Saturday, August 31, 2019

ELL Families and Schools Essay

The American education system has been faced with a grave challenge of ensuring that students from minority language groups have to read and write well in the English language. Being English literate has become an important aspect for the realization of academic success in the American schools which has an impact on the accessibility to the educational and economical opportunities that are to be found within the United States. This challenge has been compounded by the fact that there has been a growth in the diversity of the ever-increasing language-minority students. This paper shall examine the interaction between the families of English Language Learners and the schools touching on the social-cultural influences and bilingualism and home language use. The paper shall further analyze the parental and community resources for English acquisition in the Seattle area. Background: The number of English Language Learners (ELLs) has been steadily increasing which has become a significant challenge to the education system in the United States. According to statistics, in 1979, the number of language minority students was estimated to be six million and by 1999, the number had shot to an estimated fourteen million. In a survey done to establish how such students fared in the county, it was observed that less than 20% could score above the standard gauge as established by the respective states. Whereas only 10 percent of those who spoke English were found to drop out of school at high school level, the scenario was even worse for language minority students whose percentage was slightly more than 30 for those who could speak English and slightly more than 50 for those who could speak English with some difficulties (August and Shanahan, 2006). For the language-minority students who have difficulties in reading and writing English in a proficient manner, they have a limited participation in the American schools, workplaces and the society in general. Such individual usually faces an uphill task in competing for the employment opportunities and accessing power. The impacts of the inadequacy in the proficiency of the English language is not only a detriment to the self through self impoverishment but also impacts negatively on the nation through reduction of the country’s potential in terms of economy, innovativeness, quality of life and increased productivity (August and Shanahan, 2006). Socio-cultural influences on ELLs: The English language Learners (ELLs) can not be regarded as a single group as they exhibit variations when critical factors are put into consideration as opposed to the common feature that they are all learners of the English language. Socio-cultural factors play an important factor in the analysis of these learners. Such factors include the prior academic schooling; literacy levels in the homes; socio-economic status of the families; and the cultural influences in regard to the native language and the country of origin (Carrigg, 2006). In prior academic schooling, there are variations in what is regarded as elementary or primary education whereby it may refer to â€Å"k-8, k-6, 1-6, or 1-5 grades† (Carrigg, 2006, para 3). The location of the schooling [whether urban or rural] is also important in the analysis on the performance of the student. Literacy in homes is a critical element in determining academic excellence in students. Vocabulary is first acquired in the homes and with educated parents; his becomes critical to the school going children. The socio-economic status of the family is also an important aspect in language acquisition. Poverty stricken homes have very little support if any to the academic language. There are also cultural barriers but their influences on language acquisition are not serious. What should however be noted id the fact that culture and the native language has a more pronounced impact on the older student compared to a younger one (Carrigg, 2006). Bilingualism and home language use: Most parents of the English language learners avoid speaking their first language believing that this would help their children in the development of proficiency in the English language. This is regarded as a generalized fallacy and that the parents who engage in this deny an important aspect to the children in their developmental process. The knowledge of the first language is crucial for the children’s maintenance of family relationships and cultural identity of the children (van Broekhuizen, 2010). The parents generally assume that learning two languages is a difficult task and could impede the development of language. They believe that the child will be unable to develop mastery of either language when exposed to the bilingualism thus would lack proficiency compared to those who learn just a single language. They also hold the belief that the two languages would confuse the child and they would have to speak the English language with an accent. This is however not true as it has been established that close to 50 percent of children around the globe can learn more than two languages becoming fluent and proficient in both languages (van Broekhuizen, 2010). In fact some studies have suggested that bilinguals in some instances have outperformed their monolingual counterparts when it comes to performance of more complex issues (Brainy-Child. com, 2010) Parental and community resources for English acquisition in the Seattle area: The Seattle Public Schools are engaged in an effort to ensure that students who graduate from the schools are ready for the colleges through the implementation of a Strategic Plan which was to be conducted in a creative and relentless manner. The plan was committed to engaging all the families in what was dubbed as School-Family Partnership Plan. The family engagement has been defined as efficient involvement of family members or any other caring adult individuals in the education of the children via academic support; advocacy; and partnership in the school system. The family engagements are implemented to ensure that students graduate when they are fully ready for either college, careers or life (Seattle Public Schools, 2010). To accomplish the mission of family engagement in the education system, various positions have been created to enhance the process. These positions include the director for family engagement, family engagement coordinators, and family engagement teams. The District parent/Family Advisory Committee has also been established to provide leadership, professional development, childcare, and transportation among other services that many be required. There are other components that have been established under the new plan to promote the engagement of parents in the education system (Seattle Public Schools, 2010). How to improve school partnerships with the ELL Families: Since the parents are the child’s primary teachers, it is important for programs that serve the English Language Learners to form a collaborative relationship between the parents and the teachers. In this regard, parents need to be provided with opportunities to participate in the child’s education. It is the duty of the teachers to â€Å"share information with parents about the standards, curriculum, and instructional methods that are used in their child’s class and help parents understand the results of various placement and achievement assessment measures that are used in the classroom† (Coltrane, 2010, para 9). It is vital for the home and school to work together to ensure that the students’ abilities are well nurtured and developed. Conclusion: The importance of the relationship between the families and school especially in English Language Learners’ schools can not be ignored. In fact such relationships are crucial in the development of language proficiency amongst the learners in a more comprehensive manner. ELL schools should therefore be encouraged to establish sound relationships with the families of learners to ensure academic success. Reference: August, D. and Shanahan, T. , (2006). Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Retrieved on 24th July 2010 from; http://www. cal. org/projects/archive/nlpreports/executive_summary. pdf Brainy-Child. com, (2010). The Impact of Bilingualism on Overall Language Development and Academic Success. Retrieved on 24th July 2010 from; http://www. brainy-child. com/article/bilingual. shtml. Carrigg, F. , (2006). Teaching ELLs in the Content Areas. Retrieved on 24th July 2010 from; http://www. state. nj. us/education/njpep/pd/iel/powerpt/TeachingELLsin_ContentAreas. ppt. Coltrane, B. (2010). Working With Young English Language Learners: Some Considerations. Eric Digest. Retrieved on 24th July 2010 from; http://www. ericdigests. org/2004-2/young. html. Seattle Public Schools, (2010). Seattle Public Schools: School Family Partnerships District Plan 2009-2010. Retrieved on 24th July 2010 from; http://www. seattleschools. org/area/fam/documents/SFP%20District%20Pl

