How to Choose an Online High School

Choosing an online high school is a challenge. Parents need to find a virtual program that offers an accredited diploma and provides academic support for students, all without breaking the bank. Asking the right questions will help you find the online high school that best meets your needs. Here are twelve of the most important questions to consider: What type of online high school is this? There are four types of online high schools: private schools, public schools, charter schools, and university-sponsored schools. Being familiar with these school types will help you sort through your options. Who accredits this school? An online high school that is regionally accredited will have the widest acceptance. Diplomas and credits from regionally accredited schools are generally accepted by colleges and secondary schools. Some colleges and high schools may also accept national accreditation. Keep an eye out for unaccredited and diploma mill schools – these programs will take your money, leaving you with an inferior education and a worthless diploma. What curriculum is used? Your online high school should have a time-tested curriculum that meets your child’s academic needs (remedial, gifted, etc). Ask about additional programs such as special education, college prep, or advanced placement. What training and qualificatio ns do the teachers have? Be wary of online high schools that hire teachers without a college diploma or teaching experience. Teachers should be credentialed, know how to work with teenagers, and be comfortable with computers. How long has this online school existed? Online schools come and go. Choosing a school that has been around for longer can help you avoid the trouble of trying to transfer schools at a later date. What percent of students graduate? You can learn a lot by an online high school’s graduation track record. If a large percentage of students drop out, you may want to reconsider. Be aware that certain types of schools (such as academic recovery programs) will always have a smaller number of graduates. How many students go on to college? If college is important to you, choose an online high school that sends a lot of its graduates to college. Be sure to ask about services such as college counseling, SAT preparation, and admissions essay assistance. What expenses can be expected? Most private schools charge tuition by the semester. Public programs may provide classes free of charge, but require parents to pay for expenses such as computers, software, and internet connections. Ask about additional charges for curriculum, technology fees, graduation fees, and all other expenses. Also, ask about discounts, scholarships, and payment programs. How many students does each teacher work with? If a teacher is assigned too many students, he may not have time for one-on-one help. Find out what the student-teacher ratio is for most classes and ask if there is a better ratio for essential subject such as math and English. What additional help is available for struggling students? If your child is struggling, you need to know that help is available. Ask about tutoring and individual assistance. Is there any extra charge for additional help? What distance learning format is used? Some online high schools require students to work independently and turn in assignments by email. Other programs have virtual â€Å"classrooms† that allow students to interact with teachers and peers. Are any extracurricular activities offered? Find out if there are any clubs or social events available to students. Some schools offer extracurricular virtual programs that engage students and look good on a resume. In addition to these twelve basic questions, be sure to ask about any further concerns you may have. If your child has special needs or an unusual schedule, ask how the school will be able to accommodate these issues. Taking the time to interview online high schools can be a hassle. But, enrolling your child in the best possible program is always worth it.

Dating the Rocks of the Grand Canyon (Old Earth vs. Young...

Introduction This is a comparative essay and its purpose is to compare old-Earth and young-Earth viewpoints on Dating the rocks of the Grand Canyon. There are different views on this and no scientific method that can prove (completely) the age of the universe or the earth. There are the use of different types of calculations that can provide some guesses on the age of the earth. Many things need to be assumed such as a beginning date and the speed of change along with varying increases and decreases of material over time. â€Å"Young-Earth Creationism† (YEC) is based on a precept that earth and the universe were created by God, only 6,000 years ago in six days. Their position is that by examining geological records the scientific details of†¦show more content†¦Old-Earth Secular View Mainstream science make predictions based on varies tests. For instance, one of the test said that in a certain geological eras some animals should have transitioned from fish to amphibians. This helped the scientists find just such fossils in that era. Old-Earth seculars believe â€Å"tree rings over 6000 years old, thick layers of limestone, and the sequence of animal fossils in rock layers† are evidence for an Old-Earth view. A description of the grand canyon rock layers would include the Colorado River running at the bottom of the inner gorge with flats on both sides which consist of tapeat sandstone layers. There is also the Vishnu Complex, consisting of rocks that have been changed by heat and are buried at the lowest layers. These are tilted and are called the â€Å"Grand Canyon Supergroup† the Grand Canyon supergroups are at least 12,000 ft in thickness. These rocks or (the â€Å"Inner Gorge†) are usally steep and narrow with hard deep cuts in the lower tilted layers which raise above sea level. Old- Earth Seculars search and explore these areas of the Grand Canyon to find answers to the age of the earth. Young-Earth View Young- Earth view point on the age of earth is based on not only science but the Bible as well. There try to combine the two areas in an effort to present the true age of the earth. One of the areas they use is how long it takes for material to harden. They presentShow MoreRelatedDating : The Rocks Of The Grand Canyon1013 Words   |  5 Pages Dating the Rocks of The Grand Canyon (old earth vs. young earth) I. Introduction The Grand Canyon is a National Park located in Arizona where over four billion individuals go to visit yearly (â€Å"Grand Canyon National Park,† n.d.; Hill Moshier, 2009, p. 99). It is over â€Å"18 miles wide†; â€Å"a mile deep†; and â€Å"300 miles long† (â€Å"Grand Canyon National Park,† n.d.; Bohlin, 1993). When looking at the Grand Canyon, there are essentially two sides, the South side and the North side also known as Rims. BothRead MoreEssay on Creationism and Grand Canyon755 Words   |  4 PagesEssay Dating the Rocks of the Grand Canyon (Old Earth Comparative Essay 1 Dating the Rocks of the Grand Canyon (Old Earth vs. Young Earth) Dating the rocks of the Grand Canyon is a scientific way to find out the age of this mysterious landmark. The age of the Earth and the Grand Canyon is a question both of a biblical interpretation and scientific investigation. It can be viewed by an old earth creationist and young earth creationistRead More Biblical Creationism versus Scientific Origin Essay example8399 Words   |  34 Pagesin stars and galaxies.) Creationism: Specifically, I use this to mean Christian young-earth creationism; the belief that Earth was created in 6 literal days as written in Genesis 1. Taxon: a division of life: kingdom, phylum, class, species, etc, or an example of such a division (Animals, Chordates, Mammals, Humans, etc) Geological Epochs: Precambrian (4500-545 Mya): Primordial epoch; from the formation of Earth until the Cambrian explosion. No plants or animals. Paleozoic (545-245 Mya): AncientRead MoreManaging Information Technology (7th Edition)239873 Words   |  960 PagesNorfolk Southern Railway: The Business Intelligence Journey CASE STUDY II-4 Mining Data to Increase State Tax Revenues in California CASE STUDY II-5 The Cliptomaniaâ„ ¢ Web Store: An E-Tailing Start-up Survival Story CASE STUDY II-6 Rock Island Chocolate Company, Inc.: Building a Social Networking Strategy CASE STUDY III-1 Managing a Systems Development Project at Consumer and Industrial Products, Inc. CASE STUDY III-2 A Make-or-Buy Decision at Baxter Manufacturing Company Read MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesBongsoon Cho, State University of New York—Buffalo Savannah Clay, Central Piedmont Community College David Connelly, Western Illinois State University Jeffrey Conte, San Diego State University Jane Crabtree, Benedictine University Suzanne Crampton, Grand Valley State University Douglas Crawford, Wilson College Michael Cruz, San Jose State University Robert Cyr, Northwestern University Evelyn Dadzie, Clark Atlanta University Joseph Daly, Appalachian State University Denise Daniels, Seattle Pacific University

Corporal Punishment free essay sample

In some parts of the world, corporal punishment is still legal in some of school; including 20 of the States of the USA, but has been outlawed in other places, including Canada, Kenya, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand, and nearly all of Europe except the Czech Republic and France. As the creator of the future inhabitants of the earth, it is important for the teacher and parents to make sure that their students or children adopt the proper values and are set on the right path. However, sometimes the methods that they use to get their purpose – make disciplinary – is can be quite harrowing. For instance, take corporal punishment. However, corporal punishment is not good for students in some reason. First, corporal punishment will influence student’s academic. Teacher very determining student’s academic. That is why teachers should be ‘friend’ who will be nice to them and be ‘parents’ who will teaches any lesson to them. I feel that such practices simply augment to rebellious, aggressive, and antisocial behavior. The authors to â€Å"Is Corporal Punishment an effective means of discipline† (2002), an article in the American Psychological Association corporal punishment state that corporal punishment can in fact build up antisocial behavior in children such as emotional and physical problems. In addition, the authors state that brutalizing children can lower their self-esteem and teaching them poor self-control can lead them into unsatisfying relationships with others. Furthermore, â€Å"Is Corporal Punishment an effective means of discipline† (2002), states that corporal punishment can cause children to become brutalizing adults. Elizabeth Thompson Gershoff, of the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University, observed both positive and negative behaviors of children who were associated with corporal punishment. In her studies, Gershoff found that ten of the associations increased children’s aggression, antisocial, as well as criminal behavior ( 2002). In addition, I feel that corporal punishment within the school system is unacceptable. † Corporal Punishment: Teaching Violence Through violence† (2002), an article in the Education World, states that teachers are enforcing corporal punishment for all the wrong reason such as being unorganized with homework assignments as well as school supplies. The authors say that corporal punishment within the school system may be capable of adding to a child’s aggressive behavior that may later turn into criminal. â€Å"Virginia Tech students mourn the victims at a candlelight vigil! †(2008) an article in School violence in The United States, says that corporal punishment can fact turn into criminal acts such as in the 1995 in Giles County, Tennessee case. â€Å"Virginia Tech students mourn the victims at a candlelight vigil! †(2008), says that corporal punishment led 17-year old Jamie Rouse to do a school shooting. In the act he shot two teachers in the head and a student attempting to shoot a football coach who imposed corporal punishment. Jamie Rouse had warned several classmates as well as teachers of his act, yet no one believed him. I feel that extreme corporal punishment caused Jamie Rouse to commit this act of violence. Furthermore, I feel that this act of violence could have been prevented if caretakers would have listened to him. Corporal punishment can not only cause antisocial, and criminal behavior, it can escalate to child abuse as well. Laurie A Couture, the author of â€Å"Abolishing Corporal Punishment of Children† (1999), says that caretakers frequently turn corporal punishment into child abuse without becoming conscious of it. Couture (1999), says caretakers often enforce corporal punishment by spanking, smacking or taking bathroom privileges which can be inhumane and degrading to children. In addition, caretakers often feel that corporal punishment is their last option of discipline which causes them to use extreme measures of corporal punishment that can lead to child abuse. To defend their actions, caretakers argue that they never intended to cause any harm by putting corporal punishment into effect. They assume corporal punishment will not be harmful to children as it didn’t them any harm as a child. Couture (1999), says parents are not familiar with the fact that a spank to the buttocks of children can cause children to become sexually aroused as the sciatic nerve runs from the buttocks to the genitals. This sort of corporal punishment can be considered child abuse if the spanking reaches extreme measures. As caretakers have several arguments in favor of corporal punishment, I strongly oppose it for numerous reasons. I feel that corporal punishment can lead to child abuse with out caretakers being aware of it. Moreover, I feel that corporal punishment is being taken advantage of as numerous caretakers attempt to defend their corrective actions by claiming they were practicing corporal punishment. I feel that caretakers can impose healthier discipline techniques that do not engage corporal punishment such as the proposed by Couture (1999). Couture (1999), says that caretakers can practice positive consistent discipline that is non-punitive, develop a respectful relationship with their children as well as maintaining the lines of communication open by communicating with children. School systems can develop discipline plans that are positive and based on systems of logical consequences and restitution. I feel that as a society, we can help abolish corporal punishment in different ways. We can develop better ways to discipline children.

