Nut wk7 assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nut wk7 assignment - Essay Example However, I took the initiative to put into practice the activities recommended by â€Å"Mypyramidtracker.† The most interesting activity was to carry out various body exercises and then calculate the corresponding energy expenditure from the calculator. I also developed the habit of being nutrition conscious and took control of my eating habits. The first time I did a food nutrition evaluation, I found that my diet consisted excessive energy-giving foods. Most of my diet consisted of deep fried potato chips, crumbled bread, almonds roasted with honey, chocolate milk, and cornflakes among others. The results from the calculator indicated that I was taking approximately 3210 Cal which was the above my daily recommended intake of 2630 Cal. Particularly, I was taking an excess of proteins, saturated fats, and carbohydrates. However, I was meeting the daily-recommended intake for total fiber, which I was able to maintain at 25. Vitamins and mineral elements requirements varied from one vitamin to another. Whereas the diet was exceeding the required daily intake for vitamins A, C, E, and riboflavin, it was falling short of thiamin, potassium, and zinc. After reading and understanding about the various health effects of taking less or more of one nutritional requirement, I decided to change my diet. I primarily reduced the amount of carbohydrate foods I was taking in a day and supplemented the same with vegetables and fruits. The changes were hardly noticeable within the first week but I began to record some changes in the third week. It was challenging at first since some of the substitutes were costly and difficult to choose from the food stores. For instance, I would not know what type of fruits or vegetables would help me meet or at least maintain the daily-recommended nutrient intake for some vitamins. Therefore, I had to exercise patience and do a lot of trial and

Gulliver in Brobdingnag Essay Example for Free

Gulliver in Brobdingnag Essay The setting of the passage to be analyzed here is that of Gullivers voyage to a land of giants. The speakers context here is the basic comic devices of reversal and exaggeration. When the dimensions of things are reversed there is a comic effect. When clowns at the circus ride around in a tiny car the effect is hilarious. In a famous Gary Larsen cartoon a gigantic monster is seen peering into a mans car through the wing mirror which reads: Things reflected in this mirror may appear to be larger than they are. The comic context employed by the speaker in the following passage, then, is that of a man suddenly turned tiny by circumstances beyond his control. There are, of course, classical antecedents for this type of size reversal. Odysseus in the cave of Cyclops would provide the best example. There are, no doubt, many who would argue that this incident in the Odyssey is not meant as humor. May we not at least wonder, however, if some of Homers audiences didnt chuckle when they heard about how the subtle Odysseus outwitted the giant? It will be argued in the following that Swifts intention throughout Part II as a whole is comic irony, and that the passage to be analyzed typifies the situation in which Gulliver finds himself when surrounded by giants. Starting off, a simple exaggeration introduces the passage: The Kings palace is about seven miles round suggesting the colossal size of the castle, the rooms within are two hundred and forty Foot high. Gulliver who is, as we have learned earlier, a proud and dignified man is reduced by his comparatively tiny dimensions to the role of a doll. All of his proud bearing and gentlemanly dignity disappears in a puff of smoke when his Mistress Glumdalclitch holds Gulliver up in her hand to give him a better view of the surroundings. Swifts choice of words at the beginning of this passage also provides an ironic effect. Gulliver who is, in fact, a freak in this society reports that when Glumdalclitch is taken out to see the town, I was always of the party, carried in my Box To be of the party suggests social (and physical) equality, but when Swift follows this dignified phrase with the description in my box the effect is humorous, since Gulliver is revealed as the curiosity and freak that he is by the fact that he travels in a box like a doll. Swifts imagery in this passage allowed allows the reader to see other human-like creature from the perspective of a very tiny person. It also demonstrates to the reader once again that Swift loves to engage in the humor of the disgusting and the impolite. When a group of Brobdingnagian beggars presses up against the carriage to view the strange little creature that is our speaker, Gulliver is able to observes the cancer on the breast of a beggar woman full of holes, in two or three of which I could have easily crept and body lice and their snouts with which they rooted like Swine. There is a misogynist quality to this joke. The breast of a woman is presented as disgusting rather than as an inspiration to art and poetry. The idea of crawling into a cancerous lesion on a womans breast is an ugly parody of what men usually think about when they see the naked female breast which is to adore, kiss, or suck it. This type of humor is based on a simple reversal of the usual emotions inspired by an image. The equivalent would be, for example, to provide an image of the Queen of England sitting on a chamber pot rather than her throne. The imagery in the rest of this passage is also unforgettable, especially the wooden legs of a beggar which were each about twenty Foot high. Immediately following these alarming and disgusting images is another liars trick based on the category of emphasis. This is offered in Gullivers careful description of his Box. Before analyzing this part of the passage in detail a general comment on Swifts project in Gullivers Travels is required. The speaker mentions many times throughout the tale the phenomenon of travelers tails or books of voyages. These were supposedly factual accounts of what travelers from Europe had seen on the other side of the world. They were, of course, full of lies and Swifts project throughout much of the book is to satirize the lying authors of these books. One well known liars trick is to emphasize the details of some fictional object. This is what Gulliver does with the description of his Box. Its origin is carefully described: the Queen ordered a smaller one to be made for me Its design and dimensions are carefully recorded: This traveling Closet was an exact Square with a Window in the Middle of three of the Squares , etc. The important detail of the boxs construction which will eventually allow for Gullivers salvation by sailors is also carefully noted: On the fourth side, which had no windows, two strong staples were fixed , and so on. There is a dual purpose to what we might call the liars emphasis lavished on this passage. The first is to satirize the books of travelers tales so popular in Swifts days in which exact descriptions of fantastic creatures were given to fool the credulous. The second is to prepare the reader for Gullivers eventual escape. This happens in his traveling box which is then conveniently destroyed by the sailors who rescue him so that no substantial evidence of his adventure remains, and the gullible can easily believe the whole story of Gulliver among the Brobdingnags. The comic irony is an effective device in satirizing human folly. The absurdity in the relationship between these two elements is essentially targeted at England (Gulliver), the Wigs, specifically, whereby Swift is attacking his opposition. In the spirit of Swifts famous word play about his good Master Bates, we can rename his fable Gullibles Travels.

