Human Resource Management And Organizational Planning

1.0 Introduction Effective human resource (HR) planning requires appropriate strategy formulation as well as implementation of those strategies to achieve organizational objectives (Bratton and Gold, 2012). The statement in the task made by Torrington, Hall, Taylor and Atkinson in their book named ‘Human Resource Management’ published under Pearson education focuses on the implementation stage of the HR strategies by the organizations and entrepreneurs. The statement â€Å"Human resource strategies can be stimulating to produce and satisfying to display, but how can we make sure that they are implemented?† (Torrington et al., 2011:73) can be segregated into two parts. In the first part, the authors are complacent about the advantages of the various HR strategies for organizational planning and understanding the role those may play for the organizational success. However, in the second part the authors have become sceptic about the implementation of the available strategies and it indicates the lack of measurement techniques implemented by the management to observe the actual outcome of initiating those HR strategies. The next section would discuss the related literature review addressing this issue to cover the most relevant topics i.e. HR strategies modes, HR strategy implementation process, measurement techniques and key performance indicators etc. The analysis of the statement would primarily focus on the implementation stage of the HR strategies, availability of differentShow MoreRelatedOrganizational Structure Of The Atha Corporation Essay1694 Words   |  7 PagesOrganizational Structure Human Resources Functional Area As the Atha Corporation grows changes will need to occur to the structure of each functional area. Within H.R. we added two more Human Resource Generalists. 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Asylum Seekers And Australia s Coast Line Along With...

This report will discuss the history of asylum seekers coming to Australia’s coast line along with discover most recent rules regarding the issues adjoining completely new arrivals of asylum searchers. It will provide a review for the behaviour towards of asylum searchers within Australia as part of stimulating integration of individuals through diverse nationalities. This document will intend to deal with the problems of asylum searchers along with refugees are usually going through inside Australia. This coverage on Asylum Hunters as well as Refugees remains probably the most argumentative issues inside today’s Australia. Australians have got seen quite a few alterations of this type in excess of recent several weeks. These are going†¦show more content†¦Many flee as a result of faith based persecution, others for their race, sexual category, or maybe ethnicity while a few precede due to their politics stances, faith based affiliations or maybe social rank. T his kind of exploration will probably focus on problems faced by simply Asylum seekers in addition to whether or not they need to be permitted within formulated international locations (Australia) along with the honest factor of the Australian federal government insurance policy in asylum seekers. The following paragraphs shed light on the ethical discussion for this circumstance. Definition It is pivotal to understand the definition of ethics along with asylum searchers. Ethics will be the steps of an individual with conscious and represent the free sort of getting certainly not by experiencing where did they are generally conducted, although looking for a judgement about perhaps the act is actually ethically appropriate or maybe completely wrong. Ethics as well as morals are conceptually unique although because identical results of deciding this social process along with intend to guarantee an existence associated with quality regarding provide as well as potential ages. Some sort of refugee is a one that is external their unique land and is incapable or maybe resistant to return because of well-founded concern with being persecuted because of their race, religious beliefs, nationality, member s program of a particular

Evidence Based Study Use of Personal Protective Equipment for ICU Nur

Question: Discuss about theEvidence Based Studyfor Use of Personal Protective Equipment for ICU Nurses. Answer: Key words: PPE, ICU nurses, critical care, challenges, advantages, hand washing, ventilated patients, MRSA infections, hospital settings, responsibility of the nurses, comparison of PPE and hand washing, health hazards, risk factors, practices of PPE, transmission of infections, measures of prevention, infection prevention control, ineffective hand hygiene Introduction Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) must be availed by the nurses who work at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) defines PPE as equipment worn by an employee in order to protect oneself from infectious materials. Nurses in ICU work in hazardous situations involving patients with contagious and life threatening diseases such as influenza, Ebola, tuberculosis, anthrax, rabies, small pox, cholera (Tweedy, 2014). To prevent the nurses from contracting the diseases, proper safety based equipment is necessary. PPE protects the nurses from pathogens, which might spread through contact, aerosols and droplets. This essay aims to provide a background of the selected nursing issue, which is use of personal protective equipment for ICU nurses on ventilated patients. The essay will provide details of the search terms, source of evidence, and criteria of selection of each article. The essay aims at explaining the levels of evidence and critically analyzing the practice recommendations based on the level of evidence and the relevance to nursing practice in the healthcare settings of New Zealand. In addition, the essay will suggest the further areas of study based on the findings of the researched evidences. Background of the Nursing Issue Personal protective equipment refers to the specialized equipments or clothing that is utilized for protecting the healthcare professionals and the patients from pathogens (Gomersall et al., 2006). It plays a significant role in creating a barrier between the individuals and the microorganisms. It includes facemasks, goggles, gowns and gloves. The use of Personal protective equipment for ICU nurses on ventilated patients is essential and the nurses should be educated regarding it in every possible way as it is concerned with the health and safety of the patients (Santos et al., 2016). The PICOT question that has been developed for the nursing issue is: Does the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment by the ICU nurses minimize the risk of nosocomial infections in the ventilated patients, in comparison to Hand washing? P (Population) - ICU nurses I (Interventions) - Proper utilization of PPE for ICU nurses on ventilated patients C (Comparison) - Hand washing by nurses in the ICU for ventilated patients O (outcome) - Reduce spreading of nosocomial infections T (Time frame) Measuring outcome in 6 weeks The literature survey has been carried out by referring to the research articles that has been published from the year 2006-2016, which describes the use of personal protective equipment for ICU nurses on ventilated patients. These articles has been searched in PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Science direct, Gideon, Google Scholar, Dopher, ELDIS, Health Evidence, HealthData.gov, Healthdirect, Medlineplus, Medscape, Ovid Nursing database, Oxford University Press Journals, PubMed Central databases. Critical Analysis of the Practice Based Recommendations Rozenbojm et al. (2015) (Level III- the evidence has been obtained from a controlled trial without involving randomization) has carried out a study in relation to the nurses using facial protective equipment. The suggestion has been made where the nurses should use FPE to protect themselves from contracting transmissible respiratory tract diseases while treating the patients. The higher level of evidence shows that the recommendation is applicable for nursing practice. Nichol et al. (2011) (Level IV- evidence has been obtained from a case control study) has carried out a similar study on FPE. Iten et al. (2015) (Level VI- evidence has been obtained from a single descriptive study) has carried out a study where Infection Control Specialists (ICS) have trained and supervised the nurses and staff in using PPE while handling patients with Ebola Virus disease and how to dispose off their waste without causing an outbreak, in an European setting. The evidence is low which shows that few su ch studies has been carried out in respect to Ebola virus. Beam et al. (2014) (Level IV) has carried out the study where the patients make basic mistakes while handling patients who are suffering from contagious diseases. Guidelines have been suggested for the nurses working in such a setting to use PPE measures in order not to contract the diseases. The high level of evidencing shows that the error study among the nursing practices still requires a detailed study as it is for their own safety. Jain et al. (2013) carried out a similar study (Level VI) where they have studied the factors that are responsible for limiting the use of PPE in respect to a tertiary care hospital. The nurses must be careful and alert and take it into their stride of using PPE as it is a matter of their health. The low level of evidence shows the lack of in depth study in this context and it can mistly be furthered by carrying out a population-based study. Shrestha (2014) (Level IV) has carried out a study on the impact that educational based intervention has on the nurses to inspire them to follow universally followed practices in respect to personal precautions. The low level of evidence shows that the study still has a lot of room for further exploration. Leonard and Timmins (2013) (Level VII- evidence has been obtained from expert communities) had carried out a study that involved the precautionary measures that has to be followed in order to safe guard the patients as well as the nurses from contracting blood-borne infections. PPE based guidelines must be followed and the low level of evidence shows that the sufficient information has not been collected from an in detailed study. Thorough research has to be carried out in order to validate the recommendations. Verbeek et al. (2016) (Level II) has carried out a study where stress has been laid on the usage of PPE by the nurses in order to reduce the prevalence of infection among the nurses. From the aspect of contaminated body fluids has been used to discuss the importance of PPE usage among the nurses. The high level of evidence shows that a thorough study has been carried out with the use of RCT and the values obtained show a high level of significance. Practice Recommendations in Relation to the Healthcare Settings of New Zealand Pesiridis et al. (2014) (Level II- evidence has been obtained from a randomized controlled trial) has carried out a study which has aimed at explaining the guidelines and safe practices for the nurses to follow during a disease related disaster. The high level of evidence shows that it can be applied in the New Zealand setting. de Carvalho Nagliate et al. (2013) (Level IV evidence has been obtained from a case control study) has also suggested standard precautionary measures which must be followed by the nurses while working with patients who are infected with contagious diseases and it is definitely more effective than hand washing. The evidence level is not exactly low and it can be applied in the New Zealand setting. Bin-Reza et al. (2012) (Level I- evidence has been obtained from systematic review of a RCT) has carried out a study where he has discussed the use of masks as well as respirators in order to prevent the transmission of influenza in the nurses working with them. The high level of evidence makes it eligible to be applied in the nursing setting of New Zealand. Eskander, Morsy Elfeky (2013) (Level VI) has carried out a study involving nurses in ICU and the knowledge and practices in regard to the infection control standard based precautions in an Egyptian Cancer Hospital setting. The low level of evidence shows that thorough research still needs to be carried out to be applied as a recommendation in respect to New Zealand nursing setting. Abad et al. (2014) (Level IV) has carried out a study basically to reduce the transmission of MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aueus) and VRE (Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus) among ICU patients by making sure the nurses follow proper PPE usage guidelines to prevent infection. Mitchell et al. (2013) (Level IV) has carried out studies in a Canadian setting where they have considered hospitals and has referred to the data collected from the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program. The high level of evidence shows that there is still a scope of research that needs to be carried out. Schwartz, Shapira Bar-Dayan (2014) (Level II) has carried out a study where the knowledge and confidence of the nurses in respect to PPE was evaluated in an Israeli setting during the H1N1 pandemic. The level of evidence is high and it can use in the nursing setting of New Zealand. Such a pandemic can hit New Zealand and during such a situation, the nurses must use PPE to reduce their chances of contracting the disease and be in a condition where they are abel to provide care and service to the patients. Valdez (2014)(Level VI) has carried out a study where he has recommended the safe practices that are adhered to PPE. The study that has been carried out has a low level of incidence because it neither targeted a particular population nor did it consider a particular setting where the guidelines could have been applied. The evidence is simply a single descriptive work considering the safe practices in respect to PPE have been outlined. Hence, this evidence cannot be used as a recomme ndation in respect to the nursing setting of New Zealand. Loveday et al. (2014 (Level VII) had carried out a study where they have outlined the National Evidence Based guidelines which has been used in preventing the Healthcare associated infections at NHS hospitals, part of the England setting. the lower level of evidence is very low and it is mostly because the study is limited in England only. However, the guidelines are quite applicable to nursing practice in any setting. Hence, they can be recommended for the nursing practice in New Zealand setting. Butt et al. (2016) (Level II) has carried out a study where prevention practices for infection by MERS (Middle- East Respiratory Syndrome) has been suggested in respect to the Saudi Arabian setting. The guidelines have been suggested in order to prevent the patient and the nurses from contracting the disease. The guidelines suggested can be applied to nursing setting in New Zealand since the level of evidence is high. Most of the guidelines have suggested that PPE is a better method than hand washing. Hence, the recommendations were suggested which are inclined more towards the usage of PPE as the best measure for preventing the infection among the nurses. Further Areas of Study Based on the findings of the evidence search, the further areas of study include the development of novel methods for maintaining hand hygiene by using PPE by ICU nurses for the ventilated patients. Since, the patients that are admitted have critical condition and they require appropriate and care for recovering their health effectively (Hickman, 2015). The traditional and the current methods practiced by the nurses and the other healthcare professionals, sometimes fail to accomplish the goal of maintaining the health and safety of the patients. Therefore, the new methods will be more accurate and will help the nurses and the other healthcare professionals in an efficient manner. Conclusion The analysis of all the chosen articles has illustrated all the levels of evidence and has provided information regarding the comparison of hand washing and PPE by the ICU nurses for the ventilated patients. The evaluation regarding the adequacy of the information provided has been carried out for allowing the computation of comparable dimensions of outcome across studies. Additionally for the potential risk factors, it has been noted that a preponderance of the studies have demonstrated a significant correlation concerning the assessment of appropriate utilization of hand washing and PPE for ICU nurses on ventilated patients and only some of the studies have not revealed such significant relationship between these two. References: Abad, C. L., Pulia, M. S., Krupp, A., Safdar, N. (2014). Reducing Transmission of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus in the ICUAn Update on Prevention and Infection Control Practices.JCOM,21(5). Beam, E. L., Gibbs, S. G., Hewlett, A. L., Iwen, P. C., Nuss, S. L., Smith, P. W. (2014). Method for investigating nursing behaviors related to isolation care.American journal of infection control,42(11), 1152-1156. bin?Reza, F., Lopez Chavarrias, V., Nicoll, A., Chamberland, M. E. (2012). The use of masks and respirators to prevent transmission of influenza: a systematic review of the scientific evidence.Influenza and other respiratory viruses,6(4), 257-267. Butt, T. S., Koutlakis-Barron, I., AlJumaah, S., AlThawadi, S., AlMofada, S. (2016). Infection control and prevention practices implemented to reduce transmission risk of Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus in a tertiary care institution in Saudi Arabia.American journal of infection control,44(5), 605-611. De Carvalho Nagliate, P., Nogueira, P. C., de Godoy, S., Mendes, I. A. C. (2013). Measures of knowledge about standard precautions: A literature review in nursing.Nurse education in practice,13(4), 244-249. Eskander, H. G., Morsy, W. Y. M., Elfeky, H. A. A. (2013). Intensive Care Nurses Knowledge Practices regarding Infection Control StandardPrecautions at a Selected Egyptian Cancer Hospital.prevention,4(19). Gomersall, C. D., Joynt, G. M., Ho, O. M., Ip, M., Yap, F., Derrick, J. L., Leung, P. (2006). Transmission of SARS to healthcare workers. The experience of a Hong Kong ICU.Intensive care medicine,32(4), 564-569. Hickman, C. (2015). Literature Review of Nosocomial Infections Passed Through Nurses' Personal Items. Iten, A., Charati, M. N., Ginet, C., Brennenstuhl, P., Pittet, D. (2015). Burden for the infection control programme of a European hospital of getting prepared and treat a patient (PT) with Ebola virus disease (EVD).Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control,4(1), 1. Jain, M., Dogra, V., Mishra, B., Thakur, A., Loomba, P. S. (2013). Factors limiting the usage of personal protective equipment in a tertiary-care hospital.Canadian Journal of Infection Control,28(2). Leonard, L., Timmins, F. (2013). Remembering the importance of preventing blood?borne infections in the critical care setting.Nursing in critical care,18(1), 4-7. Loveday, H. P., Wilson, J., Pratt, R. J., Golsorkhi, M., Tingle, A., Bak, A., ... Wilcox, M. (2014). epic3: national evidence-based guidelines for preventing healthcare-associated infections in NHS hospitals in England.Journal of Hospital Infection,86, S1-S70. Mitchell, R., Roth, V., Gravel, D., Astrakianakis, G., Bryce, E., Forgie, S., ... Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program. (2013). Are health care workers protected? An observational study of selection and removal of personal protective equipment in Canadian acute care hospitals.American journal of infection control,41(3), 240-244. Nichol, K., McGeer, A., Bigelow, P., O'Brien-Pallas, L., Scott, J., Holness, D. L. (2013). Behind the mask: Determinants of nurse's adherence to facial protective equipment.American journal of infection control,41(1), 8-13. Pesiridis, T., Sourtzi, P., Galanis, P., Kalokairinou, A. (2015). Development, implementation and evaluation of a disaster training programme for nurses: A Switching Replications randomized controlled trial.Nurse education in practice,15(1), 63-67. Rozenbojm, M. D., Nichol, K., Spielmann, S., Holness, D. L. (2015). Hospital unit safety climate: Relationship with nurses' adherence to recommended use of facial protective equipment.American journal of infection control,43(2), 115-120. Santos, D. G., de Medeiros, S. M., Chaves, A. E. P., de Sousa, Y. G., Silva, A. C. R., de Menezes, R. M. P., de Arajo, M. S. (2016). Accidents by Sharp Instruments of Nursing Professionals in a Hospital Unit.International Archives of Medicine,9(1). Schwartz, D., Shapira, S., Bar-Dayan, Y. (2014). Health care workers knowledge and confidence in personal protective equipment during the H1N1 pandemic in Israel.Disaster Med Public Health Prep,11, 1-8. Shrestha, I. (2015). Impact of Educational Intervention on Knowledge and Practice of Universal Precautions among Nurses.Journal of Patan Academy of Health Sciences,1(1), 57-60. Siegel, J. D., Rhinehart, E., Jackson, M., Chiarello, L. (2007). 2007 guideline for isolation precautions: preventing transmission of infectious agents in health care settings.American journal of infection control,35(10), S65-S164. Tweedy, J. T. (2014).Healthcare Safety for Nursing Personnel: An Organizational Guide to Achieving Results. CRC Press. Valdez, A. M. (2015). Are You Covered? Safe Practices for the use of Personal Protective Equipment.Journal of Emergency Nursing,41(2), 154-157. Verbeek, J. H., Ijaz, S., Mischke, C., Ruotsalainen, J. H., Mkel, E., Neuvonen, K., ... Mihalache, R. C. (2015). Personal protective equipment for preventing highly infectious diseases due to exposure to contaminated body fluids in healthcare staff.The Cochrane Library.