Commodifying Children Through Cartoon free essay sample

Cartoons are the most frequent, popular and easily accessible source of entertainment to children. Because in today‘s world cartoon industry is one of the most successful and bustling industries in the global market various multinational corporate companies using cartoon in order to attract and influence children to buy their commodity. The present study on ? Commodifying Children through Cartoon: An Anthropological Research on Bangladeshi Children living in Urban Area? ims to find out how various corporate and international company using cartoon to immerse young children with commodity and into popular culture and what kind of effects children show as they begin to associate themselves with more materialistic possessions. For gaining in-depth understanding of the situation several anthropological methods such as observation, informal interviews, Participatory Urban Appraisal, Focus Group Discussion, Questionnaire Survey will be carried out for this study and also Secondary dat a will be used to support the research study. From this study researcher is expecting to find out that there is a relationship between cartoon endorsement and children impulse buying. It means when a children sees a cartoon endorsed products he/she insists to buy the product. Key words: Cartoon, Children, Commodity, Impulse buying, Corporate Company, Popular culture, Globalization. 3. Introduction: In Today‘s World Consumerism is fundamental to society. The marketing industry is integral to the economy and includes countless businesses and corporations that compete vigorously to survive and increase profits. Therefore they must use marketing strategies that will convince people to buy their products. Over the years, marketing strategies have developed into complicated psychologically targeted persuasive techniques for persuading, manipulating, and altering consumer perceptions. Furthermore, as corporations have advanced their understanding of marketing, they have also begun to follow people‘s social trends and focus their attention on audiences that wield the most power and money. Over the years, this focus has turned toward children. Marketers now see children as potential and ucrative consumers who can be influenced through media to desire certain products and to either buy or persuade their parents to purchase for them. Because most of the children watch cartoon in their leisure time big corporate company are now using cartoon to sell their product. Over the last several years, child-directed advertising has grown exponentially. These increases indicate that corporations believe in their marketing strategies and therefore continue to invest in them to increase their profits. And for good reason: consumers respond. Children spend on average twenty hours in front of TV in a week and see hundreds of advertisement related to child product. In effect, previous researches have shown that when children reach first grade, they have received an average of 50 new toys a year and can recognize approximately 30 name brands. By age six, girls begin immersing themselves into popular culture, while boys already show interest in masculine commercials and violent video games. This immersion of young children into popular culture consequently has some startling effects as children begin to associate themselves with products and demand more materialistic possessions. There are a few grounds or open space left in urban area of Bangladesh in which children can play. As a result children are spending most of their time in home watching TV especially watching cartoon related program. As the numbers of channels have increased in the recent years so as the Cartoon and advertisement related to cartoon which have allowed the companies to directly access their desired target market. In Bangladesh Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, Pogo and Disney XD provide such platform to the companies to reach the children market. Marketers advertise their products through different cartoon characters and promoting different premium offers which make the children to buy these products instantly. Cartoon has become one of the main sources of their entertainment. Accordingly, the cartoon industry is one of the most successful and bustling industries in the global market. Because cartoon has become one the main source of entertainment all around the world various company using cartoon, cartoon characters to sell their product. Today every child is trying to emulate the characters from which they get inspired and pushing themselves to be like them in every manner. If we follow a routine of a child, we can clearly observe that a child wakes up in the morning wearing Disney character Pajamas, roll out of bed sheet having some licensed character on it, his toothbrush and everything covered in his favorite cartoon characters and even in his breakfast he eats up cake or cereal packed in some cute cartoon box. Strapping his Ben Ten backpack he moves to school but this commercialism even does not stop in school boundaries. In today‘s world kids have more independence in making their decisions as compared to the earlier generations and they can influence their parents to buy what they like. Parents are spending more on their children these days because they have more disposable income in their hand due to smaller family size and dual incomes. So marketers are trying to catch the attention of children using different means like cartoon, cartoon related figure and advertisement to increase sell. In this research, researcher will try to find out how various corporate and market oriented company using cartoon to immerse young children with commodity(=products) and into popular culture and what kind of effects as children begin to associate themselves with more materialistic possessions. Researcher will also try to show how corporate company using globalization (in this case especially cartoon industry) to their advantage to produce a popular culture in order to increase their product sell. The present research proposal is contented in the following way: In 1st part, abstract, introduction, and background of the study, in 2nd part, conceptual and theoretical framework, statement of the problem, objective of the study, rationale of the study and finally research methodology, time plan are discussed. 4. Problematization: Background of study and Literature Review: Today‘s children are the future of the tomorrow. So basically the future depend on how children grow up, that‘s why it‘s important to know what kind of environment they‘re living in and what kind of mentality they‘re developing. If they don‘t learn how to treasure various social and cultural norms including family and friendship and if they grow up in the world of falsehood and consumption there is a possibility that they will become a doll of the corporate world. Bangladesh has a population of 160 million and 73 million or 44 percent of the total populations are children. The total area of Bangladesh is 1,47,570 square km so it‘s a one of the densely populated area in the world. The urban area in Bangladesh is even more densely populated than the rural area and the numbers of urban people are increasing everyday as people from rural area coming to find a place to live in urban area. So there is a competition among people to occupy open space as there are almost no place left in residential area. As people occupying more and more open space and playground, children in urban area have few places left to play. They have to compete with each other to more and more to play in the ground. Therefore most of the children have no choice but to stay in the home and amuse themselves with electric media like TV, computer, video games etc. As the number of the channels grows in Bangladesh so are the cartoon channels. They spending countless hours in front of TV and watching various cartoons like Doraemon, Pokemon, Ben 10 just by clicking their remote control. Various corporate company now aware of the situation where children spend a substantial amount of their time watching cartoon and they‘re now trying to use cartoon to take advantage of children. Marketers now see children as potential and lucrative consumers who can be influenced through advertising media to desire certain products and to either buy or persuade their parents to purchase for them. So now they‘re promoting cartoon which will specifically endorse their commodity. Furthermore, children, unlike adults, do not have the critical thinking and analytical skills necessary to make informed decisions and analyze situations; thus they are more vulnerable to manipulations that could harm them. Now the situation is reaching an alarming stage. Children are very willing to buy and associated themselves more with the product that have their favorite cartoon character with it. They are now engulfing themselves in the sea of commodity without realizing it. Although it is natural for society‘s values to change, it is unacceptable that mass marketing and corporate manipulations force society in the direction of carelessness and superfluity. Childrens values are degrading into insignificance as they are manipulated into believing the messages corporations advertise. In the following section researcher will try to review some of the existing literature related to child consumerism and globalization. Born to Buy Juliet B. Schor ?Born to Buy‘ is an excellent book written by Juliet B. Schor. This book is a major contribution to our understanding of a contemporary trend and its effects on the culture. Marketing targeted at kids is virtually everywhere in classrooms and textbooks, on the Internet, even at Girl Scout meetings, slumber parties, and the playground. Product placement and other innovations have introduced more subtle advertising to movies and television. Drawing on her own survey research and unprecedented access to the advertising industry, Juliet B. Schor, examines how marketing efforts of vast size, scope, and effectiveness have created commercialized children. Ads and their messages about sex, drugs, and food affect not just what children want to buy, but who they think they are. In this groundbreaking and crucial book, Schor looks at the consequences of the commercialization of childhood and provides guidelines for parents and teachers. Selling Out Childhood – Kiku Adatto In this article Kiku Adatto reveals that advertising for children has been ch anging rapidly. Where 25 years ago marketing children‘s products revolve around ? innocence of the child‘ now it is not selling innocence but the selling out of innocence. Today‘s advertisement and market strategy even involve teen nude and sexuality, Teen Vogue is the perfect example for this perspective. She shows how image especially photography‘s theme has change since World War 2 and how image carries subliminal message and how does corporate company use it to sell their product among children. When Childhood Gets Commercialized Can Childhood Be Protected? –Juliet B. Schor In this excellent article Juliet B. Schor shows how childhood is being commercialized through media ( TV, cinema, radio, advertisement, internet etc) and she also turn our attention to how corporate power spends billions of dollars to ommodify children, how this corporate company influence government to stop taking preventive public policy regarding child safety. Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood – Susan Linn In Consuming Kids, psychologist Susan Linn takes a comprehensive and unsparing look at the demographic advertisers call the kid ma rket, taking readers on a compelling and disconcerting journey through modern childhood as envisioned by commercial interests. Children are now the focus of a marketing maelstrom, targets for everything from minivans to MM counting books. All aspects of childrens lives—their health, education, creativity, and values—are at risk of being compromised by their status in the marketplace. Globalization and Children: Exploring Potentials for Enhancing Opportunities in the Lives of Children and Youth. –Natalie Hevener Kaufman and Irene Rizzini In this book Natalie Hevener Kaufman and Irene Rizzini explore and explain how children have been excluded from our conceptualization of the world and our research about globalization. The contributors represent a variety of perspectives from different disciplines including anthropology, sociology, psychology, politics, international relations, law, and economics. Writers argued that Since today we look at the world from the vantage point and the sensibilities that came only through difficult conflicts about children and the meaning of childhood, unpacking those experiences will help us to better understand how other cultures are likely to react as their children become part of the forces altering the world everywhere today. Globalization (a Public Culture Book) – Arjun Appadurai Edited by Arjun Appadurai this book is a collection of essays which makes a striking intervention in the increasingly heated debates surrounding the cultural dimensions of globalization. This books includes discussions about what globalization is and whether it is a meaningful term. Seeking an alternative to the dead-end debate between those who see globalization as a phenomenon wholly without precedent and those who see it simply as modernization, imperialism, or global capitalism with a new face, the contributors seek to illuminate how space and time are transforming each other in special ways in the present era. They examine how this complex transformation involves changes in the situation of the nation, the state, and the city. While exploring distinct regions—China, Africa, South America, Europe—and representing different disciplines and genres—anthropology, literature, political science, sociology, music, cinema, photography—the contributors are concerned with both the political economy of location and the locations in which political economies are produced and transformed. Apparently all the literacy discussed earlier focus on how media and globalization affect children but they did not focus on the idea that there might be a relation between cartoon endorsement and impulse buying and how various corporate and international companies using cartoon to immerse children into popular culture so that children will associate themselves with commodity. 5. Conceptual and theoretical framework For this study researcher is going to use various theoretical concepts. These concepts are drawn from various theorists. Researcher is mainly going to use Karl Marx theory on Media and commodity and also Arjun Appadurai‘s concept of ? Globalization‘. First researcher is going to introduce and define the concept then researcher will try to show how they‘re related to each other and to the research problem and finally researcher will try justify why he‘s using these concepts. Cartoon: In this study researcher only going to refer certain type of shows as cartoon. Researcher define cartoon as, ? The two-dimensional illustrated visual art which is created to show on media (especially TV and internet) and supposedly to entertain children is called cartoon?. Researcher for the purpose of this study also called Japanese animation as cartoon. Biologically, a child (plural: children) is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier. Children generally have fewer rights than adults and are classed as not able to make serious decisions, and legally must always be under the care of a responsible adult. For this study researcher refers child as anyone whose age is between (3. 5-12) years. Children: Capitalism and Corporate Capitalism: Capitalism is an economic system that is based on private ownership of the means of production and the production of goods or services for profit. Other elements central to capitalism include Capital accumulation and often competitive markets. Corporate capitalism refers to a capitalist marketplace characterized by the dominance of hierarchical, bureaucratic corporations, which are legally required to pursue profit. Commodification: By Commodification researcher refers to the process by which something which does not have an economic value is assigned a value and hence how market values can replace other social values. It describes a modification of relationships, formerly untainted by commerce, into commercial relationships in everyday use. Market: In capitalist society market is one kind of system where parties engage in exchange and usually these exchanges is conducted through money. There are usually two kinds of parties that mainly participate in market 1. Buyer. 2. Seller Popular culture is a hopelessly commercial culture. It is mass produced for mass consumption. Its audience is a mass of non-discriminating consumers. The culture itself is formulaic, manipulative. It is a culture itself which is consumed with brain-numbed and brain-numbing passivity. Popular culture undermine folk culture in order to industrialized and commercialized society. Popular Culture: Globalization: Globalization is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture. Put in simple terms, globalization refers to processes that promote world-wide exchanges of national and cultural resources. Advances in transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, including the rise of the Internet, are major factors in globalization, generating further interdependence of economic and cultural activities. In 2000, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) identified four basic aspects of globalization: trade and transactions, capital and investment movements, migration and movement of people and the dissemination of knowledge. For this the purpose of this study researcher going to mainly focus on effects of the first two aspect of globalization. By ? imagined world‘ researcher refer to the community of people where they belief to have same culture. An important fact of the world we live in today is that many persons on the globe live in such imagined ? worlds‘ and not just in local communities and thus are able to contest and sometimes even subvert the traditional or indigenous mentality that surround them. Imagined World: Mediascapes: Mediascapes refer both to the distribution of the electronic capabilities to produce and disseminate information (newspapers, magazines, television stations, film production studios, etc. ), which are now available to a growing number of private and public interests throughout the world and to the images of the world created by these media. These images of the world involve many complicated inflections, depending on their mode (documentary or entertainment), their hardware (electronic or pre-electronic), their audiences (local, national or transnational) and the interests of those who own and control them. What is most important about these mediascapes is that they provide (especially in their television, film and cassette forms) large and complex repertoires of narratives and images to viewers throughout the world, in which the world of commodity is produced. What this means is that many audiences throughout the world experience the media themselves as a complicated and interconnected repertoire of print, celluloid, electronic screens and billboards. As a result the lines between the realistic and the fictional landscapes they see are blurred. Mediascapes produced by private company tend to be image-centered, narrative-based accounts of strips of reality, and what they offer to those who experience and transform them is a series of elements (such as characters, plots and textual forms) out of which scripts can be formed of imagined lives, their own as well as those of others living in other places. Karl Marx Marxist theory emphasizes the importance of social class in relation to both media ownership and audience interpretation of media texts. Whilst content analysis and semiotics may shed light on media content, Marxist theory highlights the material conditions of media production and reception. Marxist critical theory exposes the myth of value-free social science. Marxist perspectives draw our attention to the issue of political and economic interests in the mass media and highlight social inequalities in media representations. Marxism helps to situate media texts within the larger social formation. Marxists view capitalist society as being one of class domination; the media are seen as part of an ideological arena in which various class views are fought out, although within the context of the dominance of certain classes; ultimate control is increasingly concentrated in monopoly capital; media professionals, while enjoying the illusion of autonomy, are socialized into and internalize the norms of the dominant or popular culture. Mass media research in this fundamentalist tradition interprets the culture industries in terms of their economic determination. According to this view, the contents of the media and the meanings carried by their messages are primarily determined by the economic base of the organizations in which they are produced. Consequently, commercial media organizations must cater to the needs of advertisers and produce audience-maximizing products. The base/superstructure model as applied to the mass media is associated with a concern with the ownership and control of the media. The ideological operation of the mass media in the West contributes to the reproduction of the capitalist system. Neo-Marxist stances have typically come to grant more active roles to audiences. As Curran et al. put it, whilst dominant meaning systems are seen as molded and relayed by the mass media, they are also seen as adapted by audiences and integrated into class-based or situated meaning systems. Researcher found both traditional Marxism and Neo-marxism perspective useful. So researcher is going to use both perspectives simultaneously. Arjun Appadurai The central problem of today‘s global interactions is the tension between cultural homogenization and cultural heterogenization. A vast array of empirical facts could be brought to bear on the side of the homogenization argument, and much of it has come from the left end of the spectrum of media studies and some from other, less appealing, perspectives. Most often, the homogenization argument subspeciates into either an argument about Americanization/globalization, or an argument about commoditization‘, and very often the two arguments are closely linked. There will always be a fear in general public about cultural absorption or homogenization. The complexity of the current global economy has to do with certain fundamental disjunctures between economy, culture and politics. An important fact of the world we live in today is that many persons on the globe live in such imagined worlds and not just in imagined communities, and thus are able to contest and sometimes even subvert the imagined worlds of the official mind and of the entrepreneurial mentality that surround. Because researcher‘s one of the main theme in this research is on about the effect of globalization and how corporate company use globalization to expand the range of their product sell researcher found that Arjun Appadurai‘s concept of ? Mediascapes? is very relevant to this research. The main form of entertainment for Bangladeshi children living in Urban Area is watching Cartoon. Because children rely on cartoon for entertaining purpose these cartoon are made in such a way that children are inspired to buy the commodity show in these cartoons. These types of cartoon shows are usually sponsored by corporate company. They use highly advanced market and advertising strategy in cartoons to sell their commodity among children and expand their market zone. These corporate companies use globalization in their favor and try to inject certain kind of notion in children which undermine tradition cultural value and encourage children to think that they belong to popular culture and to an imagined community- The community where the protagonist of the cartoon lives. Because children tend to think that they belong to popular culture and to an imagined community they tried to buy products that are shows in cartoons. So as we can see the main theoretical concept researcher using are related to each other in a deep level and they are also related to research problem. 