Marriage and Counseling Essay

Abstract The structural family therapist goes about helping the entire family instead of singling out the specific person with the issues. When families have good relationships with each other it is mainly when each family member has their specified role and fulfills that role to its entirety. This type of psychotherapy was created by a researcher name Salvador Minuchin, from New York. The primary strategy of this therapy is to develop a bond between the family members that are having problems within their family. The therapist’s goal in this theory is to develop a bond with every member of the family so he or she can figure what the problem is and how to solve it. The structural family theory also brings in a biblical perspective to psychology. This therapy will help shed a new light on how God planned families to be and what roles he wanted each of them to have. Introduction Every person in the world has a family. Some people may be closer to theirs than others but that does not negate the fact that they have a family. With that being said, each family has a different way of functioning. The majority of families raise children and they grow up to be fair adult citizens. Although the majority of families raise their children with no problems, there are still those that have their share of misconceptions. The  structural theory specializes in individuality. It examines each person of the family with their own characteristics and aspirations, while being apart of their entire family. The basic concept to structural therapy looks at rules of a family, roles of each individual, wholeness and organization. ( Goldenberg ; Goldenberg, 2013). A therapist analyzing this data thinks that a person can either function or not function. Functional families make changes and shifts as the members of the unit develop and go through different developmental stages (Becerr a., ; Michale., 2012). A dysfunctional family is not open to change and seeks to keep the members of the unit stuck in the way things always have been and does not foster growth within the individuals members of the family. (Becerra., ; Michale., 2012). Assumptions The relationship individuals have with their families is a source of mental stability for each individual. (Becerra., ; Michale., 2012). This theory thinks that when families talk to each other through speaking and non-verbal communication it is passed down through the generations of their family. Aside from those dysfunctions, structural therapist’s looks at the way families form family triangles, coalition, and family belief systems ( Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013). Structural theory believes that every member of the family have a different role to play as it related to the workings of their family. Healthy families are not families that have no conflict, rather healthy families are able to see the conflict and handle it in an appropriate manner (Harway., Kadin., Gottlieb., Nutt., & Celano,. 2012). Everyones family has their own element of growth and sometimes this causes problems within the family. While going through these growing pains it causes the family members to not be able to adapt to things without their dysfunctional family. Development of The Theory Research was conducted and clinical data was collected on different family systems to understand the patterns of psychosomatic families. Research was conducted at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center, where Salvador Minuchin  was the director of the center (Goldenberg, & Goldenberg, 2013).A vast majority of these families came from normal homes with each of them having problems within their family. A psychosomatic family is when the child or children in the family develop severe psychosomatic problems as a result of their families dysfunction (Becerra., & Michale., 2012). While working with families that showed signs of a psychosomatic child, the goal was to change the structure of the relationship and develop boundaries, and to deal with underline conflict within the family system (Goldenberg, & Goldenberg, 2013). Salvador Minuchin and his regime of researchers worked diligently while studying this theory and this is now one of the most influential theories of conducting solutio ns to family conflicts. Counseling Technique The main priority of the therapist is to find the solution to the families and help them discover what the roles should be in each family. Structural family therapists address current problems within the family instead of past events (Harway., Kadin., Gottlieb., Nutt., & Celano., 2012). One of the main jobs of the therapist is to find new ways to hinder the present problems the family has and make sure that the problems do not reoccur. The families that do have a hard time solving their troubles need to have a major change in their roles as a family. There are many techniques that counselors employ while working to bring health to the family system. The main techniques are joining, boundary making, enactment, restructuring, and reframing (Hammond., & Nichols. 2008). Boundary in this therapy basically states that there needs to be separation in the family but at the same time it needs to be known that each member of the family knows they have special meaning and are cared for by everyone else in the family. Counselors look to change the hierarchical relationship between the husband/father and the rest of the family (Goldenberg, & Goldenberg, 2013). When referring to enactment, this is stating that a counselor cannot take one person’s side of the family favorably over the others. Counselors that take the side of one member over the other members will interfere with the creation of healthy family functioning (Goldenberg,  ; Goldenberg, 2013). When the therapist sees that there are problems happening within the family he will exemplify positive patterns which can help the family outside of the counseling aspect. This is one factor that will help the families problems not be pissed on from generation to generation. When the therapist reframe s with the family it means that they are coming up with new ways of viewing the problem. The old ways did not work or the therapist just wants to give them a new perspective of the problem, hoping that the new way would be successful. Christian View A Christian view refers to having a biblical foundation in your life and how they feel the presence of the Bible through their every day life and culture. Christians believe that every word in the bible is inspired by God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states that everything in the Bible is inspired by God, and profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instructions (Crabb., 1977). A Christian views marriage and family as one of the greatest things ever created by God. All Christians know that we were all created in Gods image as a reflection of God’s glory. Everyones family is set up in a different and unique way. God created the family concept for the husband and father to be the leader of his wife and his children. God created Eve for Adam with the assumption that they would meet each others needs and have children together. Ephesians 5:25 says that Adams main objective should be to love his wife the was Christ loves the church. This is how all men should treat their wives and if not, it can lead to serious dysfunctional relationships and families. The wives number one priority should be to submit to her husband and to care for the children. The children should respect and mind their parents as long as the parents are still in a steady walk with Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6:1). Many families stray away from these simple concepts and it also leads to havi ng a broken family. If families remain true to their Christian view of life and their culture within their family they can live happily and not be hindered by outside influences, also known as the Devil. My personal family theory is the same as structural family therapy. When the therapist focuses on each individual of the family it creates a better way to deal with the problems that Christian and non-Christian families have. Structural family model looks at creating balance within the concepts of family dynamic. Structural therapist looks at defining family rules, roles, coalition, subsystems, boundaries, and wholeness (Goldenberg, & Goldenberg, 2013). Dr. Crabb stated He looked at the life of Paul and stated that as believes we should do everything to please God and not man (Crabb, 1977). When Christians are involved in counseling they should make sure that all of the counseling sessions not only help their family but also reflects God in every single aspect. Compare/Contrast Structural Family Therapy has a lot of similarities as family directed therapy. Family-directed therapy is a younger model of structural therapy, but with different aspects to the theory that structural family therapy doesn’t look at (McLendon., McLendon., & Petr., 2005). Both of these types of therapies determine that the parents should care for the children, not the other way around. They also both show the families the positives in their system, the negatives, and what needs to be changed throughout their maturing process as a family. Family-directed therapy is more time limited and while working on goals that were set by members of the family (McLendon., McLendon., & Petr., 2005). In the structural therapy the family members do not set the goals for the members. The therapist sets them because he knows exactly where the weaknesses and the strong points of the family are. Conclusion Structural Therapy is a counseling model created by Salvador Minuchin and his crew of researchers. Much of the early research for the theory was done at an inner city to understand the how families functioned when high levels of poverty and single-mother lead homes where older child were more like a second parents in the family (Harway., Kadin., Gottlieb., Nutt., & Celano., 2012). The purpose for this theory is to aid families with providing them counseling and making their family functional in all ways. These counselors  find ways to establish roles within the family system and to establish boundaries between the family members. The goal of the therapist with a Christian view is to strengthen the marriage, parent/child relationship and to help each family understand their role in their family. Christian counselors rely on God to help guide them into bringing change within the family unit.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Gary Becker’s Contribution to Family Economics

