Research Paper on QR Code Essay Example

Exploration Paper on QR Code Essay QR-code (condensing for a fast reaction code) is a two-dimensional standardized tag, created and introduced by the Japanese organization â€Å"Denso-Wave† in 1994. The gigantic prominence of standardized tags in Japan has prompted the way that the measure of data encoded in it before long got lacking. The Japanese started to explore different avenues regarding better approaches for encoding limited quantities of data in a realistic picture. Not at all like the old standardized identification, which was checked with a slim bar, QR Code is characterized by the sensor as a two-dimensional picture. Three square at the sides of the picture and littler squares nonstop code license to standardize the size and direction of the picture and the edge of the sensor in identify with the picture surface. The focuses are converted into parallel numbers with confirmation by checksum. We will compose a custom exposition test on Research Paper on QR Code explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now We will compose a custom exposition test on Research Paper on QR Code explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer We will compose a custom exposition test on Research Paper on QR Code explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer The fundamental bit of leeway of QR Code is a simple lucidness to for filtering gadgets (counting cell phone camera), which permits to utilize it in the exchange, assembling, and coordinations. The greatest number of characters that a QR-Code can contain: characters-7089; characters and images †4296; twofold code †2953 bytes; hieroglyphics †1817. Despite the fact that the term  «QR codeâ » is an enrolled trademark of the DENSO Corporation, the utilization of the standardized tag isn't dependent upon any permit fees,and is depicted and distributed under ISO measures. The particular of QR code doesn't portray the information design. The most well known QR codes watchers bolster the accompanying information designs: URL, bookmarks, Email (with the headline), SMS, meCard, vCard, and geographic organize framework. What's more, a few projects may not perceive GIF, JPG, PNG, or MID records with a size under 4k and the encoded text, yet these organizations have not gotten notoriety. QR Codes are the most well-known in Japan, a nation where the scanner tags had so much ubiquity that the measure of data encoded in the code, before long stopped to suit the business. Toward the start of 2000 QR codes were so far reaching in Japan that they can be found on an enormous number of banners, bundles, and products. Driving Japanese portable administrators advertised mutually under their own image cell phones with worked in help for QR code acknowledgment. Right now being generally appropriated in Asia (particularly in Japan), QR code is continuously acknowledged in Europe and North America. As indicated by the examination directed by comScore in 2011, 20 million individuals in the U.S. utilized cell phones to check the QR codes. Notwithstanding that, in Japan and Austria QR codes are likewise utilized by graveyards and contain data about the expired. We firmly prescribe you to concentrate free example research paper points on QR code. This examination will permit you to comprehend the technique of the best possible exploration proposition making. Also, they will show you how to introduce the aftereffects of your work in ideal light. It is safe to say that you are searching for a first rate specially composed exploration paper on QR Code subjects? Is classification as essential to you as the high caliber of the item? Attempt our composing administration at EssayLib.com! We can offer you proficient help at reasonable rates. Our accomplished PhD and Master’s authors are prepared to consider your littlest requests. We promise you 100% validness of your paper and guarantee you of dead on time conveyance. Continue with the request structure: It would be ideal if you don't hesitate to visit us at EssayLib.com and become familiar with our administration!

Sexual Revolution through the Decades Essay Example Essay Example

Sexual Revolution during that Time Essay Example Paper Sexual Revolution during that Time Essay Introduction Harking back to the 1900s, there was an exceptionally constrained information about sex and anti-conception medication (Sochen 29). During this time, specialists don't look at ladies frequently on the grounds that they knew practically nothing about the regenerative framework and controlling origination (Sochen 29). As indicated by the Victorian good code, ladies ought not talk about sex with anybody and it was viewed as a social untouchable (Sochen 29). There was twofold standard with respect to ethical quality where masculine encounters were appreciated and ladylike purity was required (Sochen 29). Over the course of the years, clinical innovation and research with respect to sex and contraception progressed consistently (Sochen 29). Anti-conception medication techniques are known by the individuals and they have been utilized all the more ordinarily (Sochen 29). The sexual upset in the sixties shows how it was suggestive of the twenties and how it increased the degree of data and recognition in regards to sexual issues. Many years of Sexual Revolution 1960s Sexual Revolution during that Time Essay Body Paragraphs For most social history specialists, the sexual upheaval was a result of the 1960s (Petigny 63). Quick advancement of sexual freedom rose after the ascent of Alfred Kinsey and Hugh Hefner (Petigny 63). Playboy’s dissemination developed from 70, 000 to in excess of a million and it kept on becoming as the years progressed (Marty 66). The rise of pre-marriage sexual conduct came in this decade after the general slackening of sexual perspectives that began a few decades before in the forties and the fifties (Petigny 63). During this decade, ladies relinquished their battle to remain â€Å"categorized† as virgins (Petigny 63). The conventional acts of romance quickly vanished during the 1960s (Marty 65). The new examples of association occurred that was obvious of the adjustments in the understandings of qualities and assumptions of how the world functions and the thoughts of the connection among people (Marty 65). In their vision, a great life was comprised by acceptable s ex and material solace (Marty 67). It was additionally during this time the Food and Drug Administration endorsed the promoting and utilization of â€Å"the pill† or oral contraceptives that slacken the rest of the restrictions on sexual indiscrimination realized by the dread for undesirable pregnancies (Marty 67). By 1963, in excess of a million ladies were taking this pill. Notwithstanding, regardless of whether pre-marriage sexual experience was expanding during the 1960s among young ladies, they despite everything spoke to similar young ladies who picked marriage and a customary way of life after such pre-marriage rehearses (Sochen 29). It was uncommon for youngsters to forsake those customary methods of conduct when it came to marriage during the 1960s (Sochen 29). 1970s During the 1970s, the flower child way of life developed firmly in the previous long periods of the decade (Sochen 29). The women's activist contentions have not changed much secluded from everything beh ind an idealistic situation throughout the years since the 1900s (Sochen 29). Be that as it may, it was additionally in the start of this decade where 32 percent all inclusive community saw union with be out of date (Marty 83). There was likewise a decrease of the youngsters who said that they were anticipating marriage (Marty 83). Homosexuality likewise increased increasingly unmistakable and particular ways of life that developed significantly more than having sexual wants and practices (Marty 85). During this time, they were at that point progressively open in participating in gay and lesbian connections (Marty 85). Clinical discernment in regards to the idea of homosexuality additionally changes as in 1973; the American Psychiatric Association had expelled the class of homosexuality as a psychological issue (Marty 85). The open impression of gay people had likewise changed, regardless of the way that there was as yet solid animosity towards them in certain territories; the menta lities towards people turned out to be progressively lenient (Marty 85). At the point when sex had become a theme open for conversation, premature birth was likewise examined all the more unreservedly (Marty 85). It was even given more consideration when the Supreme Court governed in Roe v. Swim that premature birth laws damaged privileges of security (Marty 85). During this time, increasingly vocal and progressively persistent discussions with respect to the expert life and genius decision developments prodded. Master life developments were against premature birth and needed to ensure the privileges of the unborn kid while the ace decision development needed to secure the privileges of the ladies to pick whether they needed to proceed with the pregnancy and prematurely end the youngster. It was likewise during this decade wherein separate from law additionally mirrored the changing mentalities of the individuals about marriage and the qualities with respect to the changelessness of marriage (Marty 183). The â€Å"no-fault† separate was at that point executed in the territory of California. By 1977, everything except three states has just adjusted such law that came about to the expansion of separation rates from lost breakdown of marriage or hostile contrasts (Marty 183). 1980s An investigation was led with respect to the course of the sexual insurgency during the 1980s, regardless of whether it has expanded the degree of pre-marriage sexual practices or if the individuals has gone preservationist (Roche and Ramsbey 67). It was likewise an examination that evaluated the degree that concerned contracting AIDS comparable to pre-marriage sex (Roche and Ramsbey 67). There aftereffect of the investigation was blended; there were some proof that apparent a progressively moderate situation from the individuals (Roche and Ramsbey 67). It was clear how the two guys and females had increasingly moderate perspectives and conduct about finding out about AIDS (Roch e and Ramsbey 67). In any case, there were as yet a level of females that were as yet sexual dynamic. There was likewise more noteworthy leniency found in the consequences of the study (Roche and Ramsbey 67). They answered to have encountered intercourse and the two guys and females answered to have high rates to have encountered oral-genital incitement (Roche and Ramsbey 67). It must be noticed that the respondents of this investigation indicated a mind-boggling reaction toward conservatism after hearing data about AIDS (Roche and Ramsbey 67). Another bunch of conservatism has been developing in the mid 1980s. It was seen that commentators talked about AIDS like the acts of the Victorian model of profound quality guidelines (Reiss and Reiss107). For example, when TV or radio commentators would discuss the reason for HIV contamination being the exchange of â€Å"bodily fluids† general society isn't very much educated with regards to what they were really alluding to (Reiss an d Reiss107). It could really allude to pee, salivation, vaginal emissions, semen and even blood (Reiss and Reiss107). Something else is that nobody talked about butt-centric intercourse so that the individuals would know that it was a lot more hazardous than vaginal intercourse in light of the conservatism that encompassed the media (Reiss and Reiss107). At the point when Rock Hudson passed on, the open needed to have more data (Reiss and Reiss107). The danger of obliviousness broke the individuals of intensity in the media and stopped the conservatism that was available during the 1980s (Reiss and Reiss107). 1990s The impression of the sexual insurgency during the 1990s was more educated than the contrasted with different decades that had passed (Reiss and Reiss 235). The section of the populace that was viewed as players was generally from the school taught fragment of the nation (Reiss and Reiss 235). The greater part of them had training past secondary school and the school inst ructed populace maintained solid convictions in uniformity and individual rights (Reiss and Reiss 235). The more seasoned gen X-ers had took the places of intensity and drove the nation into another sexual upset like that of the 1960s (Reiss and Reiss 235). Given the encounters and comprehension of sexuality the individuals turned out to be better prepared to deal with a more pluralist sexual upheaval contrasted with the previous decade. The 1990s assumed a job in incorporating pluralist perspectives in opening sexual practices (Reiss and Reiss 235).Sexual emergency with respect to AIDS, assault, high school pregnancies, youngster sexual maltreatment were significant weights the accelerated the move towards sexual pluralism (Reiss and Reiss 235). The essential fundamentals of sexual pluralism included estimations of trustworthiness, uniformity and obligation (Reiss and Reiss 235). The sexual transformation of this age called attention to a blend of profound feelings of sexuality wit h a quiet bearing for reason (Reiss and Reiss 236). This decade supplanted power and control with joy and sympathy (Reiss and Reiss 236). The New Millennium The sexual insurgency built up the expanded degree of sexual movement even among teenagers and youthful grown-ups that demonstrated a general inspirational demeanor towards pre-marriage sex (Caron and Moskey 515+). The best significance of the expanded utilization of condoms among explicitly dynamic immaturity was one of the concentrations in this decade (Caron and Moskey 515+). In an exploration that analyzed the graduating classes of 1950, 1975 to 2000, it demonstrated how the class of 2000 was bound to have sex with more than one sexual accomplice (Caron and Moskey 515+). As referenced, they were bound to utilize conception prevention techniques; the main strategy was the utilization of condoms (Caron and Moskey 515+). In the classes of the past, there were scarcely any understudies who were engaging in sexual relations while they were in secondary school, on the off chance that they did, they would do it with one accomplice and without insurance (Caron and Moskey 515+). This age likewise addressed that they could straightforwardly discuss sex with their folks, their companions or with their accomplices that was not the situation in the prior decades (Caron and Moskey 515+). Such discoveries showed that the new thousand years age spoke to a considerably more mindful gathering of teenagers who use security and furthermore feel good about discussing their sexuality with others (Caron and Moskey 515+). We will compose a custom article test on Sexual Revolution through the