6. Statement of the problem Cartoons are the most frequent and easily accessible source of entertainment which we provide to our children. With the vastness of media and extension of channels, it has become easier for children to watch their favorite cartoons on a single click and at he same time it has become more convenient for parents to provide children with this all-time favorite activity of theirs. Time which was previously spent by children in outdoor activities is now replaced, as now they can be found glued to the TV sets for long hours, peering at all sorts of cartoons, mostly without the supervision of elders who are mostly unaware that this might have certain effects on thei r psychological development later on displayed in their behavior patterns. Children‘s values are changing in accordance with the messages major corporations send through cartoon and its related advertising. Major corporations can use their power, money, and influence to sculpt society through advertisements and promote the value systems that will allow them to gain more profit by bombarding consumers with advertisements and connecting their products to certain feelings such as hipness or luxury. The strategy uses peer pressure and an acceptance factor to manipulate children into believing that if they buy product related to cartoon character they will be accepted. Advertisers use such connections to generate consumers‘ mental perceptions of their surroundings, which ultimately influences societal views. Adult consumers are less vulnerable to these advertisements and do not as readily modify their beliefs in accordance; young children, however, are more susceptible to their lure. Thus cartoon and its related advertisers persuade children to disregard their values and accept the new values that corporations formulate for them. Although all generations modify their values and beliefs, todays society is accepting and glamorizing current beliefs that are not only superficial—they are immoral. These beliefs are immoral because they disregard the qualities that make people caring and involved. Instead individuals become obsessed with consumption and rashness. Although it is natural for society‘s values to change, it is unacceptable that mass marketing and corporate manipulations force society in the direction of carelessness and superfluity. Childrens values are degrading into insignificance as they are manipulated into believing the messages corporations advertise. Children are focusing more on materialism and forgetting and discrediting deeper, more intimate aspects of life such as family and friendship. Being a good person, being well-liked, being a good friend is no longer basic. Instead, consumerism has taken basic values of human goodness and warped them into being products in need of labels. To fit in and to be cool, children must wear certain brands or have a certain number of things. The evidence related to this issue is not hard to find. If we follow a routine of a child, we can clearly observe that a child wakes up in the morning wearing Disney character Pajamas, roll out of bed sheet having some licensed character on it, his toothbrush and everything covered in his favorite cartoon characters and even in his breakfast he eats up cereals packed in some cute cartoon box. Strapping his Ben Ten backpack he moves to school but this commercialism even does not stop in school boundary. Nowadays every food company is using some branded characters which gets associated with the company and hence promote the company name. The character of Doraemon is used to advertise the Prince‘s brand food product. Similarly KFC is using the character of Colonel Harland Sanders to promote its brand name. Most of the campaigns which became popular in children consisted of branded characters— characters which are used to promote the company products. There is a vast quantity of research that has been performed regarded children, some of them are -violence in mass media and their effects on children, psychological and behavior disorder in children watching TV- but there is not a single research has been done regarding how various corporate and international company using cartoon in their benefit to increase their product sell and also there is very little research has done in Bangladesh regarding this issue. This research will recommend strategies and measures, based on empirical findings, that will helpful to policy maker and law-enforcers to come up with new idea and law that will minimize the problem that have stated in this proposal and will also be helpful to parents who are most concern for their children. Hopefully this study will create some new perspective and knowledge that will help future researchers and educators in their studies. 7. Objectives of the study: The main objective of this study is to find out how various corporate and international companies using cartoon to immerse young children with commodity and into popular culture and what kind of effects children show as they begin to associate themselves with more materialistic possessions. The specific objectives of this study are to find out? how corporate company use cartoon to increase their product sell ? if there is a relation between cartoon endorsement and impulse buying. ? the effects of popular culture on children ? the effect of globalization on children 8. Rationale of the study: There is a vast quantity of research that has been performed regarded children. Children are frequently studied with regard to how the media influences. Most research in this area focuses on how television, movies, music, and video games affect children and adolescents, but relatively little research have been done on the link between cartoon endorsement and impulse buying and how various corporate and international company using cartoon to immerse young children with commodity and into popular culture and what kind of effects children show as they begin to associate themselves with more materialistic possessions. Also there is not a single piece of anthropological research has done in Bangladesh regarding how cartoon effect children mind‘s to buy more product. Based on empirical findings, the study will recommend strategies and measures that may be helpful to policy maker and law-enforcer to enforce laws that will minimize the problem and also to parents who are most concern for their children. 9. Research design and methods 9. 1 Assumptions about methodology: This study will follow a quantitative and quantitative research method by which the research will be completed systematically. Theoretically this study is based on Marxist media theory which highlights material conditions of media production and reception and Appadurai‘s concept of ? Mediascapes? which shed lights to how corporate company use globalization to expand the range of their product sell. So in the fieldwork, the relation between cartoon endorsement and children impulse buying, and the information about effects of media and globalization will be collected. Because this research problem is an observable phenomenon the researcher can assume that most of the research methodology that will be used in this research will rely on observation. . 2 Sources of Data: Collection of data is essential for any anthropological research. For the purpose of this study researcher will collect data from different sources which can be grouped into two categories: ? Primary Sources ? Secondary Sources 9. 2. 1. Primary Sources: Primary source of data will be collected for this research for the specific purpose of a ddressing the problem at hand. That means all data that researcher will collect date directly from children, their parents, market and advertising specialist and shopkeeper. 9. 2. 2 Secondary Sources: For this purpose of the research data will also be collected from the secondary sources such as various books, various journals, research works, government publications , census etc. 9. 3 Selection of the study area: 9. 3. 1 Researcher has choosen Mirpur Thana under Dhaka district as study area. There are several kindergarden, elementary schools and shopping malls located in Mirpur and it‘s easy to reach Mirpur because of the various transportation facilities. Mirpur is chosen because researcher will be able to visit different school, malls and neighborhoods pretty easily. . 4 Data Collection Form Primary Sources: 9. 4. 1. 1. Observation Observation is a well-defined methodological component in anthropology. It involves establishing rapport with the research population. The researcher will try to build close relationship with children, children‘s parents and shopkeepers who sells child product. Through observation researcher will try to see how child reacted to product wh ich is associated with their favorite cartoon character and their parent‘s reaction toward their children and shopkeeper strategy to attract children. 9. 4. 1. 2. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) Focus group discussions will be held in the study area. The objective of these sessions is to collect appropriate and intensive information and create space for target people to discuss and explore issues pertinent to this research proposal. 9. 4. 1. 3. Case Study A case study involves the in depth study of a single example of whatever it is the researcher wishes to investigate. In this study, case study method will be used for focusing the data especially what parents have to say about their children behavior when it comes to the product related to cartoons. . 4. 1. 4. PUA (Participatory Urban Appraisal) This method is now popular in rural development sector. Because Participatory Urban Appraisal ? emphasizes local knowledge and enables local people to make their own analysis of the problems they face and to identify their own solutions? this tool will help research to find out parents strategies regarding how they cope with their child‘s unreaso nable pester for buy commodity and how they plan to discourage children from buying product. 9. 4. 1. 5. Questionnaire Survey This method is an appropriate method to get the required information. A set of questionnaire will be prepared to conduct the field survey. In the present study data will be collected from structured questionnaire. 9. 4. 1. 6. Field Notes: Taking field notes is a field technique which allows researchers to produce a lot of data. During the fieldwork the researcher will keep a notebook which will record a lot of data. 9. 4. 1. 7. Tape Recording: There will be a lot of information that might not be possible to write down on the spot. In this situation the researcher will use tape recorder to record the information. 9. 4. 1. 8. Visual Technique: Different visual techniques such as taking picture, diagram, or video clips will be used to collect data and later explaining situation. For this purpose researcher will use a video camera. 9. 4. 2 Sample Size and Selection of Sample: 9. 4. 2. 1. It is important to select that population which share common characteristics so researcher will select middle and lower middle class children of age ranging from 3. 5 to 12 years as the spend most of their time in front of TV. The sample size of the questionnaire survey will include three kinder garden schools and 30 households 9. 5 Data Analysis and Report Preparation: 9. 5. 1. After completion of the initial search, the materials will be screened and preliminarily data will be sorted out on the basis on broad subjects. Each document will be summarized with a view to eliciting the major findings. 9. 6. Scope and limitation of the proposed research: 9. 6. 1 There will be limited time for this study which will not allow the researcher to study most of the children living in the Mirpur. There is a strong possibility that researcher will get bias response in some of the answers although care will be taken to word when selecting question. A few quantitative findings may have to be drawn on selfestimated data, which may not be very reliable. 10. Timeframes: Activities Fieldwork (Data Collection from primary secondary sources) Data Processing Data Analysis Writing Revision for submission Print bind Submit Month May/2013 May/2013 May/2013 May/2013 May/2013 June/2013 Date 1-18 19-22 23-25 26-29 30-31 1st June

