Hoe to Prepare a Business Plan

A business plan is a written document that describes a business, its objectives, its strategies, the market it is in and its financial forecasts. It has many functions, from securing external funding to measuring success within your business. This guide will show you how to prepare a high-quality plan using a number of easy-to-follow steps, and includes a template business plan. Your products and services and audience for your business plan This part of the plan sets out your vision for your new business. It includes who you are, what you do, what you have to offer and the market you want to address. Start with an overview of your business: * when you started or intend to start trading, the progress and investment you have made to date * the type of business and the sector it is in * any relevant history – for example, if you acquired the business, who owned it originally and what they achieved with it * the current legal structure * your vision for the future Describe your products or services as simply as possible, defining: * what makes it different * benefits it offers * why customers would buy it from you instead of your competitors * how you plan to develop your products or services whether you hold any patents, trade marks or design registration * the key features and success factors of your industry or sector The person reading the plan may not understand your business and its products, services or processes, so try to avoid jargon. Get someone who isn't involved in the business – a friend or family member perhaps – to read this section of your plan a nd make sure they can understand it. The audience for your business plan Many people think of a business plan as a document used to secure external funding. Potential investors, including banks, may invest in your idea, work with you or lend you money as a result of the strength of your plan. The following people or institutions may request to see your business plan at some stage: * banks * external investors – whether this is a friend, a venture capitalist firm or a business angel * grant providers * anyone interested in buying your business * potential partners Bear in mind that a business plan is a living document that will help you monitor your performance and stay on track. It will therefore need updating and changing as your business grows. Regardless of whether you intend to use your plan internally, or as a document for external people, it should still take an objective and honest look at your business. Failing to do this could mean that you and others have unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved and when. What a business plan should include Your business plan should provide details of how you are going to develop your business. It describes when you are going to do it, who's going to play a part and how you will manage the finances. Clarity on these issues is particularly important if you're looking for finance or investment. Your plan should include: * An executive summary – an overview of the business you want to start. It's vital. Many lenders and investors make judgments about your business based on this section of the plan alone. * A short description of the business opportunity – who you are, what you plan to sell or offer, why and to whom. * Your marketing and sales strategy – why you think people will buy what you want to sell and how you plan to sell to them. Your management team and personnel – your credentials and the people you plan to recruit to work with you. * Your operations – your premises, production facilities, your management information systems and IT. * Financial forecasts – this section translates everything you have said in the previous sections into numbers. The executive summary The executive summary is often the most important part of your business plan. Positioned at the front of the document, it is the first part to be read. It may be the only part that will be read. Faced with a large pile of funding equests, venture capitalists and banks have been known to separate business plans into ‘worth considering' and ‘discard' piles based on this section alone. The executive summary is a synopsis of the key points of your entire plan. It should include highlights from each section of the rest of the document. Its purpose is to explain the basics of your business in a way that both informs and interests the reader. If, after reading the executive summary, an investor or manager understands what the business is about and is keen to know more, it has done its job. It should be concise – no longer than two pa ges at most – and interesting. It's advisable to write this section of your plan after you have completed the rest. The executive summary is not: * A brief description of the business and its products. It's a synopsis of the entire plan. * An extended table of contents. This makes for very dull reading. You should ensure it shows the highlights of the plan, rather than restating the details the plan contains. * Hype. While the executive summary should excite the reader enough to read the entire plan, an experienced investor or business person will recognise hype and this will undermine the plan's credibility. Your markets, competitors, marketing and sales Here, you should define your market, your position in it and outline who your competitors are. To do this you should refer to any market research you have carried out. You need to demonstrate that you're fully aware of the marketplace you're planning to operate in and that you understand any important trends and drivers. Show that your business will be able to attract customers in a growing market despite the competition. Key areas to cover include: your market – its size, historical data about its development and key current issues * your target customer base – who they are and how you know they will be interested in your products or services * your competitors – who they are, how they work and the share of the market they hold * the future – anticipated changes in the market and how you expect your business and your competitors to react to them It is important to know your competitors' strengths and weakness es as compared to your own. It is good practice to do a competitor analysis of each one. Remember that the market is not static – your customers' needs and your competitors can change. So, you should also demonstrate that you have considered and drawn up contingency plans to cover alternative scenarios. Marketing and sales This section should describe the specific activities you intend to use to promote and sell your products and services. Often, it's the weak link in business plans so it's worth spending time on it to make sure it's realistic and achievable. A strong sales and marketing section means you have a clear idea of how you will get your products and services to market. Your plan will need to provide answers to these questions: * How do you plan to position your product or service in the market place? * Who are your customers? Include details of customers who have shown an interest in your product or service and explain how you plan to go about attracting new customers. * What is your pricing policy? How much will you charge for different customer segments, quantities, etc? * How will you promote your product or service? Identify your sales process methods, eg direct marketing, advertising, PR, email, e-sales, social marketing. * How will you reach your customers? What channels will you use? Which partners will be needed in your distribution channels? * How will you do your selling? Do you have a sales plan? Have you considered which sales method will be the most effective and most appropriate for your market, such as selling by phone, over the internet, face-to-face or through retail outlets? Are your proposed sales methods consistent with your marketing plan? And do you have the right skills to secure the sales you need? Your team's skills and operations Your business plan should identify the strengths in your team and your plans to deal with any obvious weaknesses. The management team If you're looking for external funding, your management team can be a decisive factor. Explain who is involved, their role and how it fits into the organisation. Include a CV or paragraph on each individual, outlining their background, relevant experience and qualifications. Include any advisers you might have such as accountants or lawyers. For your bank manager or other investors, you need to demonstrate that your management team has the right balance of skills, drive and experience for your business to succeed. Key skills include sales, marketing and financial management as well as production, operational and market experience. Your investors will want to be convinced that you and your team are fully committed. Therefore it's a good idea to set out how much time and money each person will contribute – or has already contributed – to the business. Your people Give details of your workforce in terms of total numbers and by department. Spell out what work you plan to do internally and if you plan to outsource any work. Other useful figures might be sales or profit per employee, average salaries, employee retention rates and productivity. Your plan should also outline any recruitment or training plans, including timescales and costs. It's vital to be realistic about the commitment and motivation of your people. Spell out any plans to improve or maintain staff morale. Your operations Your business plan needs to outline your operational capabilities and any planned improvements. There are certain areas you should focus on. Location * Do you have any business property? * What are your long-term commitments to the property? * Do you own or rent it? * What are the advantages and disadvantages of your current location? Producing your goods and services Do you need your own production facilities or would it be cheaper to outsource any manufacturing processes? * If you do have your own facilities, how modern are they? * What is the capacity compared with existing and forecasted demand? * Will any investment be needed? * Who will be your suppliers? Management-information systems * Have you got established procedures for stock control, management accounts and quality control? * Can they cope with any proposed expansion? Information technology * IT is a key factor in most businesses, so include your strengths and weaknesses in this area. Outline the reliability an Financial forecasts You will need to provide a set of financial projections which translate what you have said about your business into numbers. Look carefully at: * how much capital you need if you are seeking external funding * the security you can offer lenders * how you plan to repay any borrowings * sources of revenue and income You may also want to include your personal finances as part of the plan. Financial planning Your forecasts should run for the next three (or even five) years and their level of sophistication should reflect the sophistication of your business. However, the first 12 months' forecasts should have the most detail associated with them. Your forecasts should include Sales forecast – the amount of money you expect to raise from sales. Cashflow statements – your cash balance and monthly cashflow patterns for at least the first 12 to 18 months. The aim is to show that your business will have enough working capital to survive. Make sure you have considered the key factors such as the timing of sales and salaries. Profit and loss forecast – a statement of the trading position of the business. Show the level of profit you expect to make and the costs of providing goods and services and your overheads. Your forecasts should cover a range of scenarios. New businesses often forecast over-optimistic sales and most external readers will take this into account. It is sensible to include subsidiary forecasts based on sales being significantly slower than you are actually predicting. One for sales starting three months later than expected, and another forecasting a 20 per cent lower level of sales. Risk analysis It is good practice to show that you have reviewed the risks your business could be faced with. Show that you have looked at contingencies and insurance to cover these. Risks can include: * competitor action * commercial issues – sales, prices, deliveries operations – IT, technology or production failure * staff – skills, availability and costs * acts of God – fire or flood d the planned development of your systems. Presenting your business plan Keep the plan short – it's more likely to be read if it's a manageable length. Think about the presentation and keep it professional. Remember, a well-presented plan will reinforce the positive impression you want to create of your business. Tips for presenting your plan * Include a cover or binding and a contents page with page and section numbering. * Start with the executive summary. Ensure it's legible – make sure the type is ten point or above. * You may want to email it, so ensure you use email-friendly formatting. * Even if it's for internal use only, write the plan as if it's intended for an external audience. * Edit the plan carefully – get at least two people to read it and check that it makes sense. * Show the plan to expert advisers – such as your accountant – and ask for feedback. Redraft sections they say are difficult to understand. * Avoid jargon and put detailed information – such as market resea rch data or balance sheets – in an appendix at the back. You may have detailed plans for specific areas of your business, such as a sales plan or a staff training plan. However it is best not to include these, though it is good practice to mention that they exist. While it is sensible to seek advice from external advisers, it is not a good idea to get them to write the plan for you. Investors and lenders need to have confidence that you personally understand your business plan and are committed to the vision for the business. Make sure your plan is realistic. Once you have prepared your plan, use it. If you update it regularly, it will help you keep track of your business' development.