A Quick Guide to New York City Airports COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

A Quick Guide to New York City Airports COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog New York is famous for many things; however, having great airports is not one of them.  As some of you consider traveling to New York for Admitted Students Day, or are planning your own vacation to the city, here’s are some things to keep in mind before stepping on the plane. 1. John F. Kennedy International Airport New York City is serviced by three main airports, two of which are located in the city itself. For international travelers, you will likely fly into John F. Kennedy International Airport, which is located in one of Queens most industrial (and distant) neighborhoods. JFK is about an hour by car into Manhattan and depending on your arrival time, it may take up to an hour and a half with traffic. Expect to pay anywhere between $70-100 for a taxi or Uber one-way. For the more economical traveler, JFK is serviced by the AirTrain and the A/E trains. The AirTrain is a local line that connects travelers to NYC’s subway system. You will find signs in the JFK baggage area directing you to the AirTrain. I personally suggest taking the JFK Airtrain Green Line to Howard Beach station. There, you can transfer to the A-Train and take it straight into Manhattan. Depending on where you are staying it will take a little over an hour, but there are no transfers and service is reliable. 2. Newark Liberty International Airport For international travelers that are not routed to JFK, it is almost a guarantee that you will be flying into Newark. Located just across the Hudson River in New Jersey, Newark is actually a pretty modern and easy airport to navigate. From my experience, a lot of flights arriving late at night or from East/South Asia tend to head straight to Newark. Taxis/Ubers from Newark airport into Manhattan are relatively comparable to JFK prices, although at times it may be a bit cheaper. Travelers that wish to use public transit can take the AirTrain to the Newark Liberty Airport station on the New Jersey Coast line. You can take the line into Penn Station in Manhattan, which is on 34th St. It is one of New York’s busiest subway/transit stations and you can find connecting subways to pretty much anywhere in the city. 3. LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia is the most conveniently located of New York’s three airports, as it is located right across the Queens Bridge in the sleepy neighborhood of Astoria. I have almost exclusively flown American carriers (cough, Southwest) into LaGuardia and it’s essentially the airport for domestic travel. For international travelers flying American airlines or connecting through a major US city (Miami for Caribbean/Central/South American travelers, Houston/Dallas for Mexican and Central American travelers or Los Angeles for travelers from Asia) may have a connecting flight that ends up stopping in LaGuardia. Depending on where you’re staying, taxis will likely be significantly cheaper and somewhere in the $30-60 range. That being said, LaGuardia has the absolute best bus line in the city. For those that don’t mind lugging their carry-ons onto a bus, the M60-SBS picks up passengers from the airport and goes right across the Queens Bridge into Harlem. You can hop off on the stop by the Apollo Theater to take any of the ABCD trains to most places in Manhattan or you can continue riding until Columbia University! The whole trip takes about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on traffic conditions. While trains do run from LaGuardia, I cannot recommend the bus route enough. Particularly because it costs like 2 dollars. For those that have more general questions about travel, airport conditions or navigating taxis/Ubers/trains in New York from the airport, feel free to reach out! Safe travels!

British Poor Law Reform in the Industrial Revolution

One of the most infamous British laws of the modern age was the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. It was designed to deal with the rising costs of poor relief, and reform a system from the Elizabethan era unable to cope with the urbanization and industrialization of the Industrial Revolution (more on coal, iron, steam) by sending all able-bodied people in need of poor relief into workhouses where conditions were deliberately harsh. The State of Poverty Relief Before the Nineteenth Century The treatment of the poor in Britain before the major nineteenth-century laws depended on a large element of charity. The middle class paid a Parish poor rate and often saw the increasing poverty of the era merely as a financial worry. They often wanted the cheapest, or most cost-effective, way of treating the poor. There was little engagement with the causes of poverty, which ranged from illness, poor education, disease, disability, underemployment, and poor transport preventing movement to regions with more jobs, to economic changes which removed domestic industry and agricultural changes which left many without jobs. Poor harvests caused grain prices to rise, and high housing prices led to greater debt. Instead, Britain largely viewed the poor as one of two types. The ‘deserving’ poor, those who were old, handicapped, infirm or too young to work, were considered blameless as they obviously couldn’t work, and their numbers stayed more or less even across the eighteenth century. On the other hand, the able-bodied who were without work were considered ‘undeserving’ poor, thought of as lazy drunkards who could have got a job if they needed one. People simply didn’t realize at this point how the changing economy could affect workers. Poverty was also feared. Some worried about deprivation, those in charge worried about the increase in expenditure needed to deal with them, as well as a widely perceived threat of revolution and anarchy. Legal Developments Before the Nineteenth Century The great Elizabethan Poor Law Act was passed at the start of the seventeenth century. This was designed to fit the needs of the static, rural English society of the time, not that of the industrializing centuries afterward. A poor rate was levied to pay for the poor, and the parish was the unit of administration. Unpaid, local Justices of the Peace administered the relief, which was supplemented by local charity. The act was motivated by the need to secure public order. Outdoor relief – giving money or supplies to people on the street – was coupled with indoor relief, where people had to enter a ‘Workhouse’ or similar ‘correctional’ facility, where everything they did was tightly controlled. The 1662 Act of Settlement acted to cover up a loophole in the system, under which parishes were shipping sick and destitute people into other areas. Now you could only receive relief in your area of birth, marriage or long-term living. A certificate was produced, and the poor had to present this if they moved, to say where they came from, impinging on freedom of labor movement. A 1722 act made it easier to set up workhouses into which to funnel your poor, and provided an early ‘test’ to see if people should be forced in. Sixty years later more laws made it cheaper to create a workhouse, allowing parishes to team up to create one. Although the workhouses were meant for the able-bodied, at this point it was mainly the infirm that were sent to them. However, the Act of 1796 removed the 1722 workhouse act when it became clear a period of mass unemployment would fill the workhouses. The Old Poor Law The result was the absence of a real system. As everything was based on the parish, there was a huge amount of regional diversity. Some areas used mainly outdoor relief, some provided work for the poor, others used workhouses. Substantial power over the poor was given to local people, who ranged from honest and interested to dishonest and bigoted. The whole poor law system was unaccountable and unprofessional. Forms of relief could include each rate payer agreeing to support a certain number of workers – depending on their poor rate assessment — or just paying wages. The ‘rounds’ system saw laborers sent round the parish until they found work. An allowance system, where food or money was given out to people on a sliding scale according to family size, was used in some areas, but this was believed to encourage idleness and poor fiscal policy among the (potentially) poor. The Speenhamland System was created in 1795 in Berkshire. A stop-gap system to stave off mass destitution, it was created by the magistrates of Speen and quickly adopted around England. Their motivation was a set of crises which occurred in the 1790s: rising population, enclosure, wartime prices, bad harvests, and fear of a British French Revolution. The results of these systems were that farmers kept wages down as the parish would make up the shortfall, effectively giving employers relief as well as the poor. While many were saved from starvation, others were degraded by doing their work but still needing poor relief to make their earnings economically viable. The Push to Reform Poverty was far from a new problem when steps were taken to reform the poor law in the nineteenth century, but the industrial revolution had changed the way poverty was viewed, and the impact it had. The rapid growth of dense urban areas with their problems of public health, housing, crime, and poverty was clearly not suited to the old system. One pressure to reform the poor relief system came from the rising cost of the poor rate which rapidly increased. Poor-rate payers began to see poor relief as a financial problem, not fully understanding the effects of war, and poor relief grew to 2% of the Gross National Income. This difficulty was not spread evenly over England, and the depressed south, near London, was hit hardest. In addition, influential people were beginning to see the poor law as out of date, wasteful, and a threat to both the economy and the free movement of labor, as well as encouraging large families, idleness, and drinking. The Swing Riots of 1830 further encouraged demands for new, harsher, measures on the poor. The Poor Law Report of 1834 Parliamentary commissions in 1817 and 1824 had criticized the old system  but offered no alternatives. In 1834 this changed with the creation of the Royal Commission of Edwin Chadwick and Nassau Senior, men who wanted to reform the poor law on a utilitarian basis. Critical of amateur organization and desirous for greater uniformity, they aimed for the ‘greatest happiness for the greatest number.’ The resulting Poor Law Report of 1834 had is widely regarded as a classic text in social history. The commission sent out questionnaires to over 15,000 parishes and only heard back from around 10%. Then they send assistant commissioners to roughly a third of all poor law authorities. They were not seeking to end the causes of poverty – it was considered inevitable, and necessary for cheap labor – but to change how the poor was treated. The result was an attack on the old poor law, saying it was costly, badly run, out of date, too regionalized and encouraged indolence and vice. The suggested alternative was the strict implementation of Bentham’s pain-pleasure principle: the destitute would have to balance the pain of the workhouse against getting a job. Relief would be given for the able-bodied only in the workhouse, and abolished outside it, while the state of the workhouse should be lower than that of the poorest, but still employed, laborer. This was ‘less eligibility’. The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act A direct response to the 1834 report, the PLAA created a new central body to oversee poor law, with Chadwick as secretary. They sent out assistant commissioners to oversee the creation of workhouses and the implementation of the act. Parishes were grouped into unions for better administration – 13,427 parishes into 573 unions – and each had a board of guardians elected by ratepayers. Less eligibility was accepted as a key idea, but outdoor relief for the able-bodied wasn’t abolished after political opposition. New workhouses were built for them, at the expense of the parishes, and a paid matron and master would be in charge of the difficult balance of keeping workhouse life lower than paid labor, but still humane. As the able-bodied could often get outdoor relief, the workhouses filled with the sick and old. It took until 1868 for the entire country to be unionized, but the boards worked hard to provide efficient and occasionally humane services, despite sometimes difficult agglomerations of parishes. Salaried officials replaced volunteers, providing a major development in local government services and the collection of other information for policy changes (e.g. Chadwick’s use of the poor law health officers to reform public health legislation). Education of poor children was begun inside. There was opposition, such as the politician who referred to it as the â€Å"starvation and infanticide act†, and several locations saw violence. However, opposition gradually declined as the economy improved, and after the system became more flexible when Chadwick was removed from power in 1841. Workhouses tended to swing from nearly empty to full depending on the bouts of periodic unemployment, and the conditions depended on the generosity of the staff working there. The events in Andover, which caused a scandal for the poor treatment, were unusual rather than typical, but a select committee was created in 1846 which created a new Poor Law Board with a president who sat in parliament. Criticism of the Act The evidence of the commissioners has been called into question. The poor rate was not necessarily higher in areas making large-scale use of the Speenhamland system and their judgments on what caused poverty were wrong. The idea that high birth rates were connected to allowance systems is now also largely rejected. Poor rate expenditure was already falling by 1818, and the Speenhamland system was able to mostly disappear by 1834, but this was ignored. The nature of unemployment in industrial areas, created by the cyclical employment cycle, was also misidentified. There was criticism at the time, from campaigners who highlighted the inhumanity of the workhouses, to Justices of the Peace upset they had lost power, to radicals concerned with civil liberties. But the act was the first national, monitored central government program for poor relief. Outcome The basic demands of the act weren’t being properly implemented by the 1840s, and in the 1860s the unemployment caused by the American Civil War and the collapse of cotton supplies led to outdoor relief returning. People began to look at the causes of poverty, rather than simply reacting to ideas of unemployment and allowance systems. Ultimately, while the costs of poor relief initially fell, much of this was due to the return of peace in Europe, and the rate rose again as the population rose.