Politics 2.0 Advantages and Disadvantages

The internet is the centre of focus for today’s generation in terms of information flow from one place to another. Politics has not been left behind in the utilization of the information super highway. Dittmer, Fukui and Lee (2000, 3) define politics as â€Å"who gets what, when, how and at whose expense†. Based on this definition, politics is a process through which distribution of public goods and services is appropriated.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Politics 2.0†² Advantages and Disadvantages specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To influence the distribution of national goods and services, one requires ability to influence the public to be aligned to certain principles or interests. However, in order to influence masses one requires a way of reaching out to the people with information. This paper explores the application of electronic media in politics, democracy and government. The aim of the paper is to identify the advantages and disadvantages of using the electronic applications, such as Politics 2.0, in politics. Traditionally, television, radio, and newspapers were the only reliable medium of reaching masses. With advance in information technology, the internet has become a vital tool of passing out information to the public within a short period of time and at a low cost. This has been dubbed the electronic era, abbreviated as the e-era (Bidgoli 2004, 25). Virtually all sectors utilizing the electronic information flow have acquired the â€Å"e† letter which stands for electronic. Terms like e-politics, e-government and e-democracy have emerged as a result of the new technology that facilitates information flow. Conventionally, the public elects political representatives who pass laws and promulgate policies on its behalf. E-democracy is the new way of politicking that allows the citizens to participate directly in democratic governance processes (Abramson and Morin 2003, 19). In this new dispensation, citizens are not alienated from the policy and law formulation processes. The general public or citizens are able to directly influence or add their voice to debate on given laws or policy issues. E-democracy can also be understood as the new way of actively advocating for democracy within nations and across the globe. Through advances in information technology, information is widely shared via the internet. Democracy related information is generated by such actors like democracy conscious citizens, media, political organizations or a government and streamed via the internet (David, Trevorrow and Halpin, 28). E-democracy encourages higher interaction between the ruled and the rulers. The citizens participate more directly in the politics by supporting their preferred candidates or policy issues. Social networking plays a critical role in advancing e-democracy (Bidgoli 2004, 142). Through social networks, individual citizens c an drum up support for their preferred political candidate or law or policy. Moreover, e-democracy aims at improving voter turn out or participation in the voting process.Advertising Looking for research paper on political culture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More E-democracy is most efficient and effective where government processes have been made electronic (David, Trevorrow and Halpin, 11). When some or critical government processes are made electronic, an e-government develops. E-governing entails provision of government services through the web. This implies using the web services to bring together different government agencies to one platform. Making government processes electronic enhances transparency and accountability among the government employees (Abramson and Morin 2003, 22). IT has unparalleled properties of providing highly interconnected communication channels, ways of processing information and data management (Bidgoli 2004, 6). Internet business or e-commerce is being adopted all over the world. E-commerce is viewed by many around the globe as a more convenient way of doing business. In the public sector, e-government is being adopted very fast as a convenient way through which governance can be executed. Applying IT in governance has opened numerous opportunities for raising management standards and improving the quality of service provision to the public (Abramson and Morin 2003, 21). IT improves management quality by reducing bureaucracies, improving performance and simplifies administrative procedures (Mayer 2008, 48). Several governments have an integrated online system that contains all services that the government provides, when and where the citizens can access the services. During Clinton’s rein, the federal government put up an online system detailing all resources the federal government could offer. This online resource, which was unveiled in June 2000, can be found at www.firstgov.gov (Abramson and Morin 2003, 12). Politics 2.0 found wide usage in the USA in early 2007. This was in anticipation of the 2008 elections. This software generally changed the way of politicking by taking much clout from traditional media. Much political discourse became streamed through websites and blogs. Politics 2.0 was aimed at changing the interaction between voters, media and politicians. Internet campaigns were the most popular tools of mobilization during the 2008 presidential campaigns that saw president Obama win the elections (Chadwick 2009, 23). Politics 2.0 has many Pros or advantages. Foremost, as an internet application, it enables much interaction between the voters and candidates (Mayer 2008, 81). Since adoption of Politics 2.0 in the USA, greater interest in democratic processes was generated. President Obama, it can be argued, is the first president to have widely employed to his advantage e-democracy processes (Chadwick 2009, 27).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Politics 2.0†² Advantages and Disadvantages specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Many people participated in democratic discourses on social networks and other e-forums. Furthermore, Politics 2.0 has also enabled voters or citizens to easily create and get support for petitions or given causes. With Politics 2.0, democratic actors easily generate and facilitate sharing of detailed material on democratic issues. Internet campaign unlike other channels such as radio, and television, gives a political candidate a permanent online advertisement that can be accessed by supporters anytime anywhere. â€Å"The 2008 presidential candidates used the internet to create a permanent online presence through websites, chat rooms, forums and social networks such as MySpace, facebook, YouTube and brightcove† (Johnson 2008, 87). However, all good things have their flipside. One of the cons associated with Politics 2.0 is that it increases pressure on elected officers. It requires that politicians continue attending to the citizens they were interacting with during campaigns even when under pressure of new offices. E-politics apparently does not clearly show a distinction between political campaigns and governance (Mayer 2008, 97). This could result in a situation where political campaigns take centre stage and run for the whole regime. The internet gives political candidates a permanent presence on the web. The permanent presence means politicians permanently engaging the electorate in permanent politicking at the expense of formulating and implementing policies (Mayer 2008, 101). Furthermore, making politics e-intensive is likely to reduce interest in conventional representation. When citizens have a forum through which they can voice or push for their interests, representation becomes challenged (David, Trevorrow and Halpin, 113). The work of the elected representative become s confused. Additionally, like all internet based processes, managing information security is a big challenge. Wrong information easily spreads to the wrong recipients. The internet can be used to widely spread propaganda about a candidate in a very short period of time (White 2007, 33). Voters can be made to shift their support from one candidate to another by a mere negative message about a candidate posted to the web. Senator Allen George who had in 2004 won the Virginia election with confidence suffered a big blow in 2006 from his call for the â€Å"macaca moment† (Johnson 2008, 98).Advertising Looking for research paper on political culture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Videos of the macaca moment by Senator Allen were uploaded on YouTube and viewed by many viewers. This incidence shifted the support he had from the voters making him lose the election. In the case of e-governance, the security of information posted on government web portals has remained a point of concern (White 2007, 42). Finally, it is worthy noting e-politics and e-governance is driven by an emerging technology which is not known or well understood by all. Relying on it fully would mean sidelining those who are not trained from accessing government services (White 2007, 39). To avoid sidelining any citizens, parallel processes are set in place. There are e-processes and conventional processes. This two line way of governing is efficient and effective but may prove expensive in the case of some processes. It is like having two lines of production running when only one would be efficient enough. In conclusion, the internet has changed politicking especially in the developed nation s. E-democracy allows citizen’s participation in policy formulation by giving opinion on the policy through the web (White 2007, 24). E-governance means that the government is executing it functions electronically. This shift has its advantages and disadvantages. On the positive side, the shift has led to higher participation of citizens in governance issues. On the negative side, electronic applications like Politics 2.0 pose information security challenges especially where high stake politics is the case (White 2007, 27). The adoption e-governance and e-democracy as enabled by applications like Politics 2.0 is laudable but has to be approached with the necessary precaution. Reference List Abramson, Mark and Morin, Therese. 2003. E-government 2003. New York: Rowman Littlefield Publishers Bidgoli, Hossein. 2004. The Internet Encyclopedia. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons Chadwick Andrew. 2009. Routledge Handbook of Internet Politics. New York: Taylor Francis David, Griffin, Tre vorrow, Philippa and Halpin, F. Edward. 2007. Developments in  E-Government: A Critical Analysis. Amsterdam: IOS Press Dittmer, Lowell, Fukui, Haruhiro and Lee Peter. 2000. Informal Politics in East Asia. New York: Cambridge University Press Johnson, Dennis. 2008. Routledge Handbook of Political Management. New York: Taylor Francis Mayer, William. 2008. The Making of the Presidential Candidate 2008. New York: Rowman Littlefield Publishers White, Jay D. 2007. Managing Information in the Public Sector  New York: M.E. 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Dramatic Irony in Oedipus the king