Personal Budget Balance Sheet free essay sample

Therefore, being a good steward over your finances should be consistent and begin at an early age and progress as you age. This will provide an effective growth pattern to allow future financial security.  The purpose of this memorandum is to evaluate my client’s financial outlook, their personal budget, balance sheet, and cash flow statement and provide recommendations for improvement of their financial situation. My client, Chauncey Latham is 51 years old and a police officer. He is married and has one dependent. Kyle Latham, Chauncey’s wife is 47 years old and is currently not working. Prior to her unemployment, Kyle annual earnings were $96,000 a year. They live is a nice 4-bedroom house, in a great community with a sought after school district. The family has a comfortable looking life, though their financial outlook is pretty grim. Together Chauncey and Kyle earn $85,000 a year, which includes Chauncey’s off duty work and Kyle’s unemployment benefit. We will write a custom essay sample on Personal Budget Balance Sheet or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Their life savings have dwindled down the emergency fund is very low, and their credit card debt is high. The balance sheets show my clients assets and liabilities and verify their net worth. Any property including jewelry or saleable items is considered assets and can produce income. The asset value should have a fair market value, which means the amount of money they would have today if sold. This will allow them to have the proper foundation to establish strong financial understanding, develop strong money management skills that will pave the way long time financial security. Hence, I will determine their monthly income and show expenses to determine where modifications need to take place. IncomeActual Amt. PercentageProj Amount Salary $7,083 $7,083 Expenses Mortgage $1,400 $1,400 Property Tax $250 $250 Car Loan Payment $565 3% $548 Student Loan $485 4% $465 CC Payment $600 10% $540 House/Car/Life Ins $250 $250 Power $200 2% Water $70 $70 Telephone $265 10% $239 Gas/Transportation $400 $400 Food $800 10% $720 Clothing $100 50% $50 Med Exp. $150 $150 Entertainment $100 50% $50 Gift/Donation $300 30% $210 Saving/Emergency $500 $1,000 Savings Goal $300 $600 Based on the data, there is room for financial improvement. I would advise my clients to request lower interest rates on both their credit cards and car loan, and request student loan consolidation. Also, reducing the power usage in the home, change telephone plans to something more cost effective, and attempt to use coupons for grocery shopping when at all possible. Lastly reduce any spending on gifts, entertainment, and clothing would help in improving the overall financial outlook. If the plan is followed, the Lathams, would be able to increase the money deposited into the saving goal and emergency saving accounts. After a while, the money could be used to reduce the other debt. Having a personal budget is the blueprint for managing and spending finances. Use of the personal budget, gives you control over timely bill paying, monthly expenses, and provide an overall financial picture, so you know where you are each month.  Utilizing a budget will allow better forecasting in long-term financial needs, which will help in better long-term savings, student loans can be paid sooner, and liquid cash can be readily available when needed. A personal budget is key in improving financial health.

Antidepressants Are over Prescribed Essay Example

Antidepressants Are over Prescribed Essay Example Antidepressants Are over Prescribed Essay Antidepressants Are over Prescribed Essay Antidepressants are overprescribed Mitrea (2007) defines antidepressants as an agent or a drug that is most commonly used to prevent or treat depression. However, in today’s society it could be said that antidepressants are being over prescribed and are being used to treat a vast range of other conditions, as well as clinical depression. When the first antidepressant was developed, manufacturers were reluctant to put it on the market due to the extremely low number of people suffering from depression. Now, antidepressant drugs have a very dominant place in the drug market, with studies showing that they are now one of the most widely prescribed categories of drugs (Mark 2010). There could be a number of reasons for this increase in antidepressant prescriptions; more people in today’s society could be suffering from depression, or the drugs could indeed be being over prescribed by doctors. This essay will aim to critically discuss whether antidepressants are being over prescribed or perhaps under prescribed, and if the diagnosis for depression needs to be reviewed in order to prescribe antidepressants more appropriately. Various studies have been carried out that aim to show that the proportion of antidepressants being prescribed without a psychiatric diagnosis is growing, concluding that antidepressant drugs are being overprescribed. Research by Mojtabai Olfson (2011) found that the increase over the years has come from prescriptions written by non-psychiatrist providers, for patients who do not have a psychiatric or mental health diagnosis. Antidepressants are not being prescribed solely for depression; they are also used to treat chronic pain, anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and even eating disorders (Parker 2005). The symptoms for depression are a depressed mood, taking less pleasure in life, lack of energy, changes in appetite, restless habits, feeling worthless and guilty, and suicidal thoughts (American Psychiatric Association [DSM-IV-TR], 2000), but even with these parameters, it can still be difficult to distinguish severe depression from natural periods of feeling â€Å"down. Mojtabai Olfson (2011) reviewed a national sample of office based physician visits over a one week period. They compared visits that involved the prescription of antidepressants with no psychiatric diagnosis with visits that involved the prescription of antidepressants with a psychiatric diagnosis. The findings showed that in the general medicine practice, the use of antidepressants was more dominant among people wi th mental health conditions that were considered less severe and that were poorly defined (John Hopkins University Blomberg School of Public Health 2011). To the extent that antidepressants are being prescribed for uses not supported by clinical evidence, it may be beneficial to improve provider’s prescribing practices, review drug formularies, or pursue interventions that will increase and encourage communication between primary carers and mental health specialists. The rising number of antidepressant prescriptions raises questions not only about over prescription but also about misdiagnoses. It could be fair to say that doctors are too quick to hand out prescriptions for any emotional problem. The rise in prescriptions could be down to patients being diagnosed with depression when they are in fact suffering from different health issues. Researchers have been investigating whether people who have been told they are suffering from depression actually have undiagnosed hypothyroidism (Garber 2006). Hypothyroidism is a disease in which the thyroid gland fails to produce enough thyroid hormone (Andrews 2010). The symptoms of this disease can mimic the symptoms of depression, and it could be possible that the growth in antidepressant prescribing is going to the community of undiagnosed thyroid patients. It is fair to ask why doctors tend to hand out a prescription for an antidepressant rather than run thyroid tests. The answer to this is most likely to do with time and money. It is much quicker for doctors to write a prescription for an antidepressant drug than to question patients about their health history (Shomon 2011). Macdonald et al. (2009) suggest that the current levels of antidepressant prescribing needs to be assessed. In this study, which gave an insight into General Practitioners (GPs) perspectives on the rise of antidepressant prescriptions, it was evident that many GPs believed that unhappiness, exacerbated by social deprivation and the breakdown of traditional social structures, was being ‘medicalised’ inappropriately (Macdonald et al. 2009). However, participation in this study was voluntary so it is very likely that GPs who were interested in mental health and comfortable with their own prescribing practice would be more likely to take part, thus raising the question; are antidepressants really overprescribed? Despite the increasing number of studies on the over prescription of antidepressants some support this rise in antidepressant use, arguing that it is better to diagnose depression too often and too little (Barber 2008). Research has also been conducted not on over prescription, but in fact under prescription of antidepressants. These researchers are challenging the wide-spread assumption that doctors are handing out antidepressants too often, and suggest that they are in fact being underused instead of overused. In contrast to the study by Macdonald et al. (2009), Cameron et al. (2009) challenged the hypothesis that GPs prescribe antidepressants to patients who are unlikely to require them. The findings suggest that the recent accounts of the overuse of antidepressants are unwarranted. The prescribing of antidepressants to those patients who were not symptomatic was accounted for by relapse prevention, and for the ongoing successful treatment of previously identified depression. Among the patients with probable depression, half did not have their symptomatic status identified and were not offered any treatment for depression, suggesting that GPs may under prescribe, rather than over prescribe antidepressants (Cameron et al. 2009) The increasingly common belief that antidepressants are being over prescribed is mainly down to the fact that the number of antidepressant prescriptions has significantly risen over the last few years. However, when researchers looked more closely at antidepressant prescribing activity, they found an altogether different situation, which showed that only a very small number of patients were being given such drugs without reason (Reid 2009). The main aim of the study was to investigate whether patients who did not meet the criteria laid out in the national guidelines were unnecessarily being prescribed antidepressants, which are also often used to treat pain. The findings showed that only 3 out of a total of 897 patients who took part in the study were being given an antidepressant drug unnecessarily. Many patients who met the criteria in the national guidelines and qualified for treatment with antidepressants were not being given them, which adds to the assumption that GPs are significantly under diagnosing the condition of depression. According to Reid (2011), the assumption that antidepressants are being over-prescribed is being fuelled by the way in which statistics are currently being used to analyze the situation. He says that the numbers are only based on the volume of prescriptions and do not provide any information on differences in the dose or the duration of therapy. Currently, the statistics measure the number of prescriptions being handed out for antidepressant drugs. Critically, they don’t give any indication of how many people are actually taking the drugs. If the doses of antidepressants increased, or the duration of the treatment was extended, there would be an increase of the prescription statistic without any change in the number of people being treated (Reid 2011). The arguments about the over and under prescribing of antidepressants raises an important question; Are antidepressants really effective at treating depression and should they even be prescribed at all? Studies suggest that the popular antidepressant drugs are no more effective that an placebo. Kirsch (1998) investigated this claim by comparing the improvement in patients taking antidepressants with the improvement in those taking placebo pills and found that the difference was minuscule. Patients on a placebo improved about 75% as much as those on actual antidepressants (Begley Kliff 2010). From these findings it is evident that three quarters of the benefit from antidepressants seems to be a placebo effect. It can be argued that these publications that claim that antidepressants don’t work any better than a placebo are a highly misleading interpretation of evidence that shows that antidepressants do work, even in less severely depressed patients, with the long term benefits of the drugs showing an even stronger effect (Melander et al. 008). Geddes et al. (2003) states that the ability of antidepressants to prevent further episodes of depression is one of the strongest findings in the whole of medicine. Placebo does have an impact on mood when used in clinical trials, but the effect is much less than that of antidepressants. Moreover, if the effects of antidepressants are compared with those of no treatment, as is sometimes done for psychotherapy trials, then the effects of drug treatments are as big as those of talking therapies (Nutt Sharpe 2008). Most GPs agree with the claim that antidepressant prescriptions are indeed being overprescribed without a proper diagnosis, and studies suggest that prescribing behaviour needs to change in order to reduce this rising level of prescribing (Macdonald et al. 2009). However, as far as overprescribing, it is not fair to say that it is occurring as a blanket statement. There is evidence to suggest that antidepressants are not prescribed nearly enough and that depression is significantly under diagnosed, meaning that patients who should be treated with antidepressants are not being offered them. There is no definitive answer to whether or not antidepressants are under or over prescribed, but it fair to suggest that the national guidelines for the treatment and diagnosis of depression needs to be reviewed, and doctors need to be educated in distinguishing severe depression from natural periods of sadness and perhaps start providing alternatives to prescribing antidepressants such as counselling to address the main problems of depression rather than masking the symptoms. As far as antidepressants being effective, it is clear that the drugs have been very beneficial to millions of people (Begley Kliff 2008). However, antidepressant drugs are perhaps not necessarily the best choice of treatment. Psychotherapy, for instance, works for moderate, sever, and even very severe depression. It would be beneficial for further research to be conducted to determine if antidepressants are being prescribed for a misdiagnosis of depression or if GPs are missing cases of depression and therefore not prescribing antidepressant drugs enough. References American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (Revised 4th edition) Washington DC: Author Andrews, L. W. (2010) Encyclopaedia of Depression (Volume 1) USA: ABC-CLIO, LLC Begley, S. Kliff, S. (2010) The depressing news about antidepressants Newsweek Vol. 155, No. 6, pp 34-41 Barber, C. (2008) Comfortably Numb: How psychiatry is medicating a nation New York: Vintage Books Cameron, I. M. , Lawton, K. , Reid, I. C. (2009) Appropriateness of antidepressant prescribing: An observational study in a primary-care setting. British journal of General Practice 59: 644-649 Garber, J. R. (2006) Clinical Update: Managing the challenges of hypothyroidism Journal of Family Practice Vol. 55, No. 66, pp 51-8 Geddes, J Carney, S, Davies, C Furukawa, T Kupfer, T, Frank, E. Goodwin G (2003) Relapse prevention with antidepressant drug treatment in depressive disorders: a systematic review. The Lancet 361(9358): 653? 661 John Hopkins University Blomberg School of Public Health (2011) Prescriptions for antidepressants increasing among individuals with no psychiatric diagnosis, US study finds. Science Daily Retrieved October 19th 2011 from sciencedaily. com/releases/2011/08/110805135808. htm Macdonald, S. , Morrison, J. , Maxwell, M. , Munoz-Arroyo, R. , Power, A. , Smith, M. , Sutton, M. , Wilson, P. (2009) ‘A coal face option’: GP’s perspectives on the rise in antidepressant prescribing British journal of General Practice Vol. 59, No. 566, pp. e299- e307 (9) Mark, T. L. (2010) For what diagnosis are psychotropic medications being prescribed? : A nationally representative survey of psysicians CNS Drugs 24(4): 319-326 Melander et al (2008) A regulatory apologia ? a review of placebo? controlled studies in regulatory submissions of new? generation antidepressants. European Neuropsychopharmacology 18: 623? 627 Mitrea, L. S. , (2007) Natural Medicone Mosiac, Volume 1. Canada: Natural Medicne Books Mojtabai, R. Olfson, M. (2011) Proportion of antidepressants prescribed without a psychiatric diagnosis is growing Health Affairs, 30(8) Nutt DJ and Sharpe M (2008) Uncritical positive regard? Issues in the safety and efficacy of psychotherapy. Journal of Psychopharmacology 22: 3? 6 Parker, G. (2005) Beyond major depression Psychol Med 35: 467-72 Reid, I. (2009) Antidepressants are under – not over – prescribed British Journal of General Practice Shomon, M. (2011) More antidepressants being prescribed without a psychiatric diagnosis: Are undiagnosed thyroid problems a key cause? Retrieved on October 20th from http://thyroid. about. com/b/2011/08/15/antidepressants-thyroid-depression-shames. htm