Love In Short Story - 1030 Words

Love is a strong emotion experienced by people across all spectrums of life everyday. Love comes naturally to human nature, whether it be the platonic love of family and friends or the romantic love of your partner. Historically, the importance of love to all people is evidenced by the fact that it is a common theme throughout all forms of literature and storytelling. In fairy tale books, the main characters overcome their own obstacles in the face of true love. This is also true of several ballads, folklore, fables, and short stories. The short stories â€Å"The Gift of the Magi† by O. Henry, â€Å"The Necklace† by Guy de Maupassant, and â€Å" Rules of the Game† by Amy Tan, are about the main characters going through hard times of their own and†¦show more content†¦And now suppose you put the chops on.’† However, Della no longer had her long hair and therefore had no use for hair combs. This proves how Jim and Della both love eachother so much that they would give up their prized possessions to get the other a present for Christmas day. Since love had taken control of their money problems, they both see how strong they both feel for eachother. Furthermore, the short story â€Å"The Necklace† also portrays the theme of love overpowering all. The main character, Madame Loisel, finds herself getting caught up in looking stunning for the party that her husband did everything he could to get in which to get invited.. Although, Madame and Monsieur Loisel weren’t poor, Monsieur Loisel bought his wife everything she wanted to look her absolute best at the party, because she had said they she wouldn’t go looking underrated. In speaking to his wife, Monsieur Loisel states, â€Å" All right. I’ll give you four hundred francs.† Even though Monsieur Loisels wife is being needy and manipulating her husband to get her new attire that is expensive, he still wants her to to be happy and gives in to her.. Monsieur loves his wife so much that he had spent his money on all the things that would make her feel good about herself, even if he didn’t think he should be spending that much money. In addition, at the end of the party, Madame Loisel loses the diamond necklace she had borrowed from aShow MoreRelatedShort Story on Love Relationship Essay1205 Words   |  5 PagesI can spot his mistake. Previously, he would confess to being wrong before anyone could tell. Now she is making him so happy he forgets to notice his own faults. She shows him the features she loves, and he must believe her, because he loves her more than he could ever hate himself. So now he is happy, he is loved. He no longer dwells on what hes done, but rather what he does. So he puts all he is into being everything she needs and wants. Now she is the only thing he cares about. Yes, he is happyRead MoreWhen We Talk About Love Short Story1459 Words   |  6 Pagesone’s affection towards another pe rson, yet it is still difficult to convey the true meaning of love. The short story â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love† by Raymond Carver signifies through sharing vastly different experiences, that language is inadequate in communicating a clear definition of love. Each of the four characters in the short story explain to the group their own meaning of love while striving to come to a coherent conclusion. The first experience brought upon to the conversationRead MoreAnalysis of Russell Banks Short Story, Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story1421 Words   |  6 PagesStab in the Heart A stab in the heart by one’s own hopes is truly the cruelest way to leave this world. 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This is not eternal spiritual love; instead, this is the animalisticRead MoreEssay about Cant Buy Me Love/3 Short Stories (check This Out)1229 Words   |  5 Pages Can’t Buy Me Love nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The depression was an era of extremes. A person was more than likely extremely poor, or in the lucky upper 1% that was extremely wealthy. The middle class was virtually not existent. All of these income groups, including those characterized in our three stories, wanted money because it supposedly brought happiness, but were actually struggling to cling to the intangible, unreachable feeling of love. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;If money leadsRead MoreThe Role of the Antagonists in the Short Stories Where Have You Been, Where are You Going and Love in LA716 Words   |  3 PagesLike all great stories throughout time, a compelling villain is the key to making a story worthwhile. In short stories like, â€Å"Where have you been, where are you going,† and, â€Å"Love in LA,† a though provoking antagonist was used by the authors to really give the stories some depth. The antagonist of, â€Å"Where have you been†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Arnold Friend takes on the persona of temptation to the protagonist Connie and really emphasizes the theme of be careful what you wish for. Connie was a young girl who repeatedlyRead MoreExploring Carvers Short Story, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love1512 Words   |  7 PagesWhat is Love? Does anyone really know the meaning of the word? Does it have a different meaning to different people? These are the questions that Carver’s four c haracters ponder over heavily flowing gin and deep conversation in the short story, â€Å"What We Talk about When We Talk about Love.† Carver characters discuss and debate the meaning of love throughout the story. I will explain what the different characters feel about love. The author shows there are different types of love and different levelsRead MoreShort Story : Love You Forever From My Favourite Childhood Book By Robert Munsch1226 Words   |  5 PagesAfter a while of drinking and getting settled, the host of the bar finally calls me up for my performance. I get up, straighten my jacket groggily, due to my one too many drinks, and headed up towards the stage. I begin to immediately sing the song â€Å"Love You Forever† from my favourite childhood book by Robert Munsch. I would have sung something better, but the fact was that I was drunk and tired and sick of work. Besides, no one really seemed to care, because they were drunk as hell. And so my nightRead MoreThe Bear Came Over The Mountain By Alice Munro Essay1321 Words   |  6 PagesLove exists in the short story â€Å"The Bear Came Over the Mountain† by Alice Munro and in the short story â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love† by Raymond Carver. in Munro’s short story the plot is that of a mentally ill wife, Fiona, who falls in love with another patient while her husband still tries to hang on to their old love. Her husband eventually wants to have an affair with the wife of the man his wife is having an affair with. Their love changed because of their circumstances due toRead MoreLondon s Personal Experience Of The Alaskan Gold Rush1606 Words   |  7 Pagespersonal experience of the Alaskan Gold Rush is clearly shown in two short stories he wrote about the event, â€Å"Love of Life† and â€Å"To Build a Fire†. These two short stories demonstr ate London’s vivid style through the use of figurative language, measurements, point of view, and tone; these stories and their themes about nature’s power over man are also clearly influenced by movements in literature. One of Jack London s short stories, To Build a Fire is about a man and a dog traveling in terribly

