Short writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Short writing - Essay Example government and its Border Patrol are constructing a steel wall ten feet high to span sections of the border with Mexico†(Silko, 2013, p.122). The vivid descriptions of the situation at the border come because of the narratives being personal experiences of the situation. The narratives have a significant difference in that most of the events described by Biss occur in Mexico while Silko describes events occurring in the border. While crossing the border Biss was not subjected to the dehumanizing search, but observed that Mexicans were being mistreated, resulting in the development of hatred for Americans, while staying in Mexico. Silko was personally subjected to the ill treatment while attempting to move across the border, and realized that all individuals moving across the border were subjected to similar actions. Sometimes, the treatment was worse, as the officers might have beaten them. The experience through which Silko underwent leads to the conclusion that the patrols cannot stop the migration since this is a natural event. For Biss, however, the experience was different and was based on the observation of lifestyles of the Mexican people. This resulted in a retaliation act by hating Americans for mistreating the Mexican

The major threats in revenue cycle

The major threats in revenue cycle The objectives of the billing process are to ensure the customers are billed for all sales, invoices are accurate, and the customers are billed for all sales. Accurate billing is crucial and requires information identifying the items and quantities shipped, prices, and special sales terms. But, sometimes threats might happen; the transaction might result from either a mistake or a fraud. The company might face failure to bill customers. The failure will cause loss of assets and revenues and inaccurate sales, inventory and accounts receivable data. For example, the employees who ship the product to might not bill the customers as they customers are their friends. Besides, no reconciliation of inventory amounts shipped with billings might cause failure to bill customers. This could result in undetected underbilling. In addition, the bookkeeper might do not periodically verify that all sales orders and shipping advices have been invoiced. So, the company must observe the problems faced and reduce the risk of errors and fraud. The company may separate the shipping and billing function to prevent that the failure to bill customers. The internal control can manage the billing and shipping records should be integrated on the computer system to provide for reconciliation of inventory amounts shipped and billed. The company internal control must periodically verify that all sales orders and shipping advices have been invoiced. This is because accurate and timely billing is crucial. The Billing Department may require information from the Shipping Department on items and quantities shipped and from Sales on prices and other sales terms. The basic document created is the sales invoice. Invoices may be sent or received in paper form and in invoice-less systems, ensure every shipment is recorded, since the shipment triggers recording of the account receivable. The wellà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬managed internal control should also merge the billing process with sales and marketing by using data about a customerà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s past purchases to send information about related products and services with the monthly statement. All sales tickets should be prenumbered and accounted for. This would quickly spot missing tickets. On top of that, I suggest that the On-line data entry by sales staff. The system should include credit checks on customers as well as check inventory availability Email notification of each department (shipping, billing, etc.) whenever another department performs an action (e.g., billing is notified whenever shipping enters data indicating that an order has been released) Furthermore, there might be the billing error occurred during the sales transaction. The billing might be underbilling or overbilling. This may cause loss of asset and customer dissatisfaction. The employee might prepare the invoices without notification about what was shipped and when. This will cause the billing mistakes when shipping goods. The employees maybe deal with the wrong price list of the products or goods to cause overbilling customers. The solution for the billing error can be controlled by prepare invoice only after receive copy of shipping advice indicating quantities shipped and date. The internal control can use the prices of computer-based such as have the computer retrieve prices from the inventory master file. This can prevent the wrong price with the goods shipping or even wrong price wrong goods. Moreover, the company can use date entry edit control to eliminate the billing error. Have the system to check the inventory availability as order data are entered with the prices of it. The company also can use online terminal to enter sales order date into the system as orders are received to avoid the quantity error with billing error. Internal control can also do have a system to save all the inventory or product list with pricing list so that the company can use barcode scanners to scan the products order. It can prevent the data key in error. Furthermore, for the billing error I suggest that use passwords to limit access to authorized users, and to restrict the duties each employee may perform and which files they may access in case to prevent the inventory data and prices changed by the employees. Next we can also check quantities on packing slip against quantities on sales order to make sure again the right goods shipping and the billing cost. In addition, posting errors in updating accounts receivable is one of the threats of the billing in revenue cycle. Accounts can be written off to cover theft of cash due to uncollectible accounts are not determined on the basis of established criteria. Any of fees earned, cash receipts, and uncollectible accounts expense could be either understated or overstated because of undetected differences between the subsidiary ledger and the general ledger. Also, fees earned and cash receipts or accounts receivable could be understated because of failure to record billings, cash receipts, and write-offs accurately. Trial balances of the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger are not prepared independently of, or verified and reconciled to, the accounts receivable control account in the general ledger. It causes customer dissatisfaction and loss of sales and may indicate theft of cash To solve of this threat problems, the internal control can establish and use criteria for writing off accounts receivable. Write off should be authorized by someone who does not have access to cash and periodic reconciliation of the subsidiary accounts receivable ledger to the general ledger control account for accounts receivable. Besides, the invoice shall be prepared as soon as the order is approved and the inventory, accounts receivable and general ledger files are updated at that time to prevent the delay between order and shipment so that the bill can post into account receivable just in time to avoid any error happened. Between, in case to avoid the error in maintaining the customer accounts, the company internal control may edit checks such as validity checks on customer and invoice numbers so amounts are applied to the correct account. The company can also make the field check on it to ensure payment amounts are numeric. To make sure there are no error occurred during the up dating of account receivable, the internal control shall make the reconciliation of subsidiary accounts receivable ledger with general ledger and sending the monthly statements to every customer to provide independent review. To reduce this threat, I suggest that the company can compare the number of accounts updated with the number of check received. A variety of inputs edit checks (limit checks, range checks, reasonableness tests, etc.) to ensure completeness of data entry and accuracy. Besides, establishment of electronic lockboxes with banks so that customer payments go directly to companyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s account. Use email notification of each department whenever another department performs an action. The system that provide should include the credit checks on customers as well as check inventory availability to avoid the posting error in updating account receivable and maintaining customer accounts.

The Physics of Human Strength :: physics sport sports weight lifting strong

Welcome to the Physics of Strength What make a person strong? According to Frederick Hatfield, Ph.D. and former world record holder in the Squat, there are 38 factors affecting strength. I have put them here for you to read quickly, but the original article can be found on www.drsquat.com. 1. Muscle Fiber Arrangement 2. Musculoskeletal Leverage 3. Tissue Leverage 4. Freedom of Movement Between Fibers 5. Tissue Viscoelasticity 6. Intramuscular/intracellular friction 7. Ratio of Fiber Types 8. Range of Motion 9. Freedom From Injury 10. Connective Tissue Structure 11. Stretch Reflex 12. The Feedback Loop 13. Endocrine System Functions (hormones) 14. Extent of hyperplasia (cell splitting) or fiber fusion 15. Extent of myofibrillarization 16. Motor Unit Recruitment 17. Energy transfer systems' efficiency 18. Extensiveness of capillarization 19. Mitochondrial growth and proliferation 20. Stroke volume of the left ventricle 21. Ejection fraction of the left ventricle 22. Pulmonary (ventilatory) capacity 23. Efficiency of gas exchange in the lungs 24. Heart rate 25. Max VO2 uptake 26. Freedom from disease 27. Arousal Level ("psych") 28. Ability to concentrate 29. Incentive 30. Social learning 31. Coordination 32. "Spiritual" factors 33. The "placebo" effect 34. Equipment 35. Environment 36. Effect of gravity 37. Opposing and assisting forces This pretty much covers everything. As you can see, it takes a culmination of physical, natural, mental, spiritual, and psychological factors to be strong. It also takes time. The laws of physics play a huge role in what it means to be strong. On this site we will focus especially on the last two, the effect of gravity and forces. The physical concepts that will be used in this site include Newton's laws (of course), gravity, work, power, velocity and acceleration, static equilibrium, and conservation of mechanical energy. All concepts and useful equations will be explained as they are used. What is the Squat? The parallel squat (shown to the left) is the most important lift in all of sports and the most efficient exercise in building strength. It incorporates back and leg strength, stability, and coordination. Almost every athlete can benefit from doing squats. How do you do Squats? Squats are done with a weighted bar on your shoulders, in the natural groove between the muscles, with your feet a little farther than shoulder-width apart.