Incarceration Rates of Minorities in the US

Incarceration Rates of Minorities in the US With law enforcement poised to eliminate crime and the people who commit it, the building of new jails and prison seem to be the likeliest answer to the problem. Throughout American history, minorities have always been portrayed as dark and evil to name a couple of stereotypes. With the help of television and other means of media the focus has been set to create a mental consciousness to presume every black, Hispanic, and anyone closely related as armed and extremely dangerous. This has cause an unfair disadvantage for people of color, but has left the perception of the white race crystal clean. Just as there are bad people everywhere, there are bad cops, judges, and politicians in every police department, court house, and legislative branch that forge evidence to meet arrest quotas that the system needs to have in place; setup by the elitist to fund their need to have slave labor for their manufacturing companies. Some minorities have been falsely accused and persuaded by police bru tality in order to coerce false confessions, and the judges fall in their place to announce the sentencing. Throughout years of focusing on media events that always place blacks and other minorities in a position of being the bad guy. Today the jail and prison population is primarily made up of blacks. Although there are Hispanics, as well whites, the main overcrowding comes from blacks being locked up on frivolous charges. But there’s a deeper reason behind why this injustice is happening to blacks, and it all stems from the system’s need of the incarceration of minorities. To test the influence of local county politics on minority incarceration rates, data are collected at the county level in most states to create a pooled cross-sectional data set. OLS regression models predicting black, Hispanic, and white incarceration rates in state prison are used in the analysis. Counties ideological orientations and racial and ethnic contextual characteristics significantly impact minority incarceration rates. Greater ideological conservatism within counties is associated with higher rates as a proportion of their population of both black and Hispanic incarceration. Consistent with racial threat theory, results show counties with greater racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to incarcerate blacks and Hispanics. Tests for interaction effects indicate that greater county diversity decreases the punitive effects of ideological conservatism on minority incarceration. Political forces nested within states systematically shape how state government incarceration p ower is distributed across different racial and ethnic groups. (Bridges and Crutchfield, 1988; Greenberg and West, 2001; Western, 2006; Yates, 1997), The punitive paradigm that has characterized U.S. crime policy over the past three decades has led to important concerns about the distribution of one of government’s most intrusive powers; the ability to deprive citizen of their liberty through imprisonment across different racial and ethnic groups. It has been well documented that blacks are six to eight times more likely to be incarcerated relative to whites. (Western, 2006). Hispanics are over three and one-half times more likely to be incarcerated than whites. Blacks and Hispanics, together, account for nearly two-thirds of the state prison population. Disparities such as these within the criminal justice system have long engendered heated debate about principles of equality and civil rights. Imprisonment rates between the states are shown to be a function of a variety of state-level political and legal factors. From this research, there is clear evidence that political forces cause states to incarcerate at widely different rates, with minorities living in a particular state either more or less likely to be imprisoned, depending in part, on the politics within. Yet, while these studies have significantly advanced our understanding of the politics of incarceration, state-level studies often mask the fact that a state’s ‘‘use’’ of incarceration is largely a byproduct of political processes found at the local (county) level of government. When analyzing the politics of incarceration from the bottom up, top-dow n political forces like the partisan control of state-level institutions or state sentencing laws effectively become standardized, suggesting that local politics retains significant leverage over how a state’s imprisonment powers are allocated Given this, however, we know little about the extent to which incarceration rates are systematically tied to local environments and whether local politics systematically shape the imprisonment ratesof racial and ethnic minority groups. Two primary questions motivate this research: Do political forces shaped by the local ideological and racial and ethnic environment affect incarceration rates in ways that are disproportionately detrimental to racial and ethnic minorities? Second, to what extent does the racial and ethnic context interact with localized Ideological orientations to affect minority incarceration rates? Or, put another way, can diversity levels in a given jurisdiction work to strengthen or weaken the propensity of those who might, because of their ideological beliefs, be already more inclined to incarcerate minorities? Conservatives tend to view criminal activity as a matter of personal choice and focus on deterrence and incapacitation based policy responses. Beckett and Western (2001). Conservatives have been more likely to use incapacitation as a means to control a marginalized ‘‘underclass’’ of citizens that threatens the economic and political interests of elites. (Scheingold,1984), In contrast, ideological liberals tend to view crime as a function of structural impediments to success and place more emphasis on crime prevention policies rather than punishment after the fact. Beckett, and Sasson (2004). If ideological conservatives are more inclined to incarcerate, these orientations might also be expected to influence the target of those policies with racial minorities more likely to be targeted relative to whites. (Edsall and Edsall, 1992; Weaver, 2007), Republicans used crime and punishment as an effective tool to realign the political electorate by pursuing law and order policies that linked financially secure fiscal conservatives and middle to lower class conservatives who had little else in common, while blaming street crime and other social ills on a racial (black) underclass, conservative. Republicans made veiled appeals to anti minority hostilities among some lower income conservative whites by enacting punitive crime policies that were implemented in ways that put more blacks in prison, but invoked greater support at the ballot box. Insofar as these political pressures retain their influence on criminal justice policy making at the local level of government, as well as to minorities other  than blacks (i.e., Hispanics), it can be predicted that more conser vative counties will be more likely to incarcerate blacks and Hispanics (as a proportion of their respective population) in state prisons than are more liberal counties. Racial politics shaped by the local racial and ethnic contextual environment are also expected to influence minority incarceration rates. In racial politics literature, significant attention has been paid to social conflict or ‘‘racial threat’’ theory, which offers a ‘‘contextual’’ explanation for minority imprisonment. Dating back to the work of Key (1949), the main idea behind the theory is that when a minority population is small, it represents a relatively minor threat to the interests of the majority. However, as the number of minorities grows, they begin to threaten the economic and political interests of the majority population, increasing hostile attitudes toward minority populations among majority group members. Blalock (1967) argued that a majority groupà ¢â‚¬â„¢s repression of a minority group’s interests was based on two types of perceived threats those motivated by economic competition and those driven by competition over political power. A growing body of research has found evidence of a racial threat effect across a variety of institutional settings. (Hurwitz and Peffley, 1997). If racial hostilities increase in more diverse environments, there are more reasons to predict that these hostilities will spill over to influence criminal justice policy making. ‘‘Old-fashioned’’ white racism often concentrated on a perceived genetic inferiority of blacks to whites. Today, more common white stereotypes involve the perception of blacks as a violent, criminal underclass. These stereotypes, along with the assumption that objective demographic data which show blacks to be disproportionately linked to the U.S. penal system permeates the public’s consciousness to believe that most blacks are violent tha n whites. To a meaningful degree, likely increase the probability that whites associate crime and the criminal justice system with race. In conclusion; this research provides convincing evidence of ‘‘racialized’’ crime policy in the United States. The tendency among some whites to connect race with crime has important implications for state punitiveness and imprisonment of blacks more specifically. Whites who view blacks as violent have been shown to be more supportive of punitive policies like the death penalty and longer prison sentences. Following arguments associated with the racial threat idea, a more racially diverse environment is likely to trigger more negative stereotypes among whites living there, who, as a result, may be more apt to support punitive crime policies, particularly if there is the perception that the target population is black. However, existing tests of the racial threat hypothesis on black incarceration rates have brought mixed results. In so me state-level studies, once black arrest rates and other socioeconomic conditions are controlled, the racial threat hypothesis provides little predictive power (Bridges and Crutchfield, 1988; Yates, 1997). Others have found the proportion of blacks in a state does matter, but in the opposite direction predicted by the racial threat idea black imprisonment rates decreased in states with a greater black population (Yates and Fording, 2005). This mixed set of findings brings the possibility that a more appropriate test of a racial threat effect on imprisonment should be conducted at the local level. Measuring the influence of state racial composition on imprisonment has proven useful because it allows comparisons across jurisdictions; however, these efforts often gloss over the fact that state imprisonment rates are a function of decisions made by county law enforcement officials. If, indeed, incarceration rates are influenced by racial politics, it might be expected that county prose cutors, judges, or public defenders those with authority over prosecuting, sentencing, or defending offenders to/from state prison are most likely to be subject to racial ‘‘effects.’’ Assessing the influence of a racial threat on minority incarceration can also be advanced by considering whether political forces resulting from whites’ exposure to a variety of ethnic and racial minorities, rather than simply their exposure to larger black populations, affects minority imprisonment rates. References Percival, G. L. (2010).Ideology, Diversity, and Imprisonment: Considering the Influence of Local Politics on Racial and Ethnic Minority Incarceration Rates. Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 91(4), 1063-1082. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00749.x Bridges, George S., and Robert Crutchfield. 1988. ‘‘Law, Social Standing and Racial Disparities cin Imprisonment.’’ Social Forces 66(3):699–724. Western, Bruce. 2006. Punishment and Inequality in America. New York: Russell Sage  Foundation. Beckett, Katherine, and Theodore Sasson. 2004. The Politics of Injustice: Crime and Punishment  in America. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications. Edsall, Thomas B., and Mary D. Edsall. 1992. Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights,  and Taxes on American Politics. New York: W.W. Nortan Company. Scheingold, Stuart A. 1984. The Politics of Law and Order: Street Crime and Public Policy.  New York: Longman. Blalock, Hubert M. 1967. Toward a Theory of Minority Group Relations. New York: Wiley. Key, V. O. 1949. Southern Politics in State and Nation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Hurwitz, Jon, and Mark Peffley. 1997. ‘‘Public Perceptions of Race and Crime: The Role of  Racial Stereotypes.’’ American Journal of Political Science 41(2):375–401. Yates, Jeff. 1997. ‘‘Racial Incarceration Disparity Among the States.’’ Social Science Quarterly  78(4):1001–11. Yates, Jeff, and Richard Fording. 2005. ‘‘Politics and State Punitiveness in Black and White.’’  Journal of Politics 67(4):1099–1121.

Alvarez Shows Language Is A Tremendous Difference In Everyones Lives :: essays research papers

Alvarez Shows Language is A Tremendous Difference In Everyone's Lives In His Story Rudy and Yolanda communicated in completely different languages. By language, I mean the written, and spoken kind. More so I mean the traditions, and values that go hand in hand with learning a language. When they learned their own languages, they inherited their own set of ideals, that were changed by what, where, and how they were taught. Yolanda's language was Spanish. She learned to speak Spanish in the Dominican Republic. Her lifestyle was one of a strict Catholic girl. Yo had a very traditional father. He allowed nothing but what was the social norm. His social norms became hers. When she moved to the U.S., she was completely naive when it came to the American culture. Yolanda was raised in the way that the use of drugs and alcohol were totally unheard of. Pre-marital sex was something that was taboo, and strictly reinforced. She had grown up with very traditional values that were adopted from her mother and her father. She was never exposed to any outside stimuli. Whether or not it was voluntary, she was forced to conform to the rigid Hispanic values. This conformity kept her at bay. She couldn't experience the things necessary to become a whole person.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rudolf B. Elmhurst was a young man from a liberal family in the United States. His parents were easy-going people, with thoughts of letting Rudy develop on his own. He learned English much the same way Yolanda learned Spanish. He was taught by his parents. He also absorbed the culture around him and he learned the American way of doing things. Rudy had quite a bit of freedom. He could have come and gone as he pleased. He had no restrictions, and was allowed to grow freely. With that opportunity Rudolf Brodermann Elmenhurst was able to laugh along with everyone else at the mention of his difficult to pronounce name. He had been allowed to grow unrestricted, but not unchecked. While his parent were liberal, they still gave him the attention necessary, and the room to evolve. This independence helped him to be who he was, invincible to insult, injury, and always in control.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Yolanda and Rudy first met they were in English class. He had showed up late and totally unprepared for class, the exact opposite of her. She marveled at how he could walk in late, take what she thought of as an embarrassing scene, and laugh about it. She always went to class early, had all of her books and was well prepared for class.

