Nursing Informatics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nursing Informatics - Research Paper Example With regard to informatics, the article makes a brief overview of the some of the information technology devices that are used in health care settings. Among the information technology devices mentioned by the authors are computers, internet and network systems, patient monitoring systems, decision support systems, and data capture tools. However, the authors did not give elaborate details regarding the informatics, such as specific examples of information technology devices and how they are used. Regarding nursing practice, the article concentrates on how installing information technology in health care centers and educating health care providers how to use them can help in improving the outcomes of health care. A brief history of the application of informatics in nursing is also given. For instance, the article explains that integrating information technology with nursing practice was first regarded as a specialization in 1984 (Darvish et al., 2014). Significantly, the main theme i n the article is how the delivery of competent, evidence-based care for a nursing profession can be attained and healthcare facilities improved. For instance, the article explains how advanced systems such as computers, patient monitoring systems, and patient monitoring tools can help in reducing errors in making and maintaining patients’ records. Despite this, the authors did not make elaborate explanations of the impact of informatics in enhancing competent, evidence-based nursing practice, it supported my position.

Introduction To E-Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Introduction To E-Business - Essay Example All cross-organizational elements of the Inbound Supply Chain, including different aspects like Enquiry/RFQ details, Online and Offline Quotation logging, Order Placement, Delivery compliance monitoring, Order amendments, Material Receipt and Payment tracking are covered and also relevant transactions can be made through this e-procurement site. In addition to these new features and benefits, value-added services such as Negotiation Chat Room with Bid revision tracking (Reverse Auction), Transactional correspondence (mails initiated on a transaction hitting appropriate mailboxes) and e-Mail notifications and acknowledgements, are also offered (Tata Steel, 2004). While the site incorporates all the basic functionalities that may be required, the company is still putting in continuous effort towards providing value-added services and features. Taobao.com, China's leading consumer e-commerce website is a division of the Alibaba Group (Alibaba Group, 2007). Taobao is a shopping marketplace for consumers in China. Founded by parent Alibaba Group, it facilitates transactions between individual consumers and a wide range of sellers such as retailers, wholesalers, and other individuals.