Gary Becker’s research on economics has also been his life’s work and garnered him the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1992 for â€Å"having extended the domain of the microeconomic Analysis to a wide range of human behavior and interactions, including non-market behavior. † (Federal, p. 1).Becker’s entire life has been spent taking the typical economic approach and extending it to a wider range of social issues. In addition to sheer monetary issues, Becker goes further and shows that individuals, contrary to widely held belief do not operate solely under financial gain and, in fact can show great acts of altruism as well.It has been said that Becker’s analysis should perhaps be known as the theory of rational choice, or purposeful behavior rather than simply as the straight economic approach generally seen. (The Prize p. 1). Becker himself notes that economic analysis can be applied to many issues in our daily social lives, other than the ones we tradi tionally believe to be strictly â€Å"economic. † He further states that â€Å"the horizons of economics need to be expanded. Economists can talk not only about the demand for cars, but also about matters such as the family, discrimination, and religion, and about prejudice, guilt and love.† (Religion p. 1). He very staunchly states that economic imperialism is not the same thing at all as crude materialism and that the idea that the total of a person’s value lies in their material worth has more in common with Marxist analysis than his own. (Religion p. 1). Robert Pollack, a self-stated critic of Becker’s concedes that he is really more of a follower of Becker’s than a critic, and that in all reality Becker put the family on the economic professions research agenda. (Pollack p. 5). The economics of the family is a creation of Gary Becker, and exhibits incredible significance in our lives today. B.Objectives/Hypotheses/Position Becker calls the for m of interdependent preferences within the family â€Å"altruism. † These preferences are introduced by supposing that one spouse is egoistic, while the other is altruistic, or cares both about his or her own consumption as well as the spouse’s utility. Pollack argues that rather than altruistic, the word should be known as â€Å"deferential,† as it is much more descriptive, denoting that, for instance the husband defers to his wife’s preferences regarding her consumption pattern. (Pollack pg. 12). Regardless of the terminology used, we can take Pollack’s model for explanation.Family members often have non-deferential preferences wherein each spouse cares about each other’s consumption habits either instead of or in addition to caring about their own. For the laymen, Pollack lays out Becker’s theory even simpler: A wife may have non-deferential preferences in that she wants her husband to spend more time jogging â€Å"because it†™s good for him,† and less time watching TV. In other words, non-deferential preferences tend to mean that each spouse prefers a different consumption patter for the other spouse, than the other spouse would choose for him/herself. (Pollack p. 14).Becker would state that the altruist, or deferential partner does not give anymore weight to his own well-being or self-interests than he gives to any other family member. Becker typically allows that the head of the household is regarded as an altruistic agent of the interests of all family members. (Pollack p. 14). Martha Nussbaum, a philosopher, finds this theory to be full of holes. Because the typical head of the household is male, Nussbaum feels that Becker’s theory becomes flawed as â€Å"males are often neglectful of the interests of females, whether wives or children, and makes decisions inimical to those interests.† (Pollack p. 14). Whether or not you agree with Nussbaum that the typical male head of househo ld is far from altruistic, or deferential, I think we can all agree that in theory there is generally one altruistic or deferential spouse in a relationship, along with the other who is the non-deferential spouse, or is more concerned with their own financial issues than of those of their spouse. Becker’s deferential preferences as related to parents and children would state that parents were not only concerned with their children’s utilities, but with their consumption patterns as well.In other words, while parents might be willing to pay for college, or perhaps a down payment on their children’s first house, they will be much less inclined to pay for a Hummer, or a trip to Europe. (Pollack p. 16). So the deferential model has parents willing to fund the â€Å"necessities† of life, such as education or a roof over their children’s heads, but are much less likely to want to pay for the frills. C. Methodology Becker’s household production mod el theorizes that households â€Å"combine both time and market goods to produce more basic commodities that directly enter their utility functions.† (Pollack p. 16). This is, of course, based on the assumed absence of joint production in the family as well as the assumed observability and measurability of commodities. Becker denotes â€Å"commodity shadow prices† in his household production model, which is the ratio at which a household can transform one commodity into another. All time and market goods that produce more basic commodities means treating all household functions as commodities. Therefore, time spent cooking, time spent cleaning, time spent helping children with homework all become commodities.Please note, that Becker defines commodities as anything that is observable or measurable, therefore in his model, time spent watching a pay with the children, sleeping, or listening to music is measurable, while stating these same things differently, such as †Å"music appreciation,† makes them unable to be measured or observed. So, the same activity, stated differently might or might not be a commodity. (Pollack p. 19). Becker’s altruistic model in the context of family consisted of a â€Å"brood of egoistic but rational â€Å"kids† and one deferential or altruistic parent.In his â€Å"Rotten Kid Theorem,† Becker notes that â€Å"Each beneficiary, no matter how selfish, maximizes the family income of his benefactor and thereby internalizes all effects of his actions on other beneficiaries. † (Pollack p. 21). Becker frequently uses the wife in the family model as the Rotten Kid, and Pollack’s example is that an altruist (or his selfish beneficiary) would eat with his fingers only when its value to him exceeds the value of the disgust suffered by another family member, or the altruist would read in bed late at night only when its value to him far exceeds the loss of sleep suffered by his spouse.(Pol lack p. 21). D. Innovating Aspects of Paper Becker basically looked upon the family, or the household as a miniature factory which produced services for the members of the household, â€Å"with an input of time and purchased consumer goods, the latter being regarded as intermediate inputs in the production process taking place in the household. † (The Prize p. 1). In this particular context, then, a wage rise can lead to less time-consuming production of services within the household.In other words, the father’s increase in pay might well enable the mother to hire a maid to help with the household chores, thereby freeing up more of her own time for the children or for leisure activities. In a really innovative step, Becker also applied his economic family theories to the area of crime and punishment, making the assumption that except for a certain number of true psychopaths, â€Å"individuals who behave criminally react in predictable ways to different stimuli in the form of benefits and the costs of criminal activities.† (The Prize p. 2). This theory would then offer fairly solid predictions about which groups of citizens could reasonably be expected to commit which types of crime. Studies on this subject have shown that an increase in the probability of being convicted at all is more a deterrent to the would-be criminal than the expectation of a certain level of harshness of punishment. (The Prize, pg. 2). D. Brief Critical Literature Survey Another famous book of Gary Becker’s is entitled â€Å"The Economics ofDiscrimination. † The theory of this book is that discrimination carries certain costs. For example, let’s assume that a certain businessman doesn’t like hiring women, or blacks, or any specific group, for that matter. In our present day highly competitive marketplace this businessman must then bear the cost of his particular discrimination. If he hires a high-wage white worker as opposed to an equally productive but lower-wage female worker, he has then foregone profits that could accrue to his firm.Although he may still decide to discriminate based on his strong feelings about one group or another, essentially the stronger his prejudices, the higher the cost. Although in some situations these costs might be hidden, and even though a competitive market will never completely eliminate discrimination, the market will, in itself, tend to reduce discrimination purely because the company that discriminates must pay the monetary costs associated with discrimination. (Economic p. 3).Becker also discusses Richard Epstein’s book, â€Å"Forbidden Grounds,† calling it a very â€Å"thoughtful book, which raises good questions. † (Economic p. 3). Epstein stresses the difficulties in implementing civil rights legislation, stressing the huge gap between the promise and the practice; Becker agrees with Epstein’s conclusion that there should be no civil rights legislat ion. (Economic p. 4). II. Analysis A. Hypotheses/Model Becker believes his model of household production puts economics into a simpler form that can be more easily understood by the general public.In fact, the American people as a whole tend to be frightened by economics, to the point, Becker says, that when you mention you are an economist, the typical response is that people say they took an economics class in college and either hated it or were terrible at it, or both. Becker believes that we should relax over the whole issue of economics, and that economists should attempt to express economic concepts in simple language, and detail the solving of economics in a straightforward, simple way. (Federal, p. 6).Becker continues by saying that many intellectuals and economists use big words and obscure language when they are writing about economics. â€Å"Sometimes it is a way of disguising that they are not saying a heck of a lot. Of course, some propositions are tougher to express. † (Federal p. 6). The challenge to a writer of economics, or any subject considered by the average person to be difficult, is to give a reasonably intelligent person a feel for the basics, and let their own intellect take it from that point. B. Analytical Discussion of Topic/Model In an interview with Gary Becker, he was asked if it was a true story that the initialInspiration for his work on the economics of crime was found while searching for a parking spot, and he agrees, â€Å"True story. † As he tells the story, he was coming down to Columbus University for an oral exam. He was to ask students a half-hour’s worth of questions on price theory. Becker was living in the suburbs at the time and drove to Columbia. He was running a bit late—never a good thing in New York City with parking spaces at such a premium. Because in those days Columbia had no designated parking for their faculty members, the choice was to either park illegally or go into a parking lot.Realizing how late he was, Becker pondered on the two choices, mentally calculating his chances of getting caught if he parked illegally versus parking a couple of blocks away which would entail a longer walk, as well as costing money. As Becker walked to the exam—a walk that took about ten minutes—he suddenly realized that if he was thinking about his chances of getting caught while parked illegally, that in all likelihood, the police were thinking about the same thing. They must, if they were rational human beings, be thinking about the likelihood of catching someone who was illegally parked.When Becker reached his student’s oral exam, the first question he presented was the one he had been pondering, and while he remembers the student didn’t do to well with an answer, Becker realized what an interesting topic it was, and started working seriously on it from that point out. Becker states that â€Å"I set it up so that society was trying to minimize the expected loss from criminals, taking account of the damage done by the crime, cost of policing, cost of taking somebody to trial, cost of punishment, how much deterrence there would be if criminals expected greater punishment or lesser punishment and so on.