Suzanne Britts Sloppy People vs Neat People

â€Å"Neat People vs. Sloppy People† appears in Britt’s collection show and tell. Mingling humor with seriousness (as she often does), Britt has called the book a report on her journey into â€Å"the awful cave of self: You shout your name and voices come back in exultant response, telling you their names. † In this essay about curtain inescapable personality traits, you may recognize some aspects of your own self, awful or otherwise. For a different approach to a similar subject, see the next essay, by Dave Barry. I’ve finally figured out the difference between neat people and sloppy people. The distinction is, as always, moral. Neat people are lazier and meaner than sloppy people. Sloppy people, you see, are not really sloppy. Their sloppiness is merely the unfortunate consequence of their extreme moral rectitude. Sloppy people carry in their mind’s eye a heavenly vision, a precise plan, that is so stupendous, so perfect, it can’t be achieved in this world or the next. Sloppy people live in Never-Never land. Someday is their Metier. Someday they are planning to alphabetize all their books and set up home catalogs. Someday they will go through their wardrobes and mark curtain items for tentative mending and curtain items for passing on to relatives of similar shape ands size. Someday sloppy people will make family scrapbooks into which they will out newspaper clippings, postcards, lock of hair, and the dried corsage from their senior prom. Someday they will file everything on the surface of their decks, including the cash receipt from coffee purchases at the snack shack. Someday they will sit down and read all the back issues of The New Yorker. For all these noble reason and more, sloppy people never get neat. They aim to high and wide. They save everything, planning someday to file, order, and straighten out the world. But while these ambitious plans take clearer and clearer shape in there heads, the books spill from the shelves into the floor, the clothes pile up in the hamper and closet, the family mementos accumulate in every drawer, the surface of the desk is buried under mounds of people and the unread magazine threaten to reach the ceiling. Sloppy people can’t bear to part with anything. They give loving attention to every detail. When sloppy people say they’re going to tackle the surface of the desk, they really mean it. Not a paper will go unturned; not a rubber band will go unboxed. Four hours or two weeks into the excavation, the desk looks exactly the same, primarily because the sloppy person is meticulously creating new piles of paper with new headings and scrupulously stopping to read all the old book catalogs before he threw them away. A neat person would just bulldoze the desk. Neat people are bums and clods at heart. They have cavalier attitude toward possession, including the family heirlooms. Everything is just another dust catcher to them. If anything collects dust, it’s got to go and that’s that. Neat people will toy with the idea of throwing the children out of the house just to cut down on the clutter. Neat people don’t care about process. They like results. What they want to do is get the whole thing over with so they can sit down and watch the rasslin’ on TV. Neat people operate on two unvarying principles: Never handle any items twice, and throw everything away. The only thing messy in a neat persons house is the thrash can. The minute something comes to a neat person hand, he will look at it, try to decide if it has immediate use and, finding none, throw it in the trash. Neat people especially vicious with mail. They never go through there mail unless they are standing under a trashcan. If the trash can is besides the mailbox, even better. All adds, catalogs, pleas for charitable organization, church bulletins and money saving coupons go straight to the trashcan without being opened. All letters form home, postcards from Europe, bills and paychecks are opened, immediately responded to, then dropped into the trashcan. Neat people keep their receipt only for tax purposes. That’s it. No sentimental salvaging of birthday cards or the last letter a dying relative ever wrote. Into thrash it goes. Neat people place neatness above everything, even economics. They are incredibly wasteful. Neat people throw away several toys every time they walk through a den. I knew neat person once who threw away a perfectly good dish drainer because it had mold on it. The drainer was too much trouble to wash. And neat people sell their furniture when they move. They will sell a La-Z-Boy recliner while you are reclining in it. Neat people are no good to borrow from. Neat people buy everything in expensive little proportions. They get their flour and sugar and two-pound bags. They wouldn’t consider clipping coupons, saving a leftover, reusing plastic nondairy whipped cream container or rinsing off tin foil and draping it over the unmoldy dish drainer. You can never borrow a neat person’s newspaper to see what’s playing at the movies. Near people have the paper all wadded up and in the trash by 7:5 A. M. Neat people cut a clean swath through the organic as well as the inorganic world. People, animals, and things are all one with them. They are so insensitive. After they’ve finished with the pantry, the medicine cabinet, and the attic, they will throw out the red geranium (too many leaves), sell the dog (too many flies), and send the children off to boarding school (too many scuff-marks on the hardwood floor).

In the modern world, having access to health care Essays

In the modern world, having access to health care Essays In the modern world, having access to health care can certainly benefit one's life , but not having it can make the difference between life and death. In 2010, 18.2% of the nonelderly U.S. population was uninsured. From a political perspective, Democrats have typically encouraged more government intervention with services to the people. Thus, to no surprise, d uring the 111 th United States Congress, the O bama Administration encouraged C ongress to spend a considerable amount of time and energy to reform the country' s healthcare system . On September 17 th , 2009, the controversial H.R.3950 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was introduced. Despite conservatives fighting it tooth and nail, it passed both houses. As expected, on March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the bill into law , and now it is commonly re ferred to as Obamacare . The ACA is the biggest reform action the United States Federal Government has enacted on the country 's health care and medical system since Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. Since its proposal became law, it has affected a wide variety of America n activities, processes, and the political realm. Specifically, i t has affected American small business owners including individual Americans themselves . Its influe nce continues to impact both social and political arena s even today . The Affordable Care Act has had an impact on American businesses and their operations. For example, b usinesses with 50 employees or more are now required to provide their employees with health coverage, otherwise they will pay a fine. The Patient-Centered Outc omes Research Trust Fund fee along with the Reinsurance Fee require businesses to spend more capital they other wise wouldn't have spent . Additionally , in order to control these additional costs , businesses are being forced to restrict the number of workers qualified for their healthcare benefits, which of course requires extra administrative oversight. To ensure A C A compliance, many businesses now must create new procedures, hire extra staff, and monitor employees' hours and schedules to make sure that they don't work over 29 hours a week, guaranteeing a part-time status. As a result, the employees can be impacted by havin g their weekly working hours reduced, which results in a decrease of hours and ultimately a decre ase in pay for those affected employees. This situation creates a so cial conflict between business staff and their potential / existing employees . In the end, b oth parties must come to an agreement regarding who is going to cover the costs associated with the plan, who is going to spend more out of po cket, etc . , and this ultimately affects the hiring process as a whole . As mentioned, in addition to American small business owners , individual Americans are affected. Today, t obacco users are now faced with another consequence to their unhealthy habit. Under the ACA, insurance companies can impose an additional charge on tobacco users' premiums , effectively making the law another piece of the smoking cessation effort of the country. This law directly affects all tobacco users in America as they are now given the option to quit, or pay more for their insurance . However, smokers faced with medium' and high' tobacco charges to their premium were less likely to even obtain insurance coverage at all and if the charges were low, were less likely to quit. The ACA's goal of increasing smoking cessation with high health care costs was largely unsuccessful as it is ultimately driving tobacco smokers away from the health care system. Due to the ACA, adults until age 26 can stay on their parent's insurance policies, which is a major impact to millions of individual Americans. "Because of the law 6.6 million additional young adults, including more than 1.3 million minorities - many of them new college graduates- had access to coverage even if they were unable to find a job right away." This dependent provision results in many more young adults being covered by insurance, which promotes equality and makes it possible for these adults to stay focused on other things in their life such as their career, education, and responsibilities . I ndividuals