Feminism in India

Feminism in India Introduction Gender Equality and Feminism have become growing topics all around the globe during the past half a century, with women organizing and protesting against the stereotypes imposed upon them by the men. Several theories exist about how these stereotypes and inequalities came about, with some people arguing that it is caused by the chauvinistic nature innately present in all human beings, with others rejecting this as a â€Å"lazy† argument to make, and attributing it to more specific causes. In the times of hunter-gatherers, the women occupied an equal status to that of men, and everyone had to contribute in order to survive and bring up the young ones. As agriculture started to appear, along with importance to ownership of land, the patriarchal form of society started dominating the scene, as men were bestowed with the duty to acquire and defend property, and hence the passing down of property down the line of male descendants (patrilineal) became relevant, thus side-lining the women in the society. With the growth of capitalism, the importance of the nuclear family had increased, which required the male to be employed, typically in industries, in order to earn income, and the women would have to stay at home and look after the domestic needs such as cooking, and raising of children, etc. The reason for this was that the main means of production was the modern nuclear family, and so this setup was promoted as the norm in order to maximise market gains and increase efficiency[1]. This effect of capitalism along with the patriarchal nature of most societies is what many argue to be the major reason behind the stigmatization and stereotyping of women as weaker, and restricted to household work. Challenging these notions, feminist movements have been seen in several countries of the world, thereby ensuring that the women in their country had rights and were relatively equal to the men, preventing further social downtrodding of women. Several countries have all owed women to join the army even, with some sending them into combat as well[2], in order to promote gender equality and inspire women to believe in themselves and change the way society looks at women. However, the situation in India is quite different. Gender inequality is rampant here, and nearly in every sphere of life, women are marginalized and oppressed, viewed as mere tools or property possessed by men. India witnesses the second highest amount of gender inequality in all of Asia, second only to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan[3]. However, some feminist movements have been seen even in India, however their task is much more difficult here due to a vast number of reasons which will be discussed in depth in this project with the help of some interviews of Indian feminist social activists. Methodology The first step I took towards this project was to search for social activists in India who had made contributions to the feminist movement, and identified some feminists out of whom I had picked the interviews of Dr. Vandana Shiva[4], Dr. Sarojini Sahoo[5], Ms. Flavia Agnes[6] and Mrs. Madhu Kishwar[7]. Of these, Dr. Vandana Shiva would be the most prominent activist, who has written several books for the cause of feminism and making the women of India aware of such discrimination, and also won the Fukuoka Prize in 2012[8]. Dr. Sarojini Sahoo is also a well-known activist who has written several books about gender and sexuality, and won the Laadli Media Award in 2011, and her interview offers us the most information regarding the topic, and therefore is the central interview for the purposes of this project. From all the interviews, a few major issues have been identified and then analysed with the help of other sources, and their impact on the society at large is shown. The activist s are generally in agreement with each other, and usually only the main focus of their argument is what changes. I have also identified a handful of interviews of feminists from countries other than India in order to compare them with those of the Indian feminists, and this affirm what is it that makes the feminist movement in India more essential and complicated than in other countries. Core Chapter After going through the interview[9] of Christina Hoff Sommers, a feminist activist from the USA, we can tell that the main focus of the interview is on improving women representation in politics, and mostly to disillusion women from several other schools of feminism which she believes to be false and misleading to the women population at large. This shows that feminism has already successfully granted them basic social equity in the USA. The interview[10] of Perla Vasquez, a feminist from Mexico, has also been identified and analysed. The major issues in this as well mostly comprise of economic and political difficulties faced by women in Mexico. This is in contrast with the stage in India as we can deduce from the 4 interviews analysed for the sake of this project, where the focus is on basic discrimination of women in the social field, and to stop the many forms of injustice suffered by them daily, and in almost every sphere of life. The major points of difference I have identified from these interviews is the basis of patriarchal values and oppression of women being strongly embedded with religious tradition, particularly Hinduism, since the later Vedic period; and the second being the rampant cases of sexual violence against women all around the country. It is this basic factor which makes feminism so much more essential in India, especially the rural places, and the reinforcement of patriarchy in the Hindu tradition, and the fact that a large majority of India is still religious, makes it much more difficult to acquire the goals of social equality and basic dignity for women. Effect of Culture and Traditions In her interview, Sarojini Sahoo states â€Å"At one time in India in the ancient Vedic period there were equal rights between men and women and even feminist law makers like Gargi and Maitreyi. But the later Vedic period polarized the sexes. Males oppressed females and treated them as other or similar to a lower caste.†[11] This statement has been proven to be true, and women had indeed enjoyed a position of equal rights to those of males in the Vedic period, with women being venerated, and the prevalence of several Goddesses and female Deities in the Hindu tradition from that time, further reinforcing their position in society[12]. However, during the time following the Vedic period, the situation of women deteriorated much further down. With the arrival of the Dharma Shastras, the Patriarchal form of society was stressed and promoted, causing the oppression of women in the society. However, most people argue that it is during the time of the Mughals when women in India became truly secluded, although there is evidence of such being practiced as early as during the time of Asoka.[13] The Smritis were another reason which led to the side-lining of women in the later Vedic society, which reflected the legislators’ chauvinistic nature in enforcing traditions and practices which led to the further o ppression and control of women in the society by males, and laws which lacked all notions of equity and justice. These causes led to a solidification of a society where women were treated worse than Shudras (untouchables)[14], suffering several inequalities from the men every day. This has continued for a long time, with practices such as the Dowry system and the system of Sati being followed widely all over India when the British had arrive, and had not declined until the British Empire issued legislations banning the practice of Sati[15], following which it slowly started declining. The dowry system was originally only prevalent in the middle class who actually owned property which they could give away for dowry, but later was adopted even by the poorer sections of society, often resulting in cases where one would give away a lifetime of savings as dowry. It was banned by the Government of India in 1961, by the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, but the practice of dowry is still very much prevalent almost everywhere in India, especially in the villages where the law has little effect. This gives rise to a social horror known as Dowry death, which will be discussed under the next topic. Another issue arising out of traditions is that women are assumed to be weaker, and are made to stay at home and taught how to perform household work such as cooking and cleaning, and are not allowed to take part in most social events. As a result, most parents do not allow their daughters to go to school, and make them stay at home and learn household skills. As a result, while 76% of men are literate in India, only 54% of women are literate[16]. This indicates how much of an effect such traditions and notions can have on a country as a whole. Violence against women One of the major issues discussed by almost every feminist in their interview is dowry death. This is a practice where the bride is killed when her family does not give a large enough dowry. It has in fact been on the increase, seen largely throughout North India[17]. This has caused women to be looked upon as a burden in their family of birth. Sarojini Sahoo has stated the same in her interview, describing how women are usually viewed in society: â€Å"An unmarried daughter seen as a spinster even in her late twenties brings shame upon her parents, and is a burden. But once married, she is considered the property of her in-laws.†[18] This burden leads to wanting a male child over a female one, along with the fact that the Dharma Shastras and other texts of Hindu religion which make a son more desirable than a daughter due to the fact they can inherit, carry on the name, and only a son can perform the last rites of his father/grandfather. This leads to the social practice of female infanticide, which has been on the increase in India. It is basically the act of killing young female children, as their parents want a male child. This has caused the sex ratio to drop in India over the years. India has a child sex ratio of 914:100, as of 2011.[19] Next is the actual physical violence against women, which is very widespread in India compared to all the other nations. India has of late become famous for rape, following the Delhi rape case. A statement from Madhu Kishwar regarding such violence aptly sums up a variety of such problems prevalent in India: â€Å"Another main issue is sexual violence of all kinds, from what goes by the name of â€Å"eve-teasing†, which is a very mild, insulting word used to describe what goes from pinching and rubbing to lewd comments to physical violence, hitting you†¦ Then there is rape of all kinds†¦Ã¢â‚¬ [20] Sexual violence is at its highest in India. Some theorize that this is the backlash of a strong patriarchal society[21] witnessing westernization of women. It is the biggest social issue in all of India, and is the major reason why India needs feminism. The final problem to be discussed is the fact that marital rape is to this day not criminalized in India. The Indian Penal Code has no sanction against this act. The only recourse for the wife is to ask for divorce and leave her husband, but apart from that, there is no punishment meted out to the husband/rapist. Domestic violence also has a separate law which many say is not stringent enough, thus making it prevalent in countless areas of the country. Flavia Agnes addresses the topic in her interview: â€Å"In a society where marriage is the norm, the ultimate power rests with the husband.† To sum up the issue of violence, a statement from Vandana Shiva fits perfectly: â€Å"This violent economic order can only function as a war against people and against the earth, and in that war, the rape against women is a very, very large instrument of war. We see that everywhere. And therefore, we have to have an end to the violence against women.†[22] Conclusion We have seen how the dawn of private ownership of land and property gave rise to the Patriarchal society, pushing women to a side role, and how this was further solidified by the rise of capitalism and its need for the nuclear family and the â€Å"ideal setup† for division of labour. We then discussed how it originated in India, and how the Vedic period originally had great equality for the women in their society, and how that status deteriorated over time due to the Dharma Shastras and the Smritis, giving rise to traditions like dowry and sati. We have seen how these practices came about, the efforts of the government to curb them, and the effectiveness of these laws. We also see how the traditions affected the rate of literacy among girls drastically, and then how dowry leads to murder in several cases, and how this burden then leads to female infanticide, and the culmination of all these oppressive traditions leading to the sexual violence against women due to them being vi ewed as weaker, or as property, and finally how the law even now is quite unfair with regard to women, denying them any just recourse marital rape, despite several protests for the sake of the same. To conclude, we have seen how gender inequality has its own unique points in India, and how it is all the more essential for India to learn feminism, and the higher difficulty of actually bringing about changes in this society. Bibliography JSTOR The Hindu The National Geographic The Times of India Foundation for Sustainable Development The Guardian [1] Systems of Stratification : Gender in Capitalist Society, The Red Phoenix, available at http://theredphoenixapl.org/2010/11/29/systems-of-stratificationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ­-à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬gender-in-capitalist-society/ [2] 8 Other Nations That Send Women to Combat, The National Geographic, available at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130125-women-combat-world-australia-israel-canada-norway/ [3] Gender equality in India among worst in world, The Times of India, available at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gender-equality-in-India-among-worst-in-world-UN/articleshow/18982029.cms [4] Vandana Shiva on Int’l Women’s Day: Capitalist Patriarchy Has Aggravated Violence Against Women, Democracy Now, available at http://www.democracynow.org/2013/3/8/vandana_shiva_on_intl_womens_day [5] Feminism in India Conversation with Indian Feminist Sarojini Sahoo, Linda Lowen, available at http://womensissues.about.com/od/feminismequalrights/a/FeminisminIndia.htm [6] Feminism in India: violence, trades, Carol Ann Douglas and Alice Henry, available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/25796296 [7] Feminism in India, Carol Ann Douglas, available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/25793362 [8] Fukuoka Prize for Vandana Shiva, The Hindu, available at http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/fukuoka-prize-for-vandana-shiva/article3676826.ece [9] The Future of Feminism: An Interview with Christina Hoff Sommers, Scott London, available at http://www.scottlondon.com/interviews/sommers.html [10] An interview with feminist activist Perla Vasquez, available at http://www.mamacash.org/news/an-interview-with-feminist-activist-perla-vasquez/ [11] Feminism in India Conversation with Indian Feminist Sarojini Sahoo, Linda Lowen, available at http://womensissues.about.com/od/feminismequalrights/a/FeminisminIndia.htm [12] Women in Vedic Culture, Stephen Knapp, available at http://www.stephen-knapp.com/women_in_vedic_culture.htm [13] Indian Woman Down the Ages, LR Nair, available at http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/226/6/06_chapter2.pdf [14] Role of Vedas in Degradation of Status of Women in India, available at http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers/faith-and-rituals/role-of-vedas-in-degradation-of-status-of-women-in-india [15] Bengal Sati Regulation Act, 1829 [16] Gender Equity Issues in India, Foundation for Sustainable Development, available at http://www.fsdinternational.org/country/india/weissues [17] Rising number of dowry deaths in India: NCRB, Ignatius Pereira, The Hindu, August 6, 2013, available at http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rising-number-of-dowry-deaths-in-india-ncrb/article4995677.ece [18] Feminism in India Conversation with Indian Feminist Sarojini Sahoo, Linda Lowen, available at http://womensissues.about.com/od/feminismequalrights/a/FeminisminIndia.htm [19] India loses 3 million girls in infanticide, The Hindu, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-loses-3-million-girls-in-infanticide/article3981575.ece [20] Feminism in India, Carol Ann Douglas, available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/25793362 [21] Sexual violence in India is a patriarchal backlash that must be stopped, Priya Virmani, The Guardian, available at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/17/sexual-violence-india-patriarchal-narendra-modi-women-reform-rape [22] Vandana Shiva on Int’l Women’s Day: Capitalist Patriarchy Has Aggravated Violence Against Women, Democracy Now, available at http://www.democracynow.org/2013/3/8/vandana_shiva_on_intl_womens_day

Raving Is A Lifestyle :: essays research papers

Raving Is a Lifestyle. One of the most rapidly expanding scenes in the world is raving. The dictionary defines "Rave" as To utter in madness or frenzy; to say wildly; as, to rave nonsense, which makes you wonder why raves were ever called raves to begin with, unless of course you have been to one. I will never forget my first experience at a rave. Media portrays Raves as cesspools of filth, sex and drugs, so naturally I was very nervous about attending my first party. We sit in a circle inside the party with the lights and music assailing my senses and take out the pills. I stare at mine and sweat nervously. I have never really done drugs before, and I am going to put a pill in my mouth that someone that I do not know has manufactured in their basement. Little did I know that this was a common theme in the scene, quality control for basement pharmaceuticals is a difficult thing. I down the ecstasy and wait nervously for some thing to happen to feel something that had been e xtensively described to me, but for which I still had no idea what to expect for words can do it no justice. After forty minutes, I start to stand up to get some water, and before I know what is going on, I am already standing. It feels like I have no joints in my body, and everything is fluid. My mind is rushing and I let this sense of pure energy, goodwill and friendliness wash over my body. I feel the need for something different and wander off to make some new friends. I sit to talk to a beautiful girl by a pillar. Normally, I would be very shy and never dream of talking to a goddess such as she. Before I know what is going on, I am laying on my back with my head in her lap and she is massaging my face and neck gently, her touch so light that there seems to be almost no touch, just energy passing from her fingers to my face. I start to imagine strange worlds in my minds eye, seemingly rendered by computers full of brilliant glow-stick colors like fluorescent blues, purples and g reens, and there are strange creatures dancing and racing about. Now this total stranger is kissing me very very softly, and I am lost in space and time, I can no longer feel the floor beneath my body and the images I see are more vivid, the moment lasting for eternity.

