Organizational Communications Analysis Women’s Resource Center at Norman, Oklahoma

The Women’s Resource Center was originally started in 1973 and 1974 during the winter. It was originally started by a graduate student who wanted to assist women who were in transition points in the life. This organization could not function without effective communication and to analyze the communication strategies of the organization can provide helpful information that could further improve them. This included those women who were looking for employment as well as women who wanted to return to school. Since its opening the center has developed many programs and services (â€Å"History.. † 1). There are many programs available at the Women’s Resource Center and these include WRC Victims of Domestic Violence Shelter (providing safe temporary housing to victims of domestic violence and their children); Rape Response Team (trained volunteers who are available to meet with rape victims at the ER); counseling (specialized for victims of sexual assault or domestic abuse); WRC Education Program (offers staff that speak in a variety of places for about topics having to deal with domestic violence, date rape, healthy relationships and other topics); Children’s Program (groups that focus on letting children express their emotions and feelings); Court Advocacy (court advocates to help women through the legal system); and WRC Cells (a program to offer victims cell phones at no cost in case of an emergency) (â€Å"Programs.. † 1-2). There are also some training workshops. The main one is SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) Volunteer Training, a specialized trainin g for nurses to learn how to do forensic rape test kits (â€Å"Training†¦Ã¢â‚¬  1). Effective communication is one of those things that are important to how well an organization is run. The Women’s Resource Center in Norman, Oklahoma has a lot of strengths in their communications. They do a good job of training both their staff and their volunteers. They work with their staff on issues about communications and knowing when to talk and when to be able to allow others to talk as they are dealing with people in very difficult situations. They learn how to effectively communicate for the situations that they are in where there is a high risk to the women that they are talking to. This means that there is a lot of training put into the idea of communications for this organization. Their main strength in communication is the overall ability to communicate effectively with those who are in a tough situation. The reason that this works so well is that there is a great deal of things in the communication process (Lee 2). Knowing the communication process can greatly help how communications are for people. According to Lass well’s model of communication there needs to be an effect for the communication to take place. What this is saying is that what is being communicated needs to have a point and a direction. In this communication process the organization is trying to point out that women deserve respect and self assurance (Lee 3). The idea of effective communication for change is something that this organization does well. The organization has made a lot of changes in the past both the long term past and the recent past. These changes are effectively communicated if three major components are available in the strategy. This study by Larkin and Larkin stated: â€Å"Communicate only facts; stop communicating values. Communicate face to face; do not rely on videos, publications or large scale meetings. And target front line supervisors; do not let executives introduce the change to frontline employees. † This is an example of the effective things that Women’s Resource Center communicates as they use a strategy that shows that each level learns new things (Cheney 330). Some of the negative things that are done at the Women’s Resource Center with communications are that the trainings are not available to the public for information. They do offer some training seminars but in the end the trainings are not available as a program on the intense level. The communication process is not as well done in advertisement or getting the word out about the programs that are available. Another area that shows weakness in communication is the organization. There is not a strong organization in this company and there are many different people volunteering and/or working for the agency. Some of the areas that could use improvement include the areas of communication about the organization and throughout the organizations volunteers and employees. This meaning that they all could use better communication to communicate between one another. The idea as stated in the same study as above is that there is sometimes little credibility to the values could be one of the communication problems in this area as it would be a problem in communicating and that the upper management and board of directors have not had a very clear vision with the Women’s Resource Center as many things have changed about their main values and ideas since the creation of the center which could cause some confusion (Cheney 330-333). A second area that has caused some problems with communications in the organization has been a lack of employed resources. This means that there are a lot of volunteers who might not have the same standards to communicating needs as regular full time or even part time employees would have. In order to effectively improve these areas there would have to be a system set up which would give both volunteers and employees a chance to express their feelings and ideas without the fear of being persecuted and with the idea that anyone who is involved has an opinion that matters. The idea that communication is a big part of leadership and how well leadership runs is based on the leader’s ability to communicate effectively. In this case this would be an area for needed improvement (Cheney 205-206). There are many areas where improvements could be made in the communication processes with the Women’s Resource Center. Some of these areas are that the management could be give better support to all of the volunteers and employees alike. Another thing that could happen is that those who are involved would be able to voice their opinions and give a case for care. They would be able to effectively communicate their needs in a process that would be pre-developed by management as it would be something that they could use on a regular basis. This means that they would be able to better manage their communications needs by effectively learning how to resolve issues and discuss issues with proper communications. The theory of Schramm on communication and the idea that overlapping boundaries and experiences make for easier communications is key in the field and services that the Women’s Resource Center is providing. It is in this process that these workers and volunteers would be able to communicate better with the clientele based on whether or not they had shared the same or similar experiences in their past (Lee 3-4). The strengths and weaknesses for this organization were apparent when reading over the press releases and other information available about the organization. Also the writer observed the communication aspects while working for the organization prior to returning to graduate school. This was observed through being a part of the organization’s training and programs. It was also observed through understanding information about the programs and how they are communicated to the public. Being able to effectively communicate is very important in the field of social work and for social service agencies. The one area where communication is well done is between the staff and the victims that come in for services as the training programs in this area are very good. Therefore their main strength is being able to communicate well to women in tough situations. The Women’s Resource Center is an organization that needs to have superior communication skills in order to deal with the problems that are being affected on a regular basis through their organization as they readily do not know what is going on and sometimes are in need of being able to communicate in a more effective manner. One of the main problems has been a lack of communications through the numerous volunteers and employees and in the end it has been a cause for some communication gaps. The main thing that can be done to improve the status of these things is for there to be a better communications system in place in general for the organization. This means that the organization would have better communication between the management and the employees and volunteers. Some of these communication gaps are what are causing the down fall for this organization and are some of the leading causes of the overall conflict that is experienced within the organization. There are always going to be â€Å"inherent challenges† when discussing communication and workplace environments (Messersmith 1). In the end communication is very important in all areas of life and when there is effective communications in some areas it lends hope to the idea that there could be effective communications in all areas of an organization. While analyzing communications for the Women’s Resource Center it is no wonder that there are many different types of communication used and it is no wonder that there are some needs for improvement. Most of the need for improvement falls on the overall board of directors and their ability to create a clear plan for what they want and what is going on within the organization. Without this they are not able to give back to the organization what is needed in order to be effective in their management and other skills. So what is needed is for the organization to work on their being able to communicate better within the organization through a set system in place for communications. This would mean that no matter when the individual was seen and whom she was seen by the whole organization would be able to help her in the future. Preparing basic short case studies and sharing them during a team meeting would be one way that this could be possible. Part of this is also being open about the organization’s needs. â€Å"Employees need to be aware of the challenges the company is facing so that they can do their part to help. † A second thing that needs to be done better is the communications that are given between the organization and the community, meaning that the community would be better informed in the future (Basili 2).

