed (be it commercially, militarily or otherwise) realities of contemporary global politics. Outer space is a conceptual, political and material space, a place for collisions and collusions (literally and metaphorically) between objects, ideas, identities and discourses. Outer space, like international relations, is a global space always socially and locally embedded. There is nothing ‘out there’ about outer space. It exists because of us, not in spite of us, and it is this that means that it only makes sense in social terms, that is, in relation to our own constructions of identity and social location. In this chapter, outer space is the problematic to which I apply a gender analysis; an arena wherein past, current and future policy-making is embedded in relation to certain performances of power and reconfigurations of identity that are always, and not incidentally, gendered. Effective and appropriate behaviour in the politics of ourer space is configured and prescribed in particularly gendered forms, with heteronormative gender regulations endowing outer space’s hierarchies of technologically superior, conquesting performance with theif everyday power. It is through gender that US techno-strategic and astro-political discourse has been able to (re)produce outer space as a heterosexualized, masculinized realm. Heteronormativity K 1NC 2. The drive to colonize space precludes queer identities and concretizes sexual difference. This reinforces heterosexism and turns women into commodities. Casper and Moore 95 (Monica J. , Ph. D in sociology from the University of California, San Francisco, feminist scholar and researcher on reproductive justice. Lisa Jean, Ph. D in sociology from the University