Productive and Counterproductive Behaviors Paper Free Essays

Productive and Counterproductive Behaviors in the Workplace Employees within an organization can either contribute positively or negatively towards their employing organization’s overall success and effectiveness. The organizations that ream the most productive behaviors from their employees typically incorporate motivational and leadership activities that encourage these behaviors (Jex Britt, 2008). This paper will define counterproductive and productive behaviors and describe the impact those behaviors have on job performance and the overall performance of an organization. We will write a custom essay sample on Productive and Counterproductive Behaviors Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now Counterproductive Behaviors Logic says that employees should want to do well in their jobs. But despite this logic, some employees do not. For various reasons employees will sometimes perform counterproductively towards their employer’s overall goals. Examples of these types of behaviors are ineffective job performance, frequent absence from work, unsafe behavior, turnover, theft, violence, substance abuse, and sexual harassment (Jex Britt, 2008). These types of behaviors can result in high costs for organizations.Detecting Counterproductive Behavior The best way employers can detect counterproductive behavior among employees is to perform routine performance appraisals. There are several methods for performing appraisals, including electronic, production data, and subjective appraisals. Each of these systems has pros and cons to it, and are only marginally effective (Jex Britt, 2008). The truly best way to detect counterproductive behavior is to interact with employees and monitor their job satisfaction. What Causes Counterproductive Behavior?An employee who does not perform well in his or her job may do so for reasons like lack of ability, interruptions from other employees, or poor task design (Jex Britt, 2008). As well, poor job performance may result from elements in the organizational climate that provoke poor attitude, or, much less often, because of deep psychiatric problems (Jex Britt, 2008). Once an employer detects a counterproductive behavior among his or her workforce he or she must try to pinpoint the cause of the behavior. One way of doing this is through the attribution process, in which the mployee’s supervisor would evaluate an employee’s current performance against his or her past performance, his or her performance on specific tasks versus his or her overall performance, and his or her performance compared to other employees. By doing this the supervisor can try to determine the cause of the ineffective behavior and whether it is being caused by internal (lack of ability or motivation, poor attitude, or psychiatric issues) or external (coworkers, poor task design, or lack of tools) factors (Jex Britt, 2008). Responding to Counterproductive BehaviorOnce a beh avior is detected and the cause of the behavior is analyzed, employers must decide how to respond to the behavior. The best first response is to have the employee’s manger discuss the counterproductive behavior with the employee in question (Jex Britt, 2008) and determine whether the behavior can be corrected in order for the employee to retain his or her position. Once the discussion takes place the manager and employee can decide whether further training or coaching would encourage improved behavior or whether an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) would be beneficial (Jex Britt, 2008). Of course, organizations would be best off to prevent counterproductive behaviors from occurring at all. This can be done by going to the effort and expense of hiring the right employees, possibly by utilizing the tools of selection programs to analyze potential employees skills and personalities. As well, employers should nurture their employees’ skills and abilities to encourage productive job performance. Finally, they should also offer employees frequent feedback and measurement of their performance to help keep them on track with respect to organizational expectations (Jex Britt, 2008).Productive Behaviors Despite the fact that some employees do not contribute positively to the organizations they work for, most employees try to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities and even go above and beyond their required duties at times. Examples of productive behaviors include positive job performance, organizational citizenship, creativity, and innovation (Jex Britt, 2 008). Assessing Productive Behaviors Organizational psychologists use various models to assess job performance. These models evaluate in-role (technical aspects of a given job) and extra-role (skills that transcend the specific content of a job such as communication skills and being a team player) performance by employees (Jex Britt, 2008). These assessments allow managers to recognize productive employees and encourage and motivate them to continue in their efforts. Predictors of Productive Behaviors There are several methods that organizations can use when recruiting employees to predict whether candidates will contribute positively to their organization.These include general cognitive ability, level of job experience, and the personality trait of conscientiousness (Jex Britt, 2008). By evaluating these predictors, organizations can save themselves time and money by hiring the right people who will contribute to organizational goals without excess coaching, training, or need for reprimand. The Affects of Counterproductive and Productive Behaviors Clearly an organization will be affected by the employees that support it. Employees that contribute positively will help the organization move towards its goals, and, if innovation and creativity are present, possibly even surpass their goals. On the other hand, employees who work counterproductively within an organization, will cost management time and may require additional effort to be spent on reputation management, recruitment, and training (Jex Britt, 2008). Organizations would be best served to recruit employees with the most potential to work productively by analyzing their job experience, personality, and cognitive ability before offering an individual a job.References Jex, S. M. , Britt, T. W. (2008). . Organizational Psychology. A Scientist-Practitioner Approach, Second Edition. Retrieved from https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/classroom/ic/classroom. aspx. 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Ownership Concentration and Accuracy of Financial Reporting