Dramatic Irony in Oedipus the king Free Online Research Papers Dramatic irony was used in Oedipus the king as an essential tool to develop the play. Dramatic irony involves readers knowing what is happening in the plot, where as the characters have no knowledge about it. This makes the audience feel privileged, as they know more than the main characters in the story. In Oedipus the king the use of dramatic irony develops the play through pathos towards Oedipus, creating suspense and foreshadowing the outcome of the play. In the play dramatic irony is also used to create suspense because although the reader knows about the prophecies of Oedipus and what his fate will bring him, the audience does not know how he will react to the accusations laid upon him. Oedipus knows about the prophecies yet he does not know they have come through, however the audience is aware of everything going on in Oedipus life. According to Oedipus, he has proved the prophecies wrong, but the audience knows this is not the case. the prophecies have become a part of his life yet he is ignorant of it. In Oedipus speech to the people of Thebes he tells them he will start from the beginning and will bring right to their lives. This leaves readers in suspense wondering what will come next. Oedipus he will gain something form the people of Thebes by finding the murderer of liaus it creates suspense, as the reader will want to know what will happen next. â€Å" For whoever killed Laius might decide to raise his hands against me so acting on behalf of liaus I benefit myself too.†(Sophocles, 10) this creates suspense because the readers know he would not benefit himself, as he is the real killer. This lets the audience wonder as to what would happen when Oedipus figures out that the real killer of liaus is himself. This leaves the readers questioning everything that is to come next. To reveal the murder in this part of the play is an important factor of creating suspense among the readers. The play continues to develop by creating suspense through the use of dramatic irony. The readers know he is the murder of liaus but looking at Oedipus personality the novel also depicts how angry Oedipus is with whoever killed laius. â€Å" As for the murderer himself, I call down a curse on him†¦. may he drag out an evil death-in-life misery. And further I pronounce a curse on myself is the murderer should, with my knowledge share my house† (sophocles, 14). This creates terror and suspense in the readers mind as to what Oedipus would do when he finds out he is the murderer of Laius. This also creates anticipation among the readers, as they will want to know what is to come next. Another aspect of dramatic irony used for the development of the play is the audience feeling sorry for Oedipus. The audience knows what ill-fate Oedipus life carries and how in a way he is guilty of his own unhappiness. This feeling of remorse the audience develops through the play contributes greatly to Oedipus character personality according to Aristotle. The use of dramatic irony makes the readers hopeful. When Oedipus says, â€Å" I am lost, accusred, and hated by the gods. Beyond all other men† (sophocles, 37) the audience feels sorry for him at this point; as they already knew about his destiny and hoe it is all written out for him. Dramatic irony also foreshadows what might be the out come in the end. Prophecies and foreshadowing are important parts of play writing, and adds an element of suspense that might not seem possible any other way. For instance when Tireias says to Oedipus â€Å" without knowing it you are the enemy of your own flesh and blood †¦. This doubled aged curse shall one day drive you from this land† (sophocles, 28) this foreshadows the outcome of Oedipus life, and how he might be exiled from Thebes. Again the audience already knows about his prophecies and the curse they bring upon him, which he will have to pay for in the end , hence this quote foreshadows to the readers what might happen to Oedipus at the end. Oedipus later says to tiresias, â€Å" Save yourself and the city, save me, from all the infections caused by the dead man .we are in your hands† (Sophocles, 19). This foreshadows and also creates suspense as to what tiresias might say next to Oedipus. It is dramat ic irony because the audience knows tiresias cannot save Oedipus for this curse it is him self that has to see the truth on his own. Therefore a bit of tension arises as to how tiresias might respond to him and what Oedipus will do once he is told the truth. Also when tiresias tell Oedipus that his life will end in darkness â€Å" you see straight now but then you will see darkness† (sophocles, 28) darkness vs. light used in the play foreshadows and helps the audience understand what Oedipus might do to him self when he learns the truth about his past, his prophecies and the real murderer. In Oedipus the king the use of dramatic irony develops the play through pathos towards the tragic hero, creating suspense, and foreshadowing the outcome of the play. Finally, Oedipus the king is a tragic play that depicts the characteristics of a tragic hero an how destiny plays an unfortunate game with him. Sophocles’ Oedipus, dramatic irony is a major input into making this novel a strong one; the whole novel is based on the concept of dramatic irony. Where the audience knows about Oedipus prophecies, his past and the murder he committed, but he himself is blind to. Oedipus destiny has been written out for him. He became a victim to an ill fate unknowingly. His destiny could not be controlled or changed; a man born with poor fortune and a dishonored life, who saved the people of Thebes from the sphinx ad brought light to everyone’s life at the end, gets rid of the light of his own eyes and ends his life in darkness. Research Papers on Dramatic Irony in Oedipus the kingHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoCapital PunishmentThe Fifth HorsemanThe Spring and AutumnRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andMind TravelAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementHip-Hop is Art

The Definition of Institutional Racism

The Definition of Institutional Racism The term institutional racism describes societal patterns and structures that impose oppressive or otherwise negative conditions on identifiable groups on the basis of race or ethnicity. Oppression may come from business, the government, the health care system, the schools, or the court, among other institutions.  This phenomenon may also be referred to as societal racism, institutionalized racism, or cultural racism. Institutional racism shouldnt be confused with individual racism, which is directed against one or a few individuals. It has the potential of negatively affecting people on a large scale, such as if a school refused to accept any African Americans on the basis of color.   The History of Institutional Racism   The term institutional racism  was coined at some point during the late 1960s  by Stokely Carmichael, who would  later become known as Kwame Ture.  Carmichael felt that it was important to distinguish personal bias, which has specific effects and can be identified and corrected relatively easily, with institutional bias, which is generally long-term and grounded more in inertia than in intent. Carmichael made this distinction because, like Martin Luther King Jr., he had grown tired of white moderates and uncommitted liberals who felt that the primary or sole purpose of the civil rights movement was white personal transformation. Carmichaels primary concern- and the primary concern of most civil rights leaders at the time- was societal transformation, a much more ambitious goal. Contemporary Relevance   Institutional racism in the United States  results from the social caste system that sustained- and was sustained by- slavery and racial segregation. Although the laws that enforced this caste system are no longer in place, its basic structure still stands to this day. This structure may gradually fall apart on its own over a period of generations, but activism is often  necessary to expedite the process and provide for a more equitable society in the interim. Examples of Institutional Racism   Opposing public school funding is not necessarily an act of individual racism. One can certainly oppose public school funding for valid, non-racist reasons. But to the extent that opposing public school funding has a disproportionate and detrimental effect on minority youth, it furthers the agenda of institutional racism.Many  other positions that are contrary to the civil rights agenda, such as  opposition to affirmative action, can also have the often unintended effect of sustaining institutional racism.Racial profiling occurs when any group is targeted for suspicion based on race, ethnic origin, or because they belong to another recognized protected class. The most well-known example of racial profiling involves law enforcement zeroing in on African-American males. Muslims have also been subjected to racial profiling after September 11, 2001, including anyone with a Middle Eastern appearance regardless of that individuals actual religious beliefs.   Looking to the Future   Various forms of activism have famously fought institutional racism over the years. Abolitionists and suffragettes are prime examples from the past. The Black Lives Matter movement was launched in the summer of 2013 after the 2012 death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and the subsequent acquittal of his shooter, which many felt were based on race.