Child Safety Essay

Safety is the condition of being protected against physical, social, emotional, financial or other types or consequences of failure, damage, harm or any other event which could be considered un-desirable. To me safety is the most important aspect of any environment because it affects a person mentally and for anyone to show his/her best performance it is necessary that their safety zone is intact. When we think about safety the first thing that comes to mind is protection, shelter, freedom etc. And, this starts from the moment a child is born till he/she is alive. All human beings want a secure and healthy environment which is utterly devoid of hazards and dangers. And, when we talk about children’s safety; it plays a vital role in their upbringing and development in ensuring they are enthusiastic, creative and confident because when they are provided with an environment that is relatively free from danger, risks and threats of harm then they feel relaxed, happy, free to explo re. It is very important to provide safety to the children because sometimes some events, incidents or actions affect children a lot, whereas we adults feel that it will not matter to the child. Talking about myself as a teacher, I would take all the necessary steps to ensure that my learning environment is unhindered. Firstly, I would plan the physical appearance with material and ideas that are age appropriate. This will allow me to attract and inspire my pupils in a positive direction. The class should have a warm environment and the color schemes used should be inviting. Indisputably there will be material and some resources like scissors, glue, sockets, play dough etc. that might be dangerous or harmful to the child, these items though needed in the class should be kept out of reach and when required used under the guidance of the teacher. The furniture and seating arrangement in the class should have smooth edges and preferably be circular in shape. There should be just enough furn iture in accordance with the strength of the class. This will allow safe and free movement for the children in the class space. Physical safety is not only confined to the classroom. When the child is in the school premises every event that takes place is the responsibility of the adult. When the child leaves the classroom, it is important that the adult accompanies him/her to whatever place the child has to go. Be it the play area, the swimming pool, the playground or even the toilet; they should all have proper safety features such as flooring which in case of a toilet should be dry so as to avoid slipping, age appropriate equipment and infrastructure all safely installed with irrelevant material kept out of reach of the children. Another aspect of safety is the social-emotional effect on a child. To foster an emotionally safe classroom it is important for the adult to discuss how each child in the class is as an individual and that everyone is different. The classroom environment can detract from a student’s ability to learn if he/she does not feel safe. A safe environment means that there is respect between the child and the adult and amongst the children themselves. Hence students feel accepted and free to voice their opinions. It is important to teach children class room rules at the beginning of the year and the adult to be consistent in enforcing them. But when talking about rules, they should be realistic and not rigid. If adults overwhelm children with rules for everything, there could then be countless power struggles with children. The adult should speak to the child individually if he/she suspects any problem because when children are corrected in front of their peers they may get demotivated and feel a sense of insecurity. This insecurity can also take place when a child is faced with an obstacle such as bullies. In this case the children have no way of defending themselves. It is very important that the adult makes sure all pupils are comfortable in their learning environment. Discussing with the children about peer press ure and bullying and how it has a negative effect in the classroom by revising child friendly moral stories is a reasonable way out. To develop the children to be socially interactive the adult needs to build bonds by providing opportunities of group play, interaction and discussions. The adult can also train the children to look after each other and the environment of their classroom. This can be in the form of a daily clean-up routine in regards to toys, blocks, art work etc. The classroom can be messy due to different activities of the children which could present a safety hazard to all the children depending on the cleanup. For example: â€Å"If the children have just finished their free play activity, it can be possible that while the children were exploring the different items in front of them some of the toys could have broken or cracked. In this event the children can hurt themselves or hurt each other.† Now, the introduction to a clean-up routine after every activity allows the children under the guidance of the adult to dispose of broken toys or equipment that may cause injury or choking, immediately. This will secure the classroom and prevent any unforeseen event concerning the activity. The child will feel a sense of ownership and accomplishment; it will also develop the ability to work with others in different situations and bring about the pride of teamwork to create a friendlier environment. I feel that, creating a safe learning environment for children is a daunting prospect because children not only need physical safety but also need to feel emotionally and intellectually protected. It is important that the adult should pay attention and be vigilant of the children’s activities. When adults plan lessons and activities for children they should not only keep the academics in mind but also the safety needs that pertain to the lesson. The teacher should explain the children the rules by her actions because children respond faster to what they see rather than what they are simply told. In the end it all comes down to child protection and hence it is important to take care of them to allow for the development of their ideas and enthusiasm to explore their imagination allowing them to grow.

Gillette Case Essay

President, new business development, Gillette Safety Razor Division (SRD) Problem: Ralph needs to achieve company targets for earnings growth for his division by developing a new business product. Ralph has commissioned an extensive investigation into the blank cassette tape market and he views this market as poised for substantial growth and opportunity over the long-term range of ten to fifteen years. Ralph feels that his division is well positioned to enter the market through utilization of its many core strengths. Market Overview The current blank tape market segment has many weaknesses, such as, lack of widespread distribution, lack of media coverage, poor product display and packaging, and lack of a true market leader. These weaknesses in the blank cassette tape market are all areas where Gillette has developed strong core competencies in their Safety Razor Division. The blank cassette tape market is segmented into three distinct product markets: Professional quality, Standard Quality, and Budget Quality and within those segments there are recording lengths of 30, 60, 90 and 120 minute cassette tapes. Bingham’s consultants have focused on the 60-minute cassette tape market in particular. Gillette Safety Razor Division Decisions Gillette has four product options: 1. ) do not enter market. 2. ) enter professional tape market 3. ) enter standard tape market. 4. ) enter the budget tape market. The professional quality market offers the greatest margin on products, but it is also the smallest segment in the market. The professional segment will also have the most competition as more established tape makers enter the market. As such, the fierce competition may potentially saturate the market and decrease the margins on these tapes and make it less appealing in the long run. Alternatively, standard tape market has moderate margins, but is a highly growing segment and is ready for a market leader, such as a company like Gillette. Lastly, the budget market has the lowest profit margins, the highest volume sales, but also requires a high volume of sales in order to be profitable due to the significant fixed costs associated with manufacturing. Gillette’s manufacturing constraints make it difficult for Gillette to enter the budget product market and Gillette would not want to damage its brand name by affiliating with a lower end product such as the budget quality tapes. (See appendix for quantitative analysis) Recommendations & Conclusions The Gillette Safety Razor division should enter the Standard Quality 60-minute cassette tape market and target the teenager and student market as it is a growing segment and offers much potential. Gillette should distribute the tapes using their established channels and wholesalers. Gillette should promote this new line through an aggressive advertising program as a high standard quality tape free from the defects of budget cassette tapes and with greater quality than the average standard tape. Gillette should leverage its brand name to promote the quality and value of these tapes. Gillette’s pricing for the standard quality tapes should be priced at the regular retail price with the design that consumers will choose Gillette’s product and pay more than the discounted brands due to Gillette’s high quality and brand name. In this scenario, Gillette’s monthly break-even quantity would be 518,758 units and it would make a monthly profit of $92,867 if it conservatively sells 750,000 units/mo. in year one. Annualized, the company’s net profit would be $1,114,400 at 9,000,000 units sold. Â  