† (Federal p. 2). In the end, Becker was grateful to his parking problem, as it led him to one of his most â€Å"famous† theories of crime and economics. C. Theoretical Analysis Gary Becker was a great believer that family law would be a good area in which to do more law and economics work. He notes that family law is often looked down on in law school, not being a field that â€Å"top† people should consider going into, yet the family is such an important institution in society, that family law should certainly garner more respect from the legal industry.Families have been ever-changing, particularly in the last few decades, and now there are more and more areas of family law such as divorce, fertility, c hild care, homosexual marriages, homosexual parenting, marriage contracts, custody provision†¦the list goes on and on. Therefore Becker finds family law an area of great interest, ready to have more law students making it their specialty. Becker feels that family law is clearly one area that can have much more done with it using the tools of laws and economics. (Federal p. 3). D. Experts’ Insights and FindingsPollack finds Becker’s earlier talked about altruistic model as an â€Å"ultimatum game. † Pollack’s example is that the first player, or the proposer, offers a division of a fixed sum of money between himself and the second player. The second player, or the responder, is informed of the proposed division, and must then choose between two alternatives which are: †¢ She can accept the proposed division, in which case both players receive the proposed payoffs, or †¢ She can reject the proposed division, in which case both players receive exactly nothing.Therefore, Pollack reasons, the ultimatum game is a one-shot non-cooperative game in which the â€Å"proposer moves first and confronts the potential recipient with a take it or leave it offer. Commitment is essential to ultimatum games—if the responder rejects the offer, the game ends; the proposer cannot improve his offer. † (Pollack p. 24). E. Regressions/Correlation Analysis/data/tables To relate the above ultimatum game to Becker’s altruistic model, consider the game in which the proposer and the responder divide a fixed sum of money. Further consider that the proposer has egoistic tendencies.Therefore, the proposer offers a division in which he gets the entire sum, and the responder accepts, because she can do no better. If, on the other hand the proposer cares about the responder’s utility, then the proposer is going to offer a division that benefits the responder above himself. F. Findings/Arguments/Evidence The take it or leave i t family ultimatum game provides â€Å"a model in which all Becker’s claims about efficiency, distribution, and family demand functions hold. The altruist attains his most preferred feasible point, subject to the constraint that others receive enough to remain in the family. † (Pollack p. 25).G. Statistical Data/Tables â€Å"Empirical work on pooling began with articles by Duncan Thomas and T. Paul Schultz. † (Pollack p. 33). Thomas showed that kids do better in terms of mortality and morbidity when their mothers control a larger fraction of the family resources. Beck’s alternative theory to this assumption is the â€Å"better mothers† story, or the fact that mothers with more energy and ability are more likely to control a larger fraction of family nonlabor resources, and thus to have kids who do better. Thomas and Shultz, however, do not observe energy or ability. III. Policy Findings and Conclusions A. Basic Findings/SummaryAccording to Pollack, Becker’s economic approach to the family is often believed to imply that certain types of government policies cannot and do not affect allocation within families because they â€Å"will be fully neutralized by individuals’ responses. † (Pollack, p. 39). Both Becker’s altruist model and Rotten Kid Theorem imply that which parent receives the child benefit must be irrelevant, however Pollack feels that the conclusion that parents will neutralize the child benefit â€Å"depends on the assumption that family collective choice is determined by the altruist model, and that preferences exhibit transferable utility.† (Pollack p. 40). B. Policy Recommendations from your findings The role of technology and its place in facilitating the ability of human capital is both critical and important in today’s world. Becker felt that modern economies depend on modern technology, and you can’t have one without the other. Additionally, these various tech nologies are generally produced by people who have lots of human capital. Without that human capital there would not be the opportunity to build and make effective use of technology.Lastly, according to Becker, these new technologies are going to significantly impact the acquiring of this capital. People are beginning to use the various forms of technology to work at home, or earn degrees at home, thereby reducing the cost of gathering many people under one roof. (Manville, p. 3). The possibilities of the new technologies, along with the specific economics of these same technologies offer incredible opportunities for our future. C. Limitations of your study The limitations of the study on Gary Becker’s contributions to Family Economicsexist only in the capacity to devote enough information to each subject in the required amount of space. D. Suggestions for Future Research Reading Gary Becker’s â€Å"Human Capital and Poverty Alleviation† would be my number one s uggestion for future research. Becker believes that the main purpose of economics is to both understand and help alleviate poverty and this issue seems to be one that requires further investigation and study. IV. References: A. Scholarly Books/Journal Articles Pollak, Robert A. 2002. Gary Becker’s Contributions to Family and Household Economics.National Bureau of Economic Research. Cambridge, MA 02138, October 2002. B. WWW. References Becker, Gary S. December 16, 1994. Human Capital and Poverty Alleviation. http://www. worldbank. org/html/extdr/hnp/hddflash/workp/wp_00052. (Accessed June 17, 2006). Becker Honored with Phoenix Prize. April 23, 2001. Economist Wins Prize for Contributions to Social Sciences. http://www. chibus. com/media/storage/paper408/news/2001/04/23/GsbNe ws/Becker. Honor (Accessed June 13, 2006). Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. June, 2002. Interview with Gary Becker. http://minneapolisfed.org/pubs/region/02-06/becker. cfm (Accessed June 15, 2006). Man ville, Brook. 1994. Talking Human Capital with Professor Gary S. Becker, Nobel Laureate. http://www. linezine. com/7. 1/interviews/gbbmthc. htm (Accessed June 12, 2006). Religion and Liberty. March and April 1993. Economic Imperialism. http://www. acton. org/publicat/randl/print_interview. php? id=76 (Accessed June 13, 2006). The Prize in Economic Sciences 1992. The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1992. http://www. nobelprize. org/economics/laureates/1992/presentation-speech(Accessed June 12, 2006). V. Appendix A. Mathematical/statistical elaboration There was little mathematical elaboration in the sources I used, although Pollack used a specific mathematical equation to explain Becker’s household production model. B. Data Data used consisted of both Gary Becker’s writings and interviews as well as the views of other professionals regarding his conclusions. C. Results The results of this paper are to explore Becker’s theories of economics and present the results in a format that is hopefully more easily read by the laymen.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Summary - Essay Example Also, it is claimed by nationalists that Canadian TV shows are more multifaceted and nuanced. The formation of CBC in 1929 was in response to Royal Commission’s stand that Canadian national identity should have a strong presence on airwaves (radio). A report in 1951 by The Royal Commission on National Development warned dependence on imported programs2. I find it irrational when nationalists compare the best of Canadian programs with the worst of lowbrows in US. A proposal is made of Canada television to be part of ‘middlebrow’3. The idea is that Canadian programs need not be of ‘great’ moral ranking but ‘good’ will suffice so long it can meet the target of satisfying Canadian audience. I find it quite practical and promising. However, for decades, Canadian television even could not meet the objective of good ranking. Even the most professional Canadian series looks quite amateur in comparison to their Hollywood counterparts. Canada has o ffered quite a number of interesting partnerships to HBO as it grew in popularity.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Project Reflection - Walmart's CSR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project Reflection - Walmart's CSR - Essay Example Social corporate activities may be mush or the destinations may be several. In this case the firm has to make weighed decisions on what to accomplish, the rank of accomplishment based on priorities, when to perform and the methods that will be involved to achieve different objectives and activities. Walmart Company is one of the famous firms whose activities in relation to social responsibility are sustained and recognized. In order to improve the corporate social responsibilities Walmart Company use different methods. These activities vary from monetary donations and money given to the poor and the unfortunate to community activities by non-governmental organizations to improve the lives of those within (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2011). The firm acts with an aim to reduce qualms that are associated with the bad interactions with the external communities. Operations are performed in such a way that the communities in the outside are comfortable and enjoy the services. The company is involved in the protection of the environment and engages in many activities relating to environmental sustainability such as planting trees, teaching individuals living nearby on good control of water, ways to reduce soil erosion and proper farming activities. The company is involved in many activities that promote the living standards of people and that encourage the works of various classes of people like the students. Not only do the neighboring communities benefit from its availability, but also, the far and reachable places benefit based on the donations that the company sends. I continuously argue that the firm is a good corporate citizen. The ability to be involved in most activities relation to the external environment by an organization varies among firms and is influenced by many factors. Not all firms are able to work with the societies in which they live or even donate funds towards the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Dark Ages in the Western Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dark Ages in the Western Europe - Essay Example There were constant battles amongst Lords from all over Europe. (Paul B. Newman 121-124). This was as a result of Rome having been in power for a very long period of time, that is, 700 years. The emperor was the ruler of everything. This is what stimulated individuals to wage war in a bid of rising to power and land acquisition. The fighting had various adverse effects among them being destruction of the resources and stagnation of the cultural growth. In addition to this, it is inevitable in any fighting, there were lots of lives of innocent individuals that were lost in battle as the Lords fought with each other to quench their thirst and hunger for power and land. This resulted in children losing their parents, husband losing their wives and vice-versa and so forth. As a result of the lives lost, there was a decrease in the population which in turn led to economic depression. This is because the merchants and traders had reduced number of people that would buy their goods. This le d to the accumulation of their products hence resulting in merchants and other traders operating at a loss.Another issue was to do with reduced attention given to buildings in terms of expansion and architectural development (Morris Berman pg 14-15). It is until the 8th century that there arose a renewed interest in the Romanesque architecture.In terms of technology, despite of the notable positive impacts that come with it, there was retarded development. There was insignificant contribution by scientists