Carib Studies Ia Essays

Carib Studies Ia Essays Carib Studies Ia Essay Carib Studies Ia Essay Acknowledgement Nobly, the researcher would like to bestow gratitude to all who has helped me in the completion of this Internal Assessment. Gratitude and appreciation to, God most of all, because without him theres is no ability to complete something. He helped to guide the researcher and helped her put away her indolence and complete her study effectively. The youngest sister of the researcher deserves appreciation because she helped the researcher in getting references and gathering the essential for this project. Much love to you, Lisan. To all those such as my peers and respondents to my questionnaire, Merci. Hope to submissively return the favour one day. Introduction Locale: Urban Parish: St. Ann School Code: 06063 Gender: Female School Organization: Whole Day Size: Class III Attendance Rate: 92% Capacity: 1000 Enrolment: 950 Number of Teachers: 41 Pupil/Teacher Ratio: 24:1 Owned by: Anglican Church Socio-Economic Context St. Hilda’s Diocesan High School for girls was established by the Anglican Church in 1906 as a small day school run by the Deaconesses. In 1917, it was named The Diocesan High School for Girls and moved to its present site in 1922. It was given the present name in 1927. St. Hilda’s is located in Browns Town, St. Ann. It is a medium sized boarding school with approximately 950 students, and it has a capacity of 1000. With 41 teachers, the student teacher ratio is 24:1. The school’s average daily attendance is 92 per cent. Students are from mixed socio economic backgrounds drawn from all over the island and include a few who are not Jamaicans. Many parents are unemployed but some are professionals. Some work in the hotel industry, some are farmers. The school motto: Res Severa Verum Gaudium (Hard work brings true joy) is a source of inspiration for staff and students alike and summarizes the school’s general attitude towards its endeavours and accomplishments. St. Hilda’s High school gets valuable support from business and community organizations in the forms of donations and scholarships. Its high academic standard is complemented by a rich cultural heritage which is showcased in its annual Eisteddfod. In 2010, the school was placed fourth in the ‘All Together Sing’ choir competition and came first in Bob Marley’s Song Arrangement Competition. For the latter, the school received a replica of the icon’s guitar. Intervention programmes like ‘Young women of Change’ give support to students with emotional and social needs. Statement of problem What is the extent of racism at St. Hilda’s Diocesan High, Brown’s Town? Aims and objectives Racism is vastly evident at this institution. The completion of this IA will therefore determine: The extent of racism at the institution The influence of racism at the institution The consequences of racism at the institution Literature review Racism is the ideologies of social processes which discriminate against people based solely on the basis of their belonging to different ethnicity. It should be noted that some sociologists such as Parsons, think that people are primarily socialized to be racist. The influencing factors of racism are: parents, siblings, peers, schools, governmental officials, religion, mass media and many others’ (Solomos, 1993, Har alambos and Holborn, 2004). ‘Racial disadvantages are a result of the differences in cultural characteristics that do not coincide with the norms and values of the upper class’ (Smith, N. D adopted from Mustapha, 2009). for integration in the creolization process to take place multi- culturalism and plurality of cultures must be first accepted in order to reduce racial stigmatization (Braithwaite, adopted from Mustapha, 2009). ‘Similarly, functionalists aim for a cultural consensus for a consequential balanced and functional society’ (Kirby,1997 adopted from Haralambas and Holborn, 2004). Marx, however, views racism as a belief system used to legitimize the exploitation of the lower class citizens by the upper class. ‘ Some sociologists even believe that if capitalism had not developed then racial prejudice, in question, would not exist’ (Kirby et. l 1997; Cox, 1970, Haralambos and Holborn, 2004). ‘Interactionists believes that racial con flict was a result of the deficiency in communication about the variation in the self-conceptualization. In society, race and ethnicity are viewed as variable because they are often being discussed’ (Lal, 1998; Kirby, 1997, Haralambos and Holborn, 2004). ‘Racism was used to validate slavery during colonialism’ (Roleff, 1991). ‘In the 19th century, indentured workers were bought to Trinidad to supplant the Africans on the plantations and there was an immediate awareness of the ethnic differences. Hence, social stratification in the plantation society was based on the differences in the race in society. Therefore, race is one of the fundamental factors behind class division in society. ’ (Brereton, 1979 adopted from Reddock and Barrow, 2001). ‘The term race was first used in the 15th century but only grew in importance with the relation to the development of liberalism bought a sense of identity to people, which was intended to bring further improvement of society, along with equality’ (Golberg, Haralambos and Holborn, 2004). Whites in society being superior encouraged racism and racist beliefs in society and the racism led to the limitations in the social life chances of proletariats’ (Golberg, Haralambos and Holborn) ‘Segregation and discrimination in society are also the results of racism’ (Haralambos and Holborn, 20004). ‘Policies can be formulated to enclose equal opportunities and cultural integration such as the Race and Rel ations Acts’ (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004). ‘The Creolization Thesis proposes the governments can promote cultural assimilation and integration in order to have syncretism. A variety of the cultural traits blended together to form a new culture that is satisfactory for all members of society’ (Braithwaite, 1971, Mustapha, 2009). Research Design The term research design may be defined as the scientific data collected. It is from research that theories are derived. Quantitative data was the selected research data since it is general, objective and value free. The statistics of the data gathered can be easily quantified and is used to support the findings of research. Questionnaires were used because they are used for obtaining particular instruments for data collection. The data gathered from the questionnaires would be easily quantified and displayed in various figures and diagrams. The study is based on the degree of the existence of racism at St. Hilda’s Diocesan High. To effectively complete this project, the study was done during the period of November 20th to November 30, 2012. In order to attain data randomly, the sample population was selected by process. Two out of the fifty questionnaires presented were separately distributed to students from each grade level and class with permission from the school principal and form teachers. Sample A sample may be defined as a portion of a large population and it is often used to represent the large population. For this study, random sampling was used. So two out of fifty questionnaires were to distributed 2 students from each class from each grade level, who willingly participated in the study. This would be considered systematic random sampling. It is considered as such because the subject units were chosen in a logical order. The method of sampling is practical because it is time effective when selecting the same from a large population. Data Collection Instrument Questionnaires were used to collect data. The use of questionnaires was both cost effective and time effective. The use of questionnaires assured the maintenance of increased objectivity and the accuracy in the study. The data gathered from the questionnaires can be easily quantified. Questionnaire Gender male female How old are you? To what ethnicity do you belong? African Chinese American Mixed Do you know what racism is? If yes, explain. Do you think racism exists at St. Hilda’s Diocesan High? Please explain the reason for your answer. How prevalent is racism at St. Hilda’s Diocesan High? Great extent not a great extent non-existent Does racism at school affect you? If yes, in what way. Would you consider yourself racist? Would you consider any of your friends as racists? Explain answers for both number 7 and 8. Have you ever been involved in any racist activity? Please account for your answer. Have you ever been a victim of racism? If so, how: Persons provoke you about your ethnicity and religion persons ignore your existence and humanity persons demean your ancestry and heritage other. Please specify. Does anyone at your school instigate racism? If so, who: academic staff peers principal ancillary staff Do you think racism has a negative impact on students? If yes, in what way: causing students to fail academically because of low self-esteem and confidence emotionally scarring students, especially the younger ones, for life If other, specify. What are some of the methods that could be used to eliminate or reduce racism at St. Hilda’s? How do you think the school on a whole can benefit from the reduction or elimination of racism? Presentation of Findings Figure 1: Students affected and not affected by racism Figure 2: Been vs. haven’t been victims of racism. Figure 3: ways students were victims of racism Figure 4: racism is instigated/ not instigated Figure 5: Does racism has or doesn’t have a negative impact on students? Analysis and Discussion of Findings As seen in figure 1, 10% isn’t affected by racism while 90% is. This shows that generally, a large percentage of students are affected by racism at St. Hilda’s Diocesan High. The concept behind this question was to ascertain whether multi- culturalism and plurality of cultures are accepted, in order to reduce racial stigmatization as Braithwaite claimed it must in order for integration and prober flow of communication. Without proper communication students’ learning and interpretation of certain matters will be affected. Figure 2 shows the percentage of students who have been victims of racism at St. Hilda’s Diocesan High. The diagram is based on information received from the related question from the questionnaire. The diagram shows that 80% have been and 20% haven’t. figure 3, displays the percentage and different ways in which students are victimized by racism. Its displays that 10% persons demean their ancestry and heritage, 40%, persons provoke them about their ethnicity and religion and 50%, persons ignore their existence and humanity. Figure 4, 5% said no racism isn’t instigated, while a mighty 95% said it is. When asked how and by who, a large number of students stated that it is instigated by the principal in the way she treats certain students because of either their grades or their light coloured skin. One student notably wrote that she thought about becoming a racist so many times because of the way the principal treated her different from all other students. She notably stated that she is of Chinese ethnicity and is academically well of as she is a prefect at the school. She states that ometimes she thinks she is better than other students academically and when it comes to beauty because of how Mrs Johnson, her principal idolizes her. Also certain things that Mrs Johnson would say instilled some kind of racial feelings inside her. This indeed proves that racism is instigated and goes back to: ‘Racism was used to validate slavery during colonialism’ (Roleff, 1991). ‘In the 19th centu ry, indentured workers were bought to Trinidad to supplant the Africans on the plantations and there was an immediate awareness of the ethnic differences. Hence, social stratification in the plantation society was based on the differences in the race in society. Therefore, race is one of the fundamental factors behind class division in society. ’ (Brereton, 1979 adopted from Reddock and Barrow, 2001). This could cause class division yes because this student might think so highly of herself that she will be-little others as it were in slavery days. Also, racism was instigated by planters to cause division and immediate distinction between owner and slaves. Maybe this is the similar to what Mrs Johnson is doing, separating brighter and prettier students from the rest so the less intelligent or less beautiful one will feel inferior as the slaves did to the whites. All this adds to what is seen in Figure 5. There are 8o% of students who are affected negatively by racism and 20% which aren’t. this incorporates Brerton’s prospective on racial and ethnic discrimination, racism between slaves from other ethnic groups based on stratification. Also with regards to Figure 3, Marx perspective that racism is a belief system used to legitimize the exploitation of the lower class can be applied. Students who say they are affected by racism are those who are may belong to different social classes in social hierarchy or may belong to different ethnic groups than those who are not affected. Certain students who are affected may also be considered less academically accomplished to those who are not. Racism has negative effects on students as shown in Figure 5. This according to Lal, is that interactionists believe that racial conflicts were a result of the deficiency in communication about the variation in self- conceptualization. Conclusion In conclusion, racism impacts negatively on the lives of the young ladies of St. Hilda’s Diocesan High. Racism negatively affects school interaction, and behaviour of these young ladies. However, as Braithwaite indicates, through formulation of policies, the Government can promote cultural assimilation and integration in order to have syncretism. A variety of cultural traits blended together to form a new culture that is satisfactory for all students of the St. Hilda’s Diocesan High School. Bibliography Barrow C and Reddock R, (Eds. ), 2001 Caribbean Sociology: Introductory Recordings. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers Ltd. Haralambos, M and Holborn, M (Eds. ) 2004 Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London: Harper Collins Publishers Ltd. Mustapha, N (Eds) 2009. Sociology for Caribbean Students. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers Ltd. Kerwin, C and Jackson, I, 1996. Sociology for Caribbean Students, Volume 1. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers Ltd. Table of Contents Topic Page Acknowledgement Introduction Statement of problem Literature review Research design Sample Data collection instrument Presentation of findings Analysis and discussion of findings Recommendations Limitations Conclusion Bibliography bRecommendations The researcher would recommend: The government implement some non- racist movement within all schools The government go about implementing ways to encourage students in schools and fire any employee at the school who encourages racism The school’s chairman visit the school more often and see just what is going on there, ask the students their opinions on the matter discussed and go about making changes Students appeal to authorities who might help them on the matter Limitations Within the completion of this project the researcher didn’t have any limitations. All resources were at hand especially at home. The researcher should proudly say that she put these resources to good use. This project was well organized and put together because of this. He researcher hopes all readers and the examiner feels the same.