Butterfly Bush Alternatives for Environmentally Friendly Gardeners

Butterfly Bush Alternatives for Environmentally Friendly Gardeners Gardeners who want to attract butterflies to their gardens often plant butterfly bush (genus Buddleia), a fast growing shrub that blooms prolifically. While butterfly bush is easy to grow, inexpensive to buy, and a good attractant for butterflies,  some argue its one of the worst choices for a butterfly garden. For years,  butterfly bush  (Buddleia) has divided gardeners into two camps: those who plant it without apology, and those who think it should be banned. Fortunately, its now possible to plant butterfly bushes without negatively impacting the environment. Why Gardeners Love Butterfly Bush Buddleia  is well-loved by butterfly gardeners because it is well-loved by butterflies. It blooms from spring to fall (depending on your  growing zone), and produces an abundance of nectar-rich flowers that butterflies cannot resist. Butterfly bush is easy-to-grow and tolerates poor soil conditions. It requires almost no maintenance, other than an annual hard pruning (and some gardeners even skip that). Why Ecologists Hate Butterfly Bush Unfortunately, a plant that produces such a bumper crop of flowers also produces a bumper crop of seeds.  Buddleia  is not native to North America; butterfly bush is an exotic plant from Asia. Ecologists deemed the shrub a threat to native ecosystems, as butterfly bush seeds escaped backyard gardens and invaded forests and meadows. Some states banned the sale of  Buddleia and listed it as a noxious, invasive weed. For commercial growers and nurseries, these bans were consequential. According to the USDA, the production and sale of butterfly bush was a $30.5 million industry in 2009. Despite  Buddleias environmental impact, gardeners still wanted their butterfly bushes, and growers wanted to continue producing and selling it. While butterfly bush provides nectar for butterflies, it offers no value for butterfly or moth larvae. In fact, not a single native North American caterpillar will feed on its leaves, according to entomologist Dr. Doug Tallamy, in his book Bringing Nature Home.   For Gardeners Who Cant Live Without Buddleia Butterfly bush spreads easily because it produces thousands of seeds during the course of a growing season. If you insist on growing butterfly bush in your garden, do the right thing: deadhead Buddleia flowers as soon as the blooms are spent, all season long. Shrubs to Plant Instead of Butterfly Bush Better yet, choose one of these native shrubs instead of butterfly bush. In addition to  providing nectar, some of these native shrubs are also larval food plants. Abelia x grandiflora, glossy abeliaCeanothus americanus, New Jersey tea​Cephalanthus occidentalis, buttonbushClethra alnifolia, sweet pepperbushCornus spp., dogwoodKalmia latifolia, mountain laurelLindera benzoin, spicebushSalix discolor, pussy willowSpiraea alba, narrowleaf meadowsweetSpiraea latifolia, broadleaf meadowsweetViburnum sargentii, Sargents cranberry bush BuddleiaBreeders to the Rescue Just when you were getting ready to compost your butterfly bushes for good, horticulturalists found a solution to the problem.  Buddleia  breeders produced cultivars that are, in effect, sterile. These hybrids produce so little seed (less than 2% of traditional butterfly bushes), they are considered non-invasive varieties. The State of Oregon, which has a rigorous ban on  Buddleia  in place, has recently amended their ban to allow these non-invasive cultivars. Seems you can have your butterfly bush and plant it, too. Look for these non-invasive cultivars at your local nursery (or ask your favorite garden center to carry them!): Buddleia  Lo Behold ®Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ËœBlue Chip’Buddleia ‘Asian Moon’Buddleia  Lo Behold ®Ã¢â‚¬ËœPurple Haze’Buddleia  Lo Behold ®Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ËœIce Chip’ (formerly ‘White Icing’)Buddleia  Lo Behold ®Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ËœLilac Chip’Buddleia ‘Miss Molly’Buddleia ‘Miss Ruby’Buddleia Flutterby Grandeâ„ ¢Ã‚  Blueberry Cobbler Nectar BushBuddleia Flutterby Grandeâ„ ¢Peach Cobbler Nectar BushBuddleia Flutterby Grandeâ„ ¢Ã‚  Sweet Marmalade Nectar BushBuddleia Flutterby Grandeâ„ ¢Ã‚  Tangerine Dream Nectar BushBuddleia Flutterby Grandeâ„ ¢Ã‚  Vanilla Nectar BushBuddleia Flutterby Petiteâ„ ¢Ã‚  Snow White Nectar BushBuddleia Flutterbyâ„ ¢Ã‚  Pink Nectar Bush One important thing to remember, though, is that  Buddleia  is still an exotic plant.  While it is an excellent source of nectar for adult butterflies, its not a  host plant  for any native caterpillars. When planning your wildlife-friendly garden, be sure to include  native shrubs  and flowers to attract the most butterflies.