Editorial essay Argument vs Description Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Editorial Argument vs Description - Essay Example Another argument is the chemical company’s (BASF) purchasing petroleum products allegedly stolen from Pemex by a Mexican cartel but the source was never acknowledged to be known. This is also an argument because the facts are not verifiable and the chemical company is arguing that their claim that they do not know the source of the petroleum is questionable given the amount of sale ($2 million) involved. The description in the editorial provides objective information as indicated in the portion where it was stipulated that â€Å"legalization would deliver a significant short-term hit to the cartels — if drug trafficking were the only activity they were engaged in. But cartels derive a growing slice of their income from other illegal activities† (Longmire par. 5). The details of succeeding illegal activities are likewise description of the kind and types (of illegal activities) that cartels are delving into to fuel their economic endeavors. Longmire actually argues that legalization of marijuana would not kill the cartels and actually aver that â€Å"legalization would move that trade into the open market, driving down the price and undermining the cartels’ power and influence† (Longmire par. 1). I agree to her contention that legalization of marijuana would not significantly impact or lessen the source of income for cartels as she described other illegal activities that the cartels have actually pursued. However, her supporting statements to validate the initial argument were weak in terms of focusing on other illegal activities as the source of other income for the cartels without expounding on the implications of how legalization of marijuana would not kill the cartels. The writer is commended for initially determining the percentage of cartels’ profits being generated from the sale of marijuana, revealed at

International retail marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

International retail marketing - Assignment Example The country we have targeted for Iceland Food’s retail is Saudi Arabia. Saudi differs from United Kingdom in various aspects which include cultural, psychographic and demographic dimensions. The macro environment of the two nations is also different. The report focuses on what 7 P’s are needed by Iceland to establish themselves in Saudi Arabia and what should differ to what is already being done in the United Kingdom. When moving into a new country, the retail outlets also need to consider various ways of understanding the customer behavior and how they can improve the customer relationship to retain sales in the long term. Organization: Iceland, one of Britain’s most innovative and fastest-growing retailers is considered to be one of UK’s best companies. Its primary product line consists of frozen foods such as frozen prepared meals and also frozen vegetables. Iceland also launched what according to them was the first nationwide, free, online grocery shop ping service. Critical Evaluation of the role that marketing mix plays in the devising of the marketing strategy of a retail organization: Marketing Management decisions can be based on one of the four categories: product, price, place and promotion. These variables are known to be the 4 P’s of marketing or the marketing mix. In order to satisfy customers in the target market, these variables are controlled by marketing managers. This is in an attempt to generate positive response in the target market as these four marketing mix variables can be blended in an optimal manner. Product: It is the physical product or service which is offered to the consumer. When the physical products are offered, it can also refer to the services or the conveniences that are part of the product being offered. The decisions on products can include different aspects such as function, appearance, service, warranty and packaging. Price: The decisions on pricing of the product are made by taking into account the profit margins and the probable pricing response of the competitors. This not only includes the listed price of the product but also the discounts, financing and other options such as leasing in order to satisfy the customers in the best possible way. Place: The decisions on place (or placement) are the ones that are associated with the channels of distribution that provide the platform or the channels for getting the product to the target customers of that market. The system of distribution performs transactional, logistical and the facilitating functions. The decisions on distribution include the market coverage, the channel member selection, the logistics and the levels of service for the product to reach to the final consumers. Promotion: The decisions on promotions are the ones related to communicating and selling the product to the potential consumers. The costs of promotion are large in proportion to the price of the product; therefore, an analysis of break-even should be performed when making decisions of promotions. It is essential to know the value of a customer in order to determine whether the cost of acquiring additional customers is worth it

Communication issues Essay Example for Free

Communication issues Essay There are a number of brands that offered good products but they failed miserably because they were not able to sell enough of their products or services. Too often we see that so many promising airlines close because they wer not able to sell enough tickets and control costs and so on. The thing is that marketing and indeed branding is dependent on the way customers perceive a particular product. It is therefore critical for companies to ensure firstly that the right message is sent to the customers and secondly at the end of it all the message does reach without too much noise and disturbances. There are hundreds of thousands of brands that are being advertised on television and print media and therefore it is so important that companies are precise with their message such that the message is across to the customers and they retain it from an option of virtually an infinite list of brands. This is precisely why we have stressed the need to brand products in such a way that only one main distinguishing factor is higlighted in the promotional campaign. This is extremely crucial because it allows customers to easily understand and retain the message of the company’s brand. Another thing that is related to this concept is the use of appropriate media while sending the message to the customers. Certain time slots in the television medium are expensive compared to others because of the viewership and other factors; these are the things that campaign managers must identify and address. Target audience must be the ones who should watch the adverts atleast otherwise the whole cost could go to waste. What we have discussed in the communication issues heading is that firms need to address certain brand specific issues to avoid mal-function of the whole advertising campaign. Without enough ammunition that is directed at the right target market firms will end up with a disadvantaged cost benefit analysis. Advertisement campaigns must fulfill their key goal that is getting the desired message to the right audience group. Conclusion It is of critical importance that the right message is first identified and then send to the customer using which ever media that best suits the audiences. It might sound a difficult task but many small and large companies have been able to establish powerful brand names across the globe. Some of the most important things that we think are crucial to success of a brand campaign include adequate market research; without adequate market research and analysis it is very difficult to know what the customers think and which places do they look at when they want to buy new clothing lines. Another important factor is the way the brand distinguishes itself from other similar brands; this can be done through originality of the thought process and getting the basic original idea of the product to the customers. Secondly the pricing and packaging of the product must be according to the image that has been portrayed through advertisements and other campaigns. There is also a case for companies to target market costumers through placing the product just at the right place. This not only increases credibility but it also strenghtens the market position of the brand and the company. We must also understand that sometimes its important to factor in the initial response of the crowd about the product this attitude of constant improvement can help the company keep its brands healthy and robust. It is of critical importance for firms to avoid disturbances that might impede the message that they want their customers to receive. An important step is to first clean out and simplify the message and secondly look to develop a platform which attracts attention. For instance television adverts of Vodafone are so well choreographed that they attract the customers attention and then they tell the message in stories and other forms. This is a very good strategy to avoid any noise and disturbance from other advertisements that might be playing side by side. The Vodafone television advertisement campaign is a prime example of how firms can make an impression in the minds of the consumer for a long lasting time. Ultimately it’s the costumer base that will determine the result of the branding drive and whether it would be successful or not. The brand must be focused on a particular strength and acceptable demand of the costumers. Bibliography: Bud, Richard, 2003. Interdisciplinary approaches to human communication. Transaction Publishers. OPCUK, n. d. Examples of internal communication approaches, viewed February 6, 2010 http://www. opcuk. com/downloads/examples_of_internal_communication_approaches. pdf Branding Strategy Insider, 2010. Why a Branding Strategy Blog? Viewed February 9, 2010 http://www. brandingstrategyinsider. com/ Brand Identity Guru, n. d. Brand Strategy, viewed February 8, 2010 http://www. brandidentityguru. com/brand_strategy.htm About. com, 2010. Developing Your Brand Strategy, viewed February 8, 2010 http://marketing. about. com/od/brandstrategy/tp/brandstrategydev. htm Gelder, Sicco, 2005. Global Brand Strategy: Unlocking Brand Potential Across Countries, Cultures and Markets. Kogan PageLimited Keller, Lewi, Keller, 2008 Strategic brand management: building, measuring and managing. Mission Statements. com, n. d. Fortune 500, viewed February 7, 2010 http://www. missionstatements. com/fortune_500_mission_statements. html.

Microsoft :: essays research papers

Abstract: The following research is designed to provide the reader with an understanding as to how Microsoft and Sony have developed as a company throughout the years. The research will show the combined efforts of two large companies and there mark into the gaming industry. Microsoft and Sony’s environment, company, and leadership styles are what have kept the company on the leading edge of technology. However, where do the companies begin to mark their niche into the market will be interesting to see with the difference in the two companies and their corporate ideas. The research will also focus more on the market issues, design issues, and economic impacts of the corporate wars going on. Thus, the research will provide the user with a better understanding of Microsoft and Sony’s position for market control of the gaming industry. Introduction: Microsoft is arguably the most influential IT company ever, controlling standards in both the corporate and domestic computer marketplace. With their share of the desktop PC software market and a substantial proportion of the server business, Microsoft is now dictating many of the standards on which today's information systems are built, and has achieved an unprecedented level of recognition among business management. Microsoft is following a long-term strategy to dominate four interconnected core markets (the enterprise, the Internet, electronic commerce, and information appliances), and looks set to exert a major influence on every aspect of IT over the next few years. How large enterprises react to these developments will affect their business strategy into the next millennium. Despite the rapid acceptance of Microsoft technology within the enterprise, there are real concerns about the direction the company will take in the future. The company clearly faces stiff competition on several fronts within the business-critical environment. In addition, legal issues and software delays, together with the technical shortcomings of some of Microsoft's key offerings, have raised doubts about the company's long-term success. Sony the Japanese consumer electronics giant has been at the cutting edge of new technological developments since the company's founding by Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka in 1946. Sony is one of the most respected companies world-wide. Its ability to innovate new markets and constant drive for self-improvement earned Sony world-wide sales of $36 billion in 1995. Sony manufactures video equipment, televisions, audio equipment, but is not just a leader in the world of electronics. Its acquisition of CBS Records in 1988 and Columbia Pictures Entertainment in 1989 have raised its profile as an entertainment company, backed by the recent launch of its own games console, the Sony Playstation.