Marketing research, Taco Bell Essay Example

Marketing research, Taco Bell Essay Example Marketing research, Taco Bell Paper Marketing research, Taco Bell Paper Essay Topic: Marketing Many factors, both within the organization and in the market, have the potential to influence the success or failure of a companys internationalization. In order to put itself in the best position to succeed (or to prevent failure), a company must conduct an in-depth analysis of these factors and use that analysis to make an educated decision as to whether or not they should expand their business abroad. Strengths and weaknesses of the organization must be evaluated. Also, there are opportunities and threats that exist outside the control of the organization in the market that must be assessed. By determining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats through analyzing the company and market research, it will be possible to determine if internationalizing Taco Bell to Great Britain is a financially lucrative and promising decision. Strengths Based on the marketing research, Taco Bell has many strengths that would help it succeed in an internationalization effort in Great Britain. Its primary strength is its corporate ownership. Taco Bell is owned by YUM! Brands, an international organization consisting of six subsidiaries*. Those subsidiaries include Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, AW All American Food Restaurants, and Long John Silvers. YUM! has successfully franchised on an international level, and has done particularly well with Pizza Hut and KFC, featuring 4,348 and 7,088 international units respectively*. Taco Bell itself has internationalized as well, with 209 international units. Another positive aspect in terms of these YUM! Brands figures, is that there are 578 KFCs and 522 Pizza Huts in the UK already, but there are currently no Taco Bells*. These figures imply YUM! Brands would be able to successfully internationalize another of their leading subsidiaries in a market in which they have already been successful. In terms of their franchising strength, YUM! Brands provides the resources Taco Bell would need to establish a lucrative franchise in Great Britain. There are ten Franchise Restaurant Support Centers throughout the world to aid in YUM! Brands franchising. The center for Europe and Great Britain is actually located in England, providing an accessible support center for a newly established Taco Bell franchise*. Within the company there is the personnel support to aid in Taco Bells internationalization to Great Britain. While Taco Bell is under the control of its president and chief operating officer, it also has the extended support of the YUM! Brands executive officers. Furthermore there is actually a separate division called YUM! Restaurants International that would provide additional support to Taco Bell*. As an added support resource within the context of the organization, YUM! has their own board of directors. The board consists of twelve members, each possessing their own valuable experience with other large and often international corporations, which is able to provide valuable advice and support regarding Taco Bells new project. Weaknesses Despite the numerous strengths of the Taco Bell organization and YUM! Brands, there are some important potential weaknesses within the organization to consider before internationalizing. YUM! Brands reliance on franchising, Taco Bells reliance on beef as a cheap, staple product, and the image of Taco Bell as an American restaurant are all possible weaknesses that stem from the organization. Over 80% of YUM! Brands restaurants are franchised. YUM! Brands has had great success with this internationalization mode with existing KFCs and Pizza Huts, however, their reliance on franchising may hurt when trying to introduce a new restaurant, such as Taco Bell in Great Britain*. The culture and expectations of Taco Bell are not yet known in the UK, so the new franchise may not coordinate itself with the company image as well as it should. Another serious detriment for Taco Bells expansion into the UK is their reliance on cheap available beef. Due to regulations in the market (covered later), beef is not a cheap and readily available product in the UK. Many Taco Bell products contain beef and their products are known for being very inexpensive. With beef being more expensive, this creates a problem for Taco Bells core menu and prices*. An interesting weakness for Taco Bell may be its overall image. KFC and Pizza Hut serve American food in an American atmosphere both domestically and abroad. Taco Bell is distinct in that it is supposed to be a Mexican restaurant*. Domestically, the atmosphere of Taco Bell is the same as any other American fast food restaurant, but abroad, consumers may prefer a more Mexican, rather than American approach. Taco Bells American image may create difficulties when attempting to persuade customers that it is a Mexican restaurant. Opportunities Many opportunities exist for the internationalization of Taco Bell in the United Kingdom. Aspects of the British culture, economy, and general food market support the introduction of a Mexican fast food chain. British consumers enjoy spicy food, Indian food being one of the most popular foods. They also enjoy variety and novelty in food choices. Mexican food is generally spicy and Taco Bells line of spicy sauces give consumers a choice in how spicy the food tastes as well as providing an alternative to everyday British food*. Also, living in the UK is quite expensive, especially in London, and Taco Bell appeals to the price sensitive nature of most British consumers*. The ethnic food market in the UK is growing rapidly with Mexican food as one of the fastest growing sectors. Consumer food preferences are evolving to fit the increasingly fast paced lifestyles of the British*. Taco Bell has the opportunity to take advantage of consumers needs for rapidly prepared food. Many consumers have expressed an interest in Mexican food, yet there are few Mexican restaurants. Taco Bell can fill the niche and gain a share of the large ethnic and fast food markets. Taco Bell can gain the first mover advantage in internationalizing to the UK, as there are currently no direct competitors*. The UK has favorable psychological distance from the US. Trade, customs, and governmental policies are well understood by the US and it will not be difficult for Taco Bell to market itself effectively in the UK. Many US citizens also travel to the UK and know little about or do not enjoy British food thus creating a demand for American chains*. McDonalds, for example, has done very well in the UK. Threats Potential threats of Taco Bells entrance involve mainly the legal and economic environment of the UK and its fast food industry. The strict food safety regulations which require beef imported from the US to be tested and prohibit the import of hormone treated meat in the UK complicate the procedures for Taco Bell to acquire and sell their food. This increases their cost, as they have to find suitable meat suppliers and ensure their meats are hormone free. As the UK government is open to foreign investments and free trade, the few regulations and stable economy makes the UK market attractive to many foreign firms. One threat Taco Bell should note is the continuously growing fast food industry and the fact that Mexican food is one of the three most popular foods in the ethic food industry*. As there is currently no established Mexican fast food chain in the UK, Taco Bell could take up great risks including the significant pioneering costs of being the first mover in this market*. Taco Bells main competition includes McDonalds, traditional Mexican restaurants, Indian, Asian, as well as local cuisine*. However, their competition does not fall directly into the Mexican fast food category. Final Analysis The S.W.O.T analysis taken from the marketing research indicates that Taco Bell should internationalize and the United Kingdom will provide a lucrative market. YUM! Brands has proved successful in internationalizing its other leading subsidiaries in the UK market. It has a well-defined franchising plan including a support center located in the UK, which can ameliorate the possible weakness involved with introducing a new restaurant through franchising. Taco Bell has the opportunity to fill a niche within the UK fast food market and appeal to British consumer preferences for spicy, rapidly prepared food. Entering the niche market as a first mover may include high pioneering costs, but allows Taco Bell to take advantage of the rapidly growing ethnic food market. As a result of weighing the organizational strengths against the weakness and market opportunities against the possible threats*, the analysis proves that with careful planning, internationalizing Taco Bell to the UK should be a success.

Ethical Issues with Research on Lack of Parental Involvement and Essay

Ethical Issues with Research on Lack of Parental Involvement and Childrens Education - Essay Example This essay stresses that teachers can decide to fail students who provide negative feedback, or the parents can punish their children, who are the most helpless of the three and need protection. The researchers must ensure the protection of privacy but at the same time inform subjects of the limits of confidentiality. There are risks involved that the researcher must realistically minimize, especially when using e-mail or keeping digital files, or when these channels are used to send or receive research data which could be compromised and affect the study’s objectivity. This paper makes a conclusion that ethical issues of accuracy affect the whole study, from establishing parameters for measuring parental involvement and school performance to the interpretation and publication of the research findings. How would parental involvement be measured? This would require both objective (such as attendance to school activities or parents’ meetings) and subjective (degree of attention or participation in these gatherings) measures, and direct (tutoring for so many hours each day) and indirect (cooking nutritious meals and taking them with the children) methods of involvement. To add to the complexity of the topic, can a full-time parent who can tutor his son for an hour or two a day be ethically and objectively compared to a working parent who may not have the time and whose involvement is limited to sending her child motivational mobile phone messages a few minutes each afternoon?

Journal of Korean Melodrama A Moment to Remember(2004) Movie Review

Journal of Korean Melodrama A Moment to Remember(2004) - Movie Review Example A Moment to Remember (2004) is a typical Korean melodrama which is a beautiful romantic story with a heartbreaking view of love. Many may believe that A Moment to Remember is one of those typical love stories where the couple falls in love and eventually one of them gets terminally ill. This film was, however, one of those but the difference was that the girl was struck by Alzheimer’s disease. The film shows the series of forgetfulness suffered by the girl and how it leads to frustration and pain for the boy. The male lead is played by Chul Soo and the female lead is played by Su-Jin. This film gives thought to the views about the most important part of life. Some believe wealth and power are the most important while others say love and friendship. This movie rather portrays a simple view that our experiences are the most important part of us as they make us who we are. The movie teaches an important lesson about the significance of treasuring memories as they are the only thing we actually own. There are many other touching moments in the movie. One of them is the act and importance of forgiveness shown when Chul Soo is trying to forgive his mother for abandoning him when he was a child. Even though the movie is about the couple, it gives certain important messages such as being able to forgive is a gift. The movie then shows some really sweet and cute moments between the couple as they are torn apart by life. The story turns out to be painful and tragic as Su-Jin loses her memory. Death is common in melodramatic movies but this movie has pain and tragedy that is portrayed and acted very well. Thus, this movie clearly consists of all the elements that make it a good melodramatic movie. Melodramatic movies may commonly have five characteristics that are observed in this movie as well. The first is that it begins and ends with innocence. Secondly, the movie recognizes the virtue of the heroes and focuses on the victim. Thirdly,

Pampers Health Spa (PHS) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Pampers Health Spa (PHS) - Assignment Example 2325540 =? 2325540 1 – (Variable Cost / Sales)] 1 - 0.499 0.501 Break-even point= ? 4641796.41 (Atrill & McLaney, 2011) Margin of safety % = Current sales level – Break- Even Point Current sales level Margin of safety % = ? 2965000 -? 4641796.41 = (56.55) % (Atrill & McLaney, 2011) ? 2965000 Task 3 Payback period method Proposal 1 The project requires an investment of ?900,000 and it generates cash as follows: ?270000 in Year 1; ?295000 in Year 2; ?345000 in Year 3; ?325000 in Year 4. The payback period is 3 years ?270000+ ?295000= ?565000 in the first two years + ?335000 of the ?345000 occurring in Year 3). Payback period method= ?270000+ ?295000+?335000= ?900,000 ?335000/ ?345000 =0.971 Payback period= 2+0.971=3 years Proposal 2 The project requires an investment of ? 750000 and it generates cash as follows: ?160000 in Year 1; ?189000 in Year 2; ?225000 in Year 3: ?254000 in Year 4. The payback period is 3.7 years ?160000 + ?189000 +?225000 = ?565000 in the first thre e years + ?78000 of the ?254000 occurring in Year 4). ?160000 + ?189000 +?225000 +?78000= ?750 000 ?176000/ ?254000=0.693 Payback period= 3+0.693=3.7 years Accounting Rate of Return Accounting Rate of Return =Average net income / Average investment (Davies & Pain, 2011) Proposal 1: Average net income =90000 + 98000 +75000 + 65000 = 328000/ ?900,000* 100= 36.44% Proposal 2: Average net income = 60000 + 70000 + 95000 + 125000 = 350000/ ?750 000 * 100 = 46.67% Net Present Value methods NPV= -Co + C1/1+r + C2/ (1+r) 2 +†¦+ C n / (1+r) n (Davies & Pain, 2011) -Co= Initial Investment, C = Cash Flow, r = Discount rate, n = Time Proposal1 NPV= ? (900,000) + ?270000 / (1+0.893) + ?295000/ (1+0.797) 2 + +?345000 / (1+0.712) 3+ ?325000 / (1+0.636) 4 NPV= ? (900000) + ? 247865.60176 + ? 91353.8957 + ? 68755.2314+ ? 45368.2506 = ? (446,657.0206) Proposal 2 NPV= ? (750000) + ?160000 / (1+0.893) + ?189000 / (1+0.797) 2 + +?225000 / (1+0.712) 3+ ?254000/ (1+0.636) 4 NPV= ? (750000) + ? 84521.9 229 + ? 58528.4281 + ? 44840.3683 +? 35457.0328 = ? (526652.2479) Total Expenses Fixed cost (70%) Variable cost (30%) ? ? ? Motor Expenses 8900 6230 2670 Insurance 28700 20090 8610 Rates 20400 14280 6120 Premises 1680000 1176000 504000 Wages and Salaries 1445000 1011500 433500 Repairs & renewals 54700 38290 16410 Professional charges 17500 12250 5250 Advertising 67000 46900 20100 Cost of Sales 483700 Total 2325540 1480360 Contribution ratio = Sales/ total variable cost = ?1480360 / ?2965000 =0.499 Task 4: In order to ascertain the financial position of Pampers Health Spa’ (PHS) it is necessary to carry out a financial analysis as it measures the financial performance of the enterprise in terms of profitability, leverage, and liquidity in its operations. As the management of Pampers Health