Monday, August 26, 2019

Hazards Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Hazards - Assignment Example The respiratory hazard has to do with dangers that are associated with works using respiratory protection, especially for the first time. In such cases, they may fail to use them properly and as a result, expose themselves to health risks by inhaling poisonous gases. Those affected are mostly working in emergency and fire rescue services where they are perpetually exposed to harmful fumes; other instances include when people work in areas of low oxygen concentration (Methner, 2000), workers welding in confined spaces, as well as abrasive blasting especially during mining. The risk assessment can be described as relatively high since the use of respiratory protection systems is common in the industrial sector. Incidences of contamination are likely to occur with a great deal of frequency since not many people are aware of all the protective measures. According to the 1910.134(a)(2), a respirator should be provided to all the employees as well as any other equipment necessary to ensure they are fully protected from respiratory hazards; the employer should be in charge of protecting and ensuring they are functioning safely and efficiently.The mitigative action that should include ensuring that the safety requirements are followed and the respiratory devices provided are functional after being inspected under the requisite standard regulation. In addition, employees should be furnished with training so that they can identify possible threats and take measures to protect themselves.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Compare and contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 11

Compare and contrast - Essay Example This article includes two of the famous speeches delivered by prolific individuals taking part in the debate, highlighting the comparison, context and writers’ overall views on slavery and the country. Abraham Lincoln and James Henry were key figures in the slavery debate and through their contributions that included public speeches on their positions; they made much impact that shaped the direction of the debate. The striking similarity is the importance with which these two gentlemen introduced into the debate that was very important to the American society. Lincoln’s â€Å"Speech in Peoria† deeply expressed slavery issues in a passionate way just as Henry’s â€Å"Letter to English Abolitionists† did. The reader is able to extract the strong character of the two personalities that these gentlemen were from their documents1. However, there are a few contrasting issues that emerge from an analysis of the two documents. On one hand, it appears that Lincoln advocates for the abolition of slavery which defines his historical engagement with the American political scenes. Lincoln delivered his speech in reiteration of the repealing of the Missouri Compromise that was powerful in prohibiting slavery in some parts of the United States2. This powerful document acted as a conflict resolving compromise agreed by the two sides of the debate on slavery in the United States. By delivering the Speech in Peoria, Lincoln was delivering his opinion and that of the antislavery campaigners who obviously stood disadvantaged from the unfortunate repeal decision that meant verification and authentication of slavery (Lincoln Institute, 1). On the other hand, the Letter to English Abolitionists prepared by Henry was delivered at a time when the standoff on slavery was still fresh. Henry contributions, unlike those contained in Lincoln’s speech seemed to favour slavery

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Personal Worldview Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal Worldview Paper - Essay Example The theorists and researchers as well have always been interested since ever in exploring the history and origin of world views people have developed in their minds about countless issues, which have been being transferred from one generation to the other for the last several centuries. The researches reveal that the religious people, philosophers, intellectuals and thinkers have rendered valuable services in respect of making the minds of the people about various realities attributed to the universal phenomena. The worldview, according to Carol Hill, concentrates upon the basic way of interpreting things and events that pervades a culture so thoroughly that it becomes that culture’s concept of reality (The American Scientific Affiliation). Hence, the adherence of a large majority of the people to the norms, values, mores, taboos, traditions, customs, cult and festivals etc prevailing in some specific social establishment turns out to be decisive is respect of transferring the cultural traits from one generation to the other and so on (Macionis & Plummer, 2008). ... The adherents of Christianity make up the greatest religious community of the world. The belief system of the faith seeks inspiration from the Holy Scripture Bible, which is viewed to be the word of God sent from the Lord for the spiritual uplift and moral guidance of the humanity. Hence, the Bible can be stated as the finest and most reliable source of inspiration for the entire Christian community existing on the face of the earth. The Bible consists of Old and New Testaments, which concentrates upon the covenant made between God and the House of Jacob regarding the worship of God, love for Christ, obedience of the parents, and strict adherence to the commandments clearly mentioned in the Scripture are the source of a blissful life on the earth, as well as the only way to obtain eternal success in the life hereafter (Flannelly et al, 2008:4). Being the most authentic source of the Christian faith, Bible lays stress upon strict observance of patience, endurance, tolerance, fair play , justice and sacrifice. I have learned from the Scripture (Leviticus, 18-19). The same views have been endorsed by the saints and preachers that a true Christian should follow the commands of God by worshipping Him, and obeying one’s parents and elders. I was taught that the Christians are forbidden from imposing any hurt on others. Being a Christian, I abhor stealing, debauchery, extra marital relationships, homosexuality and hurting and harming the neighbors (Leviticus, 19: 7-16). The records of the Christ’s life and sayings, preserved in the minds and hearts of his followers, also endorsed the true teachings of Jesus, which were followed and transferred from one generation to the other on the one hand, and