It’s Your Ship

Book Information Title: It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy Author: Captain D. Michael Abrashoff Publisher’s Name: Warner Books, Inc.Publisher’s Location, Year of Publication: New York, NY, 2002 Number of Pages: 210 pages Content The overall objective of the book is to teach new, and old, leaders to become better leaders. While anyone can benefit from reading this book, the intended audience is leaders in any organization. One statistic that should be alarming to all leaders of businesses was that 65 percent of people leave their companies because of the managers (Abrashoff, 2002). How do leaders change that statistic?Abrashoff believes that running a ship is very similar to running any business; it takes motivating a crew to perform at the best of their abilities to achieve optimal efficiency and completion of tasks. He successfully takes his experiences from leading a Naval crew and teaches the audience how to apply it to t heir organizations. Along with highlighting every winning moment he and his crew experienced on the USS Benfold, Captain Abrashoff also shows failing moments the team had to endure. Those examples show the audience that in order to succeed, there has to be some trials along the way.Abrashoff introduces readers to the 11 lessons he has learned that helped him become a better leader: take command; lead by example; listen aggressively; communicate purpose and meaning; create a climate of trust; look for results, not salutes; take calculated risks; go beyond standard procedure; build people up; generate unity; and improve the crew’s quality of life. He dedicated a chapter to each lesson and explains the importance of each and how to apply them to any business. Chapter one talks about how Abrashoff became the captain of USS Benfold and how he had to take command.His first obstacle was wondering if everyone was going to like him. He quickly realized that â€Å"be likable is not hi gh among a ship captain’s job requirements†¦ to be respected, trusted, and effective† is (Abrashoff, 2002, p. 12). After that, he realized â€Å"a challenge for leaders†¦ is attracting and retaining †¦ the best employees and more important, how to motivate them so that they work with passion, energy, and enthusiasm† (Abrashoff, 2002, p. 12). Leaders need to listen to their employees so they can better understand what they are going through. Along with listening, employees need to be motivated.Motivation helps employees want to do their work and do the best job. Another obstacle was learning the real reason why soldiers were not re-enlisting. Abrashoff (2002) stated the following: I read some exit surveys, interviews conducted by the military to find out why people are leaving. I assumed that low pay would be the first reason, but in fact it was fifth. The top reason was not being treated with respect or dignity; second was being prevented from maki ng an impact on the organization; third, not being listened to; and fourth, not being rewarded with more responsibility. p. 13) All of those reasons are very similar to why people are leaving civilian jobs. Only one conclusion could come from it: all leaders are making the same mistakes. The best answer for those obstacles was summed up perfectly when he talked about his organizing principle. Abrashoff (2002) said â€Å"the key to being a successful skipper is to see the ship through the eyes of the crew† (p. 13). The leader does not always come up with the ideas; leaders would benefit greatly if they listened to their crew more. Empowering employees makes them realize their potential.When â€Å"given the right environment, there are few limits to what people can achieve† (p. 31). After taking command, a great leader must lead by example. In chapter two, Abrashoff discovered â€Å"90 percent of the time, I was at least as much a part if the problem as my people wereâ €  (p. 33). When things go wrong and tasks are not completed, a manager usually blames the employees. Abrashoff used a different approach; he looked at himself and wondered what he may have done wrong in certain situations. By recognizing their own faults, a leader can learn from them and show their employees that they are learning from them.There were four sections of the chapter that was very important. The first section was on remembering the effect one has on people. Leaders need to understand how they affect their people, â€Å"their optimism and pessimism are equally infectious† (p. 35). If the leader is in a bad mood, the employees will sense that and be in the same mood. Abrashoff talks about his â€Å"dark side† and how he purposely stays away from his crew when he is having a bad day. The second section talks about holding leaders accountable. Leaders need to make sure they recognized their part in a mishap and take some of the blame.The Washington Post te st was the next section. If there is any concern on whether something is the right thing to do, picture it being on the front page of a newspaper. Would it cause embarrassment or would it be something to celebrate? Abrashoff thinks that every decision a leader can make should be based on that test. The last section is about obeying a policy even when a leader disagrees. There are plenty of times a manager will disagree with a policy or procedure handed down by upper management; a great leader will support it anyway.Undermining superiors will show employees that they can do the same. In chapter three, Abrashoff stresses the importance of listening. He talked about his experiences with watching William Perry have conversations with people and how Perry always gave his complete attention to each person. In result, Perry was respected and people felt good in his presence. Abrashoff started to focus on really listening to his crew and treating each conversation like it was the most impor tant conversation he was having. While having these conversations, Abrashoff learned to â€Å"see the ship through the crew’s eyes† (p. 4). He discovered that his crew had many good ideas about how to make the environment more enjoyable; they were there every single day and knew a lot about the day-to-day operations on the ship. It would make sense to listen to their ideas. One of his first goals was to learn every soldier’s name, their spouse’s name, and all the names of their children. Then, he continued to learn different things about each of them. He talks about realizing his crew was just like him, â€Å"they had hopes, dreams, loved ones, and they wanted to believe that what they were doing was important† (p. 46).In turn, his crew earned more of his respect and it became easier for them to talk to him and share their ideas. Finding round people for round holes was his next point in the chapter. Since he knew his people so well, he was able to match them with the perfect job. After having an assistant that was not good at handling paperwork, Abrashoff found a younger seaman named David Lauer, who was labeled as a â€Å"troublemaker† to take over the task. Lauer shined in that task and Abrashoff asked him why he had so much trouble in his last job. The seaman said that he felt like his suggestions were not being heard and he just gave up.This example proved that listening aggressively can benefit leaders immensely. â€Å"Word magic† was the last lesson Perry taught Abrashoff. Abrashoff believed â€Å"if leaders back their words with action†¦ practice what they preach, their words create a self-fulfilling prophecy† (p. 50). Every time someone talked about the USS Benfold, it was referred to as â€Å"the best damn ship in the Navy. † He wanted his crew to say it so they believed it and in turn, everyone else believed it. The next lesson is about communicating the purpose and meaning of every task.Abrashoff said it best in the first sentence of chapter four, â€Å"the whole secret of leading a ship or managing a company is to articulate a common goal that inspires a diverse group of people to work hard together† (p. 52). When employees understand why a task it needed and how they can benefit from it, they are more likely to give their all in completing it. It is a shame that someone spends so much time at work and does not believe in the work they are doing. He wanted his crew to really love what they were doing every time they boarded that ship.If a leader makes their crew think they can do anything, they will believe it. Abrashoff thought that if he communicated with his crew about everything, they would understand and be more involved. He was against keeping his people in the dark, â€Å"secrecy spawns isolation, not success† (p. 55). It would be an advantage to the entire team when everyone knew the goals. That ties into opening up the clogged channels in an organization. By communicating the information effectively, the team produced better results. Abrashoff gave the example of the communication system in the Gulf War and how vital messages were never received.With the idea from one of his crew members, John Rafalko, the airways were cleared and messages were received. Abrashoff gave complete credit to Rafalko, claiming he only listened to the idea and supported Rafalko. Chapter five addressed the importance of creating a trusting environment, â€Å"the best way to keep a ship—or any organization—on course for success is to give the troops all the responsibility they can handle and then stand back† (p. 63). When employees are trusted to do their jobs, it makes it easier for them to focus on the task, not the micromanaging.Another way to encourage trust in the workplace was to not make employees compete against each other. Abrashoff wanted his candidates to work together instead of working against each other . He believed that that competition created distrust and division among the crew and in the long run, did not help the entire crew. Abrashoff said that anyone can bounce back from a bad decision. By helping someone recognize their screw up, it sends a message to the entire team that they will receive the same attention. By giving up on someone, â€Å"they understand instantly that there’s no room for redemption†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 7). Also, never bring a problem to the boss if it can be fixed without him; Abrashoff did advise to only get the boss involved if it cannot. Finally, when dealing with a difficult boss, it is best to shield the crew from that person. The morale stays high and it is less likely for employees to be corrupted or turned off by that person. The chapter on looking for results, not salutes, talked about looking at every one as an equal. Abrashoff encouraged leaders to let their crews speak up with their ideas; they should be able to question the authority.B y knocking down barriers between the captains and the crew members, it encourages people to get to know one another and be more likely to speak up when something can be done better. Abrashoff gave many examples throughout the book about his team questioning some of the decisions and policies in place and in the end, the team improved some things. Here, again, he stresses the importance of involving the team in everything and letting them get involved in the decision-making process, â€Å"innovation knows no rank† (p. 96). With the achievements, he did tell leaders to accept failures.Leaders should not reprimand employees when they make an attempt to solve a problem and it does not work; everyone should have the â€Å"freedom to fail† (p. 94). The next chapter talked about taking calculated risks. Employees worry about taking risks because the consequences can be devastating. Disciplinary action, even termination, can be the result of taking a risk and failing. Abrashof f believes in celebrating the risk-takers, even if it ends in failure. Everyone makes mistake; â€Å"show me someone who has never made a mistake, and I will show you someone who is not doing anything to improve your organization† (p. 04). The people that make their own decisions are the ones leaders should really be behind. Abrashoff said â€Å"if all you give are orders, then all you will get are order-takers† (p. 107). Leaders need to let their employees take responsibility; that is how self-starters are born. When that self-starter is unearthed, leaders need to take a chance on them. Abrashoff proved that even the delinquent crew member can turn out to be a hard working one. He used the example of the crew member who was left behind because he forgot to set his alarm.The sailor was placed on restriction since it was a serious offense, but he continued to excel in his job. When he found out his mother was ill, he put in for leave and was turned down by every leader. Abrashoff decided to grant him the leave and it did wonders for the sailor. He was very motivated to do a great job and to not let down his team mates again. In the end, the sailor left the Navy and became a defense contractor. The last section of the chapter was about breaking rules. Abrashoff said to break the rules that did not make sense and break the ones that did make sense, just very carefully.This part was pretty self-explanatory; it is okay to challenge the rules. As he was saying throughout the entire book, if something is wrong, find another way to do it. There are bad rules and it is the leader’s job to find a better way to do things, or encourage their employees to find a better way. Chapter eight was all about going above and beyond. Abrashoff thought to get outstanding results, leaders had to go beyond the standard procedures, â€Å"innovation and progress are achieved only by those who venture beyond standard operating procedures† (p. 119).Like he has said many times in the book, Abrashoff wanted his crew to take those risks and really think of way to change the system. He wanted self-starters and people with great ideas because it was not just his ship, it was everybody’s ship. In chapter nine, Abrashoff goes back to his people and talked about building them up. This chapter had a lot of points in it and it is one of the important lessons in the book; confident employees help any organization. Building self-esteem in the individual benefits the entire team, â€Å"never tear them down; help them grow strong† (p. 41). The message ties in with the trust piece; showing an employee that they are trusted and cared for makes a big difference in the way they work. Praise every single success, no matter how big or small, was important to Abrashoff. He believed that this practice, not only, worked on crew members, but it could be used on the big bosses: If you want to achieve anything in a large bureaucracy, get inside the b osses’ head. Anticipate what they want before they know they want it. Take on their problems; make them look so good that you become indispensable.When they can’t get along without you, they will support nearly anything you seek to accomplish. (p. 141) If leaders just trusted their people more, they would see that they usually get it right. People with talent, when motivated, can surprise people and move up in the ranks. Employees want to do a good job and prove they can do the job; leaders should trust that they can. And leaders must trust the new people and teach them well. New people are a great asset to any organization; they can be molded, with the proper training, into anything the leader wants.It is important to keep them fired up; any old influences—older crew members—can ruin their attitudes with any negativity. A proper â€Å"welcome aboard† program is imperative; newbies can be discouraged very easily if their first day is a disaster. Mo st importantly, expect the best from every employee. Leaders need to invest fully into their people and they will get it back tenfold. Abrashoff stated that if we â€Å"stopped treating them as if they are stupid, they would perform better† (p. 158). When they are not performing at their best, leaders should give honest feedback constantly.The employees cannot fix their problems if they do not know what they are doing wrong. This reduced the surprises during the review process; leaders would not have to talk about all the things that need improving during the review if they do it in the moment. Another best practice is to ask the bottom performers to rate their performances themselves. They are more honest to the fact that they are the bottom performers compared to their team mates. After that, come up with an action plan and set expectations on when to fix the problems.Leaders, then, should continue to coach in the moment and be open and honest with their employees. A team c annot succeed if they is no unity. Chapter ten addressed the importance of unity in a team and how the leader must create that with his employees. He claimed that â€Å"one of the toughest things for organizations to accomplish is to get people to set aside personal differences and work for the good of everyone involved† (p. 168). One of his main focuses was to train for unity. He started off with finding common interests among everyone. Then, he wanted his crew to find â€Å"positive reasons to value others† (p. 173).He, ultimately, experienced a decline in the reports on racial prejudice and sexual harassment because the ship’s morale was very positive. Punishment needs to be dealt out fairly in organizations. Leaders need to hold their team accountable for their actions, but also, learn to give them a second chance. Every employee needs to know they will be punished accordingly and after they have paid for their crime, the slate is wiped clean. Going back to the chapter about accepting the failures, it is important to learn from it and move on. Abrashoff believed everyone deserves a second chance, just like the sailor how overslept.Now any man would say if his woman is not happy, he is not happy; Abrashoff agreed with that ideal. By making the women feel like part of the team, just as the men did, Abrashoff prevented gender issues. Sexual harassment was down and everyone respected one another. It, also, helped the men on the ship calm down and be more mature. They saw the women as their equals and pushed them to step it up a bit. This lesson is very important in civilian organizations; equality between the sexes still has not been achieved and many leaders should take notes on this chapter.Abrashoff ended the chapter with examples of extraordinary female sailors he has worked with and how important they were to his team. The last lesson that Abrashoff talked about was improving the quality of the team’s life. He embraced the idea of having fun with the team and making the work environment fun. Many leaders frown upon fraternization and would probably look at Abrashoff’s practices as that. But his message was all about enjoying life and friends and he did it in very simple ways. He organized karaoke and alcohol-free happy hour on Fridays, movie nights on Saturdays, and playing music anytime work was involved.It lifted the morale and everyone was laughing and having fun. Good food was another important part of improving the quality of life in the crew members. Abrashoff saw food as an important part of the ship. People could relax and socialize over a good meal and productivity could only increase. Even having a Thanksgiving meal when one is far away from home sends a caring message to the crew and makes people feel good. Reviewer’s Evaluation In my opinion, this book can be very helpful to anyone trying to be a better manager.It really opens the reader’s eyes on the proper way to manage and how to let go of the â€Å"typical† manager style. I really like the part about looking through the employee’s eyes and getting the employees more motivated to do a better job. I believe Abrashoff really challenges the common ideal that managers should be unapproachable and listened to; authority and rules should never be questioned and always followed. He promotes risk-taking and challenging bad rules and really wants the leader to empower their team to make decisions and be innovative.It’s Your Ship is an informative book that can help any leader become a better leader or learn new techniques to become the best leader. I am not sure how this book looks compared to other books like it, but I know the title alone is catchy and I would probably pick this one up first if I had to choose (I think it is because the word â€Å"damn† is on the cover! ). I think it was very appropriate for us BBA students in the business administration field because most of the jobs are supervisor positions. Not only can we students benefit from it, I think everyone can take some pointers from this book.Some may not make it to a supervisor position in an office or retail setting, but there are leader positions everywhere: churches, volunteer work, etc. Each and every leader/manager can really profit from this book. The contribution of the book is huge; the message is so important to all managers. From my experience, I have been managed by many managers and became a manager myself. Many of these lessons would have been an advantage to my superiors and to me. Some of the chapters really spoke to me, such as learning to trust people to do their jobs.I can admit that that was one area that I struggled in when I was a store manager. I really feel that Abrashoff did a great job explaining his practices and he made it very interesting to learn about them. I would definitely recommend this book not only to BBA students, but to many of my retail friends and som e of my current supervisors. Reviewer’s Information Name: Shanita Kitts Affiliation: Averett University Address: 1300 Dover Place, Lynchburg, VA 24502 References Abrashoff, D. M. (2002). It’s your ship: Management techniques from the best damn ship in the navy. New York, NY: Warner Books, Inc.