The effect of Vitamin D supplementation on breast cancer risk

Abstract The impact of vitamin D supplementation on breast cancer prevention and diminishment has become a matter of sustained debate. This study proposes to utilize a combination Post-Positivism approach to assess the practice. With emerging studies both upholding and decrying the efficacy of Vitamin D in relation to breast cancer, there is a need pursue this study in order to clarify the potential. Introduction Breast Cancer and vitamin D supplementation have become a substantial topic of debate as a drive to find a solution continues. This study fills a gap in existing research by assessing what impact the addition of Vitamin D has on the prevention and diminishment of Breast Cancer.1.1 BackgroundThe efficacy of Vitamin D supplementation in order to prevent or diminish Breast Cancer has become a matter of sustained debate. The Mohr, Gorham and Alcaraz (2012) study argues that there is a direct benefit to the reduction of breast cancer by adding Vitamin D both before and after a cancer diagnosis. Others cite the impact of Vitamin D on Breast Cancer as only negligible (Prentice, Prettinger and Jackson 2013). Still others cite the early stage of research as an obstacle to fully embracing the value of Vitamin D (Yin, Grandi and Raum 2010). Yet, further studies link Vitamin D and the method of ingestion as a pivotal issue (Prentice et al 2013). The goal of this study would be to further det ermine the role of Vitamin D in relation to breast cancer in women.1.2 Aims and ObjectivesIn this section, the research aims, objectives, and research questions will be outlined. Firstly, the aim of this research is as follows: The following research objectives have been determined: What is the effect of vitamin D supplementation on breast cancer risk What is the vitamin D status, determined by 25-OH vitamin D levels, among women diagnosed with breast cancer 1.3 Research QuestionsThe research question is: What are the known associations with Vitamin D supplementation and breast cancer What are the key factors that have been impacted by Vitamin D supplementation of cancer Do the means of Vitamin D ingestion have an impact on effectiveness What is the potential emerging research teaching 2 Literature Review 2.1 Factors that contribute to Breast CancerDeficiencies in all forms have long been credited with the increasing the probability for cancer of all varieties (Pearce and Cheetham 2010). Factors including the lack of Vitamin D have been linked to breast cancer diagnosis in women (Chung, Lee and Terasawa 2011). With lifestyle choices and long-term habits playing a pivotal role in a cancer diagnosis, the impact of a single element is debateable (Brasky, Lampe and Potter 2010). Diseases including Rickets and osteomalacia are directly tied to vitamin D deficiency, making a breast cancer link plausible (Pearce et al 2010). The presence of or lack of vitamins are argued to impact a breast cancer diagnosis.2.2 Vitamin D and Breast Cancer supplementation in WomenA wide array of professionals ranging across clinical applications, autoimmunity, cardiology and cancer fields agree that the Vitamin D supplementation is a benefit to the effort to increase breast prevention efforts (Souberbielle, Jeanjacques Body and Lappe 2010). Yet, Prentice et al (2013), while maintaining the moderate value of the supplementation practice, argue that the reduction in breast cancer occurrence due to this factor is only suggestive, not conclusive.2.3 Vitamin D and Breast Cancer Prevention OptionWolff and Guiliano (2011) have found that Vitamin D as a supplement is superior to a dietary intake of vitamin D. This study charts a correlation between the incidents of breast cancer prevention and the dietary method of vitamin intake. It is insufficient to rely on any single indicator in as a prevention mechanism (Thacher and Clarke 2011). Further, the benefits of vitamin D are only at the obse rvational stage and cannot be fully accredited (Ibid).2.4TrendsThe combination of Calcium/Vitamin D is providing an avenue for research towards a diminished rate of breast cancer (Bolland, Grey, Gamble and Reid 2011). Conversely, Brunner, Wactawski-Wende and Cann (2011) illustrate that there is no substantial reduction in breast cancer among their studies participants employing this combination. 