Question: Discuss about the Ownership Concentration And Accuracy Of Financial Reporting ? Answer: Introduction Plato Limited is known for the quality of computers that they have been manufacturing. Recently, it is seen that sale of computers have reduced. The cash flow of Plato limited shoes that they have to improve in various areas so that they can regain the competitive position in the market and also grow further. The organization should, first and foremost, understand the importance of financial reporting so that they can improvise on the current reporting strategy that is used by the organization. The company will have to introduce monthly cash budget so that they can undertake immediate corrective actions rather than that of waiting for the ultimate time period when the situation gets out of control. Cash Flow statement The cash flow statement of Plato limited should be analysed by the management. The analysis will help the management to understand wherein they are currently making their investment and the areas wherein they need make further investment. The cash flow statement of Plato limited is as follows:- Cash flows from operating activities Amount in Net Income 430000 Depreciation and amortization 550000 Gain on sale of facility -150000 Increase in trade receivables -150 Decrease in inventories 80 Decrease in trade payables 30 Cash generated from operations 829960 Cash flows from investing activities Purchase of property, plant, and equipment 0 Proceeds from sale of equipment 0 Net cash used in investing activities 0 Cash flows from financing activities Proceeds from issue of common stock 0 Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt 0 Dividends paid 560000 Net cash used in financing activities 560000 Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 269960 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 2015 4690 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 2015 4350 Current strategy used by Plato Limited Looking at the cash flow statement, it is seen that there are certain areas wherein the organization needs to make some investments and some areas, they should make disinvestment. This will help the organization to grow further and also reduce the losses that they are currently making. Few of the investment decisions that would help the organization to grow further are discussed below. The deduction depreciation method which is used by the organization should be changed, so that the management have some little extra cash to spend. Currently, the organization charges the full years depreciation in the year of acquisition and this expensive. There are other depreciation methods which the organization can use so that the organization is not burdened with the depreciation cost. The organization can understand the life of the equipment, asset or facility and accordingly, the depreciation should be spread over a period of time. This will ensure that at any point of time, the organization is not burdened with excess cost of depreciation. The sale of equipments and other assets should be planned in advance so that the management doesnt have to sell the equipments at a very cheap price. If the life span of equipment is 7 years time then the organization should sell the equipment on completion of 5 years. This will ensure that the organization receives a better price for the equipment. In 5 years time, the organization can upgrade to existing technology with the sale of outdated equipments. The organization should reduce the inventory that they have with themselves as this is one of the best ways by which they can reduce the cost. The organization can have a tie-up with the supplier to supply the inventories, as and when required, rather than that of filling the inventory once in a month or quarterly. If the organization is having excess inventory with itself then there are very high possibilities that the inventory may not move. If the inventory doesnt move then the organizations money will be held up in inventory. Trade receivable should be reduced to the great extend so that bad debts and possibilities of bad debt can be reduced. The organization can set a time period of 45 days for the trade receivables so that the customers can pay the money in maximum of 45 days time. The trade receivables have been reduced from 570 in 2014 to 420 in 2015. This is a positive sign. The management and the sales executive in the team should ensure that the students should be motivated to opt for EMI. The organization can give an option of 3 months or 6 months EMI options rather than that one year or 18 months EMI options. The current investment and the cash and bank have reduced drastically in the year 2015, as compared to what it was in the 2014. This is not a positive sign for any business. The current investment for Plato Ltd in 2014 was 350 and in the year 2015, it was reduced to 20. Similarly, in the year 2014, the cash and bank was 620, which was reduced to just 10, in the year 2015. This is a negative sign for the growth and betterment of the business. The organization should reserve some cash and at the same time, they should also make some more current investments. This will help the business to survive in difficult times. The current liabilities of the organization should be reduced at the earliest so that the organization is not financially burdened. The trade payables has reduced from 320 to 290 in 2015 and this is a positive sign but the organization will have to put in more efforts to reduce it further. The bank loan taken should be paid off at the earliest. This will help the organization to make further investments. The bank loan in the year 2014 was 200 and it didnt reduce at all in the year 2015 so this is not a positive sign for any business. The tax liability of the organization has reduced in the year 2015 but the organization will not be in a position to do anything about this. The dividend paid by the organization to the investors is quite high and the organization need not pay such huge dividends when they are already in trouble. The organization will have to look for ways by which the dividends paid can be reduced. The retained earnings of Plato Limited are a positive sign that the organization has saved something for the betterment of the future of the organization. The organization should increase the retained earnings or they should look for ways by which the retained earnings can be used for the betterment of organization so that the organization can gain back its old position in the market. Lastly, if the organization thinks that they would require some money for the purpose of restructuring the business then they can think about issuing share capital so that the business can grow further with equipments (Garrett 2014). Accounting Business To The management of Plato Limited From The consultant Date March 31, 2016 Reference Importance of accounting This memo will take about the importance of accounting in business. Different types of financial reporting tools are available and each one has its own importance. Certain tools are mandatory while others can be used by business if the management wants to use it for convenient accounting. It is very important for a business to understand the importance of accounting so that they can put in equal efforts in accounting. Accounting is a way by which the financial data of the organization is collected and presented in a perfect format so that it can be easily understood by the stakeholders of business. The accounting reports are used by the tax authorities, creditors, and investors to analyze the current position of the organization. Asset management, fund raising and future investments are few of the common and important decisions that are undertaken by way of using the accounting reports. Balance sheet, cash flow statement, statement of retained earnings and income statement are few of the commonly used accounting reports in large organizations. Each report helps in monitoring the business. It is the responsibility of the management to analyze the accounting reports at regular intervals so that the business decisions can be controlled at the right time. A detailed analysis of the role of each of the accounting report is discussed below. Balance sheet will help the business owners to understand the assets, liabilities and also the owners equity of the organization. This accounting report will give a synopsis of the organizations current financial situation. This can be accessed by the management to understand the areas wherein they need to improve and the areas wherein they need to improve. If Plato Limited applies for loan from any financial institution then the financial institution will analyse the previous years balance sheet so that they can understand the financial situation of the business. The decision to lend or not is based on the soundness of the balance sheet (Tanyi 2015). Just like balance sheet, cash flow statement is also important for the business. With the help of cash flow statement, the decision makers can understand the current cash inflow and cash outflow of the business. It is the responsibility of every business unit to ensure that the cash inflow is more than that of the outflow. Plato Limited will have to look for ways by which the inflow can be increased and at the same time, the outflow should be reduced. The cash flow statement will help the decision makers to understand the solvency of the organization at any point of time. Plato limited will have increase the liquidity of the business so that they can make quick business decisions. Increase in liquidity would mean that the business is capable enough to pull in sufficient funds for the growth or expansion of the expansion. With regards to the assets, liabilities and owners equity, additional information will be provided by the cash flow statement. The organization can plan their future cash flows with the help of this accounting report. The organization can understand the funds that will flow into the business in the near future and also the funds that would move out of the business. Taking the cash inflows and outflows, the business decision should be taken (Barth 2015). Retaining earning accounting cant be ignored by business. Retained earnings are used by the organization to repay the debts that they have taken, to restructure the organization or some other investment which can save the organization from the financial crunch. The statement of retained earnings will help the decision makers of business to understand the change in the retained earnings over a period of time. Throughout the year, the organization will track the additions and subtractions from the retained earnings. This is used by the management to make any decision regarding the investment plans that they have. Similarly, this is also referred by the creditors when an organization requests for financial support. Plato Limited should ensure that the retained earnings are well maintained. This is a positive sign for the business. If there is a reduction in the retained earnings of the business then the investors and shareholders will be sceptical about making an investment in the organization. The creditors will also not be willing to lend money as they may assume that the financial position of the organization is very weak (Filip 2015). Income statement will help the organization to understand the income, gains, expenses or losses that they made during the reporting year. This is also called as the profit and loss statement of the organization. This statement is used by the lending institutions, banks, lenders and shareholders while they are planning to make an investment in the organization. The shareholders and the creditors will compare the year-on-year income statement of the organization to understand if the financial situation of the organization is improving. Income statement of the organization can be used for predicting the future performance of the organization. The last five years income statement can be analyzed to understand the revenue that would be generated by the organization in the upcoming years. The income and losses of the organization can be predicted with the help of income statement and hence, this helps the organization to understand the cash flow that will take place in the upcoming years (Jhunjhunwala 2014). Plato limited should analyse the last five years income statement so that they can understand the change in figures of various components. Accordingly, the management can make decisions so that the organization can look for ways by which they can reduce the amount that they spending on activities that arent yielding much results. The future investments that the organization will make should be dependent on the yields that they received in the past. Similarly, the organization will have to cut down on the losses that they expenses that are ultimately leading to losses (Whittington 2015). The financial reports of an organization are not only used by the internal decision makers but it is used by various external bodies for various purposes. Few of the bodies that commonly go through the financial statements of any organization are as follows: - The investors will try to understand the businesss behaviour before they make an investment in any business. They will thoroughly go through the financial reports of an organization and finally, they will make a sound decision on investment. The financial reports also help the investors to understand the fair activities and also the wrong activities that are undertaken by them (Hunton 2015). Common people also go through the financial statements to understand the various well being activities that are undertaken by the organization. This allows them to form a perception of the organization. This helps the organization to develop goodwill and reputation. If an organization is not accepted by the common people then their survival in the market would be difficult. The tax paid by the organization is verified based by the government officials by way of analysing the financial statements. The government agencies also track the various activities that are undertaken by the organization. They also try to understand of the organization is involved in legal practices alone so that the interests of the investors, shareholders and other stakeholders can be safeguarded by the business (Akbar 2015). It is very important for Plato limited to consider these accounting methods so that the organization can track its expenses and income effectively. In case of ignorance, the business may start to suffer huge losses. Recommendation for monthly cash budget Looking at the situation of Plato Limited, it can be said that the organization is really confused about the investment that they will have to make and the investments that they need to ignore. Monthly cash budget is one of the easiest ways by which the decision makers of the organization can be rest assured about the spending and savings that they need to undertake. Plato limited can start with monthly cash budget so that they can track the cash flow of the organization. The purpose of monthly cash budget is as follows: - This budget will help the organization to understand the short-term requirements of the business. The management will be aware of the investment that they would be making in various activities in the upcoming month. The decision makers will aware of issues that requires immediate attention so accordingly, funds can be allocated to those tasks. Similarly, if the management feels that they have some excess cash with them for the upcoming month then the organization can look for some short-term investment plans that can yield good returns (Imhof 2015). There are various advantages of preparing short-term budgets over a period of time rather than that of having one budget for the complete year. Few of the advantages of having monthly cash budgets are discussed below. The management will be aware of the incomes that they will be receiving in the upcoming month. This will help the management of Plato Limited especially during the financial year end. Many organizations end up paying more tax, so that they can safeguard themselves from the complications that may arise due to paying less tax. This can be avoided with the help of monthly cash budgets. The organization will be aware of the income that will come-in, in the upcoming month so taxes can be paid accordingly (Bertomeu 2015). If Plato limited is planning to take some loan from a financial institution then the executive will also for pro forma of the balance sheet. If the monthly cash budget is not in place then the organization will take ages to prepare a final pro forma of balance sheet but with the help of monthly cash budget, the pro forma of balance sheet can be prepared in no time. The organization can easily avail loan from the lending institutions (Litt 2014). The management of Plato limited will be aware of the areas wherein the organization is spending more than required. If the management notices that the office supplies are being ordered in excess then the management can check for suppliers who can offer better price for the office supplies. On the other end, the management can also try to understand if the office supplies are being used appropriately or if they are being wasted (Boochun 2014). It is important for Plato Limited to prepare estimated cash budget and actual cash budget. This will help the organization to understand the various wherein they are spending much more than required. The company will be able to understand the areas wherein they need to concentrate and invest more and also the areas wherein you need to disinvest. In many situations, the management may feel that they are falling short of cash but with the help of cash budget, the management will get to know about the cash requirements of business, in advance so the management will get sufficient time to make arrangements for cash (Kermis 2014). Plato Limited will be informed about the corrective actions that they need to take. If the organization is immediately informed about the wrong steps that they have taken then the corrective actions can be implemented easily. Implementation of corrective measures would be difficult if the management is not able to understand the corrective actions for a long period of time (Piotroski 2014). Conclusion The management of Plato Limited should analyze the financial reports of the organization at regular time period. This will give the management an idea on the areas wherein they need to concentrate. The organization should compare the financial reports of the previous years to the current year so that they can understand the areas which have changed and the areas which require immediate attention. Monthly cash budget can be a saviour for Plato Limited. This cash budget will help the organization to understand the short-term fund requirements, expenses and income. This will also help the organization to take corrective measures immediately. References Akbar, M, 2015, Ownership concentration and accuracy of financial reporting, European online journal of natural and social sciences, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 798-807 Barth, M, 2015, Commentary on prospects for global financial reporting, Accounting perspectives, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 154-167 Bertomeu, J, 2015, Mandatory disclosure and asymmetry in financial reporting, Journal of accounting and economics, vol. 59, no. 3, pp. 284-299 Boochun, J, 2014, Financial reporting quality and labor investment efficiency, Contemporary accounting research, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 1047-1076 Filip, A, 2015, Legal regime and financial reporting quality, Contemporary accounting research, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 280-307 Garrett, J, 2014, Trust and financial reporting quality, Journal of accounting research, vol. 52, no. 5, pp. 1087-1125 Hunton, J, 2015, Retraction: Financial reporting transparency and earning management, The accounting review, vol. 90, no. 4, pp. 1711-1726 Imhof, M, 2015, Firm location and financial reporting quality, Academy of accounting and financial studies journal, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 133-147 Jhunjhunwala, S, 2014, Beyond financial reporting International integrated reporting framework, Indian journal of corp[oate governance, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 73-82 Kermis, G, 2014, Financial reporting regulations, ethics and accounting education, Journal of Academic and business ethics, vol. 8, pp. 1-9 Litt, B, 2014, Audit partner rotation and financial reporting quality, Auditing: A journal of practice theory, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 59-69 Piotroski, J, 2014, Financial reporting practices of Chinas listed firms, Journal of applied corporate finance, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 53-60 Tanyi, P, 2015, Busyness, expertise and financial reporting, Auditing: A journal of practice and theory, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 50-72 Whittington, G, 2015, Measurement in financial reporting: half a century of research and practice, Abacus, vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 549-571