Business Model Canvas of United States Postal Service Essay

USPS caters the mail and package delivery services to a mass of different customers. It has different variety of services depending on what the customer wants. So customer segments are divided according to the type of services the USPS provides. 1. Individual citizens: The USPS has the first class mail and standard mail that the citizens can use to use to send personal cards, letters, bill payments, etc. Basically anything that is less than 13 ounces can be sent through first class, and is delivered within 2 to 3 days in the contiguous states. First class mail is sealed and protected, while standard mailed is not (standard mail may also receive deferred handling but it is more cost effective for customers). Also package services are provided to send packages more than 70 lbs. 2. Businesses: The USPS also caters to all the mailing needs of businesses. Banks use first class mail for delivery of debit or credit cards, and other confidential information as it is protected and handled properly. Also the standard mail, which is a cost-effective bulk mail class, is used by businesses for mailing advertisements, product samples, etc. and is delivered within 9 to 10 days. Businesses even use package services for delivery of delivery of customer orders. a. These customers include business to consumer delivery (e-commerce) such as Amazon and EBay. 3. Publishers: The USPS has Periodicals, which is a mail class for authorized publishers to send magazines, newspapers, journals, etc. 4. Other mail providers: The USPS has partnered with FedEx and UPS for their â€Å"last mile† mail delivery. Since the cost of delivery in rural areas is high for both FedEx and UPS, they have partnered with the USPS to deliver their mail and packages in areas where the cost for delivery would be higher for them; the USPS delivers about 30. 4% of the ground shipments of FedEx. Besides this, the USPS also offers services as Post Office Box, tracking of the mail etc. It also provides insurance on items shipped to domestic or international areas, if they have a value of above 200 dollars. Value Proposition The mission of the postal service is to provide the nation with reliable, affordable, universal mail service. By law, its basic function is â€Å"†¦ to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It [the Postal Service] shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities. † Affordable Prices: The price of sending a package or mail by USPS is much lower than its competitors. Ubiquitous presence: The Postal Services has large number of offices in the United States making it accessible to almost every customer of the USPS. They have 31,272 retail offices. Reliable service: The Postal Service delivers to 151 million addresses six days a week, and collects outgoing mail and packages at the time of delivery. It provides mailing and shipping services through tens of thousands of postal and non-postal retail outlets as well as usps. com. The USPS provides many different services; First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Packages and Shipping, International Mail and Periodicals each catering to different needs of their customers. Channels The USPS provides direct delivery to the customer. They have all US addresses and their delivery system is direct, from the sender to the receiver. They are spread out in the entire United States and have huge amount of deliveries every week. The USPS operates over 30,000 Post Offices all over the United States where customers can come to send their packages and mail. Customers can also drop their mail in post boxes located at multiple locations in every town and city. Stamps and postage can be bought at numerous locations such as supermarkets, drug stores and post offices. The USPS also operates a service where the postman can come to pickup a shipment from your house free of charge. USPS also uses traditional advertisements and promotions to reach their customers on a daily basis. Figure 1: USPS’ services (source: USPS Annual Report 2012) Customer Relationships USPS’s customers demand reliable, fast and affordable service and they serve each customer segment in a different way. For individuals, customer service is mainly through sending and receiving letters and packages. For businesses the USPS offers various business solutions such as advertising campaigns, e-commerce solutions and special mass mail business prices. For other mail providers such as FedEx and UPS the USPS provides delivery of their packages both in rural areas and of small packages. For all customers the USPS also offers customer service by phone, online and in Post Offices. The USPS has good brand recognition, most US citizens are aware of the USPS’ services and the â€Å"postman† that comes to every house every day. Therefore the customers expect good service and the USPS uses customer outreach programs, both for individuals and businesses, to get feedback and information about how they can improve their services. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) from June 2013, both FedEx and UPS score higher than the USPS in the Express/Priority Service Mail Sector. Overall the regular mail services of USPS are at a new ACSI high of 77 points.