3. Methodology The methodology focuses on an explanation of the approaches considered: What is the effect of vitamin D supplementation on breast cancer risk What is the vitamin D status, determined by 25-OH vitamin D levels, among women diagnosed with breast cancer3.1 ApproachPositivism, quantitative method, provides solutions resting in math, producing empirical data (Yin 2003). Interpretivism or qualitative uses the interpretive approach utilizing instruments like coding. Post-Positivism, a combination of the two is best suited to determine the impact of Vitamin D supplementation on breast cancer in women (Bryan and Bell 2007). Both inductive and deductive approaches were considered. Bryan et al (2007) view both approaches as ‘connected’ with distinct elements, but the connection are not fixed. Therefore settled the use of a mixed method or post-positivism method was chosen as the best approach.3.2 Research StrategyThis study will collect and analyse empirical data (Biggam 2012). The utilization of both primary and secondary research material will provide depth and fundamental clarity to the study (Yin 2003). The empirical research in this study deals with an in-depth review of breast cancer cases, survivors and relevant medical professionals. Primary data will be accumulated through the creation and utilization of a survey directly transmitted to breast cancer survivors and oncological professionals (Ibid). Prior and existing case studies will be evaluated utilizing secondary sources alongside the application of a primary source survey issued to the breast cancer survivors and members of t he oncologist community (Yin 2003). This research strategy is best suited to facilitate a well rounded evaluation of issues that promote various perspectives in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the link between Vitamin D supplementation and breast cancer (Lock, Silvermand and Spirduso 2010).3.4 Data Collection Methods and InstrumentsThe collection methods used in this study were: Primary data using Surveys from survivors and medical professionals (Saunders et al 2007). Secondary breast cancer data via journal and peer reviewed article The primary disadvantages rest in the limited capacity to check answers or develop further details. Further, obtaining primary data may be very high (Yin 2003). 7. References Biggam, J. (2012) Succeeding with Your Master’s Dissertation. 2nd ed.Berks. McGraw-Hill Boll, Grey, A., Gamble, G. and Reid, I. 2011. Calcium and vitamin D supplements and health outcomes: a reanalysis of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) limited-access data set. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 94 (4), pp. 1144–1149. Brasky, T., Lampe, J., Potter, J., Patterson, R. and White, E. 2010. Specialty supplements and breast cancer risk in the VITamins And Lifestyle (VITAL) Cohort. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 19 (7), pp. 1696–1708. Brunner, R., Wactawski-Wende, J., Caan, B., Cochrane, B., Chlebowski, R., Gass, M., Jacobs, E., Lacroix, A., Lane, D., Larson, J. and Others. 2011. The effect of calcium plus vitamin D on risk for invasive cancer: results of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) calcium plus vitamin D randomized clinical trial. Nutrition and cancer, 63 (6), pp. 827–841. Bryan and Bell, (2007)Buisness Research Methods Oxford. University Press Chung, M., Lee, J., Terasawa, T., Lau, J. and Trikalinos, T. 2011. Vitamin D with or without calcium supplementation for prevention of cancer and fractures: an updated meta-analysis for the US Preventive Services Task Force. Annals of Internal Medicine, 155 (12), pp. 827–838. Locke L. F., Silverman S J and Spirduso, W, W (2010, pg 198) Reading and Understanding Research. 3rd ed. Mohr, S., Gorham, E., Alcaraz, J., Kane, C., Macera, C., Parsons, J., Wingard, D. and Garl. 2012. Does the evidence for an inverse relationship between serum vitamin D status and breast cancer risk satisfy the Hill criteria?. Dermato-endocrinology, 4 (2), pp. 152–157. Pearce, S., Cheetham, T. and Others. 2010. Diagnosis and management of vitamin D deficiency. Bmj, 340 p. 5664. Prentice, R., Pettinger, M., Jackson, R., Wactawski-Wende, J., Lacroix, A., Anderson, G., Chlebowski, R., Manson, J., Van Horn, L., Vitolins, M. and Others. 2013. Health risks and benefits from calcium and vitamin D supplementation: Women’s Health Initiative clinical trial and cohort study. Osteoporosis International, 24 (2), pp. 567–580. Serrano, J., De Lorenzo, D., Cassanye, A., Mart’In-Gari, M., Espinel, A., Delgado, M., Pamplona, R. and Portero-Otin, M. 2013. Vitamin D receptor BsmI polymorphism modulates soy intake and 25-hydroxyvitamin D supplementation benefits in cardiovascular disease risk factors profile.Genes & nutrition, 8 (6), pp. 561–569. Souberbielle, J., Body, J., Lappe, J., Plebani, M., Shoenfeld, Y., Wang, T., Bischoff-Ferrari, H., Cavalier, E., Ebeling, P., Fardellone, P. and Others. 2010. Vitamin D and musculoskeletal health, cardiovascular disease, autoimmunity and cancer: Recommendations for clinical practice.Autoimmunity reviews, 9 (11), pp. 709–715. Thacher, T. and Clarke, B. 2011. Vitamin D insufficiency. 86 (1), pp. 50–60. Yin, L., Gr, I, N., Raum, E., Haug, U., Arndt, V. and Brenner, H. 2010. Meta-analysis: serum vitamin D and breast cancer risk. European Journal of Cancer, 46 (12), pp. 2196–2205. Yin, R. 2003. Case study research. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.Pallant, J. (2010) SPSS 8. Gantt Chart