Dollar General Case Study Essay

Dollar General is a retailing company, especially extreme value oriented. Since its establishment in 1955, Dollar General has drastically grown. In 10 years, from 1955 to 1965, the Company grew to 255 stores with annual sales of $25.8 million. Today, Dollar General owns 6,300 stores in 27 states, with 2002 annual sales of $6.1 billion and more than 54,000 employees. This growth was extremely fast in the 1990’s. The number of stores grew so from 1,461 in 1991 up to 6,113 in 2002. Since the beginning, Dollar General takes advantage of a niche by setting up profitable small stores delivering convenience and value. All the Dollar  General’s Strategy is based on a customer-driven distribution of consumable basics. Financial situation of the Company remains really satisfying in spite of shareholders lawsuits due to restatement of its earnings few years ago. Revenue growth was equal to 12.6% in 2003 for a total amount of $7.24 billion. Its net income was the largest of the sector with $319.9 million. In the same time, and over the last three years, the Company has reduced its long-term debt by $448 million. Such a success can be explained by a really good positioning of the Company through its external environment and among its direct competitors. Dollar general knows very well how to manage the exploited niche and its opportunities. The main strength of Dollar General remains its ability to constantly open new stores, knowing that the key success holds in the proximity of small stores delivering convenience and value. It is in fact a kind of necessary comparative advantage on this market. The new CEO, David Perdue has got no experience of retail industry. He has to choose in which direction Dollar General will go. He has to go on the expansion of the Company but with the arrival of new and very powerful competitors such as Wall-Mart or Kmart. 1. Background Dollar General is a discount retailer of general merchandise, with around 6,300 discount stores in over 27 states in 2003. The Company, which headquarters are based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee engages in the provision of general merchandise at low prices, serving customers in Midwestern and Southeastern US. The Company offers its customers an assortment of consumable basic merchandise, which includes: health and beauty aids, packaged food products, cleaning supplies, hardware, stationery, household items and basic apparels. The majority of its items are priced at $1. The Company employed around  54,000 employees. Their buying staffs negotiate low purchase prices from suppliers. It purchases its merchandise from various major suppliers. To maintain high in stock levels of core merchandise, the Company usually limits its stock-keeping units per store. Timeline In 1939, with only a third grade education, J.L. Turner formed his own company in Scottsville, Kentucky, with his son, Cal. In 1955, Cal Turner and his son Cal Turner Jr. opened the first Dollar General store in Springfield, Kentucky. In 1965, they operated in 255 stores and generated $25.8 million of sales. In 1976, Dollar General exceeds annual sales of $100 million for the first time. At the beginning of the 1990s, the Company’s annual sales kept increasing and began to expand store sizes from 5,000 square feet to 6,800 square feet. In 2000, Dollar General’s corporate employees move to Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The move also saw the most aggressive store reset in the Company’s history, in which, more than 5,000 stores were set. In 2001, the Company began offering perishable products. This program included a selection of dairy products, meats, frozen foods and ice cream, and was expanded from 411 stores at the end of 2001 to 1,367 stores at the end of 2002. In February 2003, 7 distribution centres which served around 6,192 stores in 27 states and generated in net sales $6.1 millions. 2. Dollar General diagnosis a. Financial analysis Net Sales Increases in net sales resulted primarily from 587 net new stores and a same-store sales increase of 4.0% in 2003 compared to 2002, and 573 net new stores and a same-store sales increase of 5.7% in 2002 compared to 2001. The Company’s merchandising strategy in recent years has been to place a greater emphasis on faster-turning consumable products and to give less prominence to slower-turning home products and clothing. The Company believes that this strategy has enabled it to better serve its customers while improving its inventory turns. As a result of this strategy, over the past three years the highly consumable category has become a greater percentage of the Company’s overall sales mix while the percentages of the home products, seasonal product and basic clothing categories have declined. In 2002 and 2003, the mix was as follows (in percent of sales): 2003 2002 Highly Consumable 63% 60.2% Seasonal Products 15% 16.3% Home Products 12% 13.3% Basic Clothing 10% 10.2% The Company’s same-store sales increase in 2003 over 2002 of 4.0%, or $228.3 million, was due to a number of factors, including but not limited to: increased sales of candy and snacks, health and beauty aids items, pet supplies and perishable products primarily due to the increase in the number of stores with coolers (in 2002, 1,400 stores had coolers). Gross Profit The gross profit increased by more than 200 millions dollar in 2003 as compared with 2002 primarily due to the following: The Company made progress in reducing the shrink at problem stores during 2003. Some of the actions taken by the Company to combat shrink beginning in 2002 included the installation and the implementation of software that improve the inventory management. They also invest in others technologies which help purchasing and store allocation decisions. Current Financial Condition The Company has also to deal with its accounting issues due to the uncertainty about their past financial reports. The Company is still under the investigation of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and has to provide solid proof for every financial figures published and for every transactions done. b. Strengths and weaknesses analysis STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES One of the leading dollar store retailers in the US Improved financial performance Stores located in small communities Invested in better distribution facilities Space issues Merchandise mix problems Lost of competitive advantage Strengths Dollar General is one of the leading dollar store retailers in the US. The Company enjoys a strong market position within this particular segment of the retail market. It has a low cost operating structure and a relatively limited assortment of products offered. The Company’s strong market position will help to enhance Dollar General’s brand awareness. Dollar General is well known Company which does not need to communicate on their strategy because of their strong identity, they have low communication cost. This will in turn make it easier for the Company to attract new custom. Their strong store experience allows the ability to develop their strategy with a high knowledge experience. It facilitates their expansion strategy. The Company improved its financial performance and increased in revenue in 2003 up to $6.1 billion after a 15% increase in 2002. Net income also grew by 27,7% in 2003 reaching $264,946. Stores are located in small communities, meaning it does not have to compete with the larger retail outlets for custom. Moreover they have made better distribution investments which allow them to have better facilities in their distribution and lower costs. Weaknesses Growing fast, involved learning experiences, duplicating models, and creating format. It has been a force during a few years. Nowadays, Dollar General has to adapt its stores to the demand, and follow the market growth. Merchandise mix problems Dollar General has also experienced merchandise mix problems in recent years. These merchandise mix problems have led to the Company’s inventories becoming obsolete. This has forced Dollar General to write down some of the value of its inventories. The concept of dollar store has been a success, and many competitors are on the general store traces. Their concept has been copied, so their competitive advantage and their strategy are no more as efficient as in the  beginning. Competitors have also learnt form the Company’s experience. 3. External Analysis a. Competitors According to the case the two major competitors of Dollar General Corporation are: Family dollar Dollar tree These two companies have adopted the same strategy than Dollar General. Their expansion has been fast, they have the same customers, and the same core business. Although they have many customers such as The Talbots, Inc.Fred’s, 7-Eleven, Sears Roebuck, Wal Mart, 99 Cents Only Stores, Kmart or Target. COMPETITOR COMPARISON (2002) The following chart shows the differences between those three companies. Comparison criteria – 2 – 1 0 1 2 Industrial Equipment (number of stores, distribution center†¦) Wide of product range Productivity Profitability Pricing Image Penetration rate Revenue Growth over the past year Dollar Tree Family Dollar Dollar General Following this graph study it seems Dollar General generally remains the most impressive competitors of the sector. DG remains the best in term of image, penetration rate (even if it is only present in 27 states whereas the others are present in about 40 states), financial position (they have the best Net Income 265 millions dollars, Dollar Tree: 155 millions and Family Dollar: 217 millions) and in term of selling force thanks to its still greater number of stores (6,113 stores for 54,000 employees, Dollar Tree: 2,263 stores for less than 9,600 employees and Family Dollar: 4,616 stores for less than 22,000 employees). [ in 2004, Dollar Tree has got 9,600 employees and Family Dollar 22,000 employees according to Yahoo.com so we can guess that it was inferior in 2002] Nevertheless DG has to take care not to lose its leadership concerning the wide of product range proposed. And even if the target household income is not exactly the same than Dollar Tree, DG has also to pay attention to the politic pricing implemented by Dollar Tree, which is in fact the best of the sector thanks to products price at $1 or less than $1. But generally, DG remains really well positioned among its competitors. b. Opportunities and threats analysis OPPORTUNITIES THREATS New distribution centers Business less susceptible to slowdown in consumer spending Stores expansion in new states Size of the stores New competition People qualification Dependency to suppliers Opportunities The Company is dependent upon the smooth functioning of its distribution network and upon the capacity of its distribution centers. The Company relies on the ability to replenish depleted inventory through deliveries to its distribution centers from suppliers. New distribution centers are expected in the end 2004 or in 2005 in order to support continued growth. The dollar business is less susceptible to a slowdown in consumer spending compared with other retail operations because over a third of its stock costs $1 or less. This will mean that Dollar General’s business will not be affected as much as other high cost and high margin led retail operations, as in times of economic distress consumers will look to save money by purchasing goods that are perceived to offer better value from retailers such as Dollar General. So they have the possibility to gain market share if the economy slowdown. The stores are located in only 27 states so they have the possibility to open new stores and to expand into additional states. It will depend on factors that are beyond the Company’s control such as: the ability to negotiate favourable lease terms; the ability to hire and train new personnel,  especially store managers; the ability to identify customer demand in different geographic areas. The size of the stores is from 5,000 to 6,800 square feet, whereas Family Dollar stores’ size is from 7,500 to 9,500. It shows that DG can extend the size of their stores in order to grow their sales. Threats The discount retail merchandise business is subject to excess capacity and some of the Company’s competitors are much larger and have substantially greater resources than the Company. The competition for customers has intensified in recent years as larger competitors, such as Wal-Mart, have moved into the Company’s geographic markets. The Company remains vulnerable to the marketing power and high level of consumer recognition of these major national discount chains, and to the risk that these chains or others could venture into the â€Å"dollar store† industry in a significant way. The Company’s success depends to a significant extent upon the abilities of its senior management team and the performance of its employees. The loss of services of key members of the Company’s senior management team or of certain other key employees could negatively impact the Company’s business. In addition, future performance will depend upon the Company’s ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified employees to keep pace with its expansion schedule. The Company’s business is dependent on its ability to obtain attractive pricing and other terms from its suppliers. The Company believes that keeping good relations with its suppliers is generally a good way to obtain attractive pricing. If the Company fails to maintain good relations with its suppliers, it may not be able to obtain attractive pricing with the consequence that its net sales or profit margins would be reduced. 4. Problem identification Dollar General’s strategy is based on low prices and convenience. That is what differentiates this Company from another. They had the ability for delivering value to their customers and for placing many stores where other big-box retailers will not is well-deserved. The new CEO, David Perdue, which has no experience in retail industry, has to go on the expansion. But he has to face the problem of a harder competition. Indeed, the success of dollar stores attract big firm such as Wall-Mart and Kmart on this market. So where will he decide to open new stores? He will probably has to expand new stores in new states but he might not find a location without competitors.

Reducing Aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses in the Power Sector