Socio-Economic Status of Slum Dwellers

Socio-Economic Status of Slum Dwellers Free Online Research Papers The study region is municipal area situated in dist. Pratapgarh, which sites in Gangetic plain in UP. It spreads over 12 km2 with total population of 71999 persons. In the age of urbanization in developing countries like India, the slums are like white spot on the body which is caused by uneven development. To sort out the urban problems, socio-economic study of the city is necessary and if we want to have clean cities in near future, the studies of slums are not only important but demand of time also. Therefore a sample area has been randomly taken for the socio-economic study. The parameters for demarcation slums are water supply condition, sanitation and road, employment, housing condition, sufficient living area. To sum up, the study reveals that a particular caste resides in a particular slum and these castes are related to either Pal or Harijan and Muslims. The slums lack with water, sanitation, road facility and it also denotes that the slum dwellers are unaware of programs launched by the Government. Pratapgarh District, one of the oldest Districts of UP, which came into existence in the year 1858, is situated in eastern part of UP. According to JNU’s development list based on socio-economic-agricultural, Pratapgarh stands in last category. So it is an undeveloped district. Pratapgarh district famous for its Aonla and people gives alias â€Å"AONLA NAGRI†. The district, which forms from a part of Faizabad division, is named after it headquarter town Bela Pratapgarh commonly known as Pratapgarh. When district was constituted in 1858 it’s headquarter established at Bela which come to know as Bela Pratapgarh. The name Bela presumably being derived from the temple of â€Å"Bela Bhawani†, sites on the bank of river SAI. The study region districts headquarter; Bela Pratapgarh is situated at Allahabad-Faizabad national highway no. 96, at a distance of 39 km from Sultanpur and 60 km from Allahabad. Bela Pratapgarh city is a secondary town and spreads over 12 km2 with total population of 71999 persons (as per 2001 census). It is municipal area, which is divided in 25 wards so far. In total population of Bela Pratapgarh, percentage of OBC population is 31.58% and SC is 7.97%. The percentage of male and female population is 52.67% and 47.32%. The SEX ratio of Bela Pratapgarh is 898 which are quite lower than the district ratio (1004) and literacy rate is 71.039% which is higher than the district literacy ratio (58.67 percent). In Bela Pratapgarh, male literacy rate 77.03 percent followed by female 64.36 percent and district male literacy rate 74.61 percent followed by female literacy rate 42.63 percent. The Study Area: Study area of slums spread in all over the city in small patches. In 1997 District Urban Development Agency (DUDA) was stabilized and DUDA has declared 3 slum areas, these registered slums are Patkohli, Padawa and Karanpur. But there are some unregistered slum areas like Azadnagar, Khuskhuswapur, Pitai-ka-purwa, Bholiapur etc. Among these slum areas Patkoli ward is largest slum area with the 160 households. In Patkoli ward slum area is found in 3 patches- Ziriyamau, Patkoli and Bela Ghat; Pitai-ka-purwa with 2 patches- pitai-ka-purwa and nai-basti. Other slum areas have 30 to 60 households. Ward-name Basti name No of households Patkoli ziriyamau, patkoli, bela gaht 160 Aspatal ward Azadnagar 60 Bali Pur Khuskhuswapur 35 Pitai ka Purwa Nai basit, pure pitai 60 Padawa harizen basti 30 Karanpur Karanpur 35 Bholiapur Bholiapur 25 Objective of the Study: Every citizen has the right to live in a good living condition with employment, safety and other facilities. If any area left undeveloped, creates crisis in the mode of crime, unsocial activities, uneducated and unaware persons, low-level living condition, inadequate housing condition, unmoral citizens and unhealthy children with the unhealthy future of city and country. Now governments aware of the slum Basties of cities and launched many programmes to improve the condition of slum dwellers and his proficiency. But the game does not over, commonly seen that unregistered slums site over Urban Fringe area or at inner border of city, because of special spatial condition policies never imposed its effect in full fledged from. In city area, which is defined by the municipality area, plans take its own time to produce its impacts. Since, slums are present before the executions of development plans; therefore many problems stand in front of city and the citizens in form of crime, violence, poverty etc. These causes also exist in the study area. The objective behind the study aimed at to evaluate the socio-economic condition and to access the impact of government programmes upon slum dwellers of Pratapgarh City (Bela). Methodology: Every city has two types of slum areas i.e. registered and unregistered. The parameters for demarcating the slum are water supply condition, sanitation and road, housing condition. After that, to study the socio-economic status, a random sampling method has been adopted. For the survey and sample collection, a questionnaire has been prepared and door to door survey has been done. Because, Patakoli ward has large number of households, so, in this area 20 households were randomly selected for the study and in other areas 8 households have randomly taken. To evaluate the condition of dwellers, center tendency method is used. Social Status: In Bela Pratapgarh, slum dwellers are Hindus (64.44 percent) and Muslims (35.64 percent). In the total population of slum dwellers OBC with 57.14 percent, are in majority followed by SC with 33.65 percent and General with 9.2 percent. Religion CATEGORY PERCENTAGE HINDU GENERAL 2.955 OBC 47.783 SC 49.261 MUSLIM GENERAL 20.595 OBC 74.107 SC 5.357 Among Hindus, SC population is 49.261 percent and followed by OBC with 47.783 percent and General with 2.955 percent. In Muslims, OBC population is in majority with 74.107 percent followed by General 20.595 percent and SC with 5.357 percent. In slum areas sex ratio is 944 is greater than the Bela Pratapgarh sex ratio (898) and State sex ratio (898) but lower than district sex ratio (1004). In slum areas Hindus sex ratio (1071) is higher than Muslim sex ratio (778). Literacy: The overall literacy rate in slum areas is 56 percent with male and female literacy 65 percent and 46 percent against 71.039 percent in Bela Pratapgarh with male and female literacy 77.03 percent and 64.36 percent. Literacy rate of slum areas, near to district rate (58.67 percent) and UP state rate (57.36 percent) but it lower than the National rate (64.8 percent). The male literacy rate of slum areas 65 percent is quite lower to district rate (74.61 percent), national rate (75.8 percent) and state rate (70.23 percent) but female literacy rate 46 percent is near to district rate (42.63 percent), state rate (42.98 percent) and lowers than the national ratio (53.7 percent). In slum areas Primary educated persons are in majority with 60.71 percent followed by Madhyamic (28.27 percent), Inter (5.089 percent), Graduate (2.68 percent) and Post-Graduate (1.071 percent). The vocational trained persons are 1.09 percent. Income: Total working people percentage of slum dwellers is near about 24.14 percent. Among these persons, 60 percent people do not know the nature of day’s work. The average of working day in a month stands between 16 to 20 days. Over all average income of slum dwellers is quite lower with 13.03 Rs a day/person against the urban poverty line, which is near about 17 Rs. Average income of a working people 55.98 Rs for doing work 7 hour and 36 min in a day, which is quite lower than the UP Government regulation. Housing condition: In slum areas housing conditions are found in a very poor position. In sample area 46.34 percent of Kchcha houses made by mud, plastic and bamboo, 21.95 percent of Pakkaa houses made by bricks and 31.71 percent houses made by mud and bricks which have greater part Kachcha and smaller part Pakka. So, 78 percent of households face problem of housing. Sanitation, Water, Road and Health: In slum area sanitation and road facility are totally unavailable, for example except karanpur, ziriyamau, ptakholi, bela ghat, padava have Kaccha road and azad nagar, khuskuswapur, nai basati and pitai ka purwa have Kharanja road. In these areas drinking water facilities totally unavailable, except Azadnagar, in other ward water source is well or government hand pump, at per 25 households. Also in Azadnagar drinking water facilities totally unavailable and dwellers get drinking water from hand-pumps of rich neighbors. In other areas, if there is water supply, its condition is very poor. Generally water supply pipes are sunk in drain water. Hence, the water can not be used being coal black. In slum area latrine facilities are in poor condition, only 20% households have own latrines and other 80% uses the open lands. The wastages of households dump by householder near the open land or the path. As far as, the total environment of slums does not good, in all these areas children are suffering from viral infections, boils, fever etc for ever. Social Activities: -In crime, violence and immorality slum areas are leading portion of the city. In study area violence seems as quarrel, fight or abuse in home with wife, children, parents etc. or with the neighbors. The day life of the dwellers start and end with the quarrel and it happens because of drinking liquor. Immorality can be seen in the form of gambling. A sentence told by an old man to me in zriyamau about the gambling, pinched me a lot. He told, â€Å"He bhaiya agar in nanha-nanha larikan ka juaa chudawai detya tau enkar kalyan hoi jaatai.†(If you can escape younger Boys from gambling, then they would lead a good life). In these areas some families are vagabonds. Police keeps an eye over them, arrest and warn. Because most of them many times involved in unsocial and immoral activities like snatching, thieving, gambling etc. Government Plans and Awareness: District Urban Development Agency is the coordinating agency at district level for formulating different developmental schemes in urban areas. The following schemes/programmes are being implemented under the supervision of DUDA. Swarna Jayanti Sahari Rojgar Yojana, which is currently in operation with effect from 1.12.97, is a substitution of the earlier programmes like Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP), Prime Minister Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Yojana (NRY), Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums (EIUs). Under the scheme SJSRY, the following programmes are being implemented in all the ULBs of this district. Community structure (Information Education and Communication (IEC) Component. Urban Self Employment Programme (USEP) (subsidy) Development of Women and Children in Urban Areas (DWCUA) Thrift and Credit Society Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP) U.S.E.P (Skill up gradation Training) Administration and Office expenses (A O.E.) About these programmes and DUDA slum dwellers unaware and in sample area only one person know about DUDA and its U.S.E.P. programme. It shows the lack of publicity of programmes and unawareness of slum dwellers. Some advantages they gain from common programmes like Antyodaya yojana, Mid-day-Meal programme and Scholar-Ship programmes. Conclusion: To conclude; we can say that a big number of people, known as slum dweller, are forced to live below poverty line. The main reason of their poverty is illiteracy and lack of will power to improve his condition. They always look for the government helps; debt, relief etc. and wait for them, this type of mentality and government plans make them paralyzed instead of self reliance. They lack behind good education, health, sanitation and economy. There are Governments plans to improve their poor condition. But these programmes are executed half heartedly. There is need to focus their problems and a strong heart and mind to execute these programmes. If it happens so, the day will come with hope for them and for the people who are affected by these slum dwellers. Research Papers on Socio-Economic Status of Slum DwellersInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesThe Effects of Illegal Immigration19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraResearch Process Part OneThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Relationship between Media Coverage and Social andAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeWhere Wild and West Meet

Malayalam Essays

Malayalam Essays Malayalam Essays Malayalam Essays A Malayalam essay can be written in Malayalam or in English-about Kerala. The length should normally cover one thousand five hundred words. Malayalam essays can be written around topics such as Keralas history or political and economy issues. The rich cultural heritage as well as topography of Kerala which is a state in southern India-gives plenty of scope for writing a first class essay. Malayalam essays can focus on topics such as:Marginalized communities The growth of communism Malayalam films Classical dance forms like the KathakalliMalayalam literatureThe history A good introduction to Malayalam essays can examine how Kerala was formed on the first of November 1956 to unite all the areas that predominantly spoke in the Malayalam language. Kerala covers thirty eight thousand square kilometers and is flanked by the Arabian Sea, Tamilnadu and Karanataka. Its major cities include Cochin and Calicut. The Europeans landed on this historical point and opened up t he trade route to India. The spice trade as well as the enormous and lush coconut groves as well as water ways have greatly contributed to the checkered culture of the region. A tourists paradise Malayalam essays can highlight the fact that there is so much for tourists to do and see in Kerala. They can enjoy Ayurvedic treatments that include special massaging techniques that have been passed down for generations, boat-rides on its famous backwaters or bask on her wide beaches. The people of Kerala are highly educated and it is said that many of its bus drivers hold doctorate degrees. Malayalam essays can touch on the fact that the growth of communism as well as the concept of the dignity of labor has meant that few people are ready or willing to pick coconuts or work as domestic helpers in homes for less than exorbitant rates. Points to highlight Highest literacy rate in India-91% The least corrupt state in India Increasing affluence due to NRIs from Kerala that are working in the Persian gulf. The culture of Kerala includes the literature of Bhakti saints in the medieval times Rare forms of martial arts like Klaripayat To conclude Malayalam essays can stress on the natural abundance of Malayalam flora, fauna, literature, dance and films or one can write an essay on the language of Malayalam itself that is probably one of the oldest written languages of the world.