An Article Critique on Poverty and Culture of Daily Life Essay - 2

An Article Critique on Poverty and Culture of Daily Life - Essay Example This study declares that two explicit examples of the culture of daily life were explained from the experiences of jajmani, allegedly a traditional that supports division of labor in India through landowner and tenant relationships; and that of sharecropping and tenancy relations noted from the residents of Palanpur, described as located in the Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh. The relationships noted and observed herewith evidently manifested ruling and acceding relationships, where, as the author disclosed exemplify continued cooperation and conflict which supports and sustains their respective needs. Likewise, Kumar differentiated between everyday needs versus non-everyday needs as a crucial factor in explaining the culture of daily life. In addition, the author also presented three distinct cases or scenarios where some innovative poor individuals were able to get out of poverty and have enabled them to successfully improve their social standing and be focused on other pursuit s, instead of being immersed in the culture of daily life. As the paper highlights culture was evidently presented as a crucial and contributory factor to poverty and development; the culture of daily life enables people who had been oriented and born into this social and cultural structure continue to support and sustain both cooperative and conflicting scenarios; the elements or values of culture of daily life were deemed to be incompatible and not homogeneous in nature; but rather, a more contradictory and diverse conglomeration of cultural norms, values, traditions that get to be refined through daily activities; and   the culture of daily life was described as accommodative and lending in nature to the status quo; as such any distinct or separate experience that tends to be unconventional or untraditional does not disrupt its very nature and continue to persist for a long time through the future. Critique the Author’s Argument The author’s argument was actually logically sound and objective; as well as fair and balanced since at the onset, various theoretical and conceptual frameworks on the subject were provided to establish an in-depth overview and understanding of the nature of culture and the culture of daily life, as required. The review of related literature aptly supported the given arguments and the author also presented other researches and studies that provided counter arguments to those that were previously premised.