Friday, August 23, 2019

Marketing Plan for Final Flight (Aerial cremation dispersal) Research Proposal

Marketing Plan for Final Flight (Aerial cremation dispersal) - Research Proposal Example Cremation is, therefore, preferred by a large section of the society. However, disposing the remains becomes a major issue and most families are seen to preserve it in urns, which in time becomes taxing to preserve. Final Flight aims to provide an effective alternative for disposing the ashes of deceased loved ones by scattering them in the air by means of an airplane. The current paper will analyze the market opportunities and specify different marketing plans of the company so as to realize whether undertaking such a business venture is deemed profitable. As we know, those who identify with a religion, different faiths have different traditions when it comes to cremation. While many Christians have traditionally chosen burial -- mirroring Jesus entombment and the belief that the body and the spirit are one and must be whole for resurrection -- others have not, particularly some liberal Protestants. The Catholic Church lifted its ban on cremation in 1963. But the No. 1 reason cited for choosing cremation in a national survey was cost. On average, cremation is one-third the cost of burial (not including the burial plot or upkeep), ranging from about $500 to $1,500, according to the Cremation Association of North America. This company will be called Final Flight LLC, which will be an aerial cremation dispersal service offering an alternative to the underground burial or spreading of ashes over the ground on a local, state, national, and eventually a global level. Our goal is to provide personalized aerial cremation dispersal with the highest standards of dignified and ethical service regarding your loved one’s ashes from the air. We are committed to the highest level of integrity to fulfill the requests of the family. Sunsets become everlasting memorials†¦when the remains of your loved one are dispersed by air. The

I am J and the question of gender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

I am J and the question of gender - Essay Example For instance, from J’s earliest childhood memory, she was praised as a lovely cute boy while running without a shirt was very embracing for him. She faced this shame all her life in a number of other ways till he matures into a gangly seventeen year old girl. Whether he is at school competing in the swimming team or at home arguing with his parents, he always saw world as a confused and backward place. As J begins his transformation, he avoids going to school and bunk out all night to avoid his uncomfortable home and gives his mind a space where it can relax and understand his gender identity. In his gender identity quest, he thought of taking testosterone shots and surgical methods as he thinks that it will give him more confidence and let him what he really is, regardless of what his parents and others think(Beam, 2011). Marcia who was J’s friend also a transgender thinks that all of us possess some masculine and feminine qualities. For me, I agree with the statement partially. Yes, we do have same qualities and the intensity of these qualities may range from person to person, but such qualities do not show our gender trait. A gender is a trait that is specified by anatomy and physiology of a person. A boy who is more emotional does not mean that he is a girl

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Education Among the Pakistani Women Essay Example for Free

Education Among the Pakistani Women Essay Introduction Education is perhaps the main source of human intellectual development and a critical factor pertaining to standard of living. Education here refers to all instructions received by a child, whether at home, playground, or school. Continuous increase in population and declining assets in public education give birth to a serious dilemma for developing countries. Like most of rest of the developing world, Pakistan is known to be a male dominated country and ranks as the seventh most populous of the world. The sex ratio is 105.7 men to every 100 women, with an overall literacy rate of only 45%; 56.5 percent for males and 32.6 percent for females in 1998 (Jehan, 2000). For centuries women have been battling for equality, yet the society continues to shape the stereotypical view of women and is responsible for the lower status of women. This paper aims to explore the factors obstructing Pakistani women, specifically in rural areas where they cannot acquire education. The consequences they face due to lack of academic opportunities are also discussed alongside an elaborate analysis pertaining to various sociological concepts introduced in the course. This is an ongoing cultural and political issue, which reflects the corrupt government and extreme subjective interpretations of the religious doctrines. The status of Pakistani women reflects the complex interplay of many factors such as social, cultural, and religious views. In addition, the gender biases, geographical regions, and social classes pose several difficulties for Pakistani women. Lack of education quite obviously hinders their practicality in the workforce along with increased unawareness about health and failure to access legal rights for mistreatment from the male dominating society. The social and cultural perspective of Pakistani society is primarily patriarchal. At a very early stage men and women are divided into two separate worlds, this becomes a way of life. For women home is defined as being the lawfully ideological space whereas, the men dominate the world outside the home. This false ideological discrimination between inside and outside worlds is supported by the notion of honor and the tradition of purdah (veil, the seclusion of women from the sight of men or strangers) in Pakistan (Country Briefing Paper, 2000). The male honor is associated with the women’s sexual behaviour, the family’s honor hold great emphasis on women’s sexuality. Although the women are not prohibited from working, at the same time they are supposed to firmly follow the rules of morality. They may feel a role strain, to be a â€Å"good† daughter or wife or to have the right to do a job they wish to do. Status is defined by your social location, and women in general face everyday prejudice because of their gender. Pakistan, being a developing country, has a lower overall status in the world. Pakistani women have many statuses; one being a â€Å"Pakistani†, this however is an achieved or ascribed social position. Meaning it can be attained either by taking birth in the country, or by applying to become a citizen. Being Pakistani is not her only social position, when she’s born; she’s a daughter (ascribed status), when she gets married; she’s a wife (achieved status), and then when she has children she’s a mother (achieved status). The status in terms of just occupying a position; the 3 different statues that the Pakistani women achieve are daughter, wife, and mother. She is not known for anything other than that. Rarely are they known for ‘working women’, or any kind of job positions. The culture looks at them as nothing more, nor are they supposed to have any other status. Status in terms of prestige or honour; for centuries women have been fighting for equality, equal rights, honour, and respect; despite all of that, it is still an ongoing struggle. Pakistani women have an ascribed lower status, this means that women don’t earn or work towards being a lower status; they are given it by birth. Most Pakistani families yearn for a son, so he could handle the family business, but on receiving a daughter, they are ashamed. Hence this starts her being worthless in the eyes of her parents. As she grows older, the neighbours start to look at her that way, and so forth. Eventually the society looks at her that way and therefore, it becomes a norm, or part of an ideology. A Pakistani women’s life particularly in rural areas is a journey of subordination. As a woman is growing up she must listen to her father who decides whether she obtains education and who she would marry. After marriage her husband and in-laws are the decision makers on her behalf, who mainly decide how many children she would have and whether she is allowed to work outside the household. In a woman’s senior years her sons decide the fate for the rest of her remaining life. This is the norm in Pakistan; the behavioral expectations of women are to listen to the males that dominate their lives. Furthermore the entire society acts as an oppressor imposing stereotypical roles upon them. As such, daughter, wife, mother: in all three of these roles, the woman is expected to be sexually ‘pure’, that is, not to commit any acts of adultery. In all three, she must protect her family’s honor by learning conventional general labor skills, exquisite manners, and modest dressing. Women are part of a loop: this loop starts from being a daughter, being a wife, and finally a mother; it ends in the mother giving birth to another daughter who must now follow her mother’s footsteps and live a life reminiscent to that of her mother. This social structure reflects the roles of women in a shocking new light, a light that barely, if not at all, reaches the west. The daughter’s role: starts when she is born into the family. Her role in her family is to clean the house, take care of the chorus alongside her mother, serve food, and if she’s lucky, go to school in a very unhygienic, little populated school. She is to get married at a very early age and this often results in her not finishing her education. Her father decides whom she should marry; this is a process with both cultural and religious significance. According to Islam, it is already written to whom you will marry. By the father being the person who decides, that gives him the â€Å"higher authority† or â€Å"higher status† as the daughter must be handed over by a wali (the present caretaker, either her oldest brother or father). The role of the wife: in most sense the role of the wife is very similar to that of the daughter; she is supposed to keep the honour of the husband by keeping quiet, following his lead, and implicitly being a slave. The role of mother: this is when the daughter learns to take all the cultural guidelines and the norms and apply it on her children. Thus the cycle starts all over again. In order for this cycle to break the women need to view their roles in perceptive of the bigger picture. They need to realize that they have voices and that they can change their faith. Though this does not mean going against their religion, but to fight for their rights in a politically corrupted governing system. Acquiring academic and career planning resources is definitely a constructive and logical start to absolving them from this loop. Conversely, the political and cultural infrastructure most definitely tries to thwart these efforts. The implications of these cultural requirements and lack of education for women’s economic activities are catastrophic. The female labour force participation is known to be the second lowest for Pakistan in the world (Jehan, 2000). Their high contribution in agriculture and the informal sector of work tends to go unrecorded by the statistics. However, in the poorest regions, some opportunities occur for women to work outside areas for domestic services such as sweepers, construction workers, and hired labourers. Women are also restricted to several industries such as textiles, food and beverages and pharmaceuticals. This norm guides the social behavior of Pakistani women, where they cannot acquire high paid jobs and limits women to jobs that are lowest paid and require less mobility. These gender-defined roles vary from the geographical region in which they reside, where some areas are stricter. The main concern is the lack of education among the rural areas limiting their working capabilities. The total number of females with less than primary education is 18% (Ibraz, 1993). The situation is better in urban areas where women have overcome some of the traditional restrictions due to educational facilities. Another factor that restricts Pakistani females from acquiring higher level of education is the traditional rule of marrying them at an early age. The average age of marriage is stated at 17 years for females (Ibraz, 1993). After marriage the beliefs of the husband interfere; resulting in his social behavior of making his wife take care of the household and his family rather than continuing with further education or working outside the household. Cultural ideas such as protecting the family’s honor result in women barely communicating with men outside th eir family. If any communication is necessary, they adjust their religious headgear to make sure that proper protocol is followed and communicate only with minimal eye contact and enthusiasm. Another cultural idea such as honor killings also encourages males to warn females of the consequences of not following the norms and of course, encourage them even more to carry out an execution if the woman is in fact found guilty. Also, in rural areas, a common cultural idea is that education encourages women to rebel against their respective families. This furthermore advocates the practice of not wasting money sending girls to school. Social identity: women who are brave and resourceful enough to leave their families are marked as ‘heathen’ or ‘witchy’. Other females in the neighbourhood are forbidden to socialize with them. Therefore, a common tool to dominate women who do rebel is to take away all social identity from them or in worse cases, demeaning their social identity through media propagandas and common word of mouth. This is a very potent technique; it makes other women (who are in sync with ‘norms’ ) disrespect and look down on those that actually stood up to the discriminating societal structure. The male dominating ideology, therefore, persists. The health indicators of Pakistani women are among the worst in the world. Pakistan is known to be one of the few countries where the life expectancy of males exceeds the females. One in every 38 women die due to pregnancy related complications (Annual Report, 2009). The health of the Pakistani women was never considered a priority because woman as a gender are not culturally, traditionally, or religiously given equal status in the society. The health system relies on this gender inequality and is hesitant to adopt policies to help improve women’s health. Lack of awareness among the female population allows them to accept the mistreatment from the system. They are more likely to approach different methods of treatments themselves. More than 80% women are delivered at home in the presence of unskilled birth attendants (Annual Report, 2009). Social and domestic control over women’s sexuality, their economic dependence on men, and restrictions on their mobility establish the health services provided to males and females. Furthermore, honour killings, rape, and illegal trafficking of women are prevalent across much of the country. Women in Pakistan are seen as a representative of the men’s honour to whom they belong; they are responsible for guarding their virginity and chastity. If a woman is superficially having an illicit sexual relationship, she degrades the family honor and looses the right to life (Amnesty International, 1999). In response the man publicly reveals his power to safeguard his honour by killing the women that have damaged it, these acts are done openly. Brutal punishments are reported for bringing food late, for answering back, and even for undertaking forbidden family visits. Extreme measures such as honour killings take place for several matters. Conveying the desire to choose a spouse and marrying a partner of their own choice is an act of disobedience since most marriages are supposed to be arranged by fathers. Divorce is seen as a public rebelliousness and women must be punished for restoring male honour. Rape among the Pakistani women is seen as a highly shameful event and thus rape victims are also executed. The Government of Pakistan has failed to take any measures against the honour killings (Amnesty International, 1999). The political institution is flawed; the law and government that are supposed to protect their people from harm’s way; institutionalized corruption. To give women a lower status and view them as unequal is prejudice. It is institutionalized for a Pakistani woman to follow the authority of the man, since he is superior to. It is a practice to look down upon women in Pakistan as it became a norm. An example of such injustice is a story of rape victim named Shazia Khalid. She was a medical doctor, who got married and was offered a job by a government run facility. Her husband worked outside the country, she was staying at the facility that was secured by the members of the military. She was repeatedly raped overnight and then silenced by the military as they would not allow the police to investigate. To avoid embarrassment of the military, General Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, declared the rapist innocent. They further attacked Shazia by suggesting she was a prostitute. At this point Shazia attempted suicide but thankfully was saved by her child’s request. Her story increased media’s attention and further humiliated the president of the country, her family was asked to leave the country by the order of the government. They decided to immigrate to Canada but because immediate actions were required they were told to reside in England where they will be further assisted by the government to move to Canada. When landing at England they were abandoned by the government and are living on welfare waiting from their admission to Canada (McKenna, 2006). Egocentrism plays a big role in the hearts of Pakistani men. Their pride and honor has a prestige status; meaning its worth more whereas a woman’s life is worthless. They created this norm shared by the society. In deciding not to follow the norm results in negative sanctions. Due to the institutionalized corruption many Pakistani women have taken a toll to fight for their rights. Diverse groups including the Womens Action Forum, the Pakistan Women Lawyers Association, the All-Pakistan Womens Association and the Business and Professional Womens Association, are supporting projects throughout the country that focus on empowering women. They have been involved in such activities as instituting legal aid for indigent women, opposing the gendered segregation of universities, and publicizing and condemning the growing incidents of violence against women. ( Group, strict)The progressive women’s association (PWA) and the all Pakistan women’s association (APWA) is comprised of educated individuals; an example of their political struggle is the attempt to change the hadood ordinances law in Pakistan regarding rape. They are quite effective as they are setting the milestone for women standing up for their rights in the country. Conclusion In light of arguments presented in the paper, the low status of Pakistani women can be attributed to lack of education and cultural values. The consequences are very negative: inequality in the workforce, poor health, and marriage at young age with high fertility and childbearing mortality. Pakistani women lagging behind in education are not aware of their legal rights and are forced to focus on obligations of family life. Although this paper is geared mainly towards the women in rural areas of Pakistan, the cultural and traditional aspect of life imposed on women still persists in middle and higher classes, merely less strict. Hence, there is definitely a big gap between the loose group of women and the strict group of women. Consequently, a solution to the issue can also be portrayed as bridging the gap between these two respective groups. Assistance from the global community will be required to educate different populations to invoke change. Resources APA style Annual Report. (2009). Health of women in Pakistan. Society of Obstetricians Gynaecologists of Pakistan. Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC). Amnesty International. (1999). Pakistan, Honour Killings of Girls and Women. Country Briefing Paper, Women in Pakistan. (2000). Situation Analysis of Women in Pakistan: An overview Ibraz, Tassawar S. Fatima, Anjum. (1993). Uneducated and Unhealthy: The Plight of Women in Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review. 32:4 Part II, pp. 905-915 Jehan, Qamar. (2000). Role of Women in Economic Development of Pakistan. University Of Balochistn. McKenna, Terence. (Feb-Mar 2006). In Dept Pakistan: Pakistan, Land, Gold, Women. CBC news. Retrieved from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/pakistan/mckenna_pakistan.html Munir, Shafqat. (2001). Institutionalized Exploitation of Women as Negative Impact of Globalization. Journalists for Democracy and Human Rights† (JDHR) Pakistan.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Hotel Roles And Responsibilities