Social Media and Sports

Has social media’s impact on the professional sports world been positive or negative? Social media has made a massive impact on our culture. One of the areas that has not been affected is professional sports. In today’s world, professional sports teams and players from around the world use social media to connect with their global fan bases. Sports teams attempt to build a larger, stronger fan base by engaging fans through social media sites. Additionally, social media sites allow professional athletes to increase their marketability.However, they can also severely damage their career, personal life, and their ‘brand’ if they do not handle their social media interactions with care (Van Schaik). Twitter and Facebook allow teams and players to be interactive and personal with fans. They can use these platforms to not only deliver basic team news updates, but to share information about autograph signings, charity events, or ticket specials too. One of the most important aspects of any sports team is that they have a loyal, growing fan base that feels like they are valued and appreciated. Therefore, these fans will stand by their team through thick and thin.Social media provides the perfect opportunity for that. Sports teams and athletes are becoming more and more efficient at using social media to create a positive impact on their team and their fan’s. One of the positive impacts of social media on professional sports is the ability to share news and information with fans through it. Social media websites are beginning to replace sports radio and cable networks as the dominant places to find the latest breaking sports news. It seems more and more sports fans are turning to the internet for the latest sports news, updates, and information about their favorite teams or players.More specifically, fans are utilizing social sites such as Facebook and Twitter. In fact, fans are 10 times more likely to check Facebook or Twitter for their sports news than sports radio. Also, an overwhelming 81% of fans prefer the Internet for their sports information over any other platform (Blakley). Fans just are checking social media before or after the games either. More than 80% of fans interact via social media while watching games (Altobelli). I can attest to these statistics because I am one of this growing majority. There are a few reasons I choose to use the Internet and social media for my sports news nstead of sports radio or TV. First off, with social media and the Internet I am able to find information about my favorite player or team instantly. With TV or sports radio, you basically have to take the information as it is given. For example, ESPN chooses to focus on teams from major cities like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. Very rarely will I be able to find daily updates on an injured Minnesota Twins player by watching Sportscenter. Instead, I can click on over to the Minnesota Twin’s Facebook page or Twitt er and find daily injury updates. Another upside to social media in this situation is that it is up to the minute information.Most sports radio shows or cable networks discuss what happened yesterday in the sports news world. Social media is constantly updating so there is a plethora of new information always streaming. Lastly, I prefer social media over the other forms of sports news because they are readily available to me. Sports radio and ESPN are not always as mobile as I would like. I am not able to take Sportscenter into the car with me. Also, I do not have a reliable sports radio station to listen to in my area. At times I can get KFAN from the Twin Cities, but not on a consistent basis.Therefore, any sports radio news updates come about once an hour and are quite brief. Additionally, I spend a lot of time at my girlfriend’s cabin during the summer months. At her cabin, they only have a few basic local channels. ESPN is not available. As a result, I turn to social med ia and my cell phone for sports news. Rarely do I miss a beat because of the efficiency and accuracy of the social media websites. Social media has already made a giant impact on how sports information is shared with fans. It is only going to keep growing as technology spreads and more fans get familiar with smart phones and tablets.Another way social media has affected the sports world is by bringing fans closer to the game. As a sports fan, I can agree that fans always want to feel closer to the game. That is why people still pay ridiculous ticket prices to attend ball games instead of watching them on TV in the comfort of their living room. Fans have an urge for that connection and closeness. They want to feel apart of the game. Social media sites provide teams and players the unique ability to directly connect with their fans. It used to be the closest you got to a favorite player was a post-game radio interview.Now, you can follow them on Twitter and have rare insight into thei r everyday world. Players use sites like Facebook and Twitter to give fan’s a behind the scenes look at what happens at home, in the locker room, and on the sidelines. Social media gives pro athletes the chance to interact and share data with fans in a way that was not possible in the past. Fans used to only know about a player from what they read in the paper or saw on TV (Van Schaik) . Now, fans can find out what their favorite player ate for breakfast or what music they are listening to.Fans have yearned for this kind of accessibility for years and now it is becoming a reality. I actually have friend’s that make it a daily ritual to check their favorite player’s Twitter. Actually, being able to follow players and coaches is probably the biggest reason why I created a Twitter in the first place. I love the inside look into their personal lives. It is very cool when you find out how much you do or do not have in common with them. One of the highlights of my Twi tter career was when I tweeted Kevin Love after a Timberwolve’s game and congratulated him on his performance and the team’s win.A few minutes later, I received what is called a â€Å"retweet† from Love basically saying thank you. I was blown away. It meant a lot to me to know that Kevin Love took thirty seconds out of his life to tell me, some nobody fan, thank you. It is almost as if social media has taken the place of autographs. Before, you wanted players’ autographs, now you want players to say something back to you on Twitter (Blakley). Social media is a great way for athletes to communicate and engage with fans. It allows players and teams to share information with them before it has been filtered by the news media.Twitter and Facebook have been instrumental in raising the profile of athletes in every sport. It allows them to give a personal perspective on all aspects of the competition, seemingly unhindered by various PR and marketing machines. Wh ile the majority of social media’s impact on professional sports has been positive, there is definitely a negative side that should be discussed. In the early age of social media, some sports leagues had trouble regulating player usage of it. People who grew up long before the Internet age govern most sports.This creates a problem when they try to tackle the issues surrounding sports and social media (Westhenry). First off, there was the problem with players actually posting on Twitter immediately following and even during their games. League officials found social media to be a distraction to their player’s. Accordingly, the NBA and NFL implemented policies that limited when players and staff could use social media. The NBA’s policy bans the usage of social media from 45 minutes before tipoff until after the players have fulfilled their other media duties following the game.The NFL stretched it to 90 minutes before and after games (Westhenry). The other major i ssue surrounding social media and sports is controlling what athletes post or say. Athletes are and should have the freedom to share their personal opinions and ideas through social media. In fact, it should be encouraged for them to do so. Like I’ve stated before, fans have a desire to feel connected with players and love that â€Å"uncensored† feeling. However, if not handled with care, social media has the potential to seriously damage a player’s private life, athletic performance, and possibly their career.All it takes is a split second of poor judgment and one senseless social media posting for a major incident to occur. Many athletes fail to remember the impact their social media activity can have. Others fall victim to the dangers of being provoked by obnoxious fans. When athletes dispose of their frustrations and anger online without thinking over the consequences, the results are rarely good (Van Schaik). While there are numerous examples of this happen ing, I will only share a couple. To begin with, we can look at the case of Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back Rashard Mendenhall.He posted controversial comments on his Twitter following the death of Osama bin Laden that caused him to lose an endorsement contract. Mendenhall had previously stirred up a controversy when he posted his opinion about the 9/11 attacks (Westhenry). More recently, there was the case of San Antonio Spurs forward Stephen Jackson. He was fined $25,000 for threatening another NBA player via Twitter (â€Å"Jackson Fined for Tweet about Ibaka†). Countless athletes fail to learn from the lessons of others. It is frustrating to me as a fan to see player after player get in trouble for something they said on a social media site.Many athletes fail to recognize the importance of their social media channels to their sponsors and their teams. Also, some seem to think that because they are using social media that it permits them to forgo traditional media p rotocol (Van Schaik). An athlete’s words reach far beyond just their fans and followers. They impact colleagues, friends and their family. One foolish tweet can instantly turn into a scandal with the capability to damage the athlete, their team, and their sponsors (Van Schaik). A big component here is sponsors. Many sports superstars are actually brands in themselves.They represent their team, league, city, fans and sponsors. It is important to note that while some of their income comes from their sports contract, a lot of their money comes from being a public figure (Van Schaik). Creating the wrong headlines and wrong type of publicity can cost an athlete not only thousands in fines, but millions of dollars in sponsorship money too. Every single athlete has to be aware of the social media pitfalls and consequences. While many stars have been forgiven for their online troubles, the problem is that the commonness of such mistakes is growing.If the trend continues, it will sure ly damage the positive impact that these communication platforms have had on professional sports (Westhenry). I feel that the best way for the sport’s world to handle these issues is through education and guidelines. Social media is still in its infancy. Therefore, leagues and teams must educate their players on social media and how to use it. As social media becomes a larger part of everyday life for millions of people around the world, people will also become more educated about how social media works. This will help alleviate some of these issues (Westhenry).Lastly, leagues and teams need to develop a social media code of conduct for their athletes. For example, if a player would get suspended for cursing or ranting at a team press conference, they should have the same consequences for a social media outburst. If they would get fined for complaining about officials to a TV camera, do the same if they complain about them on their Twitter (Westhenry). Like I stated before, t he more athletes and sports teams use social media, the more educated they will become. With a little common sense, some education, and a few regulations, these negative social media issues will fade away.Sport’s fans love social media. This can be illustrated by the millions of followers athletes have on networking sites. Moreover, athletes themselves seem to truly love social media. It allows them a platform to step away from the normal interview cliches and really have some freedom in what they say. Sites like Twitter and Facebook allow fans to get to know their favorite athletes on a deeper, more personal level. The increasing use of social media in the professional sports world can have a substantially positive impact on a player and an organization.While there is criticism surrounding its usage, the positives are overwhelming. There is no doubt that sports has and will continue to benefit from social media. Works Cited Altobelli, Diana. â€Å"The Rise of Social Media i n Professional Sports. † 1 SEO. N. p. , 7 Dec. 2012. Web. 19 Dec. 2012. . Blakley, Julie. â€Å"Sports and Social Media. † Postano. N. p. , 7 Aug. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. . â€Å"Jackson Fined for Tweet about Ibaka. † NBA. com. N. p. , 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 012. . Van Schaik, Thomas. â€Å"Professional Athletes on Social Media: Why Some Get Fans and Others Fines. † Sports Networker. N. p. , 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 19 Dec. 2012. . Westhenry, Rowanne. â€Å"Sports Stars on Twitter: Marketing Geniuses or Massive Twits? † Bleacher Report. N. p. , 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. .