Intro to Macroeconomics Assignment(7 Questions) Assignment

Intro to Macroeconomics (7 Questions) - Assignment Example In comparison, the investment curve determines how much money a consumer will invest at available interest charges. This is determined by the expected net profits from the available investments. One main determinant of this is the non-changing non-interest rate determinants, which are the same as the determinants of the consumption schedule. The investment schedule is considered less stable than the consumption schedule since it is determined by the interest rates as compared to the income of the individual. Built in stabilizers refer to government policies that cause budget deficits to grow during economic downtimes, or cause surpluses to increase due to increased economic recession. Two examples of built-in stabilizers are tax structures and government spending. In the computation of the Gross Domestic Product of a country, the gros private investment (Ig) is an important factor. This is because the gross private investment provides a measure of the future financial state of the country. The gross private investment is calculated as the sum of the replacement purchases of the population and the investments done to gain inventory. The net private investment is calculated as the above figure less depreciation experienced in the country. An increase in the gross private investment serves to increase net GDP since the factors of the sum are also included in the factors of the GDP. The bearing of the marginal propensity to consume and the marginal propensity to save (MPC and MPS), both have bearings on the spending multiplier since they are both factors of the formula for the multiplier. When the MPS is given, the multiplier is calculated as the reciprocal of the MPS. When the MPS is 0.6, the multiplier is 1.667, when the MPS is 0.75, the multiplier is 1.333, and when the MPS is 0.8, the multiplier is 1.25. The open economy multiplier is given by the equation, 1/(1-MPC + MPM), while the closed economy multiplier is given by 1/(1-MPC). Built in

Strategy and Plans of Operation on the Event of a Government Shutdown Essay

Strategy and Plans of Operation on the Event of a Government Shutdown - Essay Example .. 5 Causes of Federal Shutdown†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 Effects of a Federal Shutdown†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Strategies during Federal Shutdown†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦....................... 8 Contingency Plan†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 10 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 11 Appendices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 12 Abstract Government shutdowns occur when the Congress and the President fail to enact and make law the appropriations bills for the agencies of the government. On this case the opinions of Attorney General Civilleti and the Antideficiency Act take in action wherein the government is prohibited to spend, enter into contracts or other obligations, and provide government service and employees, except for those that are rated essential by the law. This paper will be focusing on the understanding of how the government shutdown occurs, as well as its adverse effects on the federal employees, public, and business institutions that are involved in providing goods and services to the federal government. This paper will also cover strategies and plans that a company can establish in order to anticipate and develop a course act ion plan in the event of a government shutdown. Strategy and Plans of Operation on the Event of a Government Shutdown Government shutdowns are events that can lead to tremendous effects among workers as well as the public. During a government shutdown, the government tends to stop all its services except those who are termed as essential. This leads to thousands of government employees to be furloughed for a certain period of time. In addition, there are also several institutions and business that will suffer the consequences of the shutdown since it will be expected that cash flow will not occur due to non-payment of invoices. Thus, the need of establishing strategies and a contingency plan is crucial for a company to cope up in the occurrence of a government shutdown. Government agencies will cease in the procurement of equipments or service, installation of equipments, and suspend delivery of equipments to these agencies. The closing will cause tremendous losses for the company e specially when a significant part of the market share of the business comprises the government offices. On the event of a Federal shutdown, several government agencies will furlough most of its employees. However, specific institutions will still continually operate on a normal basis. These agencies include police, fire fighting, postal services, armed forces, utilizes, air traffic management, and the penal system. The goal of the strategy and planning of a business company is to be able to pin-point the affected areas during a shutdown and be able to anticipate its effects on the normal operations. It will also be beneficial for the company if it can establish a contingency plan that will cover the overall course of action on the onset of the shutdown. This can be developed with the help of past records and data of occurrences of government shutdow