____________________________________________________________________________ 1.1 Introduction Power Sector is considered to be really of import and precedence sector as it leads to overall development of state. The cost of installing of new bring forthing units is lifting ; hence generated electrical energy has to be utilized carefully and expeditiously. One unit of electrical energy saved is tantamount to two unit ‘s electric energy generated.Ministry of Power, Govt. of India, has launched the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme ( R-APDRP ) in the XI Five twelvemonth Plan. Power Finance Corporation Limited ( PFCL ) has been designated by GoIas the Nodal Agency for the programme.The programme spans from informations acquisition at distribution degree till monitoring of consequences of stairss taken to supply an IT anchor and strengthening of the Electricity Distribution system across the Country under the coder. The aim of the coder is decrease of AT & A ; C losingss to 15 % in undertaking countries. The plan is divided into two ( 2 ) parts Part-A and Part-B. Part-A will include undertakings for constitution of baseline informations and IT applications like Meter Data Acquisition, Meter Reading, Billing, Collections, GIS, MIS, Energy Audit, New Connection, Disconnection, Customer Care Services, Web self service, etc. to acquire verified baseline AT & A ; C losingss every bit good as SCADA/DMS Implementation. Part-B will include distribution beef uping undertakings. The aim of cut downing Aggregate Technical and Commercial ( AT & A ; C ) losingss in the undertaking country can be achieved by stop uping pilferage points, supply of quality power, faster designation of mistakes & A ; early Restoration of power, pro per metering, strategic arrangement of capacitance Bankss & A ; switches, proper planning and design of distribution web. The existent clip monitoring & A ; control of the distribution system through state-of-the art SCADA/DMS system embracing all distribution Sub-stations & A ; 11 KV web would assist in accomplishing this aim of R-APDRP. For deducing maximal benefits it is indispensable that necessary up-gradation of distribution S/S & A ; 11KV web shall be carried out to run into the SCADA/DMS demands. The augmentation /up-gradation of the distribution web for existent clip supervising & A ; control chiefly requires suited compatibility of circuit ledgeman & A ; switches, arrangement of RMUs and FPIs etc for effectual monitoring & A ; command.This augmentation/up step shall be considered under Part B of R-APDRP strategy. However, sing the growing & A ; related web up-gradation, the full fledged SCADA/DMS shall be capable to run into the present every bit good as future demands of the eligible towns for SCADA/DMS system under Part A of R-APDRP. The SCADA/DMS System will supply Real clip monitoring & A ; control, loss minimization/load reconciliation and considerable betterment in voltage/VAR profiles. It would besides ease proper handling of tonss while burden casting & A ; Restoration, efficient planning of web for future growing by utilizing proved power system planning tools. All package applications & A ; RTUs/FRTUs including system size demands for the same shall be considered in the SCADA/DMS system being procured under. Part – A of R-APDRP. As per present R-APDRP guidelines, SCADA/DMS system will include urban countries towns and metropoliss with population of more than 4, 00,000 & A ; 350MUs one-year input energy or based on any other standards as informed by Nodal Agency from clip to clip. The figure of such possible towns is presently 70 ( 70 ) about. In order to guarantee quality in execution procedure, SCADA/DMS Implementation Agencies ( SIA ) & A ; SCADA/DMS Consultants ( SDC ) have been empanelled by PFC/MOP. PFCL have prepared a theoretical account Request For Proposal ( RFP ) including this volume incorporating theoretical account proficient specification ( MTS ) for SCADA/DMS system. Utility/ State shall utilize this theoretical account proficient specification MTS /RFP to custom-make in line with public-service corporation demands. The customization shall non amount to any divergence, alteration of purpose w.r.t MTS/RFP. However, Utility /state shall inform about the deviations/ alterations made by them w.r.t the MTS/RFP with justification to PFCL/MOP & A ; obtain blessing before ask foring empanelled SIAs to offer. The size of the programme is to the melody of Rs. 500 billion. The programme consists of Part-A ( to the melody of around Rs. 10,000 crore ) covering Information Technology application every bit good as SCADA/DMS Implementation, in the electricity distribution system and Part B ( to the melody of around Rs. 40,000 crore ) covering the System strengthening, Improvement and augmentation of distribution system capacity. Both parts entail planning of steps to be taken under the programme, execution of such steps to be taken and monitoring/evaluation of results/impact of the programme as a whole and of itsvarious constituents across the Country. The focal point of the programme shall be on existent, incontrovertible public presentation in footings of loss decrease. Constitution of dependable and machine-controlled systems for existent clip monitoring & A ; control of urban power distribution web implying 33 kilovolt to 11kV web. Under R-APDRP plan, SCADA/DMS system will cover urban countr ies – towns and metropoliss with population of more than 4, 00,000 & A ; 350MUs one-year input energy as per the present R-APDRP Guidelines of GoI. Towns/areas for which undertakings have been sanctioned in X Plan APDRP shall be considered for the XI Plan merely after either completion or short closing of the earlier canonic undertakings. Undertakings under the strategy shall be taken up in Two Partss. Part-A shall include the undertakings for constitution of baseline informations and IT applications for energy accounting/auditing & A ; IT based consumer service centres and SCADA /DMS Implementation. Part-B shall include regular distribution beef uping undertakings. The activities to be covered under each portion are as follows: Part – A: Preparation of Base-line Data System for the undertaking country covering Consumer Indexing, GIS Mapping, Automatic Metering ( AMR ) on Distribution Transformers and Feeders, and Automatic Data Logging for all Distribution Transformers & A ; Feeders and SCADA / DMS system for large metropoliss merely. It would include Asset Mapping of the full distribution web at and below the 11kVtransformers and include the Distribution Transformers and Feeders, Low Tension lines, poles and other distribution web equipment. It will besides include acceptance of IT applications for metre reading, measure aggregation energy accounting & A ; scrutinizing ; MIS ; redressal of consumer grudges and constitution of IT enabled consumer service Centre etc. Part– B: Renovation, modernisation and strengthening of 11 kilovolts flat Substations, Transformers/Transformer Centre, Re-conductoring of lines at11kV degree and below, Load Bifurcation, Feeder segregation, Load Balancing, Aerial Bunched Conductoring in thickly populated countries, HVDS, installing of capacitance Bankss and nomadic service Centre etc. In exceeding instances, where sub-transmission system is weak, beef uping at 33 kilovolt or 66 kilovolt degrees may besides be considered. 1.2Existing System Utility shall include compose up about their existing geographical inside informations ( dad ( 2001 nose count ) , one-year energy in MUs, sqkm, administration apparatus, hierarchy, no. of substations, DT, RMU, electrical web etc of the undertaking country. Utility shall supply inside informations electrical system considered /committed under portion B of R-APDRP strategy for enabling SCADA/DMS execution. Utility shall besides name all bing substructure / bequest systems viz SCADA/DMS, RTU, FRTU, MFTs, IT system under R-APDRP viz. charge, client attention, GIS etc that are required to be integrated with this system. Utility shall supply inside informations of Existing Legacy systems SCADA/DMS, RTU/FRTU, IT system under R-APDRP for integrating including protocol execution profiles, interface inside informations etc. Utility shall give constellation diagram & A ; proficient write up of IT data Centre, client attention Centre DR Centre, bomber div, other offices under R-APDRP. Utility s hall supply inside informations electrical system considered committed under portion B of R-APDRP strategy for enabling SCADA/DMS execution. Utility shall advert inside informations of bing communicating, power supply, edifice substructure for SCADA/DMS system Utility shall guarantee the informations mentioned above is true & A ; harmonizing to approved DPR for the undertaking country. Fig-1 Architecture of SCADA Control centre 1.3 Generic system architecture The purpose of this specification is to set up ( I ) SCADA/DMS System along with RTUs/FRTUs ( I ) Associated Auxiliary Power Supply System ( three ) Communication System ( four ) integrating with IT system under R-APDRP or any bequest system. The functional inside informations are given in several chapters of the specification. 1.4 CASE STUDY SCADA has been developing a concern instance before the effort of Automation of the Distribution system are discussed here. An effort is made to demo how incremental and alterations in the system could convey in big betterments in footings of response clip of the Network Studies for Primary and Secondary distribution Network at 33/11 KV COMPLEX Sub-staion, near the Network Shakti bhavan Jabalpur, under the Poorv Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company ( MPPKVVCL ) and I was associated with this survey Following stairss are covered in the instance survey ;Monitoring the power system.Making accommodations and keeping the system so that it can be used faithfully, expeditiously, and safelyRepairing the system every bit rapidly as possible in response to incidents such as equipment mistakesTracking and keeping system dependability informations System planning and enlargement to function new clients.Decision summarises the result of this survey. Fig 2 Sub-Station Automation in SCADAEquipmentExisting After Part-B execution33/11 kv sub-station3733 kilovolts feeder4033/11KV Power Transformer5811 Kv feeder14511 kilovolt shunt Capacitor211 kilovolt Bus coupling16Tabel -1.1Sub-Station Automation in SCADA Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW __________________________________________________________________ 2.1 Review 1 Research paper on — Communication Protocols in Substation Automation and SCADA Art Review, -by Arash Shoarinejad, ( System Engineer GE Energy Network Reliability Products and Services-Canada. ) This paper presents an overview of T Protocols as a important portion of the system are explored in deepness. In add-on, normally used protocols and criterions are mentioned briefly IEC 61850 and UCA have assuring advantages over other protocols and will greatly alter SCADA systems today The protocols determine the effectivity of a SCADA system. Therefore, many protocols have been produced over the old ages to suit this demand. IEC 61850 with its self-description and security sweetenings has the most promising mentality in the protocol hereafter. It is a work-in-progress which should finally rule the electrical industry. 2.2 Review 2 Compartmentalization of Protocols in SCADA Communication: by- Dong-joo Kang and Rosslin John.Hongik University, Korea Department of Multimedia Engineering, Hannam University Ojeong-dong, Daeduk-gu, Daejeon, KoreaInternational Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Volume 8, July, 2009 mentioned In communicating, protocols are needed to be implemented to avoid some jobs. In the current province of SCADA communicating, two protocols are widely used, the T101 or IEC 60870-5-101 ( IEC101 ) and the DNP3 ( Distributed Network Protocol ) . In this paper, we present each protocol and discourse the specifications of T101 and DNP3. This can assist SCADA operators to choose which protocol is suited for the operations of their SCADA systems. IEC 60870-5-101/104 and DNP3 have fundamentally the same functionality, As discussed, DNP3 is popular in America. Since DNP3 and T101 are unfastened Standards, SCADA operators should supervise the development, and do parts when appropriate, to T101 and D NP3. They should besides prosecute the developers to include security characteristics on the protocols. SCADA communicating. In the hereafter we are be aftering to analyze and include other SCADA protocols. 2.3 Review 3 Review of Remote Terminal Unit ( RTU ) and Gateways for Digital Oilfield delpoyments ( By:Ayobami Ogunrinde SPDC Nigeria) Writer has described Francis Enejo Idachaba Department of Electrical and Information Engineering Covenant University Ota. Ogun province Nigeria ( SPDC Nigeria( IJACSA ) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, Vol. 3, No. 8, 2012The increasing diminution in easy oil has led to an increasing demand for the optimisation of oil and gas procedures. Digital oilfields utilize distant operations to accomplish these optimisation ends and the distant telemetry unit and gateways are really critical in the realisation of this aim. This paper presents a reappraisal of the RTUs and gateways utilized in digital oilfield architectures. It presents a reappraisal of the architecture, their functionality and choice standards. It besides provides a comparing of the specifications of some popular RTUs. 2.4 Review 4 Project Management Phases of a SCADA System for Automation of Electrical Distribution Networks ( By- Mohamed Najeh Lakhoua and Mohamed Kamel Jbira ) Laboratory of Analysis and Command of Systems ( LACS ) , National Engineering School of BP 37, Le Belvedere 1002, Tunisia ( IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 2, No 2, March 2012 ) Writer has described SCADA ( Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition ) systems, to show the undertaking direction stages of SCADA for existent clip execution. Most control actions are performed automatically by RTUs. Host control maps are normally restricted to basic overruling or supervisory degree intercession A proposed computing machine based power distribution mechanization system is so discussed. Finally, some undertakings SCADA system execution in electrical companies over the universe is briefly presentedusing computing machine based system for sustainable development in the mechanization of the power distribution we b to better the customers’ service and the dependability of the web. 2.5 Review 5 Design and Implementation of SCADA System Based Power Distribution for Primary Substation ( Control System ) ( By- Khin Thu Zar Win 1, Hla Myo TunDepartment of Electronic Engineering, Mandalay Technological University Mandalay, MyanmarInternational Journal of Electronics and Computer Science EngineeringThey are automated control system, interfacing units, monitoring system and networking system. The automated control system is emphasised in this research. This system can be accomplished by utilizing PLC ladder diagram. This automated distribution system is analyzed to develop a secure, reliabe and convenient direction tool which can utilize distant terminal units ( RTUs ) . This system is efficient and dependable for conventional electrical distribution system in Myanmar by utilizing SCADA based engineering. proposed a theoretical account that illuminates the classs of informations, functionality, and inter dependences present in a SCADA system. The theoretical account serves as a foundation for farther research on how to outdo apply proficient security controls to SCADA systems in a manner that is consistent with the operation and mission of that system. SCADA system is one of the most of import bequest systems of the smart grid systems. PLC based control system to implement the SCADA system for Power Distribution system has been developed. 3.6:: Review-6 Working stages of SCADA system for power distribustion webs By-Shalini, Sunil Kumar J, Birtukan Teshome, Samrawit Bitewlgn Muluneh, Bitseat Tadesse Aragaw Assistant professor, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Adi para sakthi College of Engineering, Tamilnadu, India International Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation EngineeringVol. 2, Issue 5, May 2013Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition ) systems, to show the undertaking direction stages of SCADA for existent clip execution, and so to demo the demand of the mechanization for Power Distribution Companies ( PDC ) on their distribution webs and the importance of utilizing computing machine based system towards sustainable development of their services. Most control actions are performed automatically by RTUs. Host control maps are normally restricted to basic coveriding or supervisory degree intercession A proposed computing machine based power distribution mechanization system is so discussed we proved the importance on utilizing computing machine based system for sustainable development in the mechanization of the power distribution web to better the clients ‘ service and the dependability of the web. Besides the paper outlines the general constructs and needed equipments for the mechanization of such power webs. Some undertakings of SCADA system execution in electrical companies over the universe have been presented.