Macro Environment Challenges Organizarion Today Essay Example

Macro Environment Challenges Organizarion Today Paper The Group is a key player in the manufacture and sale of electronic systems used in watch making and other industries. Maintenance Providing training and development for employees is a promise. Swatch pays much attention to be in touch with all new technologies and maintained the high level of well trained staff Maintenance is the final MM strategy decision as Swatch encourages the use of automation system and is often the most overlooked decision. Ensuring the equipment needed to produce a good/ service is functioning efficiently without devastating breakdowns is crucial to the long-term stability of a company in order to met its customers demand. Scheduling The demand for high utilization of a capital-intensive facial ¶y means effective scheduling will be important. Scheduling is an operations decision that strives to provide the right mix of labor and machines to produce goods and services at the right time to achieve both efficiency and customer service goals as Swatch anticipate the peaks and valleys in demand that may occur during a day, during the week, and at different times of the year. Therefore Scheduling and taking measures in anticipation of new ventures is in this case a critical issue. Inventory Management Stability and good quality of products require continuously effort to constrain down inventories. We will write a custom essay sample on Macro Environment Challenges Organizarion Today specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Macro Environment Challenges Organizarion Today specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Macro Environment Challenges Organizarion Today specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer With the joint ventures and close cooperation with their supplier, Swatch can optimize their inventory levels. Excess Inventory than what is needed to satisfy customer demand leads to unnecessary costs such as storage, deterioration, obsolescence, theft, and money tied up in inventory that cannot be used for other purposes. Quality Quality is the highest objective, not only the characteristic of Swatchs products and services, but also one of their most important essences. It is trickily linked with its pursue of continuous improvement, as they perceive it as exceeding customers expectation. Also as Swatch is one of the leading companies high quality standards have to be maintained in every aspect Of its operation. 6. Product and services design Product and service design be essential to the structuring of an organization and have an effect on every aspect of the organizations strategy. The design of the output is the primary precondition for the costs, quality, appropriate funds and human resource decisions that accompany that output In all its genuineness, Swatch cares about developing products that meet specific need of its customers. Layout Design The strategy should focus on developing an economic layout that will meet the firms competitive requirements. It should improve higher utilization of space, equipment and people, improved information flow and materials, improved customer interaction and flexibility. Human resources and Job design Swatch created best working environment and growth opportunities by using Machine operators have inherently enriched jobs, so special consideration must be given to developing empowerment and enriched jobs. Also conduct both several programs to encourage Company to submit their own ideas and contribute to the companys growth such continuing innovations and automation. Also they being responsible for their own development and to take advantage of the various development opportunities available such as, submit your venture proposal. Process and capacity design Due to the inherent properties of the Swiss watches market, Swatch is required to be very flexible. Each quarter new technologies, solutions and cutting edge products are introduced. Thats why it is critical to be able to quickly adapt to changes. In this case incorporating new technologies in all the processes is invaluable and helps to achieve flexibility although Swiss watches products have rather short lives, Swatch has design the capacity to ensure meeting all the demand in such case capacity built in view of demand us ports the credibility of Swatch. 10. Maintenance Providing training and development for their employees in promises. They pay much attention to be in touch with all new technologies and maintained the high level of well trained staff Maintenance is the final MM strategy cession for the example Swatch encourages the use of automation system and is often the most overlooked decision. Ensuring the equipment needed to produce a good/service is function ins efficiently without devastating breakdowns is crucial to the long-term stability of a company just why met its customers demand CNN. The main competitive priorities of Swatch production process can be categories as follows A. Flexibility; this means that Swatch should be flexible in the following aspect I. Product flexibility; The ability to handle difficulties non standard, order to meet special customer pacification and to produce product characterized by numerous features, option size and colors. Hence Swatch should consider the product flexibility as main competitive priorities to satisfied their customers. Ii. Volume flexibility; The ability to rapidly adjust capacity in order to accelerate or decelerate production in response to change in customer demand. Swatch should make sure that they are flexible in case any adjustment happens in production process and customer demand. Iii. Process flexibility; Ability to produce small quantities of product cost effectively to meet product ix changes are easy to allocate. B. Cost Swatch Company achieved competitive advantage by adopting one or additional of the following generic competitive strategies: * Cost leadership strategy: Features of this strategy are: low cost relative to Competitors, related and standardized products, economies of scales, internally Focused, structured organization and responsibilities, with intense supervision of Labor. Differentiation strategy: This strategy is described in terms of product uniqueness, Emphasis on Marketing and research, flexible structure. * Focus strategy: This implies the focus on a narrow strategic target (buyer Group, product line or geographic market) through differentiation, low cost or both the extra cost of doing so C. Low product cost; The ability to minimize total cost of production through efficient operation process tech oenology and or scale of economics D. New product introduction; Ability to rapidly introduce larger number of product improvement or variation or totally new products E. Delivery Ability to reduce the time between order taking and customer delivering to as close to zero as possible. The ability to exactly meet quoted or anticipated livery dates and qualities. F. Quality; Swatch should look on product and process quality hence to link the term quality in eight dimensions that are: performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, and perceived quality. G. Design Product with capabilities, feature, styling and operation characteristic that either superior to those of competing products. H. Service After sale services to ensure continuing customer satisfaction in order to avoid the customer turnover. CNN. The increased use of Lana and WANTS has, among other things, enabled ewe organizational structures, the movement of the locus of responsibility further down the organizational hierarchy (elimination Of middle management), and the increasing practicality of SIT operations, mass customization, etc.. The increased emphasis on seen/ice has, among other things, fostered an increased information or information technology content of many products. Firms are also increasing training because so much of the service economy is dependent upon individual competence. The increased role of women in the workplace is requires an increased emphasis on the reaction and communication of appropriate human resource policies. It may also be fostering the creation of flexible work schedules and, to a lesser degree, telecommuting. Some companies seem to be adopting the perspective that their main problem is now the management of change? as opposed to the management of a specific process or product. If nothing else, the management of change is becoming a formal part of the managers responsibility. CNN 4; Airport Customer convenience Places like airport there is big number of people both who are traveling and others waiting for passengers and other waiting to check in. The place should be arranged in a way that will avoid inconvenience to people, showing exactly places for departures, arrivals, waiting seats and all the arrangement must avoid interference. Requirements for materials handling Customers luggage requires special handling materials that will protect them during from when the customer checks in until arrive at his/her destination ;k Capital investment operations at airport needs high capital investment as it requires a lot of material handling equipments, high construction cost and other cost which make the operation more expensive. Bank layout A need to design a layout that will reduce queuing and facilitate customer services. Atmosphere Good working environment that will improve customer services and establish good relationships among employees and customers. Sales Need to consider things like loan application Communication Good communication to all stakeholders and a need to consider on availability of accurate information and smooth information flow. Capital investment More financial investment is required. Classroom Flexibility The arrangement must be ease to accommodate change due to changes likely to take place.

Aloe essays

Aloe essays Aloe (Agave) is a genus of plant that has more than 150 species. Agave is native to South Africa but has been brought to America and is best-known here as American aloe (Agave americana), or century plant. An aloe plant has a short stem, fleshy, lanceolate leaves that form in rosettes at the end of each stem, and red or yellow tubular flowers in dense clusters. The different species of aloe differ in size from a few centimeters to more than thirty feet. The plant only blooms one time between the ages of ten and twenty-five. When it finally does bloom, the plant grows a long stalk that grows rapidly up to about fourty foot. The aloe plant is very helpful in making many medicines. The plant is ninety-six percent water and the rest contains active ingredients including essential oil, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, enzymes and glycoproteins. Powered aloe juice (sap) is a laxative. Modern healers have used it since the 1930's. Many liquid health treatments are made, some combining aloe juice with other plants and herbs. The juice is soothing to digestive tract irritations, such as colitis and peptic ulcers. Aloe vera gel is used to; heal wounds, heal ulcers, and speed up the healing process of burns by putting a protective coating on the As a food supplement, aloe is said to facilitate digestion, aid in blood and lymphatic circulation, as well as kidney, liver and gall bladder functions. Aloe contains at least three anti-inflammatory fatty acids that are helpful for the stomach, small intestine and colon. It naturally alkalizes digestive juices to prevent overacidity - a common cause of indigestion. To make many of the medicines the plant must be crushed or taken apart. Aloe vera gel is made by pulverizing the whole leaves of the plant. Aloe juice is In conclusion, the aloe plant is very helpful in medicine and everyone ...

The main threat to earn profits in the long run is the risk Essay

The main threat to earn profits in the long run is the risk - Essay Example The risk in this sense comprises of two major elements. The first one is the probability that the system or the entity will fail to achieve its objectives. And the second is the consequences and results of such failure. In any business organization, risk is inevitable. However, how better the organization cope with such risks depends upon the techniques used by the entity for such purpose. The practice and act of identifying, assessing, handling and controlling risk related situations and issues in an organization is known as enterprise risk management. The process of risk management includes identification and tracking of risk associated areas, development of plans for mitigating risk, performance of risk assessment procedures and handling and monitoring risks. Thus, it may be seen that risk management is a very broad term and includes a number of issues being addressed during the application of risk management techniques. Along with identification and assessment of risks, the prior itization of risks is also an important part of risk assessment procedure. Thus, the process of risk management mainly focus on the probability of occurrence of unforeseen events in future and the impact of these events on the capability of the organization to achieve its objectives. ... All these risks threaten the capability of an organization to achieve its objectives. Following are the risks that usually occur more frequently: 1. Systematic Risk: Systematic risk is a risk which cannot be predicted, mitigated or reduced in any way. This is due to the reason that this risk may occur at any time and is completely out of control. Changes in the government legislation or interest rates prevailing in the economy are examples of systematic risk. To mitigate the impact of such risks, it is advised that the organization should remain prepared for the occurrence of such risks at any time and should undertake proper plans to cope with such risk. 2. Non-systematic Risk: These are the risks which occur due to the features of assets. Changes occurring in the management decisions and employees’ strikes are the examples of this type of risk. These risks can be easily eliminated by using the diversification process. 3. Financial Risk: Financial risk rises when the organiza tions heavily rely on the debts and loans. This type of financing is called debt financing. This type of financing increases the liability of the organization as the organization is liable to pay such money back in future. Thus, it becomes necessary for the organization to keep enough reserves so that this money may be paid back in future. Thus, the degree of risk and uncertainty rises overall. 4. Operational Risk: Operational risk is the risk associated with the operational level of the organization. When this risk arises, organizations do not able to perform its operations properly. Thus, operational risk includes risks arising from business operations, information reporting and leadership and management style adopted by the

The Voice of Marvin Puryear Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Voice of Marvin Puryear - Essay Example Puryear draws on his direct experiences. He has a fascination with music and archery. His way of expressing those interests was not to try to sport, but to create the object of the sport itself. For example, he notes â€Å"If I became interested in archery, I made the bows and arrows; if I became interested in music, I made the guitar" (Benezra 140). Again, this statement by Puryear reinforces the premise that his sculptures are not the result of hard line education. If they were, then he would have mastered playing the instrument or the sport of archery rather than creating his own original vessel. The deception that can only be called Puryear is his ability to take the simple concept (Such as the Old Mole) and craft a vision without all of the trendy accoutrements that we see so often in modern art today. This too is the result of his emotional reaction to that which he experienced, rather than the formal education he received. Another example of what I view as a reactive piece is â€Å"Untitled†. The body of the object is open, free and seemingly transparent. However the face of the object appears to have the expression of recovering from a horrid event, yet knowing that there is still more. Simply stated, the face is heavy, as if carrying some sort of burden, while the body is completely unaffected. This too demonstrates pure emotion. As the saying goes â€Å"I can tell by your face something is wrong.† In conclusion, a review of Marvin Puryear’s pieces, demonstrate that interpretation can be found in emotion.