A Quick Tour of Jupiters Moons

A Quick Tour of Jupiters Moons Meet the Moons of Jupiter The planet Jupiter  is the largest world in the solar system. It has at least 67 known moons and a thin dusty ring. Its four largest moons are called the Galileans, after astronomer ​Galileo Galilei, who discovered them in 1610. The individual moon names are Callisto, Europa, ​Ganymede, and Io, and come from Greek mythology. Although astronomers studied them extensively from the ground, it wasnt until the first spacecraft explorations of the Jupiter system that we knew how strange these little worlds are. The first spacecraft to image them were the Voyager probes in 1979. Since then, these four worlds  have been explored by the Galileo, Cassini and New Horizons missions, which provided extremely good views of these little moons. The Hubble Space Telescope has also studied and imaged Jupiter and the Galileans many times. The Juno mission to Jupiter, which arrived in summer 2016, will provide more images of these tiny worlds as it orbits around the giant planet taking images and data.   Explore the Galileans Io is the closest moon to Jupiter and, at 2,263 miles across, is the second smallest of the Galilean satellites. It is often called the â€Å"Pizza Moon† because its colorful surface looks like a pizza pie. Planetary scientists found out it was a volcanic world in 1979  when the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft flew by and captured the first up-close images. Io has more than 400 volcanoes that spew out sulfur and sulfur dioxide across the surface, to  give it that colorful look. Because these volcanoes are constantly repaving Io, planetary scientists say that its surface is  geologically young.   Europa is the smallest of the Galilean moons. It measures only 1,972 miles across  and is made mostly of rock. Europa’s surface is a thick layer of ice, and underneath it,  there may be a salty ocean of water about  60 miles deep. Occasionally Europa  sends plumes of water out  into fountains that tower more than 100 miles above the surface. Those plumes have been seen in data sent back by Hubble Space Telescope.  Europa is often mentioned as a place that could be habitable for some forms of life. It has an energy source, as well as organic material that could aid in the formation of life, plus plenty of water. Whether it is or not remains an open question. Astronomers have long talked about sending missions to Europa to search for evidence of life. Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, measuring 3,273 miles across. It’s made mostly of rock and has a layer of salt water more than 120 miles below the cratered and crusty surface. Ganymede’s landscape is divided between two types of landforms: very old cratered regions which are dark-colored, and younger areas containing grooves and ridges. Planetary scientists found a very thin atmosphere on Ganymede, and it’s the only moon known so far that has its own magnetic field. Callisto is the third-largest moon in the solar system and, at 2,995 miles in diameter, is nearly the same size as the planet Mercury (which is just over 3,031 miles across). It’s the most distant of the four Galilean moons. Callisto’s surface tells us that it was bombarded throughout its history. Its 60-mile thick surface is covered with craters. That suggests the icy crust is very old and hasn’t been resurfaced through ice volcanism. There may be a subsurface water ocean on Callisto, but conditions for life to arise there are less favorable than for neighboring Europa.   Finding Jupiters Moons From Your Back Yard Whenever Jupiter is visible in the nighttime sky, try to find the Galilean moons. Jupiter itself is quite bright, and its moons will look like tiny dots on either side of it. Under good dark skies, they can be seen through a pair of binoculars.  A good backyard-type telescope  will give a better view, and for the avid stargazer, a larger telescope will show the moons AND features in Jupiter’s colorful clouds.

What Does Your Handshake Say About You

What Does Your Handshake Say About You We all think we have a killer handshake. And we’ve all shaken a few hands that left us feeling†¦ less than impressed. Find out if any of these subpar shakes apply to you. The Cold FishThe worst handshake is the limp handshake. It makes everybody squeamish. If you’re not squeezing or shaking, but merely laying your hand (or worse, just your fingers!) into someone else’s, then it might be time for remedial work.The Wet FishRegardless of the limpness factor, if your hand is sweaty or clammy, you don’t stand a chance of making a good first impression. Clamminess implies that you are nervous- or worse, ill- or just generally moist. If sweating is a problem for you, try using a bit of talc after you wash your hands to keep them dry.The PrincessYou know who you are. You lay your fingers daintily into someone else’s waiting grip, but nothing further. Unless you’re actually royalty, this is sending all the wrong signals. Man up and shake hands!Th e Knuckle CrusherYou also know who you are. You enjoy watching people flinch as you shock and awe them with your grip and grasp. If you’re not aware of your own strength, ask yourself: does your handshake make people’s eyes water? Can you feel their rings crushing their fingers? If so, go a little gentler.The CreeperIndustry standard is grab, shake three times, release. If you’re lingering any longer than the time it takes to pump your interviewer’s hand a couple of times, then you’re lingering too long. Save the tender contact for the dinner table with your sweetheart and get back to business.The Two-HanderThis is for family on occasions such as funerals and weddings and reunions. Or for your Great Aunt Rita. Or for politicians and priests. It’s not for you. And certainly not for the office. Stick to the basics!We make our first impression in just over five minutes; that’s not a lot of time. Don’t spoil it with a bad handshake .Instead, follow the golden rule: warm, friendly, confident, and dry. Make sure to touch the web of your hand (between your thumb and index finger) to theirs, grip comfortably and firmly (not too firmly!), shake three times (but not religiously!), let go, and smile your surest smile.

11 Facts You Should Know about Halloween

11 Facts You Should Know about Halloween The U.S. is a society of consumers, and an economy based primarily on consumer spending, so its no surprise that Halloween is celebrated in  consumerist ways. Lets take a look at some interesting facts about Halloween consumption, with data from  National Retail Federations Halloween Headquarters, and consider what they mean from a sociological perspective. 171 million Americans- more than half the entire national population- will celebrate Halloween in 2016.Halloween is the nations third favorite holiday, but second favorite for those between the ages of 18-34. It is  less popular with older folks, and more popular among women than men,   according to a 2011 Harris Interactive poll.Not just for kids,  Halloween is an important holiday for adults too. Nearly half the adult population will dress in costume for the occasion.Total U.S. spending for Halloween 2016 is expected to reach 8.4 billion dollarsan increase of more than 3 billion dollars since 2007. That includes $3.1 billion spent on costumes, $2.5 billion on candy, and  $2.4 billion on decorations.The average person will spend about $83 celebrating Halloween.About a third of all adults will throw or attend a Halloween party.One in five adults will visit a haunted house.Sixteen percent will dress their pets in costume.In 2016 costume choices among adults differ by age brack et. Among Millennials, Batman characters take the number one spot, followed by witch, animal, Marvel or DC superhero, and vampire. The number one costume among older adults is a witch, followed by pirate, political costume, vampire, and then Batman character. Action and superhero characters are the top choice for children in 2016, followed by princess, animal, Batman character, and Star Wars character.Pumpkin wins the top spot for pets, followed by hot dog, bumble bee, lion, Star Wars character, and devil. So, what does all this mean, sociologically speaking? Halloween is clearly a very important holiday in the U.S. We can see this in not only the patterns in participation and spending  but in what people do to celebrate the holiday. Early sociologist Émile Durkheim observed that rituals are occasions upon which people in a culture or society come together to reaffirm their values, beliefs, and morals. By participating in rituals together, we activate and reaffirm our collective consciencethe sum of those beliefs and ideas we share in common,  that take on a life and force of their own due to their collective nature. In celebration of Halloween, those rituals include dressing in costume, trick-or-treating, throwing and attending costume parties, decorating homes,  and going to haunted houses. This raises the question of what values, beliefs, and morals are reaffirmed through our mass participation in these rituals. Halloween costumes in the U.S. have evolved away from the holidays social origins as taunts and mocking of death, and toward popular culture. Sure, witch is a popular costume for women, and zombies and vampires are also in the top ten, but the variations of them trend more toward sexy than scary or evocative of death. So, it would be false to conclude that the rituals affirm values and beliefs of Christianity and Paganism. They point instead to  the importance placed on having fun and being  sexy in our society. But, what also stands out to this sociologist is the consumerist nature of the holiday and the rituals. The primary thing we do to celebrate Halloween is buy stuff. Yes, we go out and get together and have fun, but none of that happens without first shopping and spending moneya collective 8.4 billion dollars. Halloween, like other consumerist holidays (Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, Fathers Day and Mothers Day), is an occasion upon which we reaffirm the importance of consuming in order to fit in with the norms of society. Thinking back to Mikhail Bakhtins description of medieval carnivale in Europe as a release valve for the tensions that arise in a highly stratified society, we could also surmise that Halloween serves a similar function in the U.S. today. Currently economic inequality and poverty are at their greatest in the nations history. We are faced with an incessant onslaught of terrible news about global climate change, war, violence, discrimination and injustice,  and disease. In the midst of this, Halloween presents an attractive opportunity to take off our own identity, put on another, shake off our cares and concerns, and exist as someone else for an evening or two. Ironically, we may be further exacerbating the problems we face in the process, by perpetuating the hypersexualization of women and racism via costume, and  by handing our hard-earned money over to already wealthy corporations that exploit laborers and the environment to bring all the Halloween goods to us. But we sure have fun doing it.