Affiant Introduction Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Affiant Introduction - Assignment Example Lieutenant James Bryant is a Homicide Investigator for the Twin City, Wisconsin Police Department, a position he has held for ten years. At the rank of Lieutenant, Bryant is responsible and in charge of a six member homicide investigations squad. In his over twenty years with the Twin City Police, he was also a patrol officer for three years, five years as a detective on the robbery squad, and three years on the Fugitive Apprehension squad. Prior to that, he also served in the US Army as a military policeman in Frankfurt, Germany for four years. Lieutenant Bryant’s education includes the University of Wisconsin, with a degree in Criminal Justice. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Academy. The Lieutenant has received specialized Training in SWAT Training, Crisis Negotiation Training, and Latent Fingerprint Training. His professional affiliations include the National Peace Officer Association, the National Homicide Investigators Association, and the Wisconsin State Peace Officers Association. Bryant has been involved in testimony for over 150 court appearances, of which twenty times were as an expert witness. He has participated in the investigation of some 2,500 cases. In specific for Homicide Cases the officer has investigated 300 separate cases. Of those he had 200 arrests and a 96-percent solve

A Brief Literature Review Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Brief Literature Review - Coursework Example Biomedical discipline has recognized the significance of drawing on the wide learning potential derived from qualitative research (Black, 1994). Qualitative research has a big contribution in the fields of medicine, health and public health (Merriam et al. 40). A good qualitative research is one that went through the following 6 steps; 2. Background literature review: it helps one to find out what other people have found out concerning the question. It helps you to be well informed and be more specific about the topic. It also helps one to determine if there is need for the question to be answered (Seidman, Irving 27). Debate and guidance around the quality of qualitative research has often been overshadowed by a kind of ‘disciplinary tribalism’ (Pawson, 2001) whereby polemic debate between quantitative vs qualitative theory the needs of practitioners trying to apply its findings.When one plans to asses the evaluation studies through qualitative study methods in social work, it is imperative that the question of criteria to be used to evaluate the related research studies is critical ( Seale, 2002). In public health it helpful since it does not only answer the research question of how something works but also why it is working. The department of health in 2004 reframed health in the context of its wider economic, social and cultural determinants. The parallel developments of evidence based practice and model of health improvement constitute the determinants at large of health as created by gulf between the significance of addressing health related inequalities and the critical evidenc e to help inform the practice. This translates into a mismatch between increasing multi-disciplinary models of health policy (Davey-Smith, Ebrahim, & Frankel, 2001) and a continued reliance on models of bio medically foccused evidence, emphatic on experiment concepts and attachmnt to attribution. Furthermore, alot translats to

Apple Strategy (1984-2004) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Apple Strategy (1984-2004) - Essay Example It employs about 14,800 people. Apple experienced good success during the late 1980s but testing times during the 90s. John Sculley, previously the CEO joined Apple in 1983. Sculley had the valuable experience of the 'Cola-War' between Coke and Pepsi. He was full of marketing ideas and wanted to implement them in Apple as well. Steven Jobs, more of technology oriented initially found this approach little weird, but later gave Sculley a free hand. Realizing the importance of strategic alliance, Apple had a tie up with IBM in 1991 to target the areas where Apple lacked the developmental skills but owing to cultural and other differences the alliance did not last long. Sculley did an introspection and identified some key areas where more professionalism was required in the approach of Apple. For example discipline, work schedule and cost management were the areas put on notice. As part of marketing strategy, Apple also reduced the prices of existing products. But somehow this resulted in losses for Apple. In the meantime Sculley also propagated the 'Newton' series of notebooks, but somehow this series did not have many takers in the market, which resulted in further financial losses. Sculley was then replace with Michael Spindler in 1993 who lasted only three years making way for Gil Amelio, who came out with the Macintosh product range for designers and artists. From here onward Apple brought out radical changes in the marketi ng strategies as well. Amelio also realized that the 'free for all' culture where anybody was free to defy anybody in the company, is causing losses to the company. He believed in more conventional strategy where project managers are supposed to sincerely implement the strategies devised by the strategists, whatever the outcome. Apple thrived on its core competency of 'making the technology easy to use'. Amelio decided to make fullest use of this core competency in areas other than the PC segment. Apple started working on 'Copeland' the new operating system. IT experts started predicting that with the Copeland -1996 will prove to be an advance version of Windows-95. But declining sales and falling profits did not allow the launch of Copeland on time. However Apple acquired another software company NeXT with Steven Jobs back in saddle. NeXT too did not find wide acceptability in the market. This resulted in another round of introspection in Apple hierarchy. Executives from NeXT took over majority of the management portfolios. Workforce was drastically reduced, which paved the way for exit of Amelio. This, coupled with declining sales, gave rise to intense speculation in the industry about the future course of action that Apple will be taking. In August 1997 Steve Jobs announced a strategic tie-up with its lon g time rival Microsoft. Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple and the agreement stated that, 'Microsoft would develop and distribute office applications fro the Apple Macintosh while Apple would bundle Microsoft's Internet Explorer in future Mac products.' This provided a new lease of life for Apple, while for Microsoft it was a strategic move to lower the level of competition in the industry. As a result of this tie up Apple became profitable again in 1998. Now the challenging task for Jobs was to widen the market for Mac, because so far Mac was popular amongst

Summary of a biology article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summary of a biology article - Essay Example ver specimens of the species have been preserved and a recent analysis carried out, in four places namely London, Liverpool, Philadelphia and New Zealand, on the mitochondrial genome have given new insights regarding the origins of this mammal. Through this researchers have discovered that the closest living relative to the Falkland wolf is the South-American maned wolf. While Darwin had observed certain striking differences between these two animals, genetic analysis however show that species divergence might have taken place about 6.7 million years ago resulting in the migration of the species. Scientists believe that the Falkland wolves might have used large icebergs along with sufficient as means of transportation to the island. Darwin had made a special mention about the differences between the mainland and island wolves in his notes and also mentioned that if answers be found for these differences it would really help to ascertain the stability of species. Darwin’s theory of evolution asserts that variation within the same species is a random phenomenon and survival or extinction of an organism is based on its ability to adapt to its environment in which it exists. If an organism adapts well to its environment by imbibing favorable variations it would thus be able to survive and reproduce at a higher rate. Such a state would determine the stability of the species within that particular environment. His study includes both plants and animals and the specimens analyzed by Darwin include plants, birds and animals and in addition he also collected different types of fossils during his expedition in the Beagle to South America. According to his evolution theory changes in the environment might result in divergence of species based on which environment they best adapt. A similar phenomenon has also occurred in the case of the Falkland wolves. According to the genetic analysis report divergence of the two species from a common ancestor has taken place even