Children and War Essay

How do children experience war and what coping assistance do they need from adults? What can we do to raise children in war torn times. According to a report by the London based International Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, an estimated 300,000 children in more than 80 countries are participating in armed conflict. I personally feel that children experience war because adults bring them into this conflict. Professor Henninger mentioned in his post, â€Å"Culture plays a big part,† in how children around the world experience war. Children are seen as innocent and many times are used as undetectable threats in war zones because who would suspect that a child is carrying a bomb or other various weapon devices such as hand-grenades and high powered guns. According to my research on this topic, children are used to having a safe haven and during war safety cannot be a permanent item, which is what children will need. The class text mentions that children’s memory is affected by not so pleasant images of being around a war zone, children can become desensitized to violence which could cause children to display violent behavior; reasoning on moral issues are affected, plus numerous other issues such as anxiety and depression are items children experience during war. It is unfortunate during war time in various areas, young girls can become victims of rape and often young girls are used as â€Å"Soldiers wives† in various foreign countries (Garbarino, Kostelny & Dubrow 1998), where they are made to live in slavery and care for the soldiers every need, which includes intimate needs. This is why some of these young girls become pregnant and are then often time abandoned while the solider finds a new young female victim. Research has shown that once these young girls have babies, they seen as outcast and cannot return back to their regular family unit, due to most family members have been killed due to war zones. Young female and male children both experience major disruption to their family unit. I have seen on new reports where children became instant orphans and most likely saw their parent or parents murdered during war and then the child is left to care for themselves or many times they may have to care for other siblings. Young males may lose their fathers permanently due to war and this loss may place this young man as the â€Å"Head of household†, where their maturity level is not consistent (Weisenmiller) with taking over such as important role for the family. Coping Assistance for Children of War How children will experience war is also based on how the adults around them handle the situation. For example, if the parent is able to be with the child by offering comfort during such a climatic time and by being upfront with the child or children of what is happening, this will help ease the anxiety caused by war. The United Nations in the past held special sessions on how to deter the affects of war on children who live in war zones on a worldwide level. Special curriculums have been set-up in many war torn countries to allow children to either discuss, draw, or play act events that occurred to them during war, so they share their story and not hold things in, which could cause more stress in their young life. Assistant for children involved financial backing, which many times under developed countries do not have the mean, so international help organizations cans step in and provide the children with the physical and psychological help they would need to recover. Children need coping assistance that will help provide their basic everyday needs such as food, shelter, reassurance of safety and assistance with social development. Social programs such a UNICEF, Salvation Army, Red Cross, along with family, friends and the community will help children cope during times of war. When a child is raised in war torn times, they need to feel valued and make them become part of the community again by assisting in keeping them in school, healthy, have food and water available. Children need truthful information provided to them during war times because it is very important that they have an understanding of what is happening around them. Overall, support from parents, the community, friendly nations is important in helping to raise children during war time, and also help the child keep a sense of childhood when war issues arise. References: Berk, Laura E. (2009), Child Development Eight Edition. Pearson Education Clements, Paul T, Jr., PhD,R.N., C.S. (2001). Terrorism in America: How do we tell the children? Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services, 39(11), 8-10. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/225547648?accountid=828 Garbarino, J., Kostelny, K., & Dubrow, N. (1998). No place to be a child: Growing up in a war zone. Jossey-Bass Weisenmiller, M. (2007, May 11). Health: Trauma haunts children in war zones. Global Information Network. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/457557903?accountid=8289

Management and leadership devt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Management and leadership devt - Essay Example Current paper focuses on the examination of the development of leadership, as a core element of modern organizations. At the same time, reference is made to the changes in the styles of leadership, following the changes in market conditions and the organizational potentials worldwide. The relationship between management and leadership is also explored, aiming to understand the power of leader to control organizational operations. It is proved that leadership tends to change continuously; however, the level of this process is not standardized. It is assumed that the potentials of leaders to act independently in each organization can vary, under the influence of the internal organizational environment and the local market ethics. 2. Leadership – description and development The characteristics and the role of leadership in modern organizations are likely to be differentiated in accordance with the conditions of the internal and the external organizational environment. Up to a lev el, such differentiation is justified taking into consideration the fact that the needs of each organization are not identical. However, similarities exist, which allow for assumptions in regard to the performance of leadership in different organizational and market conditions. The understanding of the process of change as occurring in leadership styles requires the reference to the definition of the specific concept. The characteristics of leadership should be also analytically described in order to identify the potentials of the specific concept to be further developed. 2.1 Definition of leadership In accordance with Van Velsor et al. (2010) the traditional definition of leadership as the establishment of shared goals that followers have to support, should be alternated in order to become more effective. It is suggested that leadership is considered as ‘the process of producing direction, alignment and commitment (DAC) in collectives’ (Van Velsor et al. 2010). 2.2 Mai n characteristics of leadership The leadership, as described above, is highly differentiated by management. Because both these concepts are related to modern business activities, their relationship should be further explained making sure that the role and the potentials of each one of them will be made clear. In accordance with Ryan (2007) the role of leader refers to the establishment of the organization’s vision and mission. On the contrary, the manager has to develop the measures necessary for the realization of organization’s vision and the achievement of organization’s targets (as set by the leader). Furthermore, the leader is likely to create inspiration to the employees urging them to develop their skills (Stimson et al. 2009). The manager has to support employees in their efforts to improve their capabilities and knowledge but he is not expected to inspire the employees, mostly because his power in the organization is limited. Moreover, the leader establ ishes the organizational culture; the manager needs to act in accordance with the organizational culture and values having the power to choose among the policies used for the promotion of organizational culture through the firm’s daily activities (Derr et al. 2002). At the same time, the leader needs to promote innovation, ensuring that the competitiveness of his organization is kept at high levels (Lussier et al. 2009).

Theories of Crime Causation Unit 1IP Research Paper

Theories of Crime Causation Unit 1IP - Research Paper Example Criminologists study feminist criminology an area that considers the subject on women and crime. There is penology where criminologists focus on the study of the prison system at large. Criminalists are physical scientists they are known as crime scene investigators, or crime lab technicians. According to Roberts, the task of criminalists involves recognizing, collecting, analysing, interpreting, preserving physical evidence from crime scenes (Roberts, 2013). Criminalists usually testify in courts regarding their scientific findings. Roberts explains that many times the work of a criminalist revolves around the laboratory. Roberts clarifies that criminalists do not fight crime as shown in criminal movies. A Criminalists’ field of study is rather wide there are areas, which focus on firearms, and tool marks. This section deals with weapons, bullets, found in crime scenes. A study on DNA and serology involves examination of biological materials in crimes scenes that contain DNA. Criminalists study trace evidence, which include hair, soil, fibres, and other objects from crime scenes, which can provide information related to the crime. A study on drugs alcohol and toxicology empowers criminalists with the knowledge on how to utilise analytical chemistry in identifying pills liquids, body fluids among other substances in a crime scene (Roberts, 2013). Forensic psychologists utilise human understanding to perform various tasks in the legal and civil systems. Atlaf explains that forensic psychologist assists in criminal investigation by performing criminal profiling tasks. Forensic psychologists can observe a crime scene and deduce the characteristics of the person who created the crime scene. Atlaf mentions that forensic psychologists can work in police stations where they provide counselling to police officers. Forensic psychologists also provide crisis counselling for crime victims. In judicial systems, forensic psychologists perform a number of tasks. For i nstance forensic can determine whether a defendant is able to stand trial, they can also determine the mental state of a defendant when he was committing a crime. Atlaf explains that in American systems Forensic psychologists serve in family law where they perform the role of mediators between divorcing parents who have disputes the needs and interests of their children. Forensic psychologists examine criminals and determine if they are dangerous. They provide information that is vital in the sentencing process. Sutherland (1949), states that white-collar crimes are illegal acts committed by persons of a high social status. According to Barnett (2010), white-collar crimes are illegal acts that are non-violent in nature. The United States department of justice argues that people engage in white-collar crimes for financial gain, to avoid payment, to secure personal or business advantage. White-collar criminals utilise sophisticated means to conceal their acts of deceit. White-collar c rimes include the various types of fraud, embezzlement, computer crime, bribery, forgery, antitrust violations. White-collar crimes cause massive financial losses to states, local government, private organisations and individuals. For example when a company shuts down due to financial losses resulting from a fraud case we have people who lose jobs, investors who lose their money, consumers who feel disappointed by the

Che Guevara Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Che Guevara - Essay Example Revolution is a struggle and plea for freedom. Men such as Che Guevara throughout history have fought as well as triumphed and lost revolutions that shaped our lives now. The battle has been very inhuman and many soldiers shed blood and lost their lives in these battles. War and the revolution have this implication of having to use force and power over those who are weak and oppressed. To describe a specific type of creative production created by human, it is called Art. Che made use of art in order to revolt against the tyranny of the existing administration. Aesthetic value is a characteristic of every artwork. There should be a sense of beauty and pleasantness with the product of the human. Art has several purposes. It can be for human expression, a part of a ritual or to symbolize a feeling or idea. The definition of art can be vague and it cannot be limited by a specific meaning. Human creativity is the main driving force of art. Some people may think that art is just a piece of work that has no significant purpose but to fill our aesthetic needs.