Hotel Roles And Responsibilities Classification of hotel facilities is not based on rigid standards. On marketplace forces, touchstones, location, mathematical function, and the definitions can change, depending and preference, but the definitions that follow are generally accepted and are the ones intended for these classifications throughout this textual matter, in some cases, personal. A hotel usually offers guests a full range of accommodations and services, which may include reservations, suites, public dining and banquet facilities, lounge and entertainment areas, room services valet, laundry, hair care, swimming pool, gym, sauna, spa and other recreational activities, gaming/casino operations, ground transportation to and from airport, and concierge services. Motels: Motels offer guests a limited range of services, which may include reservations, vending machines, swimming pools, and cable television. The size of these properties averages from 10 to 50 units. Motels are usually in suburban highway and airport locations. Guests typically stay overnight or a few days. Motels may be located near a freestanding restaurant. All suites: It may include reservations, living room and separate bedroom, kitchenette, optional public dining room and room service, cable television, videocassette players and recorders, specialty shops, personal services valet and laundry, swimming pool, and ground transportation to and from an airport. The size of the operation can range from 50 to more than 100 units. This type of property is usually found in centre-city, suburban, and airport locations. Limited-Service Hotels: The range of accommodations and services may include reservations, minimal public dining and meeting facilities, cable television, personal computers, personal services (valet and laundry), and ground transportation to and from an airport. They are usually located near restaurants for guest convenience. Guest stays can be overnight or long-term. These properties sometimes specialize in catering to the business traveller and offer special business technology centres. Extended-Stay Hotels: At Hiltons Homewood Suites, the following room amenities are included: king-size bed or two double beds in the bedroom and foldout sofa in the living room; two remote-controlled colour televisions; fully equipped kitchen with a microwave, refrigerator with ice maker, coffeemaker, twin-burner stove, and kitchen utensils; a spacious, well-lit dining area; and ceiling fans and iron and ironing board. Additional hotel services include a business centre, an exercise room, and a pool. 2 Roles and responsibilities of accommodation and reception staffs Hotel receptionists are responsible for making guests feel welcome, checking them in and out efficiently, and dealing professionally with enquiries, face to face and by phone, fax or email. They deal with general reservation enquiries, as well as answering guests questions and dealing with complaints. Duties will often include: allocating rooms to guests taking and passing on messages preparing bills, taking payment, and handling foreign exchange Helping guests with special requests such as storing valuables in the hotel safe or luggage area, ordering taxis or booking theatre tickets. Figure 1 Medium size full service hotel organisation chart Their main tasks are: changing the bed linen and making beds emptying bins, vacuuming floors, and washing glasses and cups replenishing stocks of guest supplies, such as tea, coffee and biscuits Tallying up items consumed from the mini-bar. 2.1 Identifying responsibilities of reception service staff Receptionists are usually the first people hotel guests encounter, particularly in those hotels where hall porters are not employed. They thus occupy a gatekeeper role, frequently bearing the responsibility for guests first impressions of the hotel. In fact, the responsibilities that receptionists bear for that image of the hotel arguably extend beyond first impressions. E.g. Receptionists of Hilton hotels regularly being involved in book-keeping, letter writing, inventory taking, typing, record keeping, answering queries, filing, taking reservations, dealing with mail and lost property, dealing with room changes, taking payments of customers bills, banking monies, holding responsibility for room keys and producing reports and statistics. 3 Legal and statutory requirements for rooms division operations The following legal and statutory requirements must be met by the Hotels in the UK: Duty to guests Employment Pension Environment Food/ Hygiene Health Safety Guest information Insurance Intellectual property Licensing tourism Local national tax Planning zoning Other (Bureau de change) 4. Front of house area effective management The Front of House Manager will be responsible for providing a high standard of customer service in order to maintain the customer loyalty from the general public and visiting companies, as well as to maximise revenue from Bar, Kiosk and Cafà ©, hotels the post holder will report to the Operations Manager, and work closely with the senior management team. He/she will be in the front line of customer liaison. Responsibilities: To maintain safe and friendly environment for all theatre visitors. To give strong and effective management To develop and encourage high standards of customer service. To control and report on costs (staff and stock control). To manage the Front of House sales facilities. 5. Planning for managing the front of house area A little planning on the front office managers part is required to ensure that the new employee meets the entire staff in the first few days. Saying a few words about the role of each employee during the introductions will not only make new hires feel more comfortable with their co-workers but also make each current staff member feel like a special part of the team. The current staff will also appreciate meeting the new addition to the staff. Very often, this procedure is overlooked, and new employees feel awkward for days or weeks. 6. Operational issues affecting management and business performance The front office team have the common goal of providing hospitality to the guest. Training, empowerment, and flexibility are necessary to make the team work. Forecasting, scheduling, developing a supervisory style, motivating personnel, balancing staff personalities, delegating tasks, training, and effectively communicating are only a few of the skills a good supervisor must master. It is a lifelong effort developed through continuing education and trial and error. 7. Importance of property interiors and design to effective management This is important to positioning the front desk to allow front office personnel a view of guests who enter the lobby from the street entrance and elevators. The guests first impression is enhanced by the ambience, physical appearance, and orderliness of the equipment and personnel. The front office manager must establish a balance between guest service and work processing to allow for efficiency. Figure 2 Front office layout 8. Aspects of planning and management of the accommodation service Planning is very important to delivering continuous quality service in hotels, as defined by the guest. Successful extension of hospitality starts with managements commitment to a service management program. Preparing a service strategy statement will focus the planning efforts of the owners, management, and employees. Principles of total quality management provide a manager with an opportunity to involve frontline employees in analyzing the components of delivery of service and methods to improve existing services. The development of the service management program requires the involvement of frontline employees, discussion of the guest cycle, moments of truth, employee buy-in concept, screening of potential employees prior to hiring, empowerment, training, evaluation of the service management program, follow-through, and interfacing with other departments in delivering hospitality. A long-term commitment to a successful service management program is necessary. 9. Operational issues affecting the management and performance of the accommodation service There are some issues affecting this sector such as: Environmental Social Legal Economical Technological Political etc. 10. Yield management techniques Achieving the best yield involves redefining the use of occupancy percentage and average daily rate. Although these concepts are important to the long-range potential financial picture, they take on a new meaning with yield management. Optimal occupancy, achieving 100 percent occupancy with room sales, which will yield the highest room rate, and optimal room rate, a room rate that approaches the rack rate, work together to produce the yield. 10.1 Yield management strategies E. Orkin offers a simple policy for developing strategies to implement yield management: when demand is high, maximize rates; when demand is low, maximize room sales. These concepts are portrayed in Table 1. Orkin also offers some specifics on developing strategies. He says that when demand is high, restrict or close availability of low-rate categories and packages to transients [guests], require minimum length of stays, and commit rooms only to groups willing to pay higher rates. When demand is low, provide reservation agents with special promotional rates to offer transients who balk at standard rates, solicit group business from organizations and segments that are characteristically rate sensitive, and promote limited-availability low-cost packages to local market. Restricting or closing availability was indeed a challenge because most front office managers were familiar with the sell out the house operating procedure and were unsure if this aggressive marketing tactic would work. Some hoteliers were setting reservation policies that required minimum length of stay during heavy demand periods. The procedure recommended for low demand (special promotional rates and soliciting group and local business) was the strategy used during any demand period. As yield management continues to be tried and tested in hotels, various combinations of maximizing room rates and room sales will continue to challenge hoteliers. Table 1 Yield Management Strategies Demand Strategy High Maximise rates, require minimum stays Low Maximise room sales, open all rate categories The following strategies can be taken to maximise occupancy and room revenue: Forecasting room sales, setting strategies to generate revenue Block-out Periods high demand periods require to block out certain days Systems Procedures using automated system that will process reservations, track demand, and block out room availability during certain time periods Feedback on decisions employed in yield management to set right strategies 11. Sales techniques that can use to promote and maximise revenue The objective of the sales incentive program for front office employees is to encourage the front office to promote products and services in various areas of the hotel, including the front office, the food and beverage department, the gift shop, and the health facilities. Each promotional area may be considered, or the front office manager might choose only a few areas, perhaps those that generate the most revenue, as incentive targets. A few examples follow: Upgrading a reservation during registration Selling a meal in the hotels restaurant Selling room service 11.1 Creative ideas When developing a program to increase front office sales activity, the front office manager, in conjunction with other department directors and employees, should identify as specifically as possible the hotel products and services to be promoted. In this case, the overall purpose of the program would be to maximize sales by the front office staff of front office, food and beverage department, gift shop, and health facilities products and services. The team must decide which area or areas would be most profitable. 12. Purpose of forecasting and statistical data within room division An important feature of yield management is forecasting room sales. Orkin suggests using a daily-decision orientation rather than a seasonal decision-making scheme in developing a particular strategy. Accurate forecasting of transient demand will assist hoteliers in developing strategies to maximize sales to this group. For example, if a hotel has group business reservations for 95 percent of available rooms, seeking transient business with special promotional packages during that time period would not be advisable. If the period following the group business is low, then advance knowledge of this information will allow time for marketing and sales to develop special promotional packages aimed at the transient and local markets. 12.1 Limitations of employing forecasting techniques Forecasting should be used to generate revenue by forecasting the volume of customers and allocating resources where it fits. Managers need to make sure that they have enough available rooms to control the guests flow. As we know more guests brings more revenue. 13. Performance indicators to measure the success of room sales A general manger who reviews the report of a recent five-day block-out period, as depicted in Table 2, would find that the period restricted for a five-day minimum length of stay worked well for May 1-3, but 178 room reservations were lost for May 4-5. The director of marketing and sales will have to research the contracts the hotel had with the various groups involved. Also, the front office manager should ask if the front desk clerks, bell staff, or cashiers heard any guest comments on why they checked out earlier than scheduled. The turn away business on May 3-5 might also indicate that the convention events scheduled on these days were more interesting or that the members of this group did not want to commit to a five-day stay and wanted reservations for only the last three days of the convention. Table 2 Turn away business report Date Yield % No. Rooms Turned away $ Lost @ $95 Rack Rate May 1 98 35 3,325 May 2 96 20 1,900 May 3 93 60 5,700 May 4 50 90 8,550 May 5 50 88 8,360 13.1 Considerable factors to review the performance of sales manager Were the anticipated profits outlined in the budget achieved? Use of a VIP Guest Card indicates to the restaurant manager that the guest was referred by the front desk clerk. Similar types of controls will enable management to pinpoint the origins of room reservations, gift shop purchases, and other sales. A recordkeeping system must be established to reflect the amount of money awarded to front office employees as incentives to increase sales in targeted areas and the directors should consider these costs in terms of generating revenues. The details of this recordkeeping system must be worked out with the various department directors and the controller. 13.2 Present and communicate appropriate findings of the Sales manager Front office management includes helping to promote the overall profitability of a hotel. Developing a point-of-sale front office involves developing a plan of action, which includes setting goals and objectives, brainstorming areas for promotion, evaluating alternatives, discussing supportive areas for consideration such as incentive programs and training programs, projecting anticipated revenues and related expenses in a budget, and preparing feedback mechanisms. This simple framework for planning will allow front office managers the opportunity to gain a larger perspective on the issue rather than pushing forward with desperate efforts to produce sales.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Transformational Process Model