Coursebook And Materials Evaluation English Language Essay

Coursebook And Materials Evaluation English Language Essay Introduction English language holds a great significance in Pakistan. It is the second language of our country yet enjoys the status of first language. It is the medium of instruction in the institutions of higher education and is widely used on radio and television in the country. Several newspapers, periodicals and books on different subjects are published in English. It is the official language of all the government departments and private organizations in Pakistan. Most importantly, our body of law is codified in English and the knowledge of English is considered to be essential for getting good jobs as exams and interviews for civil services, armed forces and other attractive posts are conducted in this language. The inevitability of English, not only in Pakistan but in the whole world, lies in its dominance in the three major areas of development: science, humanities and trade. Keeping in view the importance and the need to learn this language, Cunningsworth (1984:5) highlights three main perspectives on English Language Teaching as follows: The students need to learn the language to use it for communicative purposes It needs to be taught as a system of grammar and vocabulary in structural perspective The learners need to develop their four basic skills-reading, writing, listening and speaking in this language ELT materials play a very important role in many language classrooms but in recent years there has been a lot of debate on the actual role of materials in teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language. A successful course book requires a working balance between the three perspectives mentioned above. Arguments about the textbooks include both the advantages and the limitations of materials for students as well as the needs and preferences of teachers who are using them. Other modern issues regarding material evaluation include textbook design and practicality, methodological validity, the role of textbooks in innovation, the authenticity and the appropriateness of subject matter, and cultural components. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that we establish and apply a wide variety of relevant and contextually appropriate criteria for the evaluation of the textbooks that we use in our language classrooms. This paper aims at an analytical study of a published ELT course book (Stepping Forward) with regards to its underpinning approach and methodological principles to be drawn through an external as well internal evaluation of the book. LITERATURE REVIEW 1- Importance of Textbooks in ELT context: English language instruction has many important components but the essential constituents of many ESL/EFL classrooms and programs are the textbooks and instructional materials that are often used by language instructors. As in their argument to prove textbooks affective agents of change, Hutchinson and Torres (1994) suggest: The textbook is an almost universal element of teachingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦No teaching-learning situation, it seems, is complete until it has its relevant textbook. (p. 315). Many other theorists agree with this observation as Sheldon (1988) states that textbooks not only represent the visible heart of any ELT program (p.237) but also offer considerable advantages for both the student and the teacher when they are being used in the ESL/EFL classroom. Moreover, he believes that published materials are more reliable for the students because they have more credibility than teacher-generated or in-house materials. Textbooks yield a respectable practicality as they are relatively inexpensive and involve low lesson preparation time, whereas teacher-generated materials can be ineffective in terms of time, cost and quality. In this way, textbooks can reduce professional workload and allow teachers the opportunity to spend more time in concentrating on the material available instead of arranging for a new one every time. As Hutchinson and Torres (1994) point out that textbooks play a pivotal role in innovation and support teachers in potentially disturbing and threatening change processes, for they demonstrate new methodologies, introduce change gradually, and create a framework upon which teachers can build a more creative methodology of their own. 2- Reasons for Textbook Evaluation: Since the 1970s there has been a movement to make learners the center of language instruction and it is probably best to view textbooks as resources in achieving aims and objectives that have already been set in terms of learner needs. Therefore, we must make every effort to establish and apply a wide variety of relevant and contextually appropriate criteria for the evaluation of the textbooks that we use in our language classrooms. We should also ensure that careful selection is made, and that the materials selected closely reflect the aims, methods, and values of the teaching program. (Cunningsworth, 1995:7). Another reason for textbook evaluation is the fact that it can be very useful in teacher development and professional growth. Cunningsworth (1995) states that textbook evaluation helps teachers to acquire useful, accurate, systematic, and contextual insights into the overall nature of textbook material. Sheldon (1988) offers justification through several other reasons for textbook evaluation. He suggests that the selection of an ELT textbook often signals an important administrative and educational decision with considerable financial investment. A thorough evaluation, therefore, would enable the management and teaching staff of a specific institution to choose amongst all of the available textbooks in the market. Moreover, it would provide a sense of familiarity with a books content assisting the educators to compare it with the strengths and weaknesses in textbooks already in use. Textbook evaluation, therefore, can potentially be a means of conducting research as well as a form of professional empowerment and improvement. 3- Methods of Evaluating Textbooks: On the subject of textbook evaluation various researchers have suggested ways of helping teachers to be more systematic in their evaluative approach, by presenting evaluation checklists based on general criteria that can be used by both teachers and students in many different situations. Although Sheldon (1988) suggests that no general list of criteria can ever really be applied to all teaching and learning contexts without considerable modification. Thats why, almost all the educational theorists agree that evaluation checklists should be having some criteria pertaining to the physical characteristics of textbooks such as layout, organizational, usable and logistical characteristics. Thus, in this regard, the evaluative criteria presented by McDonough and Shaw (1997), is most suitable and applicable in any ELT context. The model of evaluation offered by McDonough and Shaw (1997) consists of two stages: (A) External evaluation and (B) Internal evaluation. They believe that the teachers should perform an external evaluation first of all in order to gain an overview of the organizational principles involved. After this they should move onto a detailed internal evaluation of the materials to see how far the materials in question match up to what the author claims as well as to the aims and objectives of a given teaching program. Thus, the next section of this paper will present an external as well as internal analysis of an ELT course book (Stepping Forward) based on McDonough and Shaws (1997) model of evaluation. TEXTBOOK ANALYSIS: AN EVALUATIVE STUDY 1- Key Facts about the Book-Authors and Publishers: One of the most useful starting points in any textbook evaluation is an analysis of the authors and publishers details. The authors of Stepping Forward are Heather Jones and Robyn Mann and the publisher is a well-established company based in Singapore, EPB Pan Pacific publishers, a trademark of Times Publishing Limited. Ample information about the publishing company such as the contact address, telephone and fax numbers can be found on the inside front cover. Moreover, information about the authors formal education, amounts and types of teaching, administration, and curriculum/syllabus and materials development experience is also given which presents a clear picture of the authors having a recognized standing in the field of education and a strong reputation for producing innovative materials. 2- Target Audience and Proficiency Level: Stepping Forward by Heather Jones and Robyn Mann comprises a series of textbooks. The book under analysis has been designed for the students of grade six belonging to an age group of around eleven years. The book includes challenging topics, chosen especially for the interest level of the target students. The topics like My Family, Growing Up, Dinosaurs, Tourism, and Science Fiction etc are highly attractive and motivating for the learners. 3- Cost Effectiveness: Another important factor that relates to the choice of a textbook is cost. Some might feel that price is not necessarily an important factor in textbook evaluation, but the fact that most ESL/EFL textbooks are published and manufactured in wealthy English-speaking nations such as England and the United States but used in many less-developed nations like Pakistan suggests that price should play a pertinent role in textbook selection. This is particularly the case in countries in which the economic conditions are somewhat less than desirable and many students with limited incomes are required to purchase the books for language courses. In this case, Stepping Forward is also a little expensive as it costs Rs.365/-, however, the printing standard and paper quality worth the price. 4- Accessibility and Availability: Some additional concerns regarding external evaluation are accessibility and availability. In order to be purchasable for a textbook, it must be currently in print and readily available. Moreover, the publisher should be accessible for additional information, teaching demonstrations, and order requests. At first glance it would seem that Stepping Forward meets many of these requirements for it is a relatively new book that was most recently published in 1995 and then reprinted every year till 2007. Moreover, representatives from the publisher (EPB Pan Pacific) can be easily contacted for ordering information and assistance. 5- Audio-Visual Aids and Supplementary Materials: The book contains several charts, models, and photographs that help clarify and contextualize information. The presence of real life pictures portrays a friendly and motivating atmosphere. The pictures are not merely added for a cosmetic effect, they are rather of an integrative value that they help explaining the theme to the learners. In addition, Stepping Forward contains an excellent package of supplementary materials including items such as classroom tape cassettes or CDs, a student workbook, and a teachers guide. More specifically, the teachers guide includes useful page-by-page instructions, teaching suggestions and instructional input, lesson notes, optional tasks and alternatives, classroom management advice, language notes, general notes about the task and cultural data, expansion activities and game ideas, tests, answer keys, transcripts for listening activities, and opportunities for teacher reflection. The student workbook, on the other hand, provides review exercises an d a variety of practice exercises that help the development of students proficiency in grammar, reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, and speaking and has enormous potential for classroom use or for home assignments. 6- Overall Organization of Textbook: The layout and design of a textbook refers to its organization and presentation of language items and activities. In Stepping Forward, for instance, the learning objectives are clear and concise and a detailed overview of the topics, functions, structures/grammar, and skills within each unit can be found in the introductory table of contents. The book follows a thematic/modular format as the course components are effectively and clearly organized in six thematic sections: Personal relations, Nature, Community and Nation, Imagination, Science and Technology and Other people. Four sections contain three units each and two include two units each, which makes it a sum total of sixteen units. 7- Authors Claims- the Methodological Principles underpinning the Book: One of the most important and essential criterion that pertains to the overall textbook evaluation is the authors approach to teaching methodology. Brown (1995) and Cunningsworth (1995) suggest that it is absolutely essential in evaluating any textbook to determine whether or not its inherent methodology matches the aims and objectives and conforms to the classroom context. The simplest and quickest way for initially discovering a textbooks theoretical premises and methodological underpinnings is to examine its back cover (the blurb). So, a closer examination of Stepping Forwards back cover reveals that the authors (Heather Jones and Robyn Mann) claim to adhere to the Communicative Approach and the textbook contains a multi-skills curriculum and follows a topical/functional format. The book also tends to focus on both accurate and fluent communication emphasizing linguistic as well as communicative value of the topics. The promotion of integrated language-skills practice and the incl usion of topical themes, grammatical structures and functions, as well as lexical development are focused. Particular emphasis is placed on meaningful and authentic communication with the goal of establishing communicative competence in production and comprehension as the authors state in the blurb, students as well as teachers will find Stepping Forward an exciting and stimulating language learning experience, one that will result in the learners being competent and confident users of the English language. Moreover, many of the pair and group activities such as role-playing and information-gap tasks are claimed to facilitate learning through genuine interaction and the language skills and sub-skills are presented and practiced through the use of both inductive and deductive approaches. 