EFEECTS OF CGI (COMPUTER GENERATED IMAGES) IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY Essay

EFEECTS OF CGI (COMPUTER GENERATED IMAGES) IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY - Essay Example Computer generated images in digital media has also acted as a source of information, which has encouraged a participatory culture. This is by ensuring that the political process is more democratic and less elitist (Bennett and Strange, 2011). This paper aims at finding out how computer generated images impact on the media. Political campaigns usually capitalize on new means of communication in order to reach voters. This was evident in the 2008 U.S presidential elections whereby candidates used computer generated images and internet technologies to conduct their campaigns. Many political analysts liken the way President Obama used the internet in 2008 presidential campaigns to President Kennedys first use of television in presidential campaigns in 1960 (Bennett and Strange, 2011). Utilization of new media in political processes has mostly been viewed as a tool of reaching voters, especially the youth who are always reluctant to turn out and vote. Some digital media analysts have maintained that the effect of social sites like Facebook on political behavior of young voters is still largely unknown The proportion of candidates using digital media for electoral processes has been increasing since 1996 when the internet was initially used in the U.S during campaigns, but the use was extremely limited. The first substantial use of the internet for political campaigns occurred in 2000 during the presidential campaigns of Bush and Gore; these campaigns had sophisticated websites (Bennett and Strange, 2011). By 2008, features of digital media were more advanced and widely used in political processes than in previous years. Political analysts observe that the failure to include new media in campaign strategies can adversely affect campaigns. This is because social media has become relevant and cost effective tool for political mobilization and support. For instance, candidates who fail to utilize digital

Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

Employment Law - Essay Example By enacting the ERA, the government deemed employers should be able to negotiate provisions with workers that allow them to meet the needs of their customers. Businesses need to be able to adjust to changes.   The ERA structure is intended to aid employers by allowing different types of employment relationships that suit the needs of employers.   Enacting this flexibility should enable businesses to become more competitive in national and international markets.   At the same time, according to the Department of Trade, the Act should translate to a variety of working arrangements enabling more people to participate in work suitable to their individual circumstances2.By virtue of the ERA, employees have several rights not enjoyed by atypical workers.   These include the ability to take leave for a wide variety of personal reasons, guaranteed wage payments, the right to protection of wages in the event of an employer’s insolvency, to seek representation, and to receive a written statement of dismissal among many others benefits.   Temporary workers may be regarded as employees under certain conditions and thus qualified for provisions contained within the ERA.   Employers fill long term assignments through employment agencies.   When a worker employs through an agency for one company for more than a year, the question has arisen whether the worker is considered an employee and if so, who is the employer, the agency or the company (end-user)? These workers, under contract with a hiring agency, may be considered independent contractors.

Consumer Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Consumer Behaviour - Essay Example Consumer behaviour, hence, entails understanding different attitude and behaviour of the consumers along with exploring factors having impact on these attitude and behaviours (Peter and Olson, 2008). For the purpose, various theories and models have been derived to somewhat provide generalised guideline impact of these factors on consumer buying behaviour (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2009). Businesses to influence the buying behaviour uses various tactics such as advertising, promotions and other market tactics that increases probabilities of consumer purchasing company’s product. Designing and devising these tactics are guided by the understanding of factors that are capable of influencing of consumer attitude and behaviour and direct purchase decision (Neal, Quester, & Hawkins, 2004). To develop insight about aforesaid mentioned factors, this paper develops research to explore activities an organisation undertakes in relation with different consumer behaviour models and theories . Organisation’s undertakes many activities to direct consumer behaviour. For instance, marketing mix used to generate favourable response include product, brand, advertisement, packaging, point of purchase display etc in an integrated manner (East, Wright, and Vanhuele, 2008). Since these entire stimulus generators carry complete information and extensive detail in itself, the scope of this research has been limited to case study based analysis of advertisement campaign of L’Oreal’s product ‘Elvive’. L’Oreal has been in operations since years with recognition of being global cosmetic provider. L’Oreal’s target market in general has been female and while specifying its market comprising of females with urge to look good and beautiful; an ultimate desire of every woman. For the purpose, L’Oreal has several product offerings within various ranges; however, every product campaign from all mediums communicates the same messag e. This research in order to analyse abovementioned advertisement has picked print advertisements, storyboards and/ or screenshots of the television advertisements to investigate if message from these medium are on same page as referred by different consumer behaviour models and theories to target consumer behaviour. STIMULUS GENERATORS IN L’OREAL’S ADVERTISMENT L’OREAL’s advertisement campaigns are mainly formed of the similar technique to develop customer attention. This technique is also the most common form of advertisement and has following components: 1. Celebrity endorsement 2. Beauty appeal 3. Benefit communication 4. Scientific support to claimed benefits 5. Iconography 1- CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT Message conveyed by celebrity usually has greater appeal; claim based on general perception and observation. Product endorsed by more popular or liked personality is able to gain more rating on the evaluation phase. In evaluation phase consumer analyses an d rates the quality and benefits of the product. This phase is known as surrogate indicator (Neal, Quester, & Hawkins, 2004). L’Oreal has been using celebrating endorsement in its advertisement campaigns to fetch higher rating and hence, influence the purchase decision. 2- BEAUTY APPEAL Beauty appeal has been well accepted to be one of the basic features of the product capable to attract women. L’Oreal targetting women has been using this appeal in almost its every adverstisemnet. Hence, L’Oreal advertisements to cater the social need strongly develops