How SOX (SarbanesOxley Act of 2002) affects corporate governance and Research Paper

How SOX (SarbanesOxley Act of 2002) affects corporate governance and what additional improvements need to be added to SOX to improve corporate governance - Research Paper Example Oxley, thus the act’s nomenclature, and enacted on July 30, the act aimed to regulate and control the corporate and accounting sectors, particularly in the public company boards of management, and the management and public accounting companies (Shakespeare 333). The act goes by several names, considering its purpose. The act was referred to as the Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act when in the house, whereas in the Senate is as per the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act. The SOX (also Sabox) was proposed as an act that would protect investors by ensuring improvements in the corporate disclosures precision and trustworthiness for among other purposes pursuing the securities market and laws. The outcome of the act is sections that dictate the responsibilities expected of a public corporation board of directors, the criminal consequences to various misconduct, and creation of regulations by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on the compliance of public corporations to the act’s laws. The laws of the act are encased in eleven titles under the elements which include the Corporate Responsibility, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), Corporate and Criminal Fraud Account ability, Auditor Independence, White Collar Crime Penalty Enhancement, Enhanced Financial Disclosures, Studies and Reports, Analyst Conflicts of Interest, Commission Resources and Authority, Corporate Tax Returns, and Corporate Fraud Accountability. The section covers the legal provisions which include disclosure controls (302), Improper influence on conduct of audits (303), disclosures in periodic reports also termed as Off-balance sheet items (401), Smaller public companies (404), criminal penalties for influencing US Agency investigation/proper administration (802), criminal Penalties for CEO/CFO financial statement certification (906), and criminal penalties for retaliation against

Development of Academic and Vocational Curricula Essay

Development of Academic and Vocational Curricula - Essay Example Basically the outcome of the condition or in other words the end results of the subject’s views on an issue or a particular subject should be treated with fairness or egalitarianism so as to reduce or utmost get rid of the differences between the people or the society that has issues to tackle. This is often referred to as equality of outcome (Equality of outcome). This is achievable if the societies at large join in hands in promoting equality of outcome so as to give a chance to any individual, subject, idea, notion e.t.c that has any point of observation to make on a particular subject. In regard to this subject it seems that there have been milestones in tackling the issue of review and development of academic and vocational curricula at the level 14 – 19 due to differences in calibre, stand, position and ranks of the education. Hence this has led to disarray in the education arena since the indifferences that have cropped up is visibly demonstrated between the various groups on this issue regarding whether the review is feasible or not. Definitely it is explicitly visible that equality of status is looming on this review and development of academic and vocational curricula of 14 – 19 level, since indifference has cropped up hence the debate is still an issue to tackle with a lot of keenness due to the challenge of chronological antagonism on vocational education compared to academic education in terms of its qualification status. There are also sharp and unresolved indifferences between the ministers or government’s spear leaders and the scho ol specialist bodies in education and personalities such as Mr. Tomlinson’s inquiry and Chief Inspector David Bell among others on this education development and reforms issues of 14 – 19 level. Â  

International Analysis of Organization Design Essay - 1

International Analysis of Organization Design - Essay Example Such is a significant feature that influences the management of organizations in different regions. Multinational organizations that exist in more than one country must always adopt unique organizational structures and systems of management in the various countries in order to suite with the culture of people in the different markets as the discussion below portrays. China is the largest economy in the East and is among the largest markets in the world. The country has conducive environment for doing business owing to the large population and the low production costs. As such, numerous multinational companies target the market. However, Chinese people have a unique culture. The history of the country presents a country that remained secluded from the rest of the world thus succeeded in forming a unique system of governance coupled with an equally unique culture. The culture of China therefore influences the management of the multinational organizations that set up shops in the country. Despite the lucrative nature of the market, the companies must always adopt new structures and systems of management in order to operate in the region (Juvidan, Dorfman & House, 2006). -Develop its brand and the visibility and spread of the stores so as to make it the first choice when it comes to coffee, easy to find and familiar with the environment and hard to switch to substitutes Key among the multinational companies that operate in China is Starbucks. Starbucks Corporations, also known as Starbucks Coffee is an American company and the largest coffee company in the world. The company operates in more than two thousand locations throughout the world. While the United States is its largest market, the company operates in many other countries with China forming headquarter in its eastern frontier. The company is a large and accepted brand in China. The company’s success in China is because of specific changes in the management of the

CAUSE AND EFFECT OF A DEFFINITION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CAUSE AND EFFECT OF A DEFFINITION - Essay Example A hazard is a wellspring of potential harm, hurt or unfriendly wellbeing impacts on something or somebody under specific conditions at work. I think this a clear definition of the word hazard. Fundamentally, a hazard can result in damage or unfriendly impacts to people as wellbeing impacts or to associations as property or gear misfortunes. More often than not, a hazard is alluded to as being the real mischief or the wellbeing impact it brought on instead of the peril. For instance, the illness tuberculosis (TB) could be known as a peril by some however when all is said in done the TB-initiating microscopic organisms might be viewed as the "danger" or "perilous biotic executor". On the other hand, risk is the probability or likelihood that an individual will be hurt or experience an unfriendly wellbeing impact if laid open to a danger. It might additionally apply to circumstances with property or gear misfortune. For instance, the danger of creating tumor from smoking smokes could be communicated as "cigarette smokers are less averse to bite the dust of lung disease than non-smokers". An alternate method for reporting danger is "a sure number, "Y", of smokers for every 100,000 smokers will probably create lung tumor" (contingent upon their age and how long they have smoked). Such dangers are communicated as a likelihood or probability of creating a malady or being harmed. Although perils allude to the conceivable outcomes for example, lung tumor, emphysema and coronary illness from smoke smoking) considers that impact the level of danger incorporate: what amount of an individual is presented to a dangerous substance or condition, how the individual is uncovered for instance taking in a vapor, skin contact), and how serious are the impacts under the states of introduction. In sum, a hazard is any wellspring of potential harm, hurt or

International accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

International accounting - Essay Example This allows the company to avoid currency conversion costs when acquiring specific raw materials and machineries from the international market. The company can also use the same to cater for foreign loan repayments instead of converting locally generated revenues. The company holds a large volume of inventories, which contains mainly finished products ready for the market. This exposes the company to adverse effects in the market whereby, a decrease in currency value consequently leads to a decline in the value of the stocks held. This includes the loss in value due to obsolescence and possible theft. In addition, the company could be forced to sell the products at a loss to create more space especially if the market is highly dynamic in their tastes and preferences. The company holds substantial amounts of trade and other receivables in its accounts. This exposes the company to the risk of suffering bad debts in cases where the debtors fail to honor their obligations. Although this represents future cash flows for the company, there is so much risk involved that it would advisable for a company to advance the same in the least possible value. The value also provides a pointer towards the possibility that buyers are making payments slowly, which reduces the amount of funds available to cater for expenses

What Is Obama Care Essay Example for Free

What Is Obama Care Essay Obama Care (also known as Health Care reform) is a national health care plan aimed at reforming the American health care system. Obama Cares main focus is on providing more Americans with access to affordable health care, regulating the health insurance industry and reducing spending in health care. There are around 44 million Americans who currently are unable to get health insurance. One of the major things Obama Care does is help these individuals to get health insurance through expanding Medicaid and Medicare and offering assistance to Americans who cannot currently afford healthcare. Obama Care helps to ensure that health care coverage is available to any legal U. S. resident who cannot otherwise obtain quality healthcare through their employer. Your access to health care is no longer in the hands of health insurance companies. The first phase of Obamas health care reform began in 2009 with the Affordable Health Care for America Act and was followed by The Patient Protection Act. Which culminated into the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2010, or for short â€Å"Affordable Care Act†? After going through several changes the Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Since Obama Care was upheld in the Supreme Court and Barack Obama was sworn into office for a second term Obama Care health care reform is now the law of the land (abet with some major changes made in the Supreme Court ruling). Many reforms have already gone into effect and many more will roll out over the next decade. Obamas healthcare reform is focused on health care funding, reducing the cost of healthcare for Americans, increasing coverage and removing the burden that health care has become on the average American. In the years since its become a law the Affordable Health Care Act, has already made a big difference in our country. Obama Care has done some important thins already such as prohibiting insurance companies from dropping your coverage if you get sick and has been chipping away at discrimination against anyone with a pre-existing condition. No system is perfect, but Obama Care Health Care Reform aims to reform the American medical system towards the favor of the people and away from the monopoly of the medical industry. Obama Care aims to provide complete and comprehensive medical coverage for Americans. Obamas health care reform under the Affordable Care Act is the most significant overhaul to health care industry in decades, covering every aspect of healthcare including mental health, care for seniors, child health, womans health and our nations poorest. Obama Care also provides drug coverage and free preventive care and checkups for children and countless other unprecedented reforms to the American health care system.