History, Stalin and the first Five-Year Plan Essay

History, Stalin and the first Five-Year Plan - Essay Example The method dealt here is to access and analyze the discussed sources, learning through the sources the viewpoint held by the authors and discussing their utility in providing knowledge about the plan while at the same time critically analyzing the plan itself. Joseph Stalin, Soviet Communist leader, became famous for his ‘flaws’ as much as for his ‘ambitious industrial drive’. Both the characteristics are contradictory as are the views that various people hold about him. As the USSR went through turmoil after WWI and the civil war Stalin’s Five Year Plan ostensibly set out to provide greater strength to USSR in order to keep the Western Capitalist influences at bay. Through the evidence suggested, it however becomes clear that the results of five-year plan were more a ‘fantasy’ than ‘reality’. However, disregarding the plan as complete failure would be a failure on our part to access the plan completely. The plan was implemented with the single objective in mind, that of technically advancing the USSR in order to cut down its dependence on western countries and to provide a means for working class people to believe in the socialist system. The plan was a success in that while the capitalist countries were suffering the effects of the great depression and, mass unemployment, the USSR was going through a rapid change in terms of its industry and agriculture. It is important to note that USSR implemented its plan without the help of foreign investments. There were huge investments in heavy industry as well as light industry. The development programs included the tractor plants of Kharkov and Stalingrad, the AMO 1automobile factory in Moscow, the automobile plant in Nizhni-Novgorod, the Dnieprostroi hydroelectric project, the mammoth steel plants at Magnitogorsk and Kuznetsk, the network of machine shops, and chemical plants in the Urals. The face of Moscow changed in a short span with new buildings, schools, hospitals

The Plight of the honeybee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Plight of the honeybee - Essay Example Ethos on the other hand is the use of authority be it moral or technical expertise to make an authoritative argument while logos is the use of reason to make a persuasive argument. The article is littered with the use of logos or logical reasoning to make an argument. This is expected because the author discussed a scientific phenomenon which is the mass deaths in bee colonies. This was very obvious with the use of factual figures to quoting studies by experts in the field both by individuals and institutions. This may make the paper a difficult read but it was necessary to make the case convincing why the mass deaths of honeybee is alarming. The paper began in this note to establish credibility using hard figures such as citing 237 items out of 453 items vanished when honeybees are removed from the produce section of Whole Foods store in Rhode Island making a thesis that honeybees "are the glue that holds our agricultural system together" (Walsh). The phenomenon of honeybees mass deaths were also assigned a scientific term by the experts as colony-collapse disorder (CCD) where the number of honeybee colonies that disappeared had increased causing honeybee kee pers money and their business as well as endangering our staple food from the perspective of science. The research leader at the U.S. Department of Agricultures Bee Research Laboratory says that â€Å"we are very close to the edge† (Walsh). Another aspect in the article that used the logos approach is the discussion of the causes of such mass deaths among honeybees which are the pesticides particularly the compound neonicotinoids, the Varoa mites and poisoned environment. The destructive mites Varoa was explained as a microscopic mite that kills billions of bees by burrowing into the brood cells that host baby bees and also on how to kill it such as â€Å"Monsanto’s RNA-interference technology that

Customer experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Customer experience - Essay Example When being given service, the customers will feel appreciated because the attendants will use etiquettes and respect the decision they make. In addition, the will feel appreciated by being given offers. Moreover, the customers will not be restricted. They will be allowed to see what is happening in the stores. This will make them feel important. Free services such as wifi will make the customers to spend even more time in the stores. The shop will show them various mobile phones and other technological gadgets. In addition, they will be informed of their distinct specifications. This will increase their level of confidence towards the products being offered. This is because they can be able to check whether the gadget being purchased meets the specific requirements. When solving a problem, the customers will feel engaged because they will be taken through the steps being used come into a conclusion. This will improve their confidence towards the shop. Once they purchase a product or even fail to purchase a product, they will feel important by being appreciated for taking their time to visit the shop. All these experience will play a significant role in increasing their confidence and changing their perception towards the shop. In addition, they will increase the customer loyalty towards the shop and products being sold

Importance of Malaria Vaccine. Challenges of Malaria Vaccine Essay

Importance of Malaria Vaccine. Challenges of Malaria Vaccine - Essay Example In essence, the female anopheles mosquito transmits the plasmodium parasite. According to Coleman and Tsongalis 2009, it leaves the parasite in the human blood in the process of feeding on the blood meal. However, â€Å"Anopheles gambiae, Anopheles arabiensis and Anopheles funestus†are the maintransmitters of malaria in human beings. All the malaria manifest through common symptoms like fever, although some patients progress to severe malaria that is often caused by the P. falciparum species. Essentially, it takes one to three days after infection for the infecting parasites to release the infection depending on their species. Additionally, merozoites are released through the lysis of infected erythrocytes with the inclusion of waste substances such as red membrane products, hemozoin pigments and glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI). The infectivity of red cells by the parasite of malaria like, P. falciparum brings about progressive together with mechanical alternation of the re d cells that can deteriorate over time into the life threatening complications of malaria Although, P.falciparum has devastatingly castigated as the major contribution to severe malaria all over the world. For instance, there have been severe infections and reports of death due to infections of P. vivax and P. knowlesi. Some pathophysilogical features like sponge biomass, reset and confiscation alter formality and restraint of parasitized erythrocyte. Endothelial activation, injury, dysfunction and altered thrombostasis have been found to entail the acquisition of severe malaria. This is common in cases of P. falciparum infection (Choffnes and Relman 2011). However, malaria’s chronicity is rare and if it happens it leads to induction of sterilizing immunity. Individuals who experience repeated exposures may be in dire need of re-exposure of the parasite if cured through drug treatment. Thus, there is a need into curbing the ease into which malaria parasite are capable of inva ding human hosts while at the same time minimizing the immune response arm (Coleman and Tsongalis 2009). Basically, two models of supporting the protection against the chances of infection of malaria through vaccination exist. The first type of vaccine entails immunization with irradiated sporozoites, which are meant to ensure maximum protection against possibility of malaria infection. The other type of vaccine entails the repeated exposure to malaria that induces immunity malaria infections and effective protection against any clinical manifestation of malaria. Importance of Malaria Vaccine Malaria has been rated among the fastest killer disease all over the world. Hence, much has to be done in order to curb the disease against causing deaths especially in infants, and the old people who have weak defence system toward diseases. In essence, malaria has not been controlled by the widespread deployment of existing control tools in most endemic areas. Moreover, there has been increas ed concern on the surfacing of insecticides and anti malarial drugs (Palmer and Reeder 2001). Vaccinations are been described as relative tools that are used to deliver and have played major roles toward the elimination of rinderpest, smallpox and other similar diseases. Never the less, the malaria vaccine is expected to provide direct individual protection against malaria infection and it clinical consequences. Additionally,, it is meant to decrease the rate of transmission of malaria infections better known as herd immunity. Immunization using Irradiated Sporozoites The possibility of giving safeguard against experimental sporozoite issues through the immunization by use of radiation attenuated sporozoites is evidenced in rodents, the natural rodents’

Sustainability Assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Sustainability Assessment - Assignment Example Sustainable building methods are building methods that do not deplete the resources of the environment, but rather can be supported by them. The concept of sustainable development and sustainable building methods are no longer new. In Our Common Future (1987) the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) states that, "sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The document, popularly known as the Brundtland Report goes on to state that the term needs gives priority to "the essential needs of the worlds poor" and that, inevitably, limitations are placed on sustainable development by "the state of technology and social organisation," the environments capacity, and consideration of future needs and circumstances. Sustainability, be it in project design or international development, must not deplete the asset stock of the natural environment. Therefore, sustainable development can be defined as development that the environment can support without depletion or degradation both in the present and in the future. Beyond this, sustainability means more than environmentally friendly development. Sustainability consists of a triple bottom line. The environment is one of three considerations that include also the economy and society at large. The concept of sustainability is no longer new. The concept of sustainable building methods is newer but also no longer new. However, the theoretical development of a concept and its application do not occur coincidentally. Beyond the concept of sustainability, sustainable building methods need to be developed and implemented to realize the concept of sustainable building in practice. Finally, metrics have to be developed to determine the relative sustainability of comparative methods and the overall sustainability of a given technique or structure. According to Integral Sustainability, the concept