Early childhood trauma and the impact it has on adult relationships Essay

Early childhood trauma and the impact it has on adult relationships (emotional and psychosocial) - Essay Example The stress of childhood trauma was found to have an impact on emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social and psychological effects in both Childs early stages of life and also in their adult life. In adult life their found to cause potential and chronic, mental and psychotic problems, thus causing the individual their family, community and ultimately the joy and peace of life. (1) (Bruce D. Perry, 2002) Brain is a organ, that is designed to sense process, store, perceive and act according to information obtained from the world. To achieve this the brain has a hundreds of neurons and related systems that works as a process of modulating, regulating, compensating the control over the body. In the case of stress the homeo stasis is disturbed. It should be understood that stress means traumatic form of severe stress that the child would be unable to handle. Children when faced by moderate to predictable level of stress with the presence of caregiver is usually not much affected. So the dramatic rapid and unpredictable or threatening changes in the environment activate then stress response of central and phereparal nervous system. Thus the trauma throws the individual system out of equilibrium and intern the body rapidly tries to restore the balance, robbing the individual's normal state. The usual response of human brain when confronted with unbearable trauma is dissociation, hyper arousal (the state of hyper vigilance activating stress hormones more level) or a combination of both. Thus the survival strategy range from fighting, fleeing or give up or surrender reaction. The nature intensity and frequency or which depends on individual child. Following this the child enter the phase of posttraumatic period during which the mind and body slowly tends to come back. During this period the child moves from the brink of terror through fear, alarm, etc. The heartbeat, pressure and other physiciological adaptation normalize and hyper vigilance increases. Now the child goes through phase of fear and anxiety and the event gets played in the child's mind again and again trying to make sense of what has happened. This set of living and reliving experiences is called as intrusions - that process them for a long term as a memory that disturbs their adult life. (Bell, D., & Belic ki, K. (1998). (3) Effects of Trauma on childhood period: The experiences leave the child with at times unusual visual auditory or tactile sensations. Disturbed sleep and food patterns are also altered. The child post trauma experiences persisting emotional behavior, cognitive and physiological science and symptoms - The posttraumatic stress disorder characterized by impulsivity, distractibility, attention problems, emotion problems, sleep problems, social avoidance, dissociation, aggressiveness, failure in school and delayed development.

Compare contrast and analyze the coastal management and its effect on Research Paper

Compare contrast and analyze the coastal management and its effect on the population in both ghana and South Africa - Research Paper Example The destructive activities performed by individual lead to destroying of the coastline resources of the countries. In this paper, the coastal management systems of South Africa and Ghana have been discussed precisely by considering all the significant facts about its coastal areas. The reasons for the destruction of the coastal areas of Ghana and South Africa have been explained and how those have impacted on the people and business located there, are also discussed. 2.0 Coastal Management Coastal management comprises of the coastal resource management, coastal zone management and integrated coastal zone management that relates to formal or informal practices, economies, rules, technologies as well as interaction among natural resources and humans who are located near sea coast. The coastal management also includes the way through which the resources are utilized and protected1. In the coastal management process, there are five phases such as identification of issue as well as evalua tion of baseline. The second phase includes the preparation as well as adoption of coastal resource management, in the third phase there is an action plan along with implementation of project. The fourth phase is the monitoring and evaluation, and the last phase comprises of information management, outreach and education1. The term ‘Coastal Management’ came into being after United States Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 was implemented. According to this act, sectoral management approach was not operating effectively, that was developed to focus on the individual resources such as fisheries, and other activities such as transport. Then the idea came to develop a coastal management approach with definite plans that primarily focus on particular issues related to national along with local importance. From that period new coastal management approach was applied in various situations all around the world2. The activities of coastal management takes place both in the dire ct land-sea border as well as in wider area of indirect influence of sea on land as well as land on sea. It also involves organizing the production of intertidal organisms and co-ordination of various sectors along with management agencies that have a direct along with indirect influence on the coast. The management of coast facilitates synchronization between the sectors and agencies. It also helps to develop the capability for integration of coastal consideration to the particular work2. Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) is considered as inter as well as trans-disciplinary approach of management, which was first initiated from the year 1970. The main objective was settlement of the conflicts of coastal stakeholders and to attain sustainable coastal development. Integrated coastal management is referred as the process by which several marine as well as coastal environments are managed in order to provide broad range of needs of bio-diversity protection along with sustainable use by facilitating the stakeholders to participate in the management programs3. MPA (Marine Protected Areas) is considered as an essential component of integrated coastal management program. They help in the protection of biodiversity as well as ecological

Early childhood trauma and the impact it has on adult relationships Essay

Early childhood trauma and the impact it has on adult relationships (emotional and psychosocial) - Essay Example The stress of childhood trauma was found to have an impact on emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social and psychological effects in both Childs early stages of life and also in their adult life. In adult life their found to cause potential and chronic, mental and psychotic problems, thus causing the individual their family, community and ultimately the joy and peace of life. (1) (Bruce D. Perry, 2002) Brain is a organ, that is designed to sense process, store, perceive and act according to information obtained from the world. To achieve this the brain has a hundreds of neurons and related systems that works as a process of modulating, regulating, compensating the control over the body. In the case of stress the homeo stasis is disturbed. It should be understood that stress means traumatic form of severe stress that the child would be unable to handle. Children when faced by moderate to predictable level of stress with the presence of caregiver is usually not much affected. So the dramatic rapid and unpredictable or threatening changes in the environment activate then stress response of central and phereparal nervous system. Thus the trauma throws the individual system out of equilibrium and intern the body rapidly tries to restore the balance, robbing the individual's normal state. The usual response of human brain when confronted with unbearable trauma is dissociation, hyper arousal (the state of hyper vigilance activating stress hormones more level) or a combination of both. Thus the survival strategy range from fighting, fleeing or give up or surrender reaction. The nature intensity and frequency or which depends on individual child. Following this the child enter the phase of posttraumatic period during which the mind and body slowly tends to come back. During this period the child moves from the brink of terror through fear, alarm, etc. The heartbeat, pressure and other physiciological adaptation normalize and hyper vigilance increases. Now the child goes through phase of fear and anxiety and the event gets played in the child's mind again and again trying to make sense of what has happened. This set of living and reliving experiences is called as intrusions - that process them for a long term as a memory that disturbs their adult life. (Bell, D., & Belic ki, K. (1998). (3) Effects of Trauma on childhood period: The experiences leave the child with at times unusual visual auditory or tactile sensations. Disturbed sleep and food patterns are also altered. The child post trauma experiences persisting emotional behavior, cognitive and physiological science and symptoms - The posttraumatic stress disorder characterized by impulsivity, distractibility, attention problems, emotion problems, sleep problems, social avoidance, dissociation, aggressiveness, failure in school and delayed development.