Social Contract And Immanuel Kant Philosophy Essay

Social Contract And Immanuel Kant Philosophy Essay In a society that the people are free to do as they see fit and are governed by natural laws, where individuals can abuse and exploit of one another and there is no fear of consequences is known as the state of nature.  [i]  When individuals give up a little of their freedom to do as they like, and voluntarily agree to obey laid down laws (civil laws) to have protection of life and ownership of property, this agreement is known as the social contract. The political philosophers would explain the social contract theory as individuals giving power to the government (state) to govern over them in exchange for protection.  [ii]  It must not be misinterpreted that an individual, who is under the social contract has to give up their total freedom rather, the person is still at liberty to do as they please so far as it does not cause harm or impede on another individuals freedom. Giving up this freedom under the social contract is viewed as a benefit to the society. The social contract which brings into existence a well ordered society state of states, is said to be of three key elements. The first element is an imagery of how a society will be like with no laws, under the state of nature  [iii]  . People would be exploited, abused and there will be no fear of justice since they are free to do as they like and are not confined by any laws that restrict them from doing unto others as they please. Individuals attempt to escape from such brutality brings about the second element which is recognizing the state to have the power to bring about order and stability to a society; recognizing the sovereign power  [iv]  . The third element is the obligation of the people under the social contract to respect and obey the laid down laws by the state  [v]  . In their obedience to these laws they are showing gratitude to the state for securing an organized and stable society. Some philosophers believe though, that the social contract is imposed on society to demonstrate the structure of rationality.  [vi]   Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) born in Eastern Prussia was a German philosopher and an idealist. The author of Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, in his book he defines morality as an action that is not determined by its consequences, only by the intentions behind it  [vii]  . He believes that a persons intention to do good or bad justifies the action as good or bad. For example when a person finds a bag of money and the persons intention is to report it to the police, according to Kant this makes the person good (moral). But if the outcome is different from the supposed intention that is, the person ends up keeping the money, the person is still seen as good; In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing it  [viii]  . The outcome of the action whether good or bad should not be considered in determining an action as moral but only the original intention. These actions are said to be motivated by duty and incli nation. Duty is an action that has been outlined by society to be in the right moral direction. Duty is described in four cases; (i) when actions are contrary to duty (e.g. stealing) (ii) when actions are dutiful because of fear of penalty (e.g. paying taxes) (iii) when duty is in accordance to ones inclination (e.g. labor of love) and (iv) actions that are in accordance to duty but contrary to inclination (e.g. not committing suicide despite being in unbearable distress).  [ix]  Duty is seen to be morally worthy because it is approved by society whereas inclination is seen as praise worthy because it is motivated by emotions. He argues that people are more concerned about their self-interest as such, when they act in accordance to their inclinations then they are acting out of self-interest, but since duty is determined by society it will contrast with their self-interest thereby making it moral. Kants moral theory is centered on a system that distinguishes a moral from a maxim known as the categorical imperative. A maxim is the principle or general rule that determines an actions moral worth  [x]  . When a maxim has contradictions then it cannot be considered as a moral maxim  [xi]  , an example used is when a person borrows money and promises to pay knowing very well he wont. This cannot be willed as a moral maxim then because everybody will promise and fail and people with needs will be seen as liars. His attempt to solve the problem of morality and solidify his theory brought about the categorical imperative  [xii]  . The categorical imperative is seen as a criterion for determining obligatory and forbidden actions and is made up of three formulations; (i) universal moral law, (ii) treat people as ends and (iii) the kingdom of ends.  [xiii]   The first formulation, the universal moral law looks at how ones maxim can be accepted by another person, in other words, can your maxim be accepted by all and will everybody feel the same about it. Act only on that maxim which you can, at the same time will it to be a universal law  [xiv]  . For example my maxim is when I borrow something from somebody I like to return it as soon as I am done using it. The real test here is can this be universally adopted and willingly accepted. A universal maxim should also have the ability to remain consistent. If a maxim passes the test, then the maxim is morally accepted and is seen as permissible but if it fails then that maxim should be disregarded and forbidden. When weighing a maxim as a universal law there is no exception, an individuals maxim should not only apply to others around him but should also be applicable to him, and he must accept it with no hesitations. The second formulation which is treat people as ends explains how we should see people as ends and not as means to an end. People can be seen as both means to an end and as end at the same time, but never should they be treated as means to an end only  [xv]  . An example is a man who makes a false promise to a friend so as to secure a loan. The friend here is seen as a mean to attaining his self-interest. He argues that people in themselves are ends, it is therefore wrong to use people to satisfy our selfish desires. Kant believes that in doing so; treating people as a means, we deny them the importance of their humanity. By disrespecting their personhood and dignity and not recognizing them as rational individuals we deny them of their humanity  [xvi]  and we denial ourselves as well of the importance of humanity. The third formulation the kingdom of ends can be seen as a totality of the two formulations. With this formulation we are urged to imagine ourselves as the law makers in the kingdom of ends. The kingdom of ends is an imaginary state whose laws protect an individuals autonomy  [xvii]  . In this kingdom we put our maxims to the test to satisfy the two formulations; universal moral law and treat people as ends. When these maxims satisfy the conditions of the formulations, that is, they become universally adopted and accepted, and people are treated as ends and not means to an end, then the maxims can be known as a moral law. A society that acquired its laws by the means of using the system of the categorical imperatives to Kant is an ideal society because the society is based on moral laws. Kant views a society under the social contract as a society based on moral laws. Under the social contract individual desires are not used in determining the law, but rather the maxim that satisfies the conditions of the categorical imperative  [xviii]  . To Kant this is ideal because the state addresses the wants of the people and not the desires of a particular group. He uses an example the war tax to support his argument explaining; when the state imposes a fair tax that is just, citizens cannot argue against it because the state might have legitimate reasons for imposing the tax that citizens are not aware of  [xix]  . This goes to justify the state concentrating on benefits of the society rather than benefits of an individual. This is Kants description of an ideal society under the social contract. CRITICISM Kants theory is based on having an ideal society that is based on moral laws. These moral laws have been acquired by the use of categorical imperatives; the criterion for determining a moral, therefore making these laws ideal. He believes that when a society is governed by these laws then people treat each other as equals and our conscience will prevent us from doing otherwise  [xx]  . Arthur Schopenhauer a German philosopher disagrees with Kants theory saying, the categorical imperatives speaks before the deed but the conscience after the deed. He argues that the conscience cannot act as a deterrent against people having their freedom impeded, since it is an afterthought after the deed has been done. The social contract is an ideal society which seeks to bring order and safety to the people under a government. Kants formulations of the moral laws by using the categorical imperatives are fascinating theoretically but do not seem to hold in real life; the universal moral law, treating people as ends rather than means to an end and kingdoms of ends. Kants ideal society using these imperatives might be a solution to finding laws that will be accepted by all and obeyed as well, since we how we feel about these laws help in their formulation.

Differences between competing internationally and competing globally

Differences between competing internationally and competing globally Except in a few cases, companies in natural resource based industries such as oil and gas, minerals , rubbers and lumber often to find it necessary to operate in the international arena because of attractive raw material suppliers are located in foreign countries. The Difference between Competing Internationally and Competing Globally Competing internationally A company competes only in a few foreign markets, It is an international multinational i.e. competing internationally, Competing globally A company competes in virtually the entire worlds major countries and global competitor is pursuing a market presence on cost continents. CROSS-COUNTRY DIFFERENCES IN CULTURE, DEMOGRAPHY AND MARKET CONDITIONS Small firms are now competing in foreign markets where there is significant variation in market conditions. It poses a much bigger challenge than when just competing at home. Small firms enter into foreign market initially to know the responsiveness to cross-country difference in culture, demography and market conditions. It complicates the task of competing with other players. This is the difficult and challenging task for small firms entering into foreign markets. One objective is to balance pressures and be responsive to local situations of each country. Also there is varied pressure for lower costs and prices of the products and services offered. The Potential for Locational Advantages Stemming from Country to Country Companys potential for gaining competitive advantage based on where it has located its foreign activities. This is a major area of concern. Rivals may have lower-cost locations and is a matter of considerable strategic concern. Fluctuating Exchange Rate The volatility of exchange rates greatly complicates the issue of geographic cost advantages currency exchange rates often to fluctuate as much as 20 to 40 percent annually, changes of this magnitude can totally wipe out a countrys low-cost advantage or transform a former high-cost location into a competitive cost location. Domestic Government Restrictions and Requirements Domestic government enacts all kinds of measures affecting business conditions and the operation of foreign countries in their markets. Domestic government may set local content requirements of outputs made inside their borders by foreign-based companies, impose tariffs or quotas on imports, put conditions and restrictions on export to ensure adequate local suppliers, and regulate the prices of imported and locally-produced goods. In addition, outsiders may face a rules and regulations regarding technical standards, product certification, and prior approval of capital spending projects withdrawal of funds from the country and minority/majority ownership by local citizens. Some government, anxious to obtain new plants and jobs, offer foreign companies a helping hand in the forms of subsidies, privileged market access, and technical assistance. MULTI-COUNTRY COMPETITION OR GLOBAL COMPETITION Multi-country or multi-domestic competition exists when competition in one national market is independent of another national market. There is no international market, only a collection of self-contained country markets. Global competition exists when competitiveness across national markets are linked strongly to form a truly international market where leading competitors compete head-to-head in different countries. In multi-country competition, rival firms compete for national leadership. In globally competitive industries, rival firms compete for worldwide supremacy. For a company to be successful in foreign markets, its strategy must be different from one country to another. Business and competitive environment must be taken into account. STRATEGY OPTIONS FOR ENTERING AND COMPETING IN FOREIGN MAREKET Strategic options for a company entering and competing in foreign market that decides to expand outside its domestic market and compete internationally or globally. Important strategic options for a company competing in international market are listed below: †¢ Export strategies †¢ Licensing strategies †¢ Franchising strategies †¢ A multicountry strategy or global strategy Pursuing competitive advantage by competing multinationally †¢ Strategic alliance and joint ventures with foreign partners Export Strategy Company is manufacturing products and service for exporting to foreign markets. It is an excellent Initial strategy for pursuing international sales. It minimizes both the risk and capital requirements. With an export strategy, a manufacturer can limit its involvement in foreign markets by contracting with foreign wholesalers who are experienced in importing to handle the entire distribution and marketing of outputs and marketing function in their countries regions of the world. If it has more advantages to Company and has to domination to the control over these functions. In this case, a manufactures can establish its own distribution and sales organization in some or all of the target foreign markets. Either Way, a firm minimizes its direct investments in foreign countries because of its home-based production and export strategy. Whether an export strategy can be pursued successfully over the long run depends on the relative Cost competitiveness of a home country production base. In some countries, firms gain additional sale economies and firm centralizing production on several giant plants whose output capability exceeds demand in any country market. An export strategy is open for firms when the manufacturing costs in the home country are substantially higher than in foreign countries where rivals have plants or when it has relatively high-shipping costs. Unless an exporter can keep its production and shipping costs

Lizards :: essays research papers

Lizards Lizards belong to the class Reptilian, Scientists have said that Reptiles have been on earth for about 200 million years. Lizards make up the largest group of reptiles with more than 4,300 species around the world varying in different shapes and sizes. Lizards look very similar to salamanders but they differ from each other in many ways such as their dry scaly skin and have clawed feet and external ear opening. The majority of lizard are quite small have 4 legs and have a fragile tail that can regenerate when part of it is taken off. Lizards are cold-blooded or ectoderms, which means that they depend on sources outside their bodies like the sun, to raise and maintain there body temperatures. Eating habits vary for lizards and depend upon the species. Some lizards feed only on insects such as the Iguana. On the other hand some eat rodents that roam deserts and eat eggs and small rodents and some feed on both rodents and insects. For protection many lizards use their teeth to scare pre dators off. Lizards are found in tropical and subtropical regions within the world. Few species of lizards are found in temperate regions and none are located in arctic areas. Some lizards are terrestrial, arboreal, or semi-aquatic. Very few lizards are poisonous and use their venom as a defense. Several other species of lizards don’t have a good defensive strategy and rely on camouflage such as the chameleon that is able to change its color according to its surroundings. Females of most lizard species lay eggs then are usually left to hatch on their own. How ever an insignificant amount give birth to living young such as the slowworm. Some female reptiles, mostly green iguanas, do not need a male of their species to begin their reproductive cycle while others do need the presence of one or more males, and need to stimulate the hormone and other changes that lead to egg maturation and laying. To confuse matters more, some female reptiles, especially chelonians, can retain sperm for many years before finally laying a fertilized egg. Most lizards are harmless and benefit humans by keeping the insect populations stable and halt over population. Some species are a source of food; some are killed for their ski ns, but is not illegal in many countries. A vast number of lizards are threatened by violations on their habitat.