Sentencing For Murder

Sentencing For Murder Introduction Research entails systematic investigation with an aim of establishing facts or collecting specific information. Researchers use varied research methods based on the nature of the research, availability of resources, and time. Research objectives act as the guideline throughout the research. The method of data or information collection used determines the credibility of the study.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Sentencing For Murder specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For any research to succeed, researchers ought to adhere to research ethics. In a bid to identify the contribution of public opinion in sentencing people found guilty of murder, Mitchell and Roberts carried out a research in England and Wales. This paper aims at critically analysing this research based on its objectives, research methods, and conclusions to determine its credibility. Research Objectives For decades, there has been a suppositio n that people would not accept any other form of sentencing passed against a person charged for murder apart from life imprisonment in England and Wales. Failure to pass this judgment would lead to the public having no trust in their judicial system. This supposition prompted Mitchell and Roberts to carryout a research in a bid to determine the public’s opinion towards the different alternative sentencing that might be passed against people found guilty of murder. During the research, the two aimed at understanding the level of public knowledge with respect to statistics associated to murder like average period the culprit spends in prison and murder trends. In addition, they intended to assess the level of public support for life imprisonment. Furthermore, the two aimed at analysing the link between understanding of the crime and retribution of murder and mind-sets to sentencing criminals indicted of murder. Research methods In a bid to come up with comprehensive conclusions , the pollsters used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. They conducted a survey on the public to determine its opinion towards life imprisonment and identified some focus groups that responded to a number of questions. The quantitative research involved 1,027 participants who went through face-to-face interviews. The interviews took place in the participants’ homes. On the other hand, the qualitative research involved discussions undertaken by the different focus groups. Each group was given a case scenario involving a murder incidence and it was asked to discuss what it felt would be the most appropriate sentence to pass against the perpetrator.Advertising Looking for essay on criminal law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Criticism In spite of the two research methods helping the pollsters in obtaining the public opinion towards life imprisonment, the methods had some flaws. For instance, the issue of life imprisonment is a weighty matter that would require much time to discuss. Nevertheless, the quantitative research required that the respondents take 30 minutes only to respond to a number of questions. This aspect did not give them time to prepare well and think about a question before responding. The face-to-face interviews are prone to biasness. During the interview, the interviewer gives advice to the interviewee thus not giving the interviewee the freedom to make his or her judgments. In this form of research, the interviewer might have had a significant impact on the response given by the participants as he or she tried to advise the interviewee. Due to time constraint and high number of participants involved in the research, the research was vulnerable to counselling where the pollsters made summaries of the responses the participants gave without giving them time to explain themselves. For instance, the pollsters made numerous assumptions during the study. Afte r finding that 50 per cent of the respondents had similar opinions, the pollsters concluded that the fraction of the general population that shared similar opinions fall between 46.9 and 53.1 per cent. This assumption might influence the outcome either positively or negatively affecting the credibility of the findings. Studies have proved that brainstorming does not facilitate in generation of more ideas. In this context, the researcher intended to collect personal opinion about life imprisonment. Hence, every person was required to give his line of thought regarding the issue. Involving the participants in a discussion would greatly influence their opinions. Some of the participants would influence others thus tending to fall on the side that has massive support and not giving their opinion. In other words, inclusion of discussion in the research would lead to some of the participants thus not sharing their ideas in fear that they might differ with others. Conclusions made from the study From the study, the pollsters came up with numerous conclusions. Firstly, they intended to identify if the rates of homicides and murders in both England and Wales were going down or increasing. From the findings, they concluded that the rate had substantially gone down. In addition, the researchers compared the murder rate in the two countries with other countries.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Sentencing For Murder specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They concluded that the there were no disparities between the murder rate in England and Wales relative to other countries. The researchers realised that the public had limited knowledge about punishment of murder perpetrators. Hence, they tend to have the opinion that courts are in most cases lenient to such offenders. From the response, the researchers concluded that lack of knowledge in murder sentencing leads to the public believing that the offenders spend limited time in prison. The pollsters also concluded that in spite of people calling for life imprisonment when presented with a general case of murder, most of them would prefer natural life sentence when presented with actual cases. The researchers concluded that individuals that found the courts to be lenient were highly punitive. They associated the misperception about murder inclinations with stern recommended sentencing. In general the pollsters concluded that the courts ought not to use public opinion in coming up with their sentences in case of murder. In spite of the proponents of life imprisonment claiming that the sentence is right based on the public support, the pollsters found out that the public is never opposed to other forms of sentencing. Hence, public opinion ought not to be the excuse why judges cling to life imprisonment when it comes to cases involving murder. All the conclusions made tend not to be in line with the opinions given by the respondents. Most of th e participants had no information regarding murder sentencing in England and Wales as well as in other countries. Besides, they had the perception that murder is a serious crime and did not take time to consider the circumstances that might have led to one committing the crime. With this knowledge, it would have been wrong to go with the opinion given by the public without having clear information of the situation on the ground. The conclusions made by the pollsters are justified. In spite of conducting a research and gathering public opinion about life imprisonment, the pollsters went a step further to understand the actual situation in the country as well as the public knowledge about murder.Advertising Looking for essay on criminal law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Using this information together with the available statistics on murder cases, the researchers came up with accurate conclusions, therefore avoiding chances of being biased or buying all the opinions shared by the public. ‘Political’ nature of social research Scholars view social research as political in two perspectives. One of the perspectives entails social research as power. Politics is attributed to power. Hence, a situation where social research entails finding the truth, it may be said to be political. There are arguments that superior interests in the society in most cases influence social research thus making it political. Many people that claim that research may be apolitical claim that all forms of power in the contemporary society are domineering. Hence, they assess research based on its autonomy from the external power or based on the power exhibited by the researchers or the research institutions. There is a claim that research institutions are never auton omous thus making the research political. Researchers do not make independent decisions in the areas to cover in their studies as well as the participants to include in the study. They have to engage in an intense negotiation with various stakeholders. Hence, their activities suffer from external influence thus rendering the research political. The other perspective that makes social research appears political focuses on how value judgments are deduced from a research process. In this case, the political nature of research is distinguished with avers regarding its value freedom or value neutrality. This perspective presents numerous dimensions through which research may be considered political. One of the dimensions is that for any research to be possible, it has to meet various economic, social, and political conditions. Moreover, research may require some resources from the nation. Hence, to extend these resources to a research, it would call for a value choice. The value judgment is in most cases politically influenced leading to the research becoming political. Today, social research is based on intellectual presuppositions. In the past, the social research findings came from conclusions made from indisputable evidence through inescapable logic. Nevertheless, most of the current research findings are based on assumptions, which are in most cases politically motivated. In most cases, the researchers’ claim to knowledge dwells on presuppositions that have not been verified fully. Most of the research findings are not universal thus making the research political. In other words, most of the research findings are contestable, therefore, posing doubt. Mitchell and Roberts’ research is political on the dimension of power exercise. The researchers were not autonomous in their research. To carryout the research, they involved numerous participants whom they had to negotiate with before administering their interviews. They had to comply with various d emands from the participants like time constraints and this element affected their independence in conducting the interviews. Besides, they had to ensure that they include questions that do not infringe into the participant’s freedom and privacy even though such questions would facilitate in understanding the subject matter better. Besides, the influence from the participants, the pollsters also made their conclusions based on the information they gathered from the available statistics, which shows that there was a significant influence from the available information. It implies that the already published information about life imprisonment had significant authority over this research. The existing data influenced some of the research’s deductions. Importance of research ethics There are numerous benefits of conducting a research ethically. One of the aims of research ethics is that it helps in ensuring the security of the participants. At times, a research may involve sensitive information that might lead to the participants facing discrimination from their leaders. In such a case, research ethics would help in protecting such participants. No one would agree to participate in a sensitive research if he or she learns that the research has not put measures to protect their privacy. Besides, the researcher may pretend to protect the participants but later reveal them. Research ethics facilitates in ensuring that researchers honour their part of bargain thus ensuring that the senior employees do not use the information given by the participants against them. The success of any research depends of the level of ethics exercised by the researcher. Failure to observe ethics during the research may lead to one facing embarrassment or being expelled by the research community. In addition, the participants may opt to offer wrong information due to frustrations from the researcher. In such a case, the pollster may end up coming up with wrong information th us misleading the persons intended to use the research’s findings. The credibility of any research depends on the degree of ethics exercised by the researcher. Ethics acts as the first step of establishing a rapport between the researcher and the research participants. If the research participants learn that the researcher is ethical, they tend to trust in him or her thus being ready to share with him or her all the information they have. On the other hand, the participants may refrain from sharing crucial information with the researcher on realising that the researcher is unethical. Research ethics is one of the fundamental requirements in most of the professionals. Failure to observe ethics during a research may lead to the person facing disciplinary actions or being expelled from the research community. Observing research ethics helps the researchers in boosting the credibility of their findings. Consequently, their research is allowed for publication. Most of the research es take time and many resources. Hence, failure to observe research ethics may lead to the research community failing to publish the research. Such a move would lead to the researcher wasting a lot of resources and time. Besides averting the disciplinary action, research ethics facilitates in acquiring financial support for the study from different sponsors. No one would agree to fund a research that is conducted unethically. Hence, to obtain fund, researchers ought to show a high degree of ethics in their undertakings. Ethical issues Numerous ethical issues could emerge from this study. Among the issue include, harm on the participants, ethical ramifications, Privacy concerns, and deception. The research involved direct contact with the participants. Moreover, it entailed a weighty matter that required to be handled with care. Failure to handle the research ethically would lead to the participants suffering psychologically. The study involved collecting information regarding life i mprisonment. Some of the information collected attempted to determine the fairness of the sentencing based on the circumstances under which the perpetrator conducted the crime. If the study were not carried out ethically, both the perpetrators and individuals affected by the crime in one way or the other would end up suffering psychologically. For instance, the study might conclude that a certain circumstance did not require an individual to face life imprisonment. In such an instance, the perpetrator would end up suffering psychologically. On the other hand, if people whose relative was the victim of the crime learnt that the court was lenient in sentencing the perpetrator, they might suffer psychologically or even end up taking the law into their hands. Another privacy issue that might arise from the study regards the privacy of the participants. The issue of life imprisonment is serious and may trigger some anger among the people that have ever been affected by the crime in one w ay or another. In responding to the interview questions, some respondents might end up expressing their frustration by using words that might be of contempt to the court or to other parties. In such a case, the participant might end up facing charges by the mere fact of participating in a research. It is imperative that all the information relied by the participants is made private and accessed only by the relevant people. In a bid to avoid chances of the participants suffering psychologically, it would be imperative to the researchers to avoid coming up with conclusions that might lead to the parties feeling to be short-changed by the court’s judgment. On the other hand, the researchers ought to ensure that every participant is secured against any form of discrimination, which could be achieved by not including the name of the respondent and making sure that only authorised personnel have access to the information given by the participants. Conclusion