The Transformational Process Model The Transformational Process Model A contrast of the transformational process model as it applies to the manufacturing (car manufacturing) and service (advertising) industries. Slack et al provide a model which assists in understanding the transformational process. Their model looks at the transformation of inputs into outputs of goods and services and the range of activities and operations that an organisation undertakes as part of this process. Slack et al’s transformational process model is robust enough to apply to both manufacturing and service industries and it is perhaps in contrasting these two areas that one is best able to understand the usefulness of their model. In simple terms, Slack et al’s the transformational process model deals with the process involved in transforming an input resource into an output good or service (Slack et al, 2001, p.9). A generic transformational process model can be set out as follows (Slack et al, 2001, p.10): The above generic input-transformation-output model applies to the operations of most organisations. However, as with any generic model, it fails to sufficiently differentiate between subtleties. As such, when considering differences between different types of operations (ie manufacturing and services) and then considering further differences within those different types (ie different types of manufacturing operations), it is necessary to expand on the generic input-transformation-output model set out above. In terms of the generic transformational process model set out above, it is important to note that inputs to the process will either be â€Å"transformed† or â€Å"transforming† resources. Slack et al define â€Å"transformed† resources as being â€Å"the resources that are treated, transformed or converted† (for example, materials, information and customers) and â€Å"transforming† resources as being â€Å"the resources that act upon the transformed resources† (for example facilities and staff) (Slack et al, 2001, pp.10-11). Slack et al note that in most cases, one of the transformed resources takes precedence over the other two. So for instance they note that while a bank devotes some of its time to processing materials and customers, its main focus is on processing information (Slack et al, 2001, p.11). However, it should be noted that in a modern, inter-dependant economy, it is unlikely that any organisation is able to operate without touching on each of the transformed resources and as such, the issue becomes one of the extent to which the other transformed resources are touched upon rather than whether or not an organisation’s operations touch on them at all. With respect to transforming resources, Slack et al refer to two types which form the â€Å"building blocks of all operations†. These are â€Å"facilities†, â€Å"the buildings, equipment, plant and process technology of the operation† and â€Å"staff†, â€Å"those who operate, maintain, plan and manage the operation† (Slack et al, 2001, p.11). Slack et al note that the transformation process is closely connected to the nature of the input resources which are being transformed. The three predominant types of operation processors are material processors, information processors and customer processors. Material processors predominantly transform the physical properties of the input resources, but may also change their location, their possession or store the materials. Information processors transform the informational properties of the input resources, the possession of the information, store the information or change the location of the information. Customer processing operations may change the physical properties of the input resource, store the resource, change the location, change their physiological state or their psychological state (Slack et al, 2001, pp.12-13). However, it is important to note that each macro organisational process also consists of numerous micro organisational processes (eg marketing and sales, set and props manufacture, engineering, production units and finance and costing) each of which contribute to what Slack et al (2001, p.19) refer to as the â€Å"end to end business process†. The flow of information, materials and/or customers throughout this end to end business process is often extremely complex. In terms of operations management, understanding that the transformational process model applies both at the macro level and at a micro level allows an organisation’s management to ensure that managers at all levels within the organisation understand that to a certain extent they are all involved in ensuring that their operation involves a transformational process and that it is only where the transformational processes of all these micro operations operate smoothly that the macro transformational process can be successful. It should also be noted that in many cases, organisations seek assistance from external organisations with respect to those micro processes. Thus for instance, an advertising agency provides a service which a large car manufacturing company may process internally. Or for instance Nike, which is thought of as a shoe manufacturer, is in fact a marketing processor specialising in shoes (the manufacturing of the shoes is, while done to Nike’s specifications, performed by external contractors with Nike concentrating on developing and maintaining their brand image). Slack et al (2001, pp. 18-19) refer to three core functions as transformation process operations. These are â€Å"product/services development function†, â€Å"operations function† and â€Å"marketing function†. The product/services development function involves â€Å"designers design software -> producing effective new products and services -> appropriate designs as promised and to budget†. The operations function involves â€Å"transformed/transforming resources -> producing service value for customers -> products and services†. The marketing function involves â€Å"sales people marketers market information -> producing sales and market plans -> orders marketing plans as promised and to budget†. As noted above, different types of operations (ie manufacturing and services) will involve different types of inputs, a different transformational process and result in different types of outputs. In order to compare how these differences are covered by Slack et als transformational process model, it is perhaps best to compare and contrast two specific examples. In this case, it is intended to compare and contrast differences between the transformational process of a car manufacturing operation (manufacturing) and an advertising agency (service). In terms of the basic input-transformation-output process, a car manufacturing and advertising agency’s operations can be described as follows: Operation Input resources Transformation process Outputs Car manufacturing Steel/plastic/other materials Car manufacturing equipment Machine operating staff Car manufacturing plant Design and procurement Fabrication Assembly Testing Distribution Cars Advertising agency Creative staff Admin staff Computer systems Information Customers Offices Client solicitation and pitching Creative production Delivery Account management Advertisements Increased sales One of the fundamental differences between the transformational process of a car manufacturing operation and an advertising agency is balance between facilities and staff resources. The car manufacturing operation will have much of its investment in physical facilities with the focus of operations managers in such an organisation being on ensuring that those facilities are operating smoothly. The transformational process for a car manufacturing plant is a technical/mechanical process which should run exactly the same every time. While there is creativity involved in the initial design stage of the vehicles and parts, the fabrication stage should involve no creativity and will essentially follow a set process which is repeated hundreds, if not thousands, of times each week with the purpose being to lower costs by automating the same repeated tasks. While staff in a car manufacturing operation remain important, their importance is secondary to the operation of the facilities themselves (ie should there be a problem with the operation of the facilities, the staff are not in a position to continue assembling the cars on their own – ie their effectiveness is directly linked to the effectiveness of the facilities themselves). Conversely, the importance of facilities to an advertising agency is entirely secondary to the importance of the staff that it employs. Preparing an advertising campaign is a largely creative process which varies from client to client and which does not therefore lend itself to automation. Due to the creative nature of an advertising agency’s work, should the facilities of an advertising agency for some reason become temporarily unavailable, it should be able to continue its operations using the same staff. Naturally, the importance of the less important transforming resource should not be underestimated and it is not the case that either of these two operations can continue without both transforming resources. Rather, it is that one of these transforming resources is more fundamentally important than the other. For instance, while an advertising agency’s staff should be able to continue with their transformational work even where the facilities they have been using are temporarily unavailable, it is highly likely that their transformational work will be less effective especially where the unavailability of facilities involves not only office space, but more importantly, informational resources such as computer systems, market research information, etc. Likewise, while a car manufacturing operation can replace staff that for instance, go on strike, the efficiency and effectiveness of newly employed staff will be lower than those who have experience working with the machinery and the organisation’s operational process. The point is that the balance for a car manufacturing and an advertising agency are different between facilities and staff and so too are therefore each organisation’s operations management concerns (Slack et al, 2001, p.12). With respect to the transformational process, a car manufacturing operation is predominantly a materials processor while an advertising agency is predominantly an information processor. A car manufacturing operation transforms the physical properties of the input resources involving the input of steel, plastic, and other materials the nature or which are then physically transformed into cars. An advertising agency on the other hand deals with information as its input resource (for instance, market research, demographic data, previous advertising campaign effectiveness, customer aims, etc) and transforms these into advertising campaigns the goal of which is to increase its customers’ sales. The operational outputs also differ substantially as between a car manufacturing operation and an advertising agency. Perhaps the most profound difference is that the outputs of a car manufacturing operation are an actual tangible product while for the advertising agency it is an intangible service. The difference between these two types of outputs affects such considerations such as storability, transportability, simultaneity, customer contact and quality (Slack et al, 2001, pp.13-14). Clearly a car has a degree of tangibility that an advertising campaign does not. This means that a car is able to be stored and transported. Likewise, the car manufacturing process involves production well before the customer ever sees it while with an advertising campaign, the psychological aspects occur simultaneously with its execution. As most customers will purchase a new car from a manufacturer’s own branded car yard, there is some contact between customer and manufacturer (more so than with other types of manufacturers such as for example household appliances where the manufactured good is sold via a third party retailer with no relationship with the manufacturer). The integrated supply chain for car manufacturers also affects the quality in that whereas with other manufactured products, the relationship between manufacturer and customer is more distant, the integrated supply chain for car manufacturers means that the customer is more likely to judge the quality of the operation from the quality of the product (although still not to the same extent that they would for a pure service such as a hair cut). Slack et al (2001, p.15-16) note that all operations fall somewhere within the spectrum between pure goods producers and pure service producers, with most operations producing a mixture of both products and services. They propose that each producer has a predominant type of output and that any peripheral output for that producer is referred to as a â€Å"facilitating† output. That is, for a goods producer, any services produced shall be â€Å"facilitating services† (eg technical advice) while for a services producer which produces peripheral goods (eg report and documents) these represent â€Å"facilitating goods†. This is perhaps a dated view of such operations which Slack et al acknowledge when noting that the distinction between services and products is becoming increasingly difficult to define. Perhaps a more accurate distinction is between the types of processors (ie materials, information and customer) rather than simply between goods and services. In reality, many service operations (especially information processors) do produce a tangible output which can be stored (for instance a travel agency will produce a booking which is reflected in a physical itinerary, a law firm will produce legal documents, a bank will produce bank statements, etc). It is generally customer processors (such as theme parks, theatres, public transport, airlines and hotels) which do not produce a tangible output which can be stored. In many ways, with the advent of the information revolution, the outputs of information operations have come to more closely resemble to outputs of traditional manufacturing operations more than traditional service operations. In general, a distinction needs to be made between services which produce a tangible output and those services which are consumed at the same time as they are produced. While both these operations fall within the overall heading of â€Å"services†, their natures are entirely different. The main difference between an information processor service and both material processors and customer processors are that an information processor’s output is not unique. That is, an information processor’s output is generally able to be copied at no additional cost. This can be contrasted to a material processor’s output such as a car or a customer processor’s output such as a haircut. Neither a car nor a haircut can be reproduced without additional inputs being used and the transformational process starting again at substantial cost. An informational output on the other hand, such as a legal document or a song can be reproduced an unlimited number of times at minim al cost and without the need for the original transformational process to be repeated (although large scale copying may require an additional transformational process eg producing CDs and DVDs). With respect to a car manufacturing operation and an advertising agency, both produce an output which is (arguably in the case of the advertising agency) tangible (ie cars and an advertising campaign respectively) although one is clearly much more tangible than the other. However, both the manufactured car and the advertising campaign loose relevance as time progresses and as such, the intention for both operations is to transfer the finalised output from the organisation responsible for processing the input onto the customer. The longer this transfer from processing operation to ultimate customer takes, the less relevant within the marketplace their outputs become (this statement will clearly not apply in certain cases for instance prestige cars which may increase in value the longer they are stored). The fundamental differences between a car manufacturing operation and an advertising agency have important implications on an organisation’s operations management. Both the advertising agency and car manufacturing consist of transforming resources facilities and staff. The difference is in the input of transformed resources as the car manufacturing is predominantly a material process and the advertising agency an information processor. The transformation process in operations is closely connected with the nature of its transformed input resources. Outputs from the transformation process are goods and services with the main difference being that an advertising agency provides a service while a car manufacturer produces a good. The difference in tangibility of the outputs also has an affect on storability, transportability, simultaneity, customer contact and quality. BIBLIOGRAPHY Slack, N., Chambers, S. Johnston, R. (2001), Operations Management, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall, Harlow, England