Management Accounting and Performance Evaluation Essay

Management Accounting and Performance Evaluation - Essay Example Facts of the Case Following are the facts of the case: Shirley Banks has recently joined PFA Ltd as factory manager with a motive to increase the turnover and market share. The factory runs for 24 hours with three eight-hour shifts. The shifts are rotated in such a manner that no one team has to consistently work at night. Currently the factory has a high number of temporary staff and the production is behind the targets. The shipment of orders is always done late. The workers are highly discontent due to the frequent impractical actions by the management regarding the factory management. Recent examples are the decisions to change every shift to twelve hours, cancellation of overtime payments and introduction of weekly performance reports. The high unachievable monthly targets have put undue strain on the workers. Moreover, the general office costs are allocated to each shift manager. The overall effect is that the workers are not motivated enough. The logistics manager is running t he local election campaign and in doing so he is using the company’s resources. No one has raised the issue so far. Nature of the Problem The basic nature of the problem lies with the incompetent management control process in the company. This has caused several other problems such as late order delivery, highly de-motivated workers, unachieved targets, unexplained allocation of general office costs to each shift manager and high level of temporary workforce. Management Accounting Control Systems Although the management accounting control systems and management control systems are mostly used interchangeably, the management accounting control is only one aspect of the control mechanism exercised by the management. The primary aim of management control systems is to achieve the organization’s objectives by influencing employee behaviours. There are three different types of control approaches i.e. action controls, results control, personnel and cultural controls (Merchan t, 1998 cited in Drury, 2007, p.388). The management accounting control system is related to the results control. It is based on two elements, the one is formal planning process and the second is responsibility accounting. The formal planning process encompasses budgeting process and long-term planning process whereas the responsibility accounting involves the establishment of responsibility centres (Drury, 2007, p.395). Responsibility Accounting The responsibility accounting involves creating responsibility centres to make accountable the individuals for financial results and outcomes. The individuals responsible for responsibility centres are made accountable any deviations from budget targets. Overall, the responsibility accounting involves: Identification of Controllability The items, which can be controlled by managers and those which they cannot control and therefore, should not be held accountable for, should be identified. This is based on controllability principle. The prin ciple states that only those costs can be or should be charged to responsibility area that can be influenced by the manager responsible. This principle is applied by

Counterfeiting is NOT a major problem for Branded good companies Essay

Counterfeiting is NOT a major problem for Branded good companies engaged in International Strategic Marketing - Essay Example Counterfeiting is production of goods similar to the original article; they are cheaper alternatives of the original and there may not be perceivable difference in quality (Phau, Teah & Lee, 2009). OECD (1998) defines counterfeiting as any manufacturing of a product which so closely imitates the appearance of the product of another to mislead a consumer that it is the product of another. Hence it also includes trademarks and copyrights infringements, including packaging and labeling or any other significant feature of the product. Counterfeiting is a civil offence, a criminal crime apart from being a social, political and serious economic problem (Bian & Veloutsou, 2007). However, according to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, 2007) the total value of counterfeit goods in 2005 was $200 billion (Gistri et al. 2009) and by 2007 it has estimated to have exceeded $500 (Phau, Teah & Lee, 2009). It is estimated that about 15% of the branded products sold across the world are counterfeit (Cross, 2006). The core target for counterfeiting brands is the luxury brands. It has increased to such proportions because of global trade and emerging new markets (Phau & Teah, 2009). Counterfeiting thrives because in some countries such as the US, their legal system protects only functionality and not designs or the style. In other countries even this level of protection is not present (Hilton, Chot & Chen, 2004). Countries like China and Hong Kong has no way to deal with counterfeiters and moreover, many times counterfeiting takes place outside the jurisdiction of a country (Nejdet, 2000). North Korea too engages in secret counterfeit printing and packaging of billions of cigarettes and drugs sold in the US (Cross, 2006). Phillips Morris has been able to trace the counterfeit version of its Marlboro brand at more than 1300 stores in the US. Such illicit activities generate more than half a billion US dollars. The counterfeiting is done so