8- Cultural Biases: The book under analysis, Stepping Forward, can be termed as culturally biased or specific in some regards, for the names of people and places as well as pictures are mostly taken from the Singaporean culture. For example, the travel brochure given on page 131-133 in the textbook, particularly informs about places in Singapore and Malaysia. Similarly, on page 130 the listening activity talks about Hotel Mirimar in Singapore. Moreover, the writing task on page 135 requires drawing the map of Singapore and the pictures shown on page 129 and 149 have also been taken from real life situations in Singapore. 9- Universal Context: Nevertheless, in spite of certain cultural specific data, Stepping Forward, has a universal appeal and generates in a world-wide context. Because the activities and tasks designed around this culturally bound material are not confined to any geographical boundary. Thus, they can be carried out in any context throughout the world. (B) INTERNAL EVALUATION-Units 8 and 9: Since the external evaluation displays a positive image of the book, therefore, an internal evaluation needs to be executed further. The following discussion is going to evaluate the book internally with particular reference to the units 8 and 9. 1- Grading and Sequencing of Materials: The materials in Stepping Forward are organized in a linear sequence within the units of the book. Every unit begins with a Preview of the topic for eliciting the learners background knowledge and activating their schemata. Then, the four language skills are presented and practised in a systematic manner moving from listening to speaking and then reading to writing with grammar and vocabulary coming between the reading and writing activities. The authors truly claimed in the blurb that the book follows a communicative approach which is achieved through task-based learning (TBL). Such an approach creates a need for learners to acquire new language through the setting of tasks that require them to carry out and struggle through a communicative task, before going on to focus on specific language items that the students find difficult or problematic. The communicative tasks such as (in units 8 and 9) working on persuasive travel brochures, completing the crosswords, playing grammar-games, filling in the tables, making cards or using thesaurus and library tend to stimulate interaction as well as require the use of language items. These tasks not only intended to introduce language forms through authentic material but also engage the learners in truly meaningful and effective communication such as negotiation of meaning and ideas. 2- Presentation of the Language Skills: Stepping Forward is a multi-skills syllabus and therefore covers and integrates both productive (speaking and writing) and receptive skills (listening and reading). The authors advocate an integrated, multi-skills syllabus because it considers and incorporates several categories of both meaning and form. A more positive characteristic of the integrated syllabus within Stepping Forward is the fact that the linguistic elements of the textbook such as grammar and vocabulary items are closely connected to the skills-base. So, as the grammar element and the vocabulary base become more demanding, the skills work also gets more challenging. An internal evaluation of the book reveals that material used for each skill becomes more complex as the units progress. An in-depth analysis of the treatment of language skills in units 8 and 9 is presented below. (i) Listening: Listening activities are designed in Stepping Forward for practicing such sub-skills as making predictions, extracting specific items (scanning/listening for detail), acquiring general information (skimming/listening for gist), extracting detailed information, recognizing function and discourse patterns/markers, and for inferring meaning from context. Every unit in the book deals with a different sub-skill in listening. For instance, in unit 8 the learners are supposed to listen for making inferences about the speakers statements as being persuasive or not. However, in unit 9 the students are made to listen for specific information in order to clarify meaning and make corrections. (ii) Speaking: Speaking practice, in this book, is integrated with other language skills. Every time after presenting a Preview of the topic the learners are given discussion questions for the activation of schemata. Then they are required to talk about the information they gather while listening activities. For example, on page 130, the description of the listening task ends on the note: Be prepared to argue your opinion later!. Moreover, after or while doing most of the reading and writing tasks, the learners are required to discuss the information in pairs or groups. For instance, in unit 8 (page 140) after reading a poem the learners are moved on to a speaking task of verse speaking in groups. Similarly, in unit 9 (page 160), the students are required to perform a role-play after reading a dialogue and on page 166 questions for class discussion are given within a writing activity of creating cards. Such tasks match the authors claim in the blurb: Stepping Forward provides numerous activities to enable students to work individually, in pairs, groups as well as class discussion. This provides scope for creative thinking and critical discussion. Speaking tasks and discussions are intended to involve the students in active information sharing, freer cooperative group tasks, and other types of exercises designed to encourage communication skills as they allow the students to extend, refine, and personalize the material they have practised in each unit. (iii) Reading: Reading activities in Stepping Forward are designed to practise sub-skills such as reading for detail or for skimming, scanning, inferring etc. In every unit, reading tasks are divided into two sections: Fiction and Non-fiction. In unit 8, the section of non-fiction contains activities around a travel brochure and the fiction section deals with reading a poem. While in unit 9, non-fiction reading is designed around a feature article and fiction reading presents a dramatic play script. Moreover, in order to expose the learners to the reading material beyond the course book, they are also asked to use thesaurus and library (pg 143, 164, 165). These tasks provide a practice of reading for detail, for meaning and for ideas. Reading activities in every unit follow the practice on grammar and vocabulary further leading to the writing tasks. (iv) Writing: Writing activities in Stepping Forward typically ask students to perform tasks of various kinds such as descriptions, narratives, postcards, reviews, letters etc. It can be suggested, therefore, that the writing skills in Stepping Forward are based on both product and process approaches. Essentially, a product-oriented approach centers on the end-result of writing, whereas a process-oriented approach centers on the process of writing itself. In addition, product-oriented approaches typically engage learners in imitating, copying and transforming models of correct language texts while process-oriented approaches emphasize brainstorming, planning, drafting, revision, and editing. The writing task given in unit 8 (pg 145-146) is based on process approach in which the learners have to write a travel brochure by gathering and organizing information and then revising and editing the first draft. However, in unit 9, the writing activity is designed around the product approach in which the students will be working towards an end-product-the greeting card that they have to create. Despite their differences, both approaches to the teaching of writing skills have their advantages. Product writing, for example, emphasizes sentence structure and grammar and is often utilized as an excellent means of preparing students for written examinations. The process approach, on the other hand, prepares them for the complex procedure involved in writing compositions. For these reasons, the authors of Stepping Forward have included activities that incorporate both product and process approaches of writing in this particular textbook. 3- Different Learning Styles-Self-study: Another interesting feature of this book is the website (www.panpaceducation.com) that has been designed to accompany the textbook. The integration of the personal computer and information technology to language learning is becoming increasingly commonplace in many institutions and it seems as though the authors and publishers of Stepping Forward are well aware of this growing phenomenon. In this particular case the publishers have developed an accompanying web-site that teachers can use to find Internet links to professional articles and that students can use to gain additional practice with the material covered in the textbook. This web-site can be used as a useful teaching and learning tool as it provides teachers with assistance in professional development and also provides students with an opportunity to become increasingly self-reliant and less teacher-dependent. Moreover, the promotion of student self-directed study is integral in allowing students to become increasingly aware of their own abilities to remember, learn, and solve problems and more strategic and reflective in their learning, thinking, and problem solving. 4- Language Type and Content: Language type and content refers to whether the language included in the materials is realistic and authentic and what type of linguistic items are evident in the book. In terms of grammatical structures and functions, Stepping Forward places much emphasis on grammatical accuracy and repetition of structures and functions. Grammar and vocabulary are organized into separate sections in each unit. In unit 8, grammar section deals with pronouns and in unit 9 it provides a practice of simple present and present perfect tense. The section of vocabulary also includes thesaurus use in every unit, so that the students can build on new vocabulary on their own. A fair weightage given to grammar and vocabulary in the book justifies the authors claims as it is stated on the back cover of the book: a wide range of grammar and vocabulary exercises are especially designed to help students acquire the necessary language skills and vocabulary to discuss and write on the topic in each unit. The author s believe that correct knowledge of grammar and functions are an essential aspect of communicative competence and they have adopted the task-based learning technique as a means of accomplishing their objectives. Since the introduction of the Communicative Approach to language teaching in the 1970s and 80s, there has been a growing school of thought that says that authentic reading, speaking, listening, writing, and grammatical language models should be used to teach English language skills as long as the activities or tasks associated with them are also authentic and suitably graded to the level of the students with whom they are being used. Whereas, many researchers belonging to another school of thought believe that authentic content can often create a number of difficulties and problems for students who are lacking in the proper cultural background knowledge or schemata to properly comprehend a messages meaning and content. Moreover, the selection of authentic texts is frequently quite difficult and challenging and a students inability to understand a text can be extremely demoralizing and de-motivating in some instances. Thats why, Stepping Forward presents a combination of both authenti c and inauthentic/scripted materials to ensure the success of the book. CONCLUSION The preceding analysis shows that Stepping Forward is a relatively modern addition to ELT supermarket. The external and internal evaluation traces out a number of notable and worthwhile characteristics of the book. For example, the entire textbook package is well conceived and it contains a wide variety of useful supplementary materials. The book is also very attractive and organized in a clear, logical, and coherent manner. This organization reflects a topic-based (thematic) structural-functional syllabus that is designed with the goal of facilitating communicative competence which is the underpinning objective of the book. In addition, Stepping Forward reflects a multi-skills syllabus, and manages to integrate the four language skills without neglecting other important aspects of ELT such as grammar and vocabulary development which is aimed at integrating the communicative and structural approaches of language teaching. In addition, receptive and productive skills are covered throu gh a wide variety of teaching and learning strategies such as top-down and bottom-up listening and reading exercises and both product and process oriented approaches to writing skills. According to the evaluative model presented by McDonough and Shaw (1997), a successful external evaluation moves onto the internal study and satisfactory results of the internal evaluation further lead towards the adoption/selection of the book. Thus, the positive outcomes of both types of evaluation, validity of the authors claims and its suitability to the learners needs make Stepping Forward a fairly recommendable product for an effective instruction in the dynamic field of English Language Teaching. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦far from being a problem, the textbook is an important means of satisfying the range of needs that emerge from the classroom and its wider context. Education is a complex and messy matter, what a textbook does is to create a degree of order within potential chaosà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦around which many forces and demands of teaching-learning process can cohereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦for purposeful action in the classroom.