Medical Case Study Essay example -- Health, Inflammation

A. Inflammation 1. In terms of the mechanism of inflammation, explain how the steps of PRICE may minimize Dave’s inflammation. Inflammation is the cleaning up on an injury, and we know it by redness, swelling, warmth, and pain. The impact and distortion to his ankle killed cells, damaged fibers, and the chemical composition of the interstitial fluid was altered. Lysosomes release enzymes that destroy damaged cells and attack surrounding tissues. Debris, fluid, and dying cells accumulate, causing pressure, and histamine, heparin, and prostaglandins increase blood flow, increased vessel permeability, and pain. Ice helps relieve the increased local temperature, and compression helps constrict vessels, reducing swelling. Elevation will also reduce swelling by decreasing blood flow to the area. Protecting the injury and resting will allow it to heal at a faster pace with less additional cells being damaged (Martini 142-143). 2. Although Dave was given a prescription analgesic, there are Over-The-Counter analgesics such as aspirin, acetaminophen and NSAIDS (like Aleve). Choose one of these OTC analgesics and explain how it reduces pain. By blocking the effect of the enzyme, cyclooxygenase, prostaglandin functions, such as sensitizing pain receptors to mechanical and chemical stimuli and causing blood vessels to dilate, decrease (Merck 408). Pain and swelling are reduced. B. Fainting 1. Why did Suzie faint when she got up from the table? Explain the specific changes in her CVS that to caused her to faint. Sitting or standing up too quickly can cause fainting, because the changing in position causes blood to pool in the legs, resulting a fall in blood pressure. If Suzie fainted because she had secretly not eaten bre... ...c. 2011. .http://www.eatingproblems.org/epseffect.html "Physiology & Psychology: Performance Benchmarks -- Cardiac Output." Extended University, Montana State University. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. . "Pulmonary Function Testing." Www2.nau.edu. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. . "Total Protein: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. . "What People With Anorexia Nervosa Need to Know About Osteoporosis." Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. .

Problems of Human Services Clients Essay

In this paper, I will be describing the range of problems facing human services clients and how the specific helping skills that can be used with clients. There are many problems a human services faces with a client. The needs can range from helping clients with issues such as, substance abuse, mental or physical illness, grief, disabilities, caring for children and families, domestic violence, Veterans, and a personal loss. Also, a human services clients can have a large range of family problems that can lead into more difficult problems. (Woodside & McClam, (2011). A human service worker must gain clients trust to help a client get the best possible help they need. For instance, some predictable problems are due to a rapid change in society such as loss of jobs, homeless of families with disabilities. However, we all need to work together as a team so that we can provide help with their daily needs. In addition, when human service professional is working with a child they must identify if the home is a safe place to live. Also, a human service must ensure that a child have its basic needs to survive. They can also work with the parents by helping them with family planning such as birth control for each individual. Moreover, a human service professional can also help with parenting classes for their parents. Some countries cultures are different. However, there are several ways a human service can guide parents how to fill out an application for food stamp assistance so that the family will have a meal to eat every day. Another problem a client may face is to find good childcare for their child. For instance, a client may have job, but can’t afford a daycare for their children due to low pay wages. (Woodside & McClam, (2011). Human services help clients that need assistance with low income housing. There are some people facing problems with domestic violence in their home. However, most situations can be dangerous and physical violent causing someone to get hurt or bodily injury causing a death. Moreover, children living in a violent environment can be in danger for their lives. Therefore, a child can be taken from their home by human services because the child is no longer safe. Human service helper must take the necessary measures to finding a foster or an adoptive parent for their client children’s. The primary categories of problems that affect a client of human services are gather together into social-cultural barriers. Moreover, there are a huge figures that affect clients whom need services under this group. There are many problems in some cultures, a women can’t accept family planning services from a human service provider because the woman can’t make that decision. They would have to get permission from their husbands. Communication is the key to understand one another by sending messages to each other. We use communication to get to know the client perspective of the situation. (pg. 201). A human service provider pay close attention of the client by focusing on the verbal and nonverbal messages from a client. Communication is a very important factor in helping with a client. According to Woodside & McClam, (2011). Furthermore, communicating with one another can make the problem solving process of a client flow smoother. Woodside & McClam, 2011 report that communication involves sending a message to another person with the conscious intent of affecting the receiver’s behavior. (pg. 201). In figure 7. 2 (pg.  201) shows the method when a person is receiving the message and if he understands the sender message correctly this is an effective communication. A message can be verbal or nonverbal. For instance, a client can walk into a human service office, the helper say to him verbally,† Hello, how are doing today? † A verbal communication is when words come out of a person mouth. The client didn’t speak to the human service provider, he just shrug his shoulders and nodded his head forward. The behavior of the client was non-verbal because he didn’t show any reaction. The well-educated skillful helper interpret the sender’s message by the client behavior. (Woodside & McClam, 2011). (OKUN & Kantrowitz, 2008). Reported the professional worker is able to hear what the client was saying by the way he reacted. Moreover, a person may smile and give out a handshake, this a non-verbal behavior. Non-verbal behaviors consist of a client’s posture, tone of voice, gestures, eye contact, and touch. For example, when we first go out on a date, we want to impress the other person by smiling, talking in a soft low voice. Furthermore, good eye contact is better whenever, we are communicating with each other. Therefore, we must make a good impression when we first meet a person. Next step in helping skills that can be utilized with a client is listening and responding. (pg. 204). Listening and responding according to Woodside and McClam, (2011). Researched that the way we listen and respond to person is very important in the helping skills process because a human service provider can build a trusting relationship with their client. Moreover, a person must hear what the other person is saying by sending a message verbally or non-verbally. Some people think they are good listeners, but most people aren’t. (See Table 7. 3). (Woodside & McClam, (2011). There are healthy behaviors in communication such as, verbal behaviors. Verbal behaviors are mirroring a person feelings, clarifying, showing a sense of humor, providing information that a client needs, explaining helper roles, sharing information about oneself, being non-judgmental, asking questions, making the right use of gestures and touching. Nonverbal behaviors are making eye contact, listening to a person, smiling, nodding head one’s head, leaning forward, maintain a relaxed posture, facing the client, displaying facial expression, being punctual, and maintaining a moderate rate of speech. (pg. 204). In addition, we must focus on the client by utilizing these helping skills to help provide the necessary help a client may need. In the text book, (pg. 205). There is a certain kind of listening a human service engage in is called responsive listening or active listening. There are two ways of responsive listening or active listening that is presented by Egan (2010, pp. 134-135) he offered that there are many things that a helper can do to talk to a person that they are paying close attention. (Woodside & McClam, (2011). In conclusion, Egan (20) researched that there are five behaviors that a human service professional can follow to let their clients know they are listening. First, s means face the client, O means adopt an open posture, L means lean toward the other person, E means maintain good eye contact, and R means try to be relatively relaxed. Furthermore, these are acronym SOLER. Moreover, remembering these acronym can show a person that the helper is listening. Attending behavior is another way a helper can let the client know that they are pay attention and listening. In this paper, I have discussed some ranges of problems facing human service clients and specific helping skills that can be used with clients.