The Inglorious Bastards would make glorious movie stars Essay Example for Free

The Inglorious Bastards would make glorious movie stars Essay Nothing sells like a movie on the Holocaust, especially if the Jews win this time. The film tells of two separate plots to annihilate the Nazi Germany political leadership during the Second World War era. The plots are made by two completely different parties, whose plans eventually converge by the end of the movie as fate would have it. One party is a tribe of American-Jewish warriors with a strong desire to kill as many Nazis as they can. They go behind enemy lines and straight into a Nazi occupied territory in France to carry out this plan and de-scalp a hundred Nazi heads for each of them. The other party is a young lady who grew up hiding as a Frenchwoman after she survives the massacre of her Jewish family. She grew up seeking refuge in a cinema in Paris which eventually becomes the venue for the culmination of the movie, and of the seemingly undefeatable Third Reich. With the said plot of the film, one would expect that the setting of the film would be on a concentration camp or a depressed war zone. However, this film would go beyond what most war film goes for: Inglorious Bastards will not capitalize on state-of-the-art cinematic effects and the tension brought about by violence and dead, bloody bodies. While most war movies depict only the violence of war in combat zones, this film would shed light on what other war situations mostly ignored. The film would present the ironically quiet life of learning to live with the war in a Nazi-occupied territory of France, intermeshed with the regular routine of everyday life without the bomb explosions. What would build the tension would be the fear felt, as tangible as it could be, by the oppressed people inhabiting this area and living in a country thousands and miles away. Needless to say, the film would centralize on extreme patriotism, the fight for freedom, and yes, even the concept of revenge. The epic history of the Nazis’ hunt for the total obliteration of the Jews would never get old for moviegoers. For one, no other event in history could compare to what the Jews went through during the holocaust. The sufferings of colonized countries within hundreds of years of oppression would stale in comparison to the cruelty and injustice this particular race went through. Witnessing the triumph of a plot against the reigning tyrants presented on a silver screen would surely bring about a sense of united victory among people from different races. The background and experiences of the characters are already films in themselves, but what the characters would actually carry out throughout the film to achieve their goals would bring a lot more to the table. Although, some may argue that the concept of revenge would promote terrorism or violence. That is how the treatment of the film would come in to actually reverse that assumption. As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, this film would not show multiple and never-ending scenes of war veterans exhausting all their ammunition to end up as victors of a war. On the contrary, majority of the scenes of Inglorious Bastards would be quiet conversations. This way, the audience would not only see the mechanics of war, the psyche of the characters would also be understood. Take the case of the antagonist for example, who holds a high position in the Nazi hierarchy. He is more terrorizing than Adolf Hitler himself, but only a few instances in the entire film would the audience actually witness him in a fit of rage. He delivers his orders calmly, which is more effective and would elicit more fear from the characters and audience. Having Quentin Tarantino as the writer and director of the film would make it more interesting than it already is. Tarantino is known for introducing a new genre in the field of filmmaking in Hollywood. His incorporation of the pop culture, which proliferated in the 1970s, in the narration of his movie’s plot brings the audience to a new world. With the non-linear narration of the film, the movie is set to arouse the interest in every moviegoer. With the non-predictability feature of his films, the audience would not fall into a hazy daze but rather explode with excitement with every second and scene that goes by. In the case of Inglorious Bastards, Tarantino actually labored for at least a decade in the production of the movie’s script. Taking into consideration Tarantino’s unique writing style and the amount of labor exerted on this script would prove the quality of the script. His non-linear process of narration is not necessarily unique to him, but his choice of language and words known for his style would increase to the kindled interest of moviegoers everywhere. Knowing Tarantino and the meticulous attention he pays to details, we would be sure he would not get any cinematographer who just happens to be available during the production months. For the production of the movie, the same cinematography Tarantino has been working with for his other previous films would be the same person in charge for Inglorious Bastards. In the previous movies, we can see that the unconventional cinematographic style veers away from simply choosing between a wide angle or a close-up shot. This method of cinematography would complement Tarantino’s unique way of doing movies and would add to the cohesiveness of the film. Similar to the cinematography, the soundtrack of the film would not be what a professional in the industry would expect. The usual orchestra playing a melody in the background would not supplement the fear element in the movie; nor would it use songs from modern day rock bands. To maintain the simplicity of the film, the practice of using background music used in the previous decades. This is also done to create a comic-book feel translated in the movie. The uniqueness in all of the tonal elements in the movie is employed to achieve an ultimate end of the movie, which is to aestheticize violence. Marketing objectives for the film The majority of moviegoers’ age for this movie type would range from age 18 up to, possibly, 50 years old. However, for this particular film, the target market would consist of a wider demographic. Initially, males of different ages would seem to be the most obvious and only target market for the film as it is movie on war. Most people would say females would have no interest on this particular genre. Considering the treatment of the film, however, would make one think otherwise. Since the focus of the story is not mostly on the technicalities of war, but on the anguish, suffering and revenge of the abused, the female demographic is also included. Aside from this, the film would also get the attention of the youth. As young professionals already have the purchasing power, majority of this particular demographic would surely spend on entertainment. What the youth prefer, this film delivers: the film leans towards the unconventional and unpredictable genre, it shows just the right amount of action without capitalizing on blood and gore. When we say youth, we also include younger teenagers probably from 16 years of age. This particular age group would be old enough to understand the concepts of violence and war in the film, and is the most avid audience of upcoming movies. As stated in the earlier paragraphs, the film would be positioned not as a war movie, but as one which tackles the heavy concept of war and revenge in a lighter, less violent manner. It is a movie of reclaiming freedom and honor. With the positioning of the movie stated, we can then say that the tempered violence in the movie would serve as one of the strengths of the movie. The tempered violence throughout the film would allow different profiles on an international scope to be included in the film’s target market. Therefore, the projected net profit for this film would be more than enough to cover production expenses. Aside from this, since this is a story about the Nazi occupation, this film would turn many heads once the publicity of the movie would start. People from different nations would be interested in watching a movie on such a historical event. It would not be one of the movies which end up spending more than they earned. Also, the strength of Tarantino as a writer and director would quiet any raised eyebrows, for his skills and talent as both writer and director is undeniable as can be proven from his previous movies. Having him direct the film and write the screenplay would actually attract more audience for the film.

Human Resource Accounting and Indian Practice

Human Resource Accounting and Indian Practice Abstract Traditional acting practice treat expenses incurred on procurement, development, and maintenance of human resource as revenue expenditure and debit this to profit and loss account but now it is being increasingly realized that this expenses are incurred to get future benefit and as such should be capitalized and reflected in the balance sheet. This can only be achieved through introduction and implementation of human resource accounting. The study focuses on how human resource accounting has evolved over the period and how human resource accounting is used in today business application particularly in the Indian context. In addition the study also assesses how human resource cost is treated by the accounting standard and try to discuss alternative treatment. Through the study of Indian companies, the paper will propose ways through which human resource accounting can be introduced in India and become more popular than the current application. Introduction The world has witnessed a transition from manufacturing to service based economies. Before 1960s most economies relied on manufacturing sector to sustain growth but the past few decades have witnessed growth in service based economies. The fundamental difference between manufacturing and service sector lies in the nature of their asset. In manufacturing, physical assets like material, plant, equipment and machinery are very important (Johanson and Mabon, 1998). On the other hand for the service sector altitude and knowledge of employee is of utmost significance. For service firm such as information technology (IT), value of physical asset is considered less worth compared to skill and knowledge of its personnel. Similarly, in academic institution, hospital, audit firm, accounting firms etc the strength of the firm depends on skill and services offered rather than physical asset. Therefore the success of service organization depends on the quality of the work force i.e. competence, kn owledge, motivation, and skills. People in the business world today cite human resources as the common greatest asset. However employee value is rarely reported on the financial statements. This may have resulted from capitalist system that tends to glorify capital resources with a lukewarm emphasis on human resources. For this reason management of business enterprises have been rewarded on the basis of their utilization of capital asset without reference to value of workers. In fact business valuation has been a manifestation of this system. The common measurement of return that are used to value business include return on investment, return on asset or return on capital. In these cases there is no reference to the value of human resources. In service based economies it is important for employee to be recognized as part of the total worth of a firm. In estimating the worth of human capital it is vital to employ some method of quantifying human knowledge, skills, motivation and contribution of human aspect in organization process. Human resource accounting represents this process of measuring or quantifying human resource. Definition of human resource Leon. C. Megginson defined human resource as the total knowledge, skills, creative abilities, talent, altitudes and belief of an organization workforces as well as values, altitude and belief of the individuals involved. Definition of human resource accounting One of the definitions of human resource accounting comes from American Accounting Associations Committee on Human Resource Accounting that defines human resource accounting as the process of identifying and measuring data about human resources and communicating this information to interested parties. Therefore human resource accounting involve measurement of all cost associated with recruitment, selection, induction, training and development of workers as well as the economic value of people in a firm. Flamholtz has a similar definition as he define human resource accounting as the measurement and reporting of the cost and value of people in organizational resources. Human resource accounting has also been defined as the system of recording of transactions relating to the value of human resource i.e. the cost of acquisition of their knowledge and utilization of the energy for production of goods and services in the most profitable manner and thereby achieving the organization goals (bassi, et al 1997). In general human resource accounting may be defined as the process of identifying data about human resource, recording investment made in them and measuring their cost and value. It also involves presenting the information in a significant manner in the financial statement to communicate their worth with changes over the period and result obtained from their utilization to users of financial statement. There are no statutory requirements which demand companies to furnish human resource accounting related information in their final statement. The company act of 1956 had no provision for HRA. The subsequent accounting bodies such as Institute of Chartered Accountants of India have not yet drafted standard or measurement dealing with accounting and reporting of human resource accounting. While most organization give qualitative pronouncement on importance of human resource very few make effort to give quantitative information about human resource. Currently some organizations are furnishing additional report beyond