Can adult models for CBT be used with children & adolescents with PTSD Essay

Can adult models for CBT be used with children & adolescents with PTSD a critical evaluation - Essay Example A child’s response to a given trauma may vary according to the age, nature, duration and type of stressor, gender or any other previous history of exposure. Children have the capacity to link the traumatic event with any other event with similar features. This capacity leads to the psychological, emotional and behavioral symptoms that develop after a traumatic event (Perry and Pollard, 1998). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a clinical syndrome that is usually developed after experiencing an extreme traumatic stress (DSM IV). Following is the criteria for the diagnosis of PTSD in children. A child is said to have Acute Stress Disorder (DSM IV) when the above criteria is met during the month after the traumatic experience. Further characterization of PTSD shows a child in acute stage when the symptoms develop in less than three months, Chronic in more than three months and Delayed Onset when initial symptoms develop six months or more after the traumatic event (Perry, 1999). The diagnosis of PTSD in very young children is difficult due to the inability of the children to report the traumatic event and symptoms (Scheeringa et al. 1995). Lifetime incidence of PTSD ranges from 3-14 % (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 1994). Various studies have been carried out to examine the prevalence of PTSD in adolescents. The studies showed that 3% of females and 1% of males met the DSM IV criteria of PTSD (Cuffe et al. 1998). Greater female adolescent population met the criteria for PTSD than males. Higher prevalence rates for PTSD were reported among children who have been exposed to traumatic events and was even were higher in high-risk groups. 35% of the adolescents diagnosed with cancer met the criteria for lifetime PTSD (Pfefferbaum, 1997). 15% of young cancer patients had moderate to severe PTSS (Stuber et al. 1997); 93% of children exposed to domestic violence had PTSS (Kilpatrick, Williams, 1998); 80% of Kuwaiti youth exposed to the

Sustainability Assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Sustainability Assessment - Assignment Example Sustainable building methods are building methods that do not deplete the resources of the environment, but rather can be supported by them. The concept of sustainable development and sustainable building methods are no longer new. In Our Common Future (1987) the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) states that, "sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The document, popularly known as the Brundtland Report goes on to state that the term needs gives priority to "the essential needs of the worlds poor" and that, inevitably, limitations are placed on sustainable development by "the state of technology and social organisation," the environments capacity, and consideration of future needs and circumstances. Sustainability, be it in project design or international development, must not deplete the asset stock of the natural environment. Therefore, sustainable development can be defined as development that the environment can support without depletion or degradation both in the present and in the future. Beyond this, sustainability means more than environmentally friendly development. Sustainability consists of a triple bottom line. The environment is one of three considerations that include also the economy and society at large. The concept of sustainability is no longer new. The concept of sustainable building methods is newer but also no longer new. However, the theoretical development of a concept and its application do not occur coincidentally. Beyond the concept of sustainability, sustainable building methods need to be developed and implemented to realize the concept of sustainable building in practice. Finally, metrics have to be developed to determine the relative sustainability of comparative methods and the overall sustainability of a given technique or structure. According to Integral Sustainability, the concept

Causes, Negative Effects of Child Abuse and Prevention Research Paper

Causes, Negative Effects of Child Abuse and Prevention - Research Paper Example This cause can be because of social-economic factors, parental profile, the family environment or child related factors. Parental related causes: In parental profile there are such factors as stressful conditions, health and mental problems, alcoholism and drug addiction, parenthood at youthful age and finally lack of proper parenting skills. All this factors in one way or another contribute directly or indirectly to the abuse of children or increases the susceptibility of children being abused. Family environment causes : Some of the factors within the family set up that increases the risk of children being abused include; constant marital conflicts and fights of the parents ,high burden of person responsibility and lack of support associated with single parenthood and failure of the parents to recognize and reward good behaviors but instead looking for negative behaviors in order to punish. Child related causes: Children in most cases do not contribute directly to being victims of mistreatment. ... , lack of social support, dangerous and risk neighborhoods and lastly violent communities that support the use of physical force to punish children (stopchildabusenow.com.au, 2008) 2.0 Effects of child abuse Child abuse and neglect results into physical, psychological, cognitive and behavioral consequences which are at times interrelated (Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (HHS), Washington, DC. e tal, 2003) Physical health problems: Health problems in children that are related to abuse include baby shaken syndrome that may result into brain damage, spinal cord injuries, impaired hearing, speech difficulties or even death. Trauma and psychological problems: Children undergoing mistreatment can suffer from complex trauma disorder which does affect the development of brain, interferes with capability of a child to integrate sensory, cognitive and emotional information and this eventually makes the child to overreact to subsequent stress situations. Learning and developmental problems: M altreatment of a child in early childhood does seriously affects the capacity development in infants particularly in area of speech and language. This in turn results in learning difficulties and poor performance and achievements academically. Mental problems: Mental problems particularly in adolescent is associated with abuse in childhood and the rates are generally higher in adolescent than in young children. In children and adolescents mental problems may include depression and anxiety disorders. Behavioral problems: Children abused in childhood portray complex behavior problems in adolescent. These behaviors may include isolation, sadness, depressions, aggressiveness, hyper reaction and improper sexual behaviors (Larmot, 2011) 3.0. Prevention of child abuse Children abuse and neglect