Ethical Leadership Essay

Overview about Leadership Ethics Leaders must understand the subject of ethics – what it is and why is it important. Ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the intent, means and consequences of moral behavior. It is the study of moral judgments and right and wrong conduct. Some human judgments are factual (the earth is round); others are aesthetic (she is beautiful); and still others are moral (people should be honest and should not kill). Define Ethical Leadership Behavior Ethical Leadership is leadership that is involved in leading in a manner that respects the rights and dignity of other. â€Å"As leaders are by nature in a position of social power, ethical leadership focuses on how leaders use their social power in the decisions they make, actions they engage in. And ways they influence others’ decisions. Leaders who are ethical, demonstrate a level of integrity that is important for stimulating a sense of leader trustworthiness, which is important for followers to accept the vision of the leader. These are critical and direct components to leading ethically. The character and integrity of the leader provide the basis for personal characteristics that direct a leader’s ethical beliefs, values, and decisions. Individual values and beliefs impact the ethical decisions of leaders. Five Ethical Leadership Behavior 1. Be Honest and Trustworthy and Have Integrity in Dealing with Others. Trustworthiness contributes to leadership effectiveness. A perception that high-ranking business leaders were untrustworthy contributed to the spectacular decline in stock prices during the 2000-2002 period. An ethical leader is honest (tells the truth), and trustworthy (constituents accept his or her word). In other words, he or she has integrity. According to Thomas E. Becker, this quality goes beyond honesty and conscientiousness. Integrity refers to loyalty to rational principles; it means practicing what one preaches regardless of emotional or social pressure. 2. Pay Attention to All Stakeholders. An ethical and moral leader strives to treat fairly all interested parties by  his or her decisions. To do otherwise creates winners and losers after many decisions are made. The widely held belief that a CEO’s primary responsibility is to maximize shareholder wealth conflicts with the principle of paying attention to all stakeholders. A team of management scholars observes: â€Å"We used to organize corporations as both economic and social institution–as organizations that were designed to serve a balanced set of stakeholders, not just the narrow interests of the shareholder†. A leader interested in maximizing shareholder wealth might attempt to cut costs and increase profits in such ways: laying-off valuable employees to reduce payroll costs, overstating profits to impress investors, overcharging customers, siphoning money from the employee pension fund and reducing health benefits for retiree. Although the aforementioned may be standard practice, they all violate the rights of stakeholders. 3. Build Community. A corollary of taking into account the needs of all stakeholders is that the leader helps people achieve a common goal. Peter G. Northouse explains that leaders need to take into account their own and followers’ purposes and search for goals that are compatible to all. When many people work toward the same constructive goal, they build a community. 4. Respect the Individual. Respecting individuals is a principle of ethical and moral leadership that incorporates other aspects of morality. If you tell the truth, you respect others well enough to be honest. If you keep promises, you also show respect. And if you treat others fairly, you show respect. Showing respect for the individual also means that you recognize that everybody has some inner worth and should be treated with courtesy and kindness. An office supervisor demonstrated respect for the individual infront of his department when he asked a custodian who entered the office: â€Å"What can we do in this department yo make your job easier?† 5. Accomplish Silent Victories. The ethical and moral leader works silently, and somewhat behind the scenes, to accomplish moral victories regularly. Instead of being perceived as hero  or heroine, the moral leader quietly works on moral agenda. Quite often he or she will work out a compromise to ensure that a decision in process will have an ethical outcome. Typical Ethical Dilemma for Supervisors Maintaining professional ethics in the supervisory process can pose unique challenges. The same ethical violations that can occur in a therapeutic relationship can be paralleled in a supervisory relationship. From performance evaluations to dual relationships, the supervisory relationship can be fraught with chances for uncomfortable, inappropriate, and potentially litigious situations. †¢ â€Å"My supervisor uses me as a confidante and openly discusses another worker’s shortcomings with me, yet she never approaches the worker about it.† †¢ â€Å"My supervisor degrades me and makes personal comments about me—usually negative—and sometimes in front of other staff.† †¢ â€Å"My coworker reads all day long and doesn’t spend much time working with clients. My supervisor is unwilling to address it and said to me, ‘Mind your own business. He gets his work done. That’s all that’s important.’ It drives me crazy that I end up picking up his slack with clients.† †¢ â€Å"My supervisor passes work on to me even though I am overwhelmed with my own work. She dumps administrative duties on me that she should be performing. If I do them, it’s credit in the bank for me to get favors from her. I don’t like the game, but it does have benefits.† †¢ â€Å"I used to be best friends with a person I now supervise. Do we have to give up our friendship? I don’t see why, as long as it is after work hours.† †¢ â€Å"I’m a supervisor of a domestic violence agency with a shelter program. A new employee reported she is being abused by her live-in boyfriend. She feels she is in danger and would like to enter the shelter and receive counseling with us. What do I do?† Define Leadership attempts and the influence of ethical and unethical behavior on leadership attempts In any thesaurus or dictionary, you will find that successful and effective are oftentimes used as synonyms for each other. On a fundamental level, they are very similar terms. However, when you break these terms down within the context of leadership, they can mean two very different things. So different, in fact, that the researcher Bass  created an illustration (Figure 1) that demonstrates the difference. Leadership Attempts is an effort by any individual to have some effect on the behavior of another individual. This leadership attempts can be measured successful or unsuccessful, depending upon production of the desired action or response. A good example of this is getting employees to complete tasks on time. Referring to the figure below, Person A (leader) attempts to influence Person B (constituent/employee) toward a desired outcome; Person A will be considered successful or unsuccessful along the continuum, depending upon the desired response of Person B. To be considered an effective leader, one must take leadership to another level, past just being successful. If Person B does what Person A asks only because of positional power, influence, or guilt, then the leader (Person A) has been successful in this scenario, but not effective. If Person B does the task because he/she finds it personally rewarding, then Person A has been both successful (at getting the desired result) and effective (in affecting the attitude/motivation of Person B). The bottom line is that success has to do with how the individual or group behaves; effectiveness describes the internal state of the individual or group and is attitudinal in nature. An effective leader will usually generate personal power through follower acceptance and will use more general supervision. Both of these are great ways to empower group and community members. If doing what is right produces something bad, or if doing what is wrong produces something good, the force of moral obligation may seem balanced by the reality of the good end. We can have the satisfaction of being right, regardless of the damage done; or we can aim for what seems to be the best outcome, regardless of what wrongs must be committed. This pattern of dilemma is illustrated in the chart. DEFINITION OF ETHICAL DILEMMA ETHICS/ETHICAL It is an internal feeling or sense of obligation to do the right thing. It refers to judgement about what is right and wrong. It has to do with the behavior specifically one’s moral behavior with respect to society. DILEMMA It seems a negative term. A situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives, any difficult or perplexing situation or problem. ETHICAL DILEMMAS It is a situation in which two or more deeply held values come into conflict It is a problematic situation whose possible solutions all offer imperfect and unsatisfactory answer. It occurs when key factors within a situation lead to different decisions and each of the decisions is equally valid. Is often Evoke powerful emotions and strong personal opinion. An ethical dilemma is a complex situation that often involves an apparent mental conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another. The topics of ethics, integrity, compromise and corruption have to become as important as other critical areas of law enforcement training if significant changes can occur. This is also called an ethical paradox since in moral philosophy, paradox often plays a central role in ethics debates. Ethical dilemmas are often cited in an attempt to refute an ethical system or moral code, as well as the worldview that encompasses or grows from it. Leaders have a tough time these days convincing us that they are honest. A US survey in 2011, for example, found that nearly half (48 percent) of those questioned rated the honesty and ethics standards. That is, few have developed their values into a moral compass pointing the way to comprehensive trading policies, robust structures and systems, and many other elements contributing to running an ethical business. In trying to shift their cultures towards a more ethical approach, many leaders will conclude that they need to develop their own skills in handling ethics. For example, some may neglect to ensure that nuts and bolts of what makes an ethics programme effective. This is seldom due to negligence, but to lack of awareness of what it takes to make a sustained cultural change in the right direction. Consequently, many leaders will benefit from having their own ethics and values tune-up. This includes opportunities to examine their own ethical decision-making skills and the ethical environment of the company. Not sure if what you feel is an ethical  dilemma? Here are the signs that may help you determine if you are experiencing an ethical problem. Discomfort – if something about a situation makes you uneasy, it is time to start finding out what is causing the feeling and why. Guilt – rather than deny the feeling, explore and respond to it. Stress – Putting off making a difficult choice, losing sleep and feeling pressured can be all signs of an ethical problem Anger – If you are feeling angry at being pressured, it could be a sign of an ethical problem. Embarrassment – If you would feel awkward about telling your boss, co-workers, friends or family about what you are doing, or thinking of doing, it’s a good chance that the issue is an et hical one. Fear – if you’re afraid of being caught, found out or exposed for what you are doing or thinking of doing, it’s almost certainly an ethical matter. Training can help managers clarify their ethical framework and practice self-discipline when making decisions in difficult circumstances. According to the London-based Institute of Business ethics, which surveys UK companies every three years on the use of their codes of ethics, six out of ten UK companies provided training in business ethics for all their staff in 2010. However, this is a 10 per cent drop on 2007. ‘Although we are living in a time of austerity, cutting back on ethics training is a short-sighted thing for companies to do’, comments Simon Webley, Research Director of IBE and author of the survey. â€Å"Is this ethical?† An ethical dilemma at work arises when there’s conflict between two possible desirable or undesirable actions. It is typically where the â€Å"rules† are unclear and with unacceptable trade-offs. For example, an employee may know something’s wrong – â€Å"it smells bad†, as one approach puts it. Yet the employee may be torn between loyalty to colleagues and commitment to the company. The eventual choice will depend on developing a uniquely personal view of the world, drawing on existing formal guidance but more significantly, also referring to individually held beliefs and desires. This is why rehearsals – the chance to practise with realistic examples of cases – is so essential for acquiring the necessary learning. Recognizing an ethical issue can be difficult, even when right in front of you. In fact, people predict that they will behave more ethically that they actually do. When evaluating past unethical behaviour, they usually believe that they  will behaved more ethically than they actually did. So there is a general tendency for people to fail to realize that they are making choices which affect others, with possible adverse consequences, and which should therefore be considered from a moral point of view. It is simply not a viable business strategy to claim that there is no such thing as ethics in business – this is a sure way of avoiding any personal responsibility for what is happening. If your only frame of reference for making choices is to â€Å"make a profit†, â€Å"maximize shareholder value†, â€Å"win this sale† or â€Å"meet the legal minimum requirements†, you will almost certainly miss the ethical dimension. Given the complex socio-cultural milieu in which leaders operate, it is not surprising that they would find themselves, from time-to-time, faced with ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas are decisions â€Å"that require a choice among competing sets of principles, often in complex and value laden contexts† (Ehrich, Cranston, & Kimber, 2005, p. 137). These competing choices have been described as pulling leaders in different directions, and have been found to cause leaders great stress and anxiety. Difficulties are said to arise when leaders are faces with choices that are considered â€Å"right.