Theories of Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Theories of Democracy - Essay Example These conservative Islamic movements run in the name of Jihad. Neither Jihad nor McWorld can be considered democratic. According to Barber, governments supportive of fundamentalist Islam are less likely to be supportive of the US interests, while Mitchell suggests in his article that such governments are more likely to be aligned with the US interests. This idea, the coalition of Jihad and McWorld, is missing from Barber’s analysis because it is claimed by Mitchell that the US government is quite familiar with working with Muslim emirs â€Å"whose power depended upon strict interpretations of Islamic law† (Mitchell 1). Barber puts forward this idea that McWorld and Jihad are indifferent to each other (Barber). In contrast, it is implied by Mitchell that we do not live in an age of Jihad vs. McWorld as suggested by Barber, but we actually live in the age of McJihad. This concept is missing from Barber’s

Aboriginal Community Health and Well-Being Essay

Aboriginal Community Health and Well-Being - Essay Example Several regions of the world have aboriginals like Australia and Canada (Hazlehurst, 1995). Just like other communities, aboriginal has controlled health organizations whose duty is to ensure the delivery of holistic and culturally appropriate health care. Worth noting, aboriginal community health represents not only the physical well-being, but also cultural, social and emotional as well (Eckersley et. al. 2001). However, analysts believe that the trend of rearing aboriginals has changed drastically since today many of them are reared without their cultural believes. Through this provision, individuals achieve full potential ultimately contributing to the overall well-being of their community. Section A, Question 1. Poor health is a biological manifestation of inequality among the Aboriginal in Canada. In this community, health and medical beliefs are social and spiritual. Aboriginal community in Canada experience poor health outcomes, which reflects on their knowledge about biologi cal health. Diseases such as chronic disease, accidental disease, post neonatal mortality, and mental illness are common in Aboriginal reserves (Waldram, et.al., 2006). For example, health report in 1999 alludes that Aboriginal living in the reserves recorded the highest number of suicide. Further, aboriginals in the reserves have high percentage of diabetes and other attacks. The above health figures support the argument of Physician Paul Farmer. Inequality refers to non-uniform distribution of essential needs in the society. For instance, non-uniform health care policies influence the distribution and administration of healthcare in the society. Non-uniform social and legal policies influence social status of individuals in the community. Social factors contribute to health inequality in aboriginal community. Emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental dimensions of Aboriginal health among children and youths indicate that social determinants contribute to inequality in health. Soc ial determinants that influence health fall under the following categories distal (e.g. political, historical, economical and social context), proximal (e.g. social and physical environment, health behaviors), and intermediate (e.g. resources, community infrastructure, capacities and systems) (Waldram et.al. 2006). Social determinants affect health behaviours, health vulnerability and capacity, and health management. Due to the many imbalances of life and need for healing such problems, sweat lodge is used extensively to assist since it occurs in the mind, spirit, emotions, and the body as well. Further, social determinants would influence circumstances that contribute to alleviation of health problems. For example, aboriginals who lead a low-income life experience diseases and illnesses. Like other communities, they are entitled to medication. However, in the provision of the medication, the healers are not regulated by an institution or law, but rather unwritten ethical standards of practise and community support. This in turn reflects to the social status, which links inadequate opportunities to raise income to good health. Inadequate employment opportunity influence income of an individual, which further contributes to poverty level in the society. In essence, poverty is a factor that contributes to health condition of the community. Fighting poverty or developing ways of fighting poverty contributes to health improvement in the society (Hazlehurst, 1995). Researchers in health argue that social factors contribute to the health inequality of the Aboriginals. Socio political factors in Canada are major factors that contribute to health inequality among the Aboriginal communities (White, et. al. 2003). Historically,

Critical Context of law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Theories of Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Theories of Democracy - Essay Example These conservative Islamic movements run in the name of Jihad. Neither Jihad nor McWorld can be considered democratic. According to Barber, governments supportive of fundamentalist Islam are less likely to be supportive of the US interests, while Mitchell suggests in his article that such governments are more likely to be aligned with the US interests. This idea, the coalition of Jihad and McWorld, is missing from Barber’s analysis because it is claimed by Mitchell that the US government is quite familiar with working with Muslim emirs â€Å"whose power depended upon strict interpretations of Islamic law† (Mitchell 1). Barber puts forward this idea that McWorld and Jihad are indifferent to each other (Barber). In contrast, it is implied by Mitchell that we do not live in an age of Jihad vs. McWorld as suggested by Barber, but we actually live in the age of McJihad. This concept is missing from Barber’s

Critical Context of law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critical Context of law - Case Study Example tax inspectorate. Mandox had purchased Bleak Hall when the property market was cheap. It is obvious that Mandox had purchased Bleak Hall as part of his investment plan. Bleak Hall belongs to Mandox although his wife, Muriel, uses it more often for political reasons. His wife, Muriel, and three daughters have judicially enforceable rights in the ownership, use and occupation of Bleak Hall. There is no mention of Muriel's and their daughters' rights anywhere concerning Bleak Hall. However, Muriel's status as Charles Mandox's wife gives her judicially enforceable rights. This could prove useful in case of any divorce claims, although there is no mention anywhere of Charles and Muriel contemplating divorce. Apart from Muriel and their children, no one else has any right or claim on Bleak Hall. Charles Mandok may spend much of his time taking drinks. However, he has sharp business sense. The possibility of anyone other than Muriel making any claim on Bleak Hall is remote. Mandok is too powerful and ruthless to tolerate any third party claims on Bleak Hall. However, Muriel makes good use of Bleak Hall. She sensed rightly that in the emotional vacuum of Bleak Hall she would encounter little opposition to her own designs. A political career, she adjudged, needed a prosperous backcloth. Bleak Hall was close to the residence of the then prime minister, Tony Blair. What additionally would Muriel Mandox need to have done or be able to demonstrate to show a legal or equitable interest in Bleak Hall Charles Mandox uses Muriel's paycheck to pay for the outgoings and maintenance of Bleak Hall. Muriel could have asked for co-ownership of Bleak Hall. Muriel is quick-tempered and Charles is ruthless. The couple has lived through to see three children, all daughters, although most of the children's time is spent with girls hired as childcare. Muriel is so caught up with her political career that she does not consider as necessary the need to spend time to talk with Charles Mandox about their property affairs. For a man of wealth like Charles Mandox, it is necessary to have property and financial affairs well sorted out to take care of any contingencies. Her background as a miner's daughter and traumatic home life did not breed in her the systematic and planned thinking of those used to sophistication. Her father had disappeared after having a bottle smashed on his head by her mother. Her socialist background and political proclivities aroused in her the grandiose prospects of career in politics. Her political life brought out her innate qualities of quick thinking that included brilliant albeit raw calculations. She had first joined the Conservative party and then switched over to the Labor. The first time Charles called her out on a date, she almost told him to go to hell. His persistence on dating her

Road to Independence Revolution Essay Example for Free

Road to Independence Revolution Essay â€Å"War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide for yourself.†(Unknown) In the case of the American Revolution, the colonists decided for themselves and truly believed in the cause. The Colonists knew that â€Å"change† had to take place because of the unfair treatment they experienced. The American Revolution was a time where Colonists fought for what they believed in, independence, and when they broke away from England. Boycotts, holding Congresses, and forming patriotic groups were the three most effective actions Colonists took, that led to the American Revolution. The boycotts were an effective action the Colonists took, leading up to the Revolution. During the boycotts, Colonists refused to buy British and European goods in order to protest against the British acts. Aware of the growing opposition, Parliament repealed all the Townshend Acts, except the one on tea. As a result, Colonists ended their boycotts, and started to trade with British merchants again. Few years later, the Continental Congress decided to boycott all British goods and trade. No British product could be brought into or consumed in the colonies, and no colonial goods could be shipped to Britain. To protest the Stamp Act, thousands of Americans refused to buy British and European goods. They also signed nonimportation agreements in which they pledged not to buy or use goods imported from Britain. As a result of boycotts, the Parliament canceled the remaining acts. In addition to the boycotts, Colonists also formed Congresses. Debating Proposals at the Continental Congresses led to the American Revolution. The colonial leaders need to unify the colonies against the British policies, led to the formation of congresses. The first congress was the Stamp Act Congress, assembled in October 1765. The Stamp Act placed tax on almost all printed materials in the colonies everything from newspapers and pamphlets to wills and playing cards. All printed materials had to have a stamp, which was applied by British officials. In October representatives from nine colonies met in New York at the Stamp Act Congress. They sent a petition to the king declaring that only colonial institutes shoul d be allowed to apply taxes. In March 1766, Parliament gave in to the colonists’ demands and repealed the Stamp Act. In September 1774, 55 men sent as delegates from all colonies except Georgia, to the city of Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress. These men had come to establish a political body to represent American interests and challenge British control. In this Congress, the delegates called to repeal 13 acts stating they violate the colonists rights. In addition, they voted to boycott all British goods and trade. One major decision was to endorse the Suffolk Resolves, which called the people of Suffolk Country, Massachusetts to fight against the redcoats. These armed groups were called militias. On May 10 1775, the Second Continental Congress assembled. That was the first Congress in which independence was discussed. It authorized the printing of money, and set up a post office. It also established committees to communicate with Native Americans and with other countries. Most important, the Congress created the Continental Army to fight against Britain in a more organized way than t he colonial militias did. The Congress chose George Washington to be the Army’s commander. The Second Continental Congress began to govern the colonies. King George III refused to receive the Olive Branch Petition a formal request; it assured the king of the colonists desire for peace. In addition to Congresses, colonists also formed patriotic groups to fight against Britain. Forming patriotic groups was an effective action that led to the American Revolution. Patriots formed two groups to fight against the redcoats, the Committees of Correspondence and the Sons of Liberty. The Son of Liberty was formed to protest the Stamp Act. In 1772, Samuel Adams formed the Committees of Correspondence to form communication between colonies of bad acts by British troops. The Committees of Correspondence spread throughout the colonies, bringing together protesters from all over the colonies. It also circulated writings about British injustice. Colonial leaders used news of the killing in the Boson Massacre as propaganda information designed to influence opinion -against British. As time went by, the group grew much larger than the nine people it started out with. The forming of patriotic groups helped to fight against the redcoats. These patriotic groups, like the Liberty, made Britain colonial officials nervous. Forming these patriotic groups was a major step in gaining Independence. Boycotts, holding Congresses, and forming patriotic groups were the three most effective actions Colonists took leading up to the American Revolution. The Boycotts were an effective action the Colonists took, leading up to the Revolution. Debating Proposals at the Continental Congresses led to the American Revolution. Forming patriotic groups was an effective action that led to the American Revolution. A spirit of Independence became obvious early in the history of the American people. Far from the established rules and limitations they had faced in their home countries, the new settlers began to make their own laws and develop their own ways of doing things.