Organizational Diagnosis Plan Of Six Box Model Information Technology Essay

Organizational Diagnosis Plan Of Six Box Model Information Technology Essay The six-box model is a structure developed by the American analyst Marvin Weisbord to evaluate the performance of organizations. It is a general structure and is proposed for use across a wide variety of organizations. It is based mainly on the techniques and assumptions of the field of organizational improvement. The model represents a exacting way of looking at organizational structure and plan. It gives awareness to issues such as planning, incentives and rewards, the role of support functions such as personnel, internal competitions among organizational units, standards for remuneration, partnerships, hierarchies and the delegation of authority, organizational control, accountability and performance assessment. The model also follows the basic systems approach to organizational functioning including the well-known inputs and outputs categories. (The Marvin Weisbord Six-Box Model (Weisbords Model)) Table 1 1.0 Scope This plan provides information about Organizational Diagnosis control of XYZ. It is used to plan and implement organizational process based on a thorough understanding of the current strengths and weaknesses of the organizations processes and assets. 2.0 High-Level Overview Application Development is performed according to the phases of the Software Development Lifecycle. Below is a high-level overview. Each of these stages is described in more detail, in the sections that follow. Generally, a customer or site manager initiates a request for development based on the customers needs. The request is then analyzed to determine if it should be done as a request task or a project. If it should be a project, then it is analyzed to create a project charter. It should then be determined whether planning can be done with pre-allocated hours or whether a planning project is required. These results should be documented in the planning SOW, a planning schedule, and a PID if necessary. This can be done during by meeting with the customer depending on the scope of the project. The purpose of the planning project is to perform all of the planning and requirements analysis required in order to get an execution project approved. During the planning phase, business requirements and a project plan with all of its subordinate plans should be created. This can be done depending on the scope of the project. During the requirements analysis phase, the software requirements should be developed based on the project plan and business requirements. Then, an estimate should be created based on the project plan and software requirements. And finally, a schedule should be done based on the estimate, software requirements, and project plan. Once approved by the customer, these documents should be combined with an execution SOW. Once approved and resourced, the project and its resources are entered into the Project Lifecycle Application (PLA). Once approved, the execution project begins; and, the first phase is design. During this phase the architecture is developed and a test plan is created. The design and test plan are then reviewed and approved. Once approved, the construction phase begins. During this phase all components are created and integrated. The components will also be unit tested, integration tested, system tested, and then user tested. After construction, preparation to move the software to production is done. A Transition plan is created which is intended to train the support staff and users on the software and to coordinate its release to production. All help and support documentation should be created and approved. After the migration is complete, a post project meeting should be held to conduct lessons learned exercises. The Measurement Analysis repository should also be updated, analyzed and re-baseline when necessary. 2.1 Overview Organizational Diagnosis enables steady method routine across the organization and provides a foundation for cumulative, long-term benefits to the organization. The Quality Management System (QMS) is a group of items maintained by the organization for use by the employees and projects of the XYZ organization. This collection of items includes descriptions of diagnosis and process elements, descriptions of life-cycle models, process tailoring guidelines, process-related documentation, and data. The organizations Quality Management System supports organizational learning and process improvement by allowing the sharing of best practices and lessons learned across the organization. The organizations set of standard processes have been tailored by input from the Process Owners, XYZ QRB, MRB and the Director of Process Excellence to create XYZs defined processes. Additionally, tool manuals, templates, etc. have been incorporated into the extranet portal to provide all needed assets to perform the expected activities of a CMMI Level 3 and ISO 9001:2008 organization. 3.0 Purpose The purpose of Organizational Diagnosis Plan is to document and implement XYZ organizational diagnosis activities based on a thorough understanding of the current strengths and weaknesses of the organizations diagnosis and process assets. Vision: Grow into a leader in the Commercial industries by solving important logistics and supply chain problems on-time, under-budget, and with integrity and positive customer economic impact. Mission: Provide on time, on budget, logistics and technology solutions with unmatched integrity and business principles.   Values: Operate business with integrity and high ethical standards. 4.0 Structure The table two below provides a guide for the general software life cycle activities to which specific processes and procedures have been defined in this plan. A separate responsibility matrix has been provided that maps each activity and associated responsibilities. Some of the activities listed below may not apply depending on the project. The PMP will provide justification for skipping activities. QA functions are performed throughout the Product Development Life Cycle (PDLC) shown below: Software Lifecycle Activity Project Planning and Oversight Software Development Environment System Requirements Analysis System Design Software Requirements Analysis Software Design Software Implementation and Unit Testing Unit Integration and Testing CI Qualification Testing CI/Hardware Configuration Item (HWCI) Integration and Testing System Qualification Testing or software product inspection Software Use Preparation (Pre-deployment preparation) Software Transition Preparation (Deployment) Life Cycle Maintenance (On-going support) Table 2 Software Lifecycle Activity Table 3 Software Lifecycle Activity Break Down For a typical software product development, the PDLC will have a number of various activities some of which are show in table four below. These activities shown below are the typical activities that QA is typically involved in. Inception Analysis/Requirements Deployment Design Validation Develop/ Implement Table 4 Development Life Cycle (PDLC) 4.1 Management This section describes each key essentials of the XYZ organization that influence the quality of the developed product. The organization chart below provides the general structure of the XYZ organization. Table 5 Organization Chart Executive Management is responsible for Establishing the Quality Policy, and reviewing it for continuing suitability. Executive Management is responsible for Communicating the Quality Policy, the importance of meeting regulatory and statutory and customer requirements. Executive Management is responsible for identifying the Key Processes to be included in the QMS. Executive Management is responsible for identifying the data required for effective review of the QMS. Executive Management is the management review team. It is the responsibility of the Management Representative to schedule and conduct management review meetings in compliance with this procedure. The Management Representative is responsible for collecting summary reports and data from the responsible functions and for ensuring adequate employee awareness of the companys QMS. The Management Representative is responsible for bringing information and progress reports on action items assigned to them at previous management review meetings, information on planned changes that could affect the QMS, quality planning needs and activities and recommendations for improvements to the QMS. Executive Management consists of the Chief Executive Officer, Executive Vice President, Senior Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents, Senior Directors and the Management Representative. Product realization processes: the processes that contribute or result in the product being produced or the product being provided. Key Processes: product realization processes, customer related processes and quality management system processes that are included in the QMS. Each Software Development Project will have a Project Manager or Program Manager who is directly responsible for achieving the project objectives and defining the management team. The Project Management Structure will depend on the project size, scope and requirements. Table six below describes common configurations for the project management team. Table 6 Software Development Organization Chart The table seven below provides an overview of the roles and responsibilities of the personnel on the software development team. Role Responsibilities Program Manager The main responsibility of the Program Manager is to coordinate interdependencies between projects. The Program Manager may also be responsible for the direct management of a project. The responsibilities of the Program manager are: 1. Managing shared resources across all projects that are administered by the Program Manager 2. Identifying and developing project management methodology, best practices, and standards 3. Coaching , mentoring, training 4. Monitoring compliance with project management standards, policies, procedures, and templates through project audits (Conduct Quality Assurance reviews) 5. Developing and managing project policies, procedures, templates, and other shared documentation 6. Coordinating communication across projects 7. Manages major program scope changes 8. Ensure project teams have access to tools and repositories 9. Measure and report progress of project teams 10. Monitor and report status of key milestones and deliverables 11. Conduct regular status meetings 12. Monitor issue resolution 13. Manage change control process 14. Coordinate strategic initiatives through cross-project management 15. Promote and support software object reuse 16. Foster clear communication and synchronize activities among multiple project sites 17. Maintain project documentation repository 18. Monitor sign-off of key deliverables 19. Facilitate workshops and software trials 20. Conduct risk reviews Project Manager/Leader The Project Manager is the person assigned by the organization to achieve the project objectives and insure delivery of a quality product that is on budget and on-time. The responsibilities of the project manager are: 1. Focus on specified project objectives 2. Control the assigned project resources to best meet project objectives 3. Manages the constraints, (scope, schedule, cost, quality) of the project on a daily basis 4. Guide and evaluate the performance of the development team 5. Use project schedule and work breakdown structure produced to guide team in the implementation of the project 6. Provide continuous feedback to Project Team on status of project to include issues 7. Select, develop and oversee an effective team and allocate team members to project tasks and coordinate activities of sub-teams 8. Mediate problems encountered by team members 9. Report project progress to Program Manager and/or Senior Management 10. Ensure adherence to the project plan by all project participants 11. Conduct status meeting or report progress to customer and management 12. Communicate with the customer, program manager, senior management and stakeholders 13. Manage project Risk and Risk Mitigation 14. Define clear milestones and deliverables Team Lead A Team Lead is a experienced Software Engineer who is responsible for: 1. Oversee the work being done by other software developers/engineers on the team 2. Act as a mentor for new or less experiences software developers/engineers on the team 3. Act as a mentor for other members of the team 4. Delegates work to other members of the team 5. Monitors team progress and assists the Technical Lead with updating status of work activities 6. Responsible for ensuring that the work product(s) are delivered within the timeline 7. Responsible for ensuring the teams unit testing and code reviews are completed and appropriate 8. Responsible for ensuring that team deliverables are tested to criteria prior to handing off to testing Technical Lead A Technical Lead is a experienced Software Developer/ Engineer who is responsible for: 1. Responsible for the fundamental architecture of the software application 2. Recommends / researches software solutions 3. Recommends /researches COTS solutions 4. Oversee the work being done by other software developers/engineers 5. Act as a mentor for new or less experiences software developers/engineers 6. Act as a mentor for other members of the team 7. Act as an interface between the team members and the Project Manager 8. Delegates work to other members of the team 9. Assists the Project Manager with updating the work plan and activities 10. Responsible for ensuring that the work product(s) are delivered on time and on budget 11. Serves as the Project Managers technical advisor and provides programming perspective on requirements 12. Lead or attend meetings as required 13. Responsible for ensuring unit testing and code reviews are completed and appropriate 14. Responsible for ensuring that deliverables are tested to criteria prior to handing off to testing 15. Responsible for ensuring that all team members follow approved policies and procedures to include configuration management Software Developer/Engineer Responsible for designing and implementing an executable code solution, testing the resulting components, and analyzing runtime profiles to debug errors that might exist. A software developer may also be responsible for creating the softwares architecture and/or employing development tools. Database Administrator Responsible for the design, implementation, maintenance and repair of a database. Also responsible for the development and design of database strategies, performance, and security measures. Also responsible for