Impact of Major Sports Events on the Economy

Impact of Major Sports Events on the Economy Introduction The use of sports markets to explore questions of economic interest has a long history as the majority of this literature analyses US sports, notably American football, basketball, baseball, and ice hockey, whilst there is also a considerable interest in soccer, the leading world sport (For example, the 1998 European Short Course Swimming, 1999 European Show Jumping and the 2001 World Half Marathon Championships). Over the past two decades there has been increased competition among cities, regions and countries to host mega sporting events Therefore Government and other proponents of major sporting events usually seek to back up their claims of the event providing an economic boost by commissioning an economic impact statement. For example, Economic Research Associates (1984) study of the Los Angeles Olympics, Humphreys and Plummers (1992) study of the Atlanta Olympics, and KPMG Peat Marwicks (1993) study of the Sydney Olympics. Hosting a sport event has revealed a number of benefits in our communities and of those benefits, some reasons like increasing community visibility, positive psychic income, and enhancing community image are all common and acceptable postulations. Economic impact in sporting events can be defined as the net change in an economy resulting from a sport event and the change is caused by activity involving the acquisition, operation, development, and use of sport facilities and services (Lieber and Alton, 1983)which in turn generate visitors spending, public spending, employment opportunities, and tax revenue. In study of economic impact Expenditures can be categorized as direct, indirect, and induced effects. For example direct expenditure is the investment needed to meet the increased demand of visitors for goods and services. Indirect effects are the ripple effect of additional rounds of re-circulating the initial spectators dollars. Induced effects are the increase in employment and household income that result from the economic activity fueled by the direct and indirect effects (Dawson, Blahna, Keith, 1993; Howard Crompton, 1995). Sports Economics possesses substantial experience in economic consulting to the sports industry, with specific knowledge of the economic impact of facilities, events, and teams so considering the publicity and scrutiny surrounding such studies, it is imperative to select a firm that not only has substantial experience, but also has a reputation for consistently providing an accurate assessment of economic impact. There are following reasons to conduct economic impact studies of sport events and Firstly, because many sport events in our communities were financed by public tax support, economic impact studies continue to be an important public relations tool for city government. Secondly, there is doubt that sporting events may actually help develop a community in relative to its economy therefore, accurate estimates should be proposed and the results should be reported to community members and Thirdly, as sport is not just an entertainment but an industry so the results of economic impact may be a cornerstone to develop many related businesses in communities. Finally, positive or negative economic results of sport events may be an important method to determine communities draft budget for the coming year so as an example in July of 2001, Beijing was awarded the 2008 Summer Olympic Games so most people assume that such an event will bring enormous economic benefits to the host city not just dur ing the event, but for years afterward. The scale of the organization, facilities and infrastructure required for such a huge undertaking are such that the Games cannot but have substantial economic effects (Sydney 2000 Games, p 2) but what exactly are these economic effects, and how do they affect the quality of life of local residents? The relevance of studies for example, it seems logical that a less developed country will have more to gain from long term growth opportunities. Matheson and Baade (2003) argue, however, that the prospects of mega-sporting events are even worse for developing countries and the opportunity costs of providing state of the art facilities are much higher and lack of modern infrastructure requires significant additional investment. This report examines the wider benefits that move beyond the economic impact and proffers the adoption of the balanced scorecard approach to event evaluation. Moreover, the data from the past economic impact studies were used to produce an economic impact forecasting model designed to predict the economic impact attributable to an event prior to it taking place. This Research have been developed by undertaking wider evaluations of some of the events, for example, the 1998 European Short Course Swimming, 1999 European Show Jumping and the 2001 World Half Marathon Championships. Beyond the economic impact generated by an event, these wider evaluations have also examined the public profile achieved by the events and looked in particular at the media value associated with television coverage and place marketing effects linked to such coverage. This Report also provides additional analysis which helps to put IPL event into context by: Outlining the generic economic benefits and return on investment to a countrys economy of hosting a major event such as IPL. Profiling IPL and comparing it to other similar international events in respect of the key elements underpinning economic impact. Identifying regional factors and drivers that may affect the economic impact of IPL in different regions Outlining the possible contribution to a Host Nations Government via taxation, as a result of hosting IPL, investment and cost associated with IPL. Literature Review on Economic Impact Studies Precursor The aim of this literature review is to understand direct and indirect impact of major sports events on economy and understand how major sports can open new dimension in economy. This has been done through referring various journals, articles and magazines; also a survey has been carried out as part of primary research to analyze impact of major sports event on Economy; however validation of data collected is subject to sources and prevailing conditions. Final phase of this study on IPL covers analysis of contribution of IPL to Indian economy, It analyze that how IPL has opened a new dimension for Indian economy to grow and attracts domestic and foreign investors. This phase also covers SWOT analysis of IPL, reasons critical to success of IPL and future ahead. Statement of Purpose Previously many research studies have contributed to understand economic impact of sport and/or recreational events; however most studies are based upon the researchers personal perception and arguable methodology. The purpose of this study was to review previous economic impact studies and to construct framework for conducting an economic impact study. This entire theoretical framework has been tested by analyzing a case study of economic Impact of mega sports events like Indian Premier League on Indian economy. Literature Review To study Economic impact of sports is challenging topic in the field of management fields because estimating the economic impact of sporting events and make some constructive statement is very difficult and subjective. Due to the subjective nature of social science, ideas and methodology vary from person to person for conducting economic impact studies. The main barrier behind conducting social science research is based on the level of competitiveness and belief in understanding of the material. and also social objects are hidden behind a screen of pre-constructed discourses which present the worst barrier to scientific investigation, and countless sociologists believe they are talking about the object of study when they are merely relaying the discourse which, in sport as elsewhere, the object produces about itself, whether through its officials, supporters or journalists (Bourdieu, 1999). Therefore, construction of truly scientific objects implies a break with common representation s, which can notably be effected by taking these pre-notions as the object of study so this report examines the wider benefits that move beyond the economic impact and proffers the adoption of the balanced scorecard approach to event evaluation. This consolidated piece of research builds on the original Measuring Success in 1999 which was based on the premise that major sports events have the potential to achieve significant economic impacts for the host town, city or area but economic impact is now one of the parameters upon which an events success is measured. Major sports events have the potential to achieve significant economic impacts for the host town, city or area, Countries, who host the mega sports event, should make a roadmap for significant investments in sports venues and other infrastructure. It is generally assumed that the scale of such event and roadmap of the preparation for it will create large and long lasting economic benefits to the host country. This would result in huge economic benefits that would have significant economic impact. However unfortunately these studies are constructed around misapplications of economic theoretical framework that virtually guarantee their projections will be large. Ex-post studies have consistently showed no evidence of positive economic impacts from mega-sporting events even remotely approaching the estimates in economic impact studies. For example, in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China have put up huge investments in infrastructure and facility recreation to a new level. Th e opportunity for long term economic benefits from the mega sports event like Beijing, critically depend on how well mega sports events related investments in venues and infrastructure can be incorporated into the overall economy in the years following the Games In current scenario economic impact studies have become standard operating procedure for supporters of public funding for sports events. It has led to acceptance of their findings by the government and public due to their prevalence with no critical evaluation. Due to the huge investment involve in such high profile mega sports events, large and positive Economic effects are taken as given; the studies confirm what is already believed. The promise of worldwide exposure and economic gain has made hosting these major and regularly scheduled sporting affairs a lucrative goal for aspiring cities around the world (Short 2000, p. 320). Hosting a mega sport event like Olympic, has exhibited a number of large and long lasting benefits in our communities like enhancing community image, increasing community visibility and positive psychic income are all common and acceptable postulations. However, sport is not just limited to an entertainment, also it act as full fledge industry, the results of economic impact may be a cornerstone to develop many related businesses in communities. Positive or negative economic results of sport events may be a critical factor to determine communities draft budget for the coming year. Mega-events such as the Olympic Games require large sums of public money to be spent on venues and infrastructure improvements. Economic impact studies are often commissioned In order to justify the use of large sum of public money towards invariably large inflows of money that will have a long-term positive effect on the economy by such means as job creation and visitor spending. Scale of the mega sports event which attract large amounts of money from outside a local economy, are forecasted to have economic impacts in the billions of dollars The simple elegance of economic impact studies, injections of money circulating over and over in an economy to create a multiplier effect, has an alluring something for-nothing quality that is hard to refute. However to justify a counter argument can be difficult due to numerous mistakes made in economic impact studies. Critics have focused on numerous subjective areas like: 1) using multipliers that are too large, 2) treating costs as benefits, 3) ignoring opportunity costs and 4) using gross spending instead of net changes. In hosting mega sports event the major part of investment required on constructing stadiums, which to a large degree is spent on hiring construction workers and purchasing materials from local suppliers, is counted as a benefit to the local economy. However It is backward looking and the most egregious error in economic impact studies, which looks on production cost benefit of the project and ignores the effect of the actual consumption of the products on economy. Ex-post studies, however, have consistently found no evidence of positive economic impacts from mega-sporting events even remotely approaching the estimates in economic impact studies. In a study of the impact of Super Bowls on local economies, Philip Porter (1999) found no measurable impact on spending associated with the event. The projected spending and spill over benefits of regional impact models ever materialize (Porter 1999, p. 61) Porters explanation is that capacity constraints in the hotel industry cause room prices to increase with no change in occupancy rates. Higher rates contribute to the crowding out of regular traffic and net spending in areas other than hotel rooms changes little or not at all. Longer term sports programs, usually involving stadium subsidies to attract or keep professional teams, have also failed to deliver on projected economic benefits. Even for cities that usually are considered success stories for sports development strategy, such as Baltimore (Hamilton and Kahn 1997) and Indianapolis (Rosentraub 1994), empirical research does not find evidence of statistically or economically significant positive impacts. Sports economists, on the other hand, have found economic impact studies lacking both in theory and practice. Ex-post studies have consistently failed to find evidence of any economic benefits related to sports teams and facilities. In examining recent retrospective studies, Coates and Humphreys (2003, p. 6) concluded building new sports facilities and attracting new professional sports teams did not raise income per capita or total employment in any US city. A closer look at the methodology of such studies reveals an appealing but fundamentally flawed line of economic reasoning that virtually guarantees a forecast of large economic benefits. The term economic impact analysis refers to rigorous surveys, research, and modeling to estimate the direct and indirect economic effects of an entity or event on the local, county, state, or U.S. economy, as measured by employment, tax revenue, income, or gross product (overall economic output). The impact of an economic event is the summation of direct effects and indirect effects. For example, when a hundred dollars is invested in building a new library in a city, that money (the stimulus) flows through the local economy multiple times as construction supplies are purchased, and as construction workers spend their paychecks at local supermarkets, restaurants, and other retailers, who in turn buy more inventory, and so on. That is, an initial stimulus triggers a chain of spending. This chain of spending is estimated via multipliers. The term economic impact used in isolation can be interpreted in different ways in both the short term and long term. Therefore, in order to be clear what is meant in the context of the sixteen events reviewed in this report, UK Sport has adopted the following definition within its major events strategy: The net economic change in a host community that results from spending attributed to a sports event or facility. Turco Kelsey (1992) The change is caused by activity involving