† For example, Kidder (1995) states that many ethical dilemmas facing professionals do not concern right versus wrong options but right versus right. In other words, the choices could all be seen as right. Alternatively, when all of the options are deemed â€Å"wrong†, it would also potentially cause angst for leaders. How leaders interpret, respond to, and resolve ethical d ilemmas is likely to depend on a variety of factors and forces both internal and external to the leader. Two classification of Ethical DILEMMA RIGHT VERSUS RIGHT DILEMMA Ethical issues emerge when two core values come into conflict with each other. When one important value raises powerful moral arguments for one course of action, while another value raises equally powerful arguments for an opposite course, we must make a choice since we can’t do both. RIGHT VERSUS WRONG DILEMMA Ethical issues emerge when a core moral value has been violated or ignored. When honesty is an important value to a person, and another person is found to be acting dishonestly, it is generally acknowledged that the action was unethical. Question to ask help determine appropriate steps to take in an ethical dilemma Ethics transcends everything we do. Think about it, most, if not all, decisions made by today’s leaders may have an ethical component. Consequently, a leader may choose to be amoral, which means he does not consider the ethical consequences of the component of his decision. An amoral leader functions as though ethics does not exist. A leader may also choose to be immoral and ignore the ethical ramifications of his actions. This leader consciously chooses to engage in the behaviour with complete knowledge that his behaviour is wrong. Finally, a leader may choose to be moral and consider the ethical impact of his decision. Of course, the latter is the desired course of action. Ideally, all decisions should be made taking into consideration the ethical ramifications of one’s actions. Whether a leader is deciding to lay off an employee, or promote an employee, the ethicality of the leader’s action must be considered. Here are seven questions asked as strategies for r esolving ethical dilemmas. Is it legal? When considering the ethicality of an action, the first thing the leader must do is consider whether the action is legal. As previously stated, one of the paramount concerns of a leader must be the long-term survival of the organization. Corporations are legal entities that can be sued and charged with crimes. When a leader engages in behaviour that is illegal, it opens up the organization for civil liability and, possible, criminal prosecution. Such actions can result in large fines and negative publicity, which may result in declining sales and market share and may ultimately lead to bankruptcy of the organization as what occurred with Enron. Determining whether an action is legal or not is pretty simple. There are people trained to provide assistance in this area. They are called lawyers. In the US, all crimes are codified, so there is no excuse for a leader unknowingly engaging in criminal behaviour. If there is an area of doing, that so called gray  area, you should err on the side of caution and not run the risk of violating the law, regardless of the benefits. Although ethical behaviour is not required, legal behaviour is so never straddle the line. Always follow the law, it is your duty to your organization. Does it harm others? Although complying with the law is required, being ethical is not, it is a desired outcome. Therefore, when faced with an ethical dilemma and based on the ethical principles, one of the first factors that must be taken into consideration is whether the decision will cause harm to others. By incorporating this fundamental principle of ethics, showing concern for the interest of others, you may avoid making an unethical decision. However, it is important to make something perfectly clear, the ethical course of action does not necessarily mean that you will never cause harm. Sometimes, the ethical course of action may result in others being harmed. For example, eminent domain results in harming the minority for grater societal good. The focus here is to minimize hard to others. The leader should always strive to seek the course of action that minimizes harm, while producing an ethical result. A decision to right size will inevitably harm the person being laid off. However, giving that person sufficient notice, providing them with severance of possible, and providing alternative-job training are all things that can mitigate the harm. The simple fact of showing concern for the interest of others may result in a decision being modified because upon analysis, the leader may discover that the perceived benefit does not outweigh the harm that will ensue. Does it pass the CNN test? I (author of the book) had a former boss tell me that, â€Å"visibility is good, but exposure will kill you.† He was encouraging me to take the jobs that will bring visibility to my strengths and avoid jobs that will expose my weaknesses. There is also an old saying that transparency is the best disinfectant. Well, the same applies when it comes to our actions. When resolving an ethical dilemma, a leader should consider how he would feel if his actions were publicized to the entire world on CNN. Would you be comfortable with your decision if it was the main topic of discussion on Anderson 360 and you knew you were being subjected to public disclosure and critique? I think (author of the book) if the former CEO and CFO of Enron  had considered that their actions were going to be subjected to public disclosure, they probably would have chosen a different course of action. If the former CEO had known that it would have been publicly disclosed that he was dumping shares of Enron stock while encouraging others to buy, he probably would not have made that unethical decision. Get a second opinion In the field of healthcare, it is a common practice to seek second and sometimes third opinions. Although your primary physician may be a board-certified expert in his chosen field, seeking a second opinion is a form if validation. It also may provide other options that may not have been on the table. The same applies to resolving ethical dilemmas. A leader would be well served to seek the advice of a trusted advisor, who he feels will give him an unbiased, objective opinion. That person may be an expert in the field, who can point out factors you may not have considered, or it may be someone whom you believe to have a good moral compass. Let me (author of the book) caution you here that getting a second opinion does not mean that you abdicate your responsibility because ultimately, as the leader, the buck stops with you. It is your decision, and you must bear the responsibility. However, the second opinion may reveal some factors that you may have not considered. In addition, if the person has a good moral compass, their confirmation can be reassuring that you are going down the right road. Does it pass the Ambien test? Ambien is a prescription sleep aid used for the treatment of insomnia. Insomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty falling and/or staying asleep. Now I’m sure (author of the book) you never though insomnia to be an ethical condition; however, if your decision agonizes you and causes you to stay awake at night, you have probably not made the right decision. By the same token, if you can lie down and go to sleep after making your decision without the need for Ambien, you may have made the proper decision. Assuming that you are not a psycho or a sociopath, you should be troubled when you make a decision that is blatantly unethical. The physicians and scientists participating in the Tuskegee study should have been troubled that once penicillin was available, they refused to treat the subjects of the study. They should have had difficulty sleeping at night.  They should have need Ambien to fall asleep! Now, assuming that they made the right decision, there should be no agonizing over it, and the need for Ambien for that decision should not exist—test passed! Does it pass the Socrates test? Socrates us the ancient Greek philosopher who is given credit for setting the agenda for the tradition of critical thinking. I (author of the book) can recall my first year of law school and being exposed to the Socratic method of teaching, which is specifically designed to enhance critical-thinking skills. When faced with an ethical dilemma, a leader must ensure that the resolution is not reached based solely on gut feelings or the subjective desire to do the right thing. Yes, good intentions are important. Doing the right thing is important, but the process of getting to the right result must be based on the reason and objectivity. Does it make God smile? At the end of the day, the final question the leader should consider is, does the chosen course of action make God or the higher power of your choosing, smile? I (author of the book) use God loosely here, and I’m not advocating any particular religion of faith. For those who may be atheist or agnostic, you may substitute God for your mother or any other figure you revere. I (author of the book) must point out that I’m speaking of an unconditionally living God, who is concerned with only good, not the God depicted in the Old Testament of the Bible, or the God who condones torturing souls in eternal damnation. The point here is simply to look to a source beyond you that you feel reflects the characteristics of good and of being one’s best self. In legal parlance, we (author of the book) use the term the prudent or reasonable person standard. This is the person who goes through life exercising proper judgment and engaging in the right course of action under the circumstances. It is an objective standard that can be used as a benchmark for how one should act under certain situations. So if God would look at your decision and smile at your actions, you’ve probably done the right thing! STEPS in an ETHICAL DILEMMA & ETHICAL SOLUTIONS Step1. WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS List the full range of alternative courses of action available to you. Step2. ANALYZE THE CONSEQUENCES Assume you have a variety of options. Consider the range of both positive and negative consequences connected with each one. (Who will be helped by what you do? Who will be hurt? What kinds of benefits and harms are we talking about?) After looking at all of your options, which of your options produces the best combination of benefits maximization and harm minimization? STEP3. ANALYZE THE ACTIONS Concentrate instead strictly on the actions. How do they measure moral principles like honesty, fairness, equality, respecting the dignity of others, respecting peoples’ right, and recognizing vulnerability of individuals weaker or less fortunate than others. Do anything of the actions that you’re considering â€Å"cross the line†, in terms of anything from simple decency to an important ethical principle. What you’re looking for is the option whose actions are least problematic. STEP4. MAKE YOUR DECISION AND ACT WITH COMMITMENT Take both parts of your analysis into account and make a decision. This strategy should give you at least some basic steps you should follow. STEP5. EVALUATE THE SYSTEM Think about the circumstances which led to dilemma with the intention of identifying and removing the conditions that allowed it to arise. Ethical Solutions A model for examining and understanding ethical dilemmas We now turn our attention to a conceptual model of ethical dilemmas we have been using for some time derived initially from the literature, but refined through various iterations from empirical research with leaders across three organizational contexts : schools, universities and the public sector. As  can be seen from the figure above, the model considers of five core components. The first component is the critical incident that generates the ethical dilemma for the decision maker. Critical incidents are â€Å"issues or situations in [leaders’] work that produce ethical reflection and moral emotions†. The leaders who have participated in our (author of the book) research have identified a variety of critical incidents, including: Dealing with staff under performance or behaviour such as different interpretations of institutional policies; Observing student actions such as breaking school rules or plagiarizing sources; Being given a directive from a supervisor that conflicts with their personal values and professional ethics or with their notions of wider accountability; Confronting institutional changes that conflicts with the ethos of the organization, such as the managerial imperative to make money versus maintaining standards of academic excellence; and Uncovering the misuse of public money. A variety of factors (or forces) can highlight the critical incident and influence the choices a desision maker sees open to him or her (second component of the model). These factors are: The public interest or public good—what a community decides is in the best interest of its members as a whole as â€Å"expressed through the ballot box, interest groups and ongoing debate and discussion†. It entails ensuring that public officials are accountable to the community for making and administering policies. Any organization that receives public money (money collected through the taxation system) is accountable to the community for the use of that money. Thus, public officials must act in the public interest or for the public good. The political framework—the political ideology, system, and structure of a jurisdiction socializes people and enhances or constrains the decisions and actions they take. The community or society—the multiple and competing stake holders (individuals and groups) that impact on and react to leaders’ decisions. Professional ethics—the ethical standards and valued held by members of a particular profession that guide their actions and that the community expects of a member of that profession Legal institutions are requires to comply with legislation and judicial rulings. Economic and financial contexts could develop from the impact of the dominant economic paradigm, on the policies and actions of an organization such the impact of  preference of r neoliberal economic thinking leads to policies that result in the privatization of public sector goods and services. International or global social, political, cultural, and economic trends impact on institutions. The institutional context and factors beyond the immediate workplace—the operational milieu within which leaders work, which includes policies, procedures, and society.