mentoring/assisting junior DBAs and DBA programmers. Database Programmer Design, develop, and maintain database applications. Create Scripts; perform data maintenance or bug fixes. Write SQL statements and procedures/functions. Analyze, define and document system requirements for data, workflow, logical processes, interfaces with other systems, auditing, reporting requirements and production configuration. Software Architect Responsible for creating and maintaining the overall structure and layout of a software systems components and their interfaces within and outside of the system. Business Analyst Lead Performs a liaison function with the customer as required in addition to a role as a business analyst. Responsible for mentoring and assisting junior BAs. Business Analyst Responsible for analyzing the business needs of clients and stakeholders to help identify problems and propose solutions. Responsible for documenting, defining. And communicating customer requirements. May be required to document requirements using cases and UML. Systems Engineer Analyzes the role of the system in the broader enterprise, defines the requirements the system needs to meet, in terms of services and non-functional requirements, and defines the architecture of the system to meet the requirements. Systems architects may also be doing similar activities in their roles. Database Architect/Modeler Responsible for leading the coordination and collection of database requirements, documenting, organizing and communicating the requirements for the database, modeling the database architecture and ensuring it supports the business needs. Test Engineer Responsible for writing test plans, cases, and conditions for manual testing of the application Assisting with implementing an automated functional/regression test. Helping mentor other testers in testing and Best Practices. Supporting Quality Assurance initiatives. Reporting regular status of testing. Recording and tracking defects through use of designated tools. Writing automated test scripts for applications and databases. Software Quality Assurance Responsible for reviewing and commenting on the projects QA Plan. Implementing the quality program in accordance with this QA Plan. Developing statistical analysis and process quality metrics data for process and product performance using data from QA analysis/audits. Reporting on the results of all statistical analysis to the program/project management and other responsible parties. Performing root cause analysis on problem areas to help support improvement plans. Providing guidance and recommendations on improvement areas. User Experience Designer Responsible for translating customer requirements into defined user interfaces. Developing and maintaining design mockups, usage scenarios, prototypes, specifications, navigation maps and other design documents. Working with development teams to make sure that the workflow reflects the customers needs and ensure consistency among features. Defining innovative user interfaces and interaction styles which result in improved user productivity. If required may code/wire up UI screens to backend code. Configuration Management Responsible for reviewing and commenting on the projects QA Plan. Implementing the quality program in accordance with this QA Plan. Resolving and following-up on any quality issues raised by QA related to CM. Ensuring the quality factors are implemented in the software related to CM. Implementing the CM practices, processes, and procedures in accordance the companys quality policies and other program/project planning documents. Table 7 Roles and Responsibilities 4.2 Program/Project Roles and Responsibilities The following describes the functional groups that influence and control product quality in any project and their influence on QA functions and activities. Program Management is responsible for the following items: Establishing a quality program by committing the project to implement the Software Engineering Process Policy in accordance with the companys quality policies. Reviewing and approving the relevant QA Plan. Resolving and following-up on any quality issues raised by QA. Assisting the independent Quality Control (QC) group from the project to audit and report on the projects QA functions and compliance with prescribed standards. Identifying the quality factors to be implemented in the system and the project as a whole. Project Management is responsible for: Implementing the quality program in accordance with the companys quality policies. Identifying the QA activities to be performed by QA. Reviewing and approving the QA Plan. Identifying and funding an individual or an independent group from the project to perform the QA functions. Resolving and following-up on any quality issues raised by QA. Identifying and ensuring the quality factors to be implemented in the system and software. Identifying, developing and maintaining planning documents such as the Program Management Plan, Test Plans, and the QA Plan. Product/System Engineering when applicable is responsible for: Reviewing and commenting on the projects QA Plan. Implementing the quality program in accordance with the QA Plan. Resolving and following-up on any quality issues raised by QA related to software engineering activities. Identifying, implementing, and evaluating the quality factors to be implemented in the system (software and hardware). Implementing the engineering practices, processes, and procedures as in accordance the companys quality policies and other program/project planning documents. Product/Software Design/Development is responsible for: Reviewing and commenting on the projects QA Plan. Implementing the quality program in accordance with the QA Plan. Resolving and following-up on any quality issues raised by QA related to software design and development. Identifying, implementing, and evaluating the quality factors to be implemented in the software. Implementing the product/software design/development practices, processes, and procedures in accordance the companys quality policies and other program/project planning documents. Product/Software Test/Inspection is responsible for: Reviewing and commenting on the projects QA Plan. Implementing the quality program in accordance with the QA Plan. Resolving and following-up on any quality issues raised by QA related to product/software test. Verifying the quality factors are implemented in the system. Implementing the product/software test practices, processes, and procedures in accordance the companys quality policies and other program/project planning documents. Product/System Test is responsible for: Reviewing and commenting on the projects QA Plan. Implementing the quality program in accordance with the QA Plan. Resolving and following-up on any quality issues raised by QA as related to system test. Verifying the quality factors are implemented in the system (software and hardware). Implementing the system test practices, processes, and procedures in accordance the companys quality policies and other program/project planning documents. Configuration Management (CM) is responsible for: Reviewing and commenting on the projects QA Plan. Implementing the quality program in accordance with this QA Plan. Resolving and following-up on any quality issues raised by QA related to CM. Ensuring the quality factors are implemented in the software related to CM. Implementing the CM practices, processes, and procedures in accordance the companys quality policies and other program/project planning documents. Quality Control (QC) is responsible for: Reviewing and commenting on the projects QA Plan. Implementing the quality program in accordance with this QA Plan. Develop statistical analysis and process quality metrics data for process and product performance using data from QA analysis/audits Report on the results of all statistical analysis to the program/project management and other responsible parties Perform root cause analysis on problem areas to help support improvement plans Provide guidance and recommendations on improvement areas 4.3 Strategy and Business The Strategy and Business Development department is organized to include the front end pieces of the business which includes business development, business development support, marketing, proposal writing, capture, and strategy. The structure includes the designation of leaders to lead the Integrated Growth Team (IGT) for a specific swim lane of business. Here are the IGTs: 4.4 Commercial Logistics Services Leader Donald Duck Focus -Logistics services Defense Technology Leader Duffy Duck Focus Logistics technology solutions Adjacent Marketing Leader Red Bull/Mickey Mouse Focus State of Texas technology and maintenance related solutions Supply Chain Solutions Leader Red Ants Focus Commercial distribution industry via our indirect partner channel The structure also assigns resources to each IGT for various functional areas, but the actual resources from an organizational structure perspective reside in the originating department. The management of the Business Development support and proposal writing resources is done by the Director of Business Development Operations. The Strategy and Business Development department rolls up to the Senior Vice President. While the IGT leaders can push opportunities through the various gates, the final submission and pricing will need to be signed off by the following key positions: Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development Chief Executive Officer Executive Vice President Programs 4.6 Human resources 4.6.1 General To ensure competence of our personnel, job descriptions have been prepared identifying the qualifications required for each position that affects product quality. Qualifications include requirements for education, skills and experience. Appropriate qualifications, along with required training, provide the competence required for each position. 4.6.2 Competence, awareness and training Qualifications are reviewed upon hire, when an employee changes positions or the requirements for a position change. Human resources maintain records of employee qualifications. If any differences between the employees qualifications and the requirements for the job are found, training or other action is taken to provide the employee with the necessary competence for the job. The results are then evaluated to determine if they were effective. Training and evaluation are conducted according to the Human Resources. All employees are trained on the relevance and importance of their activities and how they contribute to the achievement of the quality objectives. 4.7 Business Manager Job Description A business manager may take on a variety of different positions within a business, all of which involve the planning, directing, and coordinating of operations within a company.   A business manager is also responsible for developing policies and managing the daily operations of the business.   A business manager may also be responsible for planning for the most efficient use of materials and human resources. A business manager may specialize in a specific area of business operations.   For example, a business manager may specialize in purchasing, personnel, or administrative services.   In other cases, a business manager may cover all aspects of business operation.   A business manager may also be held accountable for the accuracy of financial reporting for the business. 5.0 Rewards Rewards will be base on each project if they finish on time and under budget. During the testing if the software is found to have many bugs the rewards will be up to the management. The amount of rewards can be from twenty five dollars gift cards to two hundred dollars. The amount will be dependent on the Management Review Board to decide what the amounts will be given. 6.0 Helpful Mechanisms Executive Management is responsible for conducting Management Review meetings. The Quality Management Representative schedules the QMS meetings and notifies 6.1 Management Review Team. Management Review Team is responsible for bringing information and progress reports on action items assigned to them at previous management review meetings, information on planned changes that could affect the QMS, quality planning needs and activities, and recommendations for improvements to the QMS; reviewing Management Review Items; and recommending dispositions in their respective areas of responsibility. 6.2 Quality Management System XYZ developed and implemented a Quality Management System in order to document the companys best business practices, better satisfy the requirements and expectations of its customers and improve the overall management of the company. The Quality Management System of XYZ meets the requirements of the international standard ISO 9001:2008. This system addresses the design, development, production, installation, and servicing of the companys products. Each policy statement is followed by specific information pertaining to the procedures that describe the methods used to implement the necessary requirements. This manual is used internally to guide the companys employees through the various requirements of the ISO standard that must be met and maintained in order to ensure customer satisfaction, continuous improvement and provide the necessary instructions that create an empowered work force. This manual is used externally to introduce our Quality Management System to our customers and other external organizations or individuals. The manual is used to familiarize them with the controls that have been implemented and to assure them that the integrity of the Quality Management System is maintained and focused on customer satisfaction and continuous improvement. 6.3 Quality Review Board The primary purpose of the XYZ Quality Review Board is to review and audit XYZs operating plans, policies, processes, work instructions, forms, templates and procedures. The XYZ Quality Review Board will assure XYZ business processes are in compliance with, but not limited to, adopted process frameworks such as Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Lean, and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). 6.4 Management Review Board MRB is responsible for Establishing the Quality Policy, and reviewing it for continuing suitability. MRB is responsible for Communicating the Quality Policy, the importance of meeting regulatory and statutory and customer requirements. MRB is responsible for identifying the Key Processes to be included in the QMS. MRB is responsible for identifying the data required for effective review of the QMS. MRB is responsible for bringing information and progress reports on action items assigned to