Organizational Structure of AirAsia

Organizational Structure of AirAsia 1.0 Introduction Nowadays, the use of information technology plays a vital role for businesses to compete and succeed. According to Laudon and Laudon (2010), almost the all firms and organizations use information technology to survive; they invest in information technology and systems because these investments will return a lot of advantages, such as; an increase in productivity, a decrease in costs and an increase in revenue. Information systems provide information for managers which help them to make better decisions and improve operations. This assignment will look at the largest low cost carriers in Asia Pacific region AirAsia Berhad, which is known as AirAsia. In this work we will analyse how organization has successfully used information technology and systems to improve their business. In addition, this paper will look to IT strategies of Air Asia and to some businesses processes within organization where information systems were successfully implemented. Organization background If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday. (Pearl Buck) Generally, without past, there is no future and everything in our life has his history. Thus, it is brief Air Asias background: First of all, AirAsia was founded in 1993 by Malaysian government as a second airliner to the major national air company MAS (Malaysian Airlines) and AirAsia started operating after three years on 18th November 1996.During the following 5 years, AirAsia failed every year to bring profit, as a result; AirAsia had a great debt of about USD $ 37 million in 2001. However, this time is the time when the real story of the largest low-cost airlines began. In 2001, Dato Sri Dr Tony Fernandes with partners Dato Pahamin Rejab (former chairman of Air Asia), Dato Kamarudin Meranun, and Dato Aziz Bakar purchased the AirAsia from Malaysian owner HICOM Holdings Berhad (now known as DRB-HICOM Berhad), for a symbolic price RM1 (USD 0.25 cents), and agreed to close the debts of the company. (AirAsia Annual Report, 2008, p.3) They started with an innovative goal to make air travel cheaper and more affordable to people that Now Everyone Can Fly. AirAsia was re-branded and re-launched and started new life with two Boeing B737 planes, approximately 250 staffs and had only five destinations to Kota Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Labuan, Langkawi and Penang. According to AirAsia website, today after 10 years Air Asia has around 100 air planes and flies to more than 60 destinations from 23 countries. Additionally, Air Asia operates more than 3,500 flights a week and has around 8,000 staffs. In 2009 AirAsia ferried more than 22 million passengers and AirAsia is ASEAN (Association of South Asia Nations) carrier. (AirAsia Annual Report, 2009, p.4) It can be clearly seen that AirAsia has made a tremendous success in airline industry and it is interesting to know what and how managers of AirAsia use to achieve this fantastic outcome. It will be described later in following chapters. Organization Vision and Mission. Nowadays every organization has mission and vision statements, which show what organization is (mission) and a view of what organization wants to be (vision). (Harrison and John, 2009) In addition, the mission statement of the organization must be broad because it is an umbrella which encompasses organizations programs and services. (Angelica, 2001) 1). AirAsias Vision: Continue to be the lowest cost airline in every market we serve. 2). AirAsias Mission: To be the best company to work for whereby employees are treated as part of a big family Create a globally recognized ASEAN brand To attain the lowest cost so that everyone can fly with AirAsia Maintain the highest quality product, embracing technology to reduce cost and enhance service level (AirAsia website) Business Strategies and Success factors. Without a strategy the organization is like a ship without rudder, going around in circles. (Joel Ross and Michael Kami) Air Asia Success factors. AirAsia has achieved a tremendous success since its renovation. Because of some success factors AirAsia gets some competitive advantages in airline competition. By using it AirAsia is the best lowest cost airline company in South Asia. The key point of Airasias success factors is to deliver low fares is to consistently keep costs low. Providing low costs needs the high efficiency in every part of the business. Thus, every part of organization, every system process, everything must incorporate best industry practices. AirAsiaa success factors can be analyzed in the core values of the organization. AirAsia gets competitive advantages and makes their business successful by using these key strategies: Safety First Safety is the most vital criteria in every part of the organization operations; safety is the area where AirAsia will never compromise on. All conditions, which determine by regulators in the countries where AirAsia operates, are complied by the largest low fare airline. Furthermore, partnering with the worlds most renowned maintenance providers to be ensured that AirAsias airplanes always in the best condition. High Aircraft Utilisation The AirAsia airplane captains ability, to make a fast turnaround of 25 minutes which is the fastest in the region, is more convenient for customers to travel. It has resulted in high aircraft utilisation, better airline and staff productivity and lower costs. Low Fare, No Frills Providing to guests to have the choice of buying exclusively prepared meals, snacks and drinks from in-flight service at an affordable price. Streamlined Operations The important key of the AirAsias success is to make processes are simple as possible. Leans Distribution System Offering a wide and innovative range of distribution channels to make booking and travelling easier. Point to Point Network Applying the point-to-point network keeps operation simple and lower costs. Most of the AirAsias flights are short haul (four-hour flight radius or less) which helps to keep lower costs. Company Business Strategy. The Business Strategy of AirAsia is To continue to be the lowest cost short-haul airline in every market it serves, delivering strong organic growth through offering the lowest airfares at a uprofit. This strategy focusing in six main strategic thrusts: Leanest Cost Structure Efficient and simple point to point operationsÂÂ   Attracting and retaining hardworking and smart peopleÂÂ   Passion for continuous cost reduction Maximise Shareholders Value Resilient profit growth through our lower cost baseÂÂ   Expansion of the AirAsia network in a prudent and disciplined mannerÂÂ   Invest and enhance the AirAsia brand to increase investors returns Safety Comply with the highest International Aviation Safety Standards and practices Keep operations simple and transparentÂÂ   Ensure the security of our People and Guests ÂÂ   Passion for Guests Satisfaction Maintain simplicity in every applicationÂÂ   Practice the unique and friendly AirAsia experience at every opportunityÂÂ   Recognize the linkage between guests satisfaction and long-term success ÂÂ   Transparency Transparency in decision-making and information sharingÂÂ   Optimum disclosure higher than industry normsÂÂ   Timeliness in disclosing information ÂÂ   Human Capital Development Invest in both hard and soft skillsÂÂ   Recognize all our People as contributors to our successÂÂ   Reward excellence and individual contributions Maintaining one brand across the Group Analysis of the current Business Environment. Industry Analysis Porters Five Forces Model. 1. Bargaining Power of Supplier First of all, it can be clearly seen that the main AirAsias supplier is the airplane suppliers. Generally the power of airplane suppliers is very strong because of monopolisation in airplane manufacturers; there are only two types of airplanes Boeing and Airbus. The switching cost for airplane suppliers is very high due to expensive needs to change airplanes, for example: it will be very costly for AirAsia to change airplanes and train employees to be used of new airplanes. To be honest, nowadays, only several airline manufactures exist in airline industry, thus the power of airplane suppliers is very fantastic. If we look to other suppliers, such as, fuel, food and other suppliers, it is clear that their power is not so strong because AirAsia can change them and it will not affect to costs. The increase in price can be risky for these suppliers because AirAsia can quit working with them. 2. Bargaining Power of Buyer Generally, the power of customers is always high because there is no any switching cost for customers to change from one airline company to another, however; in this case, it can be thought that the output of AirAsia is very unique and fantastic in South Asia region. In addition, there will be switching cost for customers who want to change AirAsia to another airline company, as a result; the bargaining power of buyers is low. 3. Threat from Substitutes In South Asia region there are several possible substitutes for airline industry, such as; trains, buses, cars or ships. However, the prices for other substitutes are more expensive or at the same level, comfort, time spending and other factors during the travelling are more worse than in irline travelling. Nowadays, air travelling is faster, cheaper and more comfortable, as a result; threat of substitutes is respectively low. 4. Threat from New Entrants Airline industry is very expensive for new organizations to entrance into this industry. New organizations must have a big capital, strong support from government and must correspond for some requirements for airline organizations. There are difficult barriers for new organizations, for instance; cost advantages of existing airline organizations, brand loyalty of customers, high switching costs for customers and government restrictions. Therefore, the threat from new entrants is low. 5. Rivalry Intensity In general, the competition between airline organizations in Malaysia is not very strong. There is only one competitor for AirAsia in Malaysian airline industry is Malaysian Airlines (MAS) which can be considered as a friendly rival. Thus, the intensity of rival is low in Malaysian airline industry. 3.3 AirAsia Competitive Advantage. The strategic positioning has several ways in which the company can achieve competitive advantage. For instance, offering similar benefits for a lower cost to customers or retain cost but offer greater benefits for customers. In the case of Maybank, the strategy used by the company is to preserve the value of banking products and services, while offering great benefits and value, as well as the good quality of their products and services. Focusing on the variety and quality of their products and services, Maybank exercise their competitive advantage. In particular, through its subsidiaries Maybank provides a wide and diverse range of products and services. That allows its customers to use multiple services in one banking group. By entrusting their money to the time-tested bank, whether it be insurance, private banking or assets management. All this, along with high quality services and highly professional staff of the bank create convenience for customers, thereby increasing competitive advantage. One of the important factors in achieving competitive advantage of Maybank is to improve the quality and speed of services through the introduction of information technology. Maybank since its inception is looking for ways to make life easier for its customers, through improving the quality of its services. Information technologies have played an important role in this. Maybank always has been the first to introduce new technologies, thus providing greater benefits and opportunities for its customers. 