The objective of Mitche ll and Roberts’ research was to determine the role the public opinion plays in influencing the judgment passed against people found guilty of murder. They intended to do away with the belief that people prefer life imprisonment to other forms of charges against perpetrators of murder. From the research, the two found that most of those that preferred life imprisonment had limited knowledge about the judicial system and did not consider the circumstances that led to one committing the crime. Mitchell and Roberts concluded that there was a need to educate the public about the judicial system. Moreover, they claimed that law enforcers ought to have a clear understanding of the public opinion and not act out of assumptions. Practitioners’ Views on Children’s Welfare in Relocation Disputes Introduction Different countries use different approaches to deal with relocation disputes. While some countries support relocation, others are strongly against it. George carried out a study to compare the relocation laws in England and New Zealand. From his study, he learnt that while England allowed for relocation, New Zealand made it hard for individuals to acquire relocation rights. This article intends to evaluate the research conducted by George. This paper will explain the purpose of conducting a comparative study. It will then describe why George opted to conduct a comparative study in his research. In addition, the paper will explain the difference between ‘presumption of similarity’ and ‘presumption of difference’ and suggest the position of the author. In the end, the paper will evaluate the choice of jurisdictions made by the author and explain the extent on descriptive legal scholarship that the paper embodies. Purpose of comparative legal research Initially, there were two purposes of conducting a comparative legal research. One of the purposes was to use foreign laws in establishing local laws. The other purpose was t o make a comparison between different laws to have a better understanding of the law for the purpose of theoretical or academic comparative jurisprudence. At the beginning of the 21st century, another purpose of conducting a comparative legal research was established. The desire to apply the laws in personal circumstances necessitated the current purpose of conducting comparative legal research. This desire is termed as judicative comparative law. The judicative comparative law is applied mostly in European countries when a judge intends to make a judgment on violations committed in a foreign nation using the laws of the country where the hearings is taking place. At times, an individual may commit a crime in one country and move to another in a bid to avoid an arrest. In such an instance, if the person is identified as a criminal in the foreign country, the law enforcers from the foreign country may arrest and charge the individual. The objective of conducting a comparative legal s tudy would facilitates in establishing the right sentence to pass against such a criminal based on the laws of the country where the crime was committed. Comparative legal research may facilitate in determining the punishment to pass against a criminal. For instance, different countries have different charges against incest. Having knowledge in foreign laws would ensure that an individual who committed incest in a foreign land gets the right sentence based on the law requirements of the land. Law develops through borrowing different ideas from different countries or institutions. The purpose of conducting a comparative legal research is to facilitate in strengthening the laws of a particular nation. A decade ago, Germany did not have a mechanism to deal with liberal crime. She had to borrow the mechanisms from France and Britain. Over the years, Germany has conducted intense comparative legal research and borrowed numerous laws from other countries therefore reinforcing its local la ws. Besides reinforcing the local laws, comparative legal research may facilitate in coming up with a common model code. Countries from the same region may opt to establish common laws to govern the region. In a bid to achieve this goal, they would require conducting a comparative legal research of their different laws and harmonise them to come up with a common law. Different countries have different laws that deal with relocation disputes. While some of the laws support relocation, some are against it while others are neutral. The main reason why George conducted this comparative legal research was to understand the distinction between the existing laws that address relocation disputes in England and New Zealand. While laws in England support relocation, the laws in New Zealand are against it. Hence, to clearly compare the laws in the two countries and understand their distinction, George opted to use law practitioners from the two countries. The research significantly helped Geor ge to understand the legal systems of the two countries. Comparing the relocation laws in the two countries helped him understand the existing legal procedures that facilitate in solving the relocation disputes. Presumption of similarity In most cases, courts face the challenges of dealing with litigations emanating from crimes that took place in foreign lands. At such an instance, courts are required to determine the jurisprudence of the country where the crime took place and not consider the common laws of the countries involved. Considering the jurisprudence of the country where the crime was committed facilitates in ensuring that both the perpetrator and the victim receive fair judgment. When passing judgment against a case committed in a foreign country, judges might make two presumptions. These presumptions are the presumption of similarity and the presumption of differences. The presumption of similarity occurs where the judge makes a judgment against a crime committed in a f oreign land based on local laws. In such an instance, the attorney assumes that the involved countries use similar laws. Hence, by using the local laws, the perpetrator would receive a punishment similar to the one the country where the crime was committed could have awarded. Certain countries are governed by a system of law established from civil laws. Such countries share common laws in almost everything. Hence, if a crime is committed in one country and heard in a different country, the attorney may use the presumption of similarity to make his or her judgment. Presumption of difference At the centre of all conflict theories lies the conviction that the sole purpose of law is to ensure that all parties involved in a conflict get a fair hearing and judgment, particularly in cases involving parties from foreign countries. This aspect does not imply that judges have to use foreign laws in making their judgment but they require putting into consideration the provisions given by such laws to come up with appropriate judgments. With this knowledge in mind, it becomes hard to establish the role of foreign laws in addressing disputes that involve foreign elements. In countries sharing universal laws, the judges can make their judgment based on the local laws. However, a problem arises where countries involved in a crime do not share common laws. In such a case, the attorney has to use the presumption of difference when making his or her judgment. The presumption of difference occurs where an attorney feels that the parties involved in the dispute do not share common laws. Therefore, the attorney has to refer to the laws of the individual countries involved in the crime before making his or her judgment. By comparing the different laws, then the attorney can come up with the most appropriate judgment for the crime. In this methodological debate, the author might stand for presumption of difference. In his debate, the author selects two countries that have very diffe rent laws and jurisdictions. In this context, he manages to show the different laws might lead to conflicts when it comes to making judgments on matters regarding relocation dispute. The presented cases show a significant difference between the relocation laws in England and New Zealand. While most of the participants from England perceived relocation in a positive manner while making their judgment, most of the people in New Zealand perceived it in a negative dimension thus creating the difference in the opinions the different participants gave. George believes that implementation of international laws in addressing relocation disputes would create challenges. He claims that not unless countries agree on the common parameters to use when making the judgments, it would be very hard to come up with judgments that all the involved parties freely accept. This assertion signifies that he might stand for the presumption of difference when it comes to making judgments on matters pertainin g relocation disputes. Evaluation of author’s choice of jurisdictions George makes a good choice of jurisdictions for comparison. His selection of England and New Zealand facilitates in bringing out all the challenges encountered when making judgments against relocation disputes involving foreign elements. Even though attorneys in both England and New Zealand use children’s welfare in making their judgments against relocation problems, there are significant differences in the practitioners’ perception of the matter in the two countries. Most of the European countries share common perceptions. Hence, the researcher would not have managed to show the disparities in solving relocation disputes had he used countries like England and France. By using England and New Zealand, George was able to show how child welfare might pose a major challenge when making judgments on relocation matters. Many people were advocating for the use of child welfare in solving relocation disputes. Nevertheless, they did consider that different attorneys might have different perceptions about the welfare; therefore, posing challenges to solving relocation disputes involving international elements. While England had different laws governing relocation based on the nature of the relocation, New Zealand only have one law, which makes the choice of the two countries most appropriate. In comparing the two countries, George is able to show how lack of flexible laws governing relocation might lead to challenges in addressing the relocation disputes. For instance, England has flexible laws thus making it possible for attorneys in the country to resolve relocation disputes amicably. By offering laws for different forms of relocation, the country makes it possible for the courts to solve the disputes easily. On the other hand, New Zealand has a single system of law that governs relocation issues. Hence, the country treats both local and international relocation equally. Conseq uently, while England focuses on the well-being of the applicant in solving the dispute, New Zealand focuses on enduring and steady family relationships, which make the two legal systems very different thus, the most appropriate to use in studying this issue. Both England and New Zealand are very different geographically. For England, international relocation would mean moving for a few miles to Ireland. On the other hand, in New Zealand, international relocation would mean moving for thousands of miles. The selection of the two countries facilitates in bringing out the inconsistency in judgment that might arise from different countries. The two countries prove that it would be very hard for the different countries to arrive at a mutual interpretation of the needs of the welfare principle on matters to do with relocation. Already countries had started drafting an international document like Washington Declaration to facilitate in solving relocation challenges. However, by comparing England and New Zealand, George has managed to bring out the issue of international coherency on matters to do with welfare. The issue was not considered in the previous declaration and it could have led to challenges later. Prescriptive and descriptive legal scholarship To some extent, this paper embodies descriptive legal scholarship. In a bid to bring out the legal system in both England and New Zealand, George took time to describe the judicial system observed by the two countries. He takes time to describe the different relocation laws used in England as well as the various considerations made by attorneys when passing judgments on matters to do with relocation disputes. Moreover, the help the learners understand how relocations issues are treated in England, George goes further to describe the different forms of relocation practiced in the country. By describing the different approaches used in resolving relocation despites in England, he helps the readers understand the Engla nd’s judicial system and its strengths and weakness in dealing with relocation disputes. George goes further to describe the New Zealand’s judicial system showing the approach used in addressing relocation disputes in the country. He further gives a comparison between the two countries and describes both their similarities and differences. In spite of the article embodying a descriptive legal scholarship, the paper also embodies a prescriptive legal scholarship. The objective of the article was to show how the different judicial systems pose a challenge to the implementation of a universal code that deals with relocation challenges. He uses varied case scenarios to show how the different judicial systems interpret the same incident differently. In concluding, George gives some guidelines on what ought to be done to ensure that countries come up with a common law that deals with disputes that involve international relocation. George warns that for countries to continue drafting international laws that focus on welfare principle, the stakeholders need to take time and determine if there is actually coherency between the states or the different countries still observe their individual standards. George adopts a good approach to compile his article. He starts by bringing out the nature of the current challenge in addressing relocation disputes. He effectively present the jurisdictions of both England and New Zealand therefore helping the reader understand how each system contribute to the existing challenge. His use of two countries that are very different with respect to how they perceive relocation challenges makes it possible for George to show the intense of the existing challenge. The approach helps in making the reader understand the challenges facing the ongoing process of drafting international laws aimed at addressing global relocation disputes. This aspect allows one to see the rationale of his argument that for countries to come up with an international law that addresses international relocation disputes, they have to ensure that there is coherency in welfare principles. Conclusion The main reason for conducting a comparative legal research is to help the law making agents in a country to use foreign laws in establishing laws for their country. Besides, people conduct comparative legal research to have a clear understanding of the laws in different countries. George conducted a comparative legal research to help him understand the differences in the laws that govern relocation issues in England and New Zealand. In his methodological debate, George supported the ‘presumption of difference’. He believed that it is hard for countries to come up with an international law that addresses relocation disputes. Hence, it would be imperative for attorneys to consider the individual laws of the countries involved in a relocation dispute before making their judgment. Gorge made a good choice of his jurisdictions of comparison. The two countries have very different perceptions towards relocation issues. By using countries that differ completely in relocation laws, he managed to bring out the underlying challenges in the attempt to establish international laws for addressing relocation issues. He presented his article in a manner that it embodied both prescriptive and descriptive legal scholarship. George began by describing the relocation policies used by the two countries. He even brought out the differences in the policies. He then terminated the paper by prescribing the measures that need to be taken to ensure that countries do not come up with international laws that will later pose challenges to relocation matters.