the acquisition, operation, development, and use of sport facilities and services (Lieber Alton, 1983). These in turn generate visitors spending, public spending, employment opportunities, and tax revenue. Specifically, the economic impacts of expenditure are composed of direct, indirect, and induced effects. Direct effects are the purchases needed to meet the increased demand of visitors for goods and services. Indirect effects are the ripple effect of additional rounds of re-circulating the initial spectators dollars. Induced effects are the increase in employment and household income that result from the economic activity fueled by the direct and indirect effects (Dawson, Blahna, Keith, 1993; Howard Crompton, 1995). The initial construction of a $10 million sports facility provides an initial impact of $10 million on the local economy. This is the direct impact. Clearly, the construction of the facility will require concrete, steel, co nstruction workers, and so forth. The money spent on these materials and services comprises the indirect expenditures, or the indirect impacts. (Hefner 1990, pp. 4-5) In high level terms economic impact studies aim to measure the increased economic activity surrounding an event. For sporting events, the key stimulants of activity are the expenditure of spectators, event organisers and other stakeholders, which flow through the local economy to expand total regional and national GDP. The diagram below illustrates the principal components of economic impact. There are three broad areas in which impact will occur, as follows: Core impacts primarily comprising expenditure by, or generated from, international spectators attending sports events from tickets and match day catering; Other direct impacts comprising spending by spectators and other visitors on accommodation, food and beverage, transport and other spending, as well as investment in infrastructure; and Indirect and induced impacts relating to the ripple effect as the direct spending is recycled through the economy. The primary components are indirect impacts, achieved largely by businesses spending on suppliers, and induced impacts, as recipients reinvest money in the economy themselves. In addition, there is also significant expenditure by domestic residents. Domestic spending comprises an important element of the full value of sports event to a Host Nation. Economic impact is based on the theory that a dollar flowing into an economy, that otherwise would not have been spent, is a benefit to the economy. Economic impact studies not only measure economic impact, but are also used to provide information in the decision to publicly fund sports venues or sports commissions/authorities, or to measure the success of events hosted in a local community in generating positive economic outcomes for both the event owners and the locale. Economic impact analysis measures new spending in a local economy due to the presence of, for example, a facility or an event. The change in the economy is measured in terms of total new spending, fiscal impact (total new taxes collected), personal income generated, and jobs created, both directly and indirectly. By increasing the new money in an economy, the economic benefit is serving a greater good by increasing government tax revenue, augmenting business income, and ultimately resulting in more jobs and higher personal income for residents of that economy. In developing the model there are specific regional factors and drivers that will have an influence on the economic impact The diagram below illustrates the key components in determining the potential economic impact : Event Economic Effects/Impacts (Pre-event Post-event phases) Economic growth (GDP) and impact Targeted growth in economic relevant sectors Direct and indirect employment created Direct, indirect and induced impacts (Multipliers Analysis) Economic-social Net Present Value Touristy flows (visitors economy) Olympic legacy (stadia infra-structures) Globalization (Global branding exposure) Sports Economics possesses substantial experience in economic consulting to the sports industry, with specific knowledge of the economic impact of facilities, events, and teams. Considering the publicity and scrutiny surrounding such studies, it is imperative to select a firm that not only has substantial experience, but also has a reputation for consistently providing an accurate assessment of economic impact. Sports Economics methodology is sound and defensible, and we are qualified to and capable of affirming our results to any audience necessary The benefit in economic terms to a host economy is defined according to the additional expenditure by visitors to that economy which is directly attributable to the staging of the event. These visitors can come from elsewhere in the same country or from overseas. If the visitors come from elsewhere in the same country, any economic impact is actually a redistribution of money around that countrys economy and is not necessarily new money to the economy. Visitors from overseas actually provide new money in the form of invisible exports and potentially a net export effect on overall GDP. One might argue that the quality of economic impact can be gauged according to the net export effect associated with an event, namely the extent of any new money brought into the UK economy from overseas visitors (and other sources) as a result of staging an event. However, this may be of little concern to local organisers who do not care whether any additional expenditure is attributable to someone fro m for example the USA or elsewhere in the UK, hence redistribution is not an issue. The main point of note is that only some people are eligible for inclusion in the economic impact calculations i.e. visitors to the host city or area specifically as a result of an event being staged. The remainder live locally and their expenditure would have been made regardless of a specific event taking place, hence such expenditure is termed deadweight and not eligible for inclusion in the calculations. Obtaining a value for the initial impact of a team or event is the first step in any economic impact study. The initial impact is then magnified through the use of a multiplier, based on the idea that money brought into a local economy will be respent over and over, becoming income for others in the economy. In this way a multiplier also magnifies the errors made in calculating initial impact, especially by once again failing to recognize opportunity costs. The multiplier is applied to any new spending in the economy regardless of the source. If the multiplier does not depend on the spending source, then it is useless in the comparison of alternative projects. The multiplier effect accounts for the overall economic impact of a sport event. The multiplier effect demonstrates the process through which initial spending in a region generates further rounds of re-spending within the region. The ripping process of subsequent re-spending is the multiplier effect. The basic principle of the multiplier effect begins with an initial spending as an increased income into an economy. A portion of the increased income is spent and further re-spent within the region (Archer, 1984; Crompton, 1995; Wang, 1997). In summary, there are three elements that contribute to the total impact of visitor spending: Direct impact (the first-round effect of visitor spending), Indirect impact (the ripple effect of additional rounds of re-circulating the initial visitors dollars), and Induced impact, which is further ripple effects caused by employees of impacted business spending some of their salaries and wages in other business in the host community (Howard Crompton, 1995). A variety of multiplier used modeling techniques are available: TEIM (Travel Economic Impact Model), RIMS (Regional Input-output Modeling System) (Donnelly, Vaske, DeRuiter, Loomis, 1998; Wang, 1997), TDSM (Tourism Development Simulation Model) (Donnelly, et al., 1998), RIMS II (Regional Input-output Modeling System, version II) (Wang, 1997), ROI (measuring financial Return On Investment) (Turco Navarro, 1993), and IMPLAN (Impact Analysis for Planning) (Bushnell Hyle, 1985; Dawson, Blahna, Keith, 1993; Donnelly, et al., 1998; Howard Crompton, 1995; and Wang, 1997). Of those modeling techniques, IMPLAN is one of popular methods. The IMPLAN model was developed by the U.S. Forest Service and Engineer Economics Associates, Inc. The IMPLAN develops input-output models for all states and counties in the United States. This model was used to estimate the employment, income, and net sales and adopted as the regional impact analysis program-of-choice. Another often-used model is RIMS, whi ch was developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). This model also offers input-output tables down to the country level (Turco Kelsey, 1992). Also, a lot of simple formulas were developed to conduct economic impact study of sport events by local sport commission companies. In addition to the standard projections of economic impact, Olympic studies also include longer term benefits sometimes referred to as the Olympic Legacy. These legacy effects, derived from positive publicity from the Games, include increased tourism after the Games, attraction of business, and infrastructure investments that improve the urban environment. Legacy impacts are generally not incorporated into the economic impact numbers, but rather offered as an additional, unquantifiable benefit. The lack of any ex post study that finds improvements in economic growth or living standards due to mega events should cast some suspicion on the legacy effects of Olympics, or at least the ability of such effects to be transformed into real economic benefits to the local economy. Baade and Matheson (2002) found the evidence suggests that the economic impact of the Olympics is transitory, onetime changes rather than a steady-state change (p. 28). Empirical Analyses of Economic Impact Statements It is one thing to point out bias that could potentially be introduced in impact studies. It is another thing altogether to examine whether actual economic impact studies are, in practice, truly flawed. One tool that can be used to determine the accuracy of economic impact studies is ex post comparisons of predicted economic gains to actual economic performance of cities hosting sporting events. Empirical studies have been conducted on the observed economic impacts of large sporting events as well as on the construction of new sport facilities. On the sport facility side, numerous researchers have examined the relationship between new facilities and economic growth in metropolitan areas (Baade Dye, 1990; Rosentraub, 1994; Baade, 1996; Noll Zimbalist, 1997; Coates Humphreys, 1999). In every case, independent analysis of economic impacts made by newly built stadiums and arenas has uniformly found no statistically significant positive correlation between sport facility construction and economic development (Siegfried Zimbalist, 2000). This stands in stark contrast to the claims of teams and leagues, who assert that the large economic benefits of professional franchises merit considerable public expenditures on stadiums and arenas. On the events side, nearly every national or international sporting event elicits claims of huge benefits accruing to the host city. For example, the National Football League typically claims an economic impact from the Super Bowl of around $400 million (National Football League, 1999), Major League Baseball attaches a $75 million benefit to the All-Star Game (Selig et al., 1999), and the NCAA Final Four in Mens Basketball is estimated to generate from $30 million to $110 million (Mensheha, 1998; Anderson, 2001). Multi-day events such as the Olympics or soccer World Cup produce even larger figures. The pre-Olympics estimates for Atlantas Games in 1996 suggested the event would generate $5.1 billion in direct and indirect economic activity and 77,000 new jobs in Georgia (Humphreys Plummer, 1995). In many cases, variation in the estimates of benefits alone raises questions about the validity of studies. A series of economic impact studies of the NBA All-Star game produced numbers ranging from a $3 million windfall for the 1992 game in Orlando to a $35 million bonanza for the game three years earlier in Houston (Houck, 2000). The ten-fold disparity in the estimated impact of the event in different years serves to illustrate the ad hoc nature of these studies. Similarly, ahead of the 1997 NCAA Womens Basketball Final Four, an economic impact of $7 million was estimated for the local economy in Cincinnati, while the same event two years later was predicted to produce a $32 million impact on the San Jose economy (Knight Ridder News Service, 1999). Such increases cannot be explained by changes in general price levels or growth in the popularity of the tournament. Instead, they are explained by the fact that economic impact studies are highly subjective and vulnerable to significant error as well as manipulation. In further cases, the size of an estimate can strain credulity. The Sports Management Research Institute estimated the direct economic benefit of the U. S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows, NY, to be $420 million for the tri-state area, more than any other sporting or entertainment event in any city in the United States; this sum represents 3% of the total annual direct economic impact of tourism for New York (United States Tennis Association, 2001). It is simply impossible to believe that 1 in 30 tourists to New York City in any given year are visiting the city solely to attend the U. S. Open. Similarly, the projected $6 billion impact of a proposed World Cup in South Africa in 2006 would suggest that soccer games and their ancillary activities would represent over 4% of the entire gross domestic product of the country in that year (South Africa Football Association, 2000). As in the case of sports facilities, independent work on the economic impact of mega-sporting events has routinely found the effect of these events on host communities to be either insignificant or an order of magnitude less than the figures espoused by the sports promoters. In a study of six Super Bowls dating back to 1979, Porter (1999) found no increase in taxable sales in the host community compared to previous years without the game. Similarly, Baade and Matheson (2000) found that hosting the Super Bowl was associated with an increase in employment in host cities of 537 jobs, for a total impact of approximately $32 million, less than one-tenth the figure trumpeted by the NFL. In a study of 25 Major League Baseball all-star games held between 1973 and 1997, Baade and Matheson (2001) found that, in the case of three all-star games in California (1987, 1989, 1992), the events were correlated with worse-than-expected employment growth in host cities and were furthermore associated w ith an average reduction in taxable sales of nearly $30 million. Finally, Baade and Mathesons examination (1999) of the Olympic Games held in Los Angeles in 1984 and Atlanta in 1996 found total observed increases in economic activity of $100 million and of $440 million to $1.7 billion, respectively. While the range of the economic impact for Atlanta exhibits a great deal of uncertainty, even the most favorable figure is only one-third of the amount claimed by the host committee. Tax impact With its large economic footprint, long duration and significant international visitor numbers, mega sports event delivers substantial tax revenues to a Host Nations government. This section outlines the potential types of tax revenue that can accrue to a sport event host government and an indication of the possible levels of such tax revenue. In summary, the tax revenues to the government of the Host Nation include: Sales t