4.0 Analysis of the Current IS/IT Strategy Environment and IT solutions of Maybank. Yield Management System (YMS) It is also known as Revenue Management System; it understands, anticipates and reacts to the behavior of customer to maximize revenue for the organization. This takes into account the operating costs and aids AirAsia to optimize prices and allocate capacity to maximize expected revenues. The optimization is done on two levels in AirAsia: Seat (Every seat is considered an opportunity to maximize revenue. Seats are available at various prices in different points of time. A reservation done at a later date will be charged more than the one done earlier for the same seat) Route (By adjusting prices for routes/destinations that have a higher demand when compared to others). The effective method however is to combine these two levels for all flights, all routes so that both the seat and the route are effectively priced for all the flights. AirAsia has realized increased revenue (3-4%) for the same number of aircrafts by taking advantage of the forecast of the high/low demand patterns, effectively shifting the demand from low period to high period and by charging a premium for late bookings. Over the past couple of years, AirAsia have actually lowered prices (essential for LCC) as the YMS has given them the window to increase their revenue by offering higher discounts, more frequently during off-peak times while raising prices only marginally for peak times. (Voneche, n.d). Computer Reservation System (CRS) AirAsias CRS (Open Skies by Navitaire) has helped it to grow at a dramatic pace in the past couple of years Navitaires Open Skies technology has truly enabled Airasias growth from 2 million passengers to 7.7 million passengers in less than two years. Open Skies scaled easily to accommodate our growth. Tony Fernandes CEO AirAsia Source: Navitaire (http://www.navitaire.com/res_and_dist/openskies.asp) It is an integrated web-based reservation and inventory system. It includes Internet, call center, airport departure control and more. It is a direct sales engine that effectively eliminates the middleman (travel agents) and the sales commissions that need to be paid to them. Centralized customer data is also maintained by Open Skies and this helps AirAsia to track booking and schedule flight activities with real-time, on-demand reporting feature. The vast booking information that is provided online to the customers acts as a force that brings more customers to use the website thus reducing the customer support costs. An important feature is that Open Skies seamlessly integrates with the already implemented YMS so that the systems can be used in unison for pricing and revenue maximization (by providing information on bookings, schedules etc) and driving down the costs of operation at the same time. This CRS enabled AirAsia to introduce the first ticket less travel option and also pro vides features such as advanced boarding passes in addition to online booking that enabled the growth of AirAsia as these features attracted customers that did not have the time for purchasing tickets from counters and coming in 1 hour early for securing a seat on the aircraft. AirAsia have proposed to implement a Wireless Delivery System (WDS) to expand its reach via mobile phones. With this, potential customers will be able to book tickets via their mobile phones. This is a strategic move for growth as the Asia-Pacific region has a larger population of mobile phone users rather than internet users. Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) AirAsia has recently (May 2005) opted for a full fledged ERP system implemented by Avanade consultants. By implementing this package AirAsia is looking to successfully maintain process integrity, reduce financial month-end closing processing times, and speed up reporting and data retrieval processes. (Microsoft Malaysia) 4.1 IT and IS deployed by Maybank. It can be said that Maybank has been always be on the way to improve quality of their products and services, thereby satisfy all the needs of their customers. In other words Maybank has been always innovated its products and services by implementation of IT. If to look back to the past we can see that Maybank was the leader to introduce new technologies to the market. For instance, Maybank was the first to embark on a computerisation programme, First to implement the use of ATMs and establish a shared ATM network with its subsidiaries, First to introduce Phone banking and First to introduce Internet Banking. In 1981, Maybank was first Malaysian bank to set up Automated Teller Machine (ATM) services.(annual report, 2009). Since that time Maybank increased the number of ATMs, with each year. ATMs give a lot of opportunities and benefits to the customers of the bank. Such as, access to own account 24 hours/7 days a week, fast cash withdrawal, cheque book and statement request, fund transfer between own accounts and funds transfer to third party accounts. Furthermore, Maybank was first domestic bank to implement MAS electronic Ticketing at their ATMs, this enable Maybank customers ticketless air travel in Malaysia on Malaysia Airlines. Later, due to its expansion to the South Asia markets Maybank launch the Maybank RegionLink Service. RegionLink Service allows Maybank customers in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Philippines to access ATM transactions at any Maybank ATM in these four countries. To effectively usage and managing its ATM network as well as to enable their customers to have a be tter service, Maybank uses automated teller machine management software from Diebold Inc. Without a doubt, the Internet is one of the most important technological advances of recent years. The rapid development of information technologies have created vast opportunities for companies to reduce operating costs, increase speed and quality of their services, as well as the creation of additional benefits for their customers. Because of this and to create competitive advantage Maybank launch its Internet Banking. Basically, Maybank launch Internet Banking through its online financial portal maybank2u.com in 2000. This portal bring the convenience of online banking for its customers, who can open an account, check balances, transfer funds, settle bills and shop online via this site, which employs 128-bit SSL security technology. Later in 2001, Maybank launch its E-bills service, which can be used only by their customers. At that time there were 325 business organisations that were able to accept payment through internet banking. Conducting funds transactions over the internet has been convenient and quick. This allowed the company to reach RM 500 million monthly total average transaction. In 2003, Maybank launched Internet Banking Kiosks. It enable their customers to undertake internet banking transactions in provided terminals at its branches. To maintain its leadership position in internet banking services, in 2006, Maybank launch Mobile Banking services in collaboration with Celcom and Maxis. It was the first mobile banking in Malaysia . It allowed Maybank customers to access to the three most popular applications of Maybank2u.com: bill payment balance enquiry and fund transfers. From that time, Maybank customers have the convenience of undertaking selected banking transactions in real time via the mobile phone. In order to improve its efficiency and service MayBank concluded a series of deals with companies such as CSC and Microsoft.The main objective of IT infrastructure outsourcing agreement with CSC was to improve their IT services to position it for global economic growth and, in the case of major disasters, to reduce its recovery time from three days to less than eight hours. The data center was moved from Maybanks headquarter to a secure and modern CSC facility. In addition, CSC set up separate data center for disaster recovery that fully duplicates all of the banks critical data across all platforms. CSC also provide simultaneous connection between bank branches, the main data center and disaster recovery center. This deal allowed the company to reduce response time, to increase productivity and transactional speed. An Enterprise Subscription Agreement with Microsoft Malaysia to adopt a common software toolset for Maybanks desktop applications has given Maybank the ability to promote greater communication among employees and customers and to enhance cost efficiency. One of the results of this agreement was increasing efficiency and productivity of the employees. 4.2 Impact on the usage of IS/IT by Maybank. In general, the use of information technology has a significant impact on the work of the enterprise. Effect of IT can be both at the organization, its efficiency, as well as to clients and their relationship to the company. In the case of Maybank, IT was one of the essential factors of growth and continued leadership of the bank. Maybank always has been a pioneer in the introduction of the use of IT, which allowed the company to achieve certain benefits. These benefits include competitive advantage, achieving the goal of the company, better service for customers and increase profits and market share. Maybank was able to improve their service through the use of information technology and information systems. Provision of banking and financial services through a network of ATMs and internet banking has allowed its customers to access their accounts anytime and anywhere in the world. Also, the IT/IS have an impact on the reduction of transaction costs and the time spending on transaction, that is convenient for customers. Customer relationship management system has been significantly influenced by information technologies. Increasing the ways of interaction between the company and customers, has given Maybank opportunity to increase and improve understanding of the needs and desires of customers. All this resulted in improved service and customer satisfaction, as well as the obvious convenience for customers of Maybank. Paying great attention to the use and implementation of IT, Maybank thus creating conditions for improving efficiency and productivity of their employees, as well as facilitating a repository of knowledge and being able to share this knowledge across the organization. In Maybank firmly believe that effective knowledge sharing is a source of competitive advantage. Also providing new products and services Maybank has a competitive advantage. At the same time, it is a temporary competitive advantage, because competitors can later enter the market with similar products and services. Therefore Maybank is always on the way to improve its service. On the other hand, Maybank as a pioneer in the introduction of the usage of IT has the first-mover advantage. This has a significant impact on enlarging market share. Also, the IT/IS has an impact on the reduction of transaction costs and human capital costs. All this has allowed Maybank to increase profits and market share. Increased profits and market share, competitive advantage and better service has given Maybank an opportunity to achieve its goal. Namely to become a leading banking group in Malaysia, and set the following goal to become a leading regional banking group by 2015. 5.0 Conclusion Technical progress is coming more quickly than ever before, thus, affecting all aspects of a typical company. Today, it is vital to the company to use information technology in order to work. It is become crucial factor for the Maybank to employ IT/IS in order to compete in digital world, where almost everyone use IT. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that the most important factor still is the people and companies such as Maybank also need to invest their money in staff training, in order to be competitive enough or even to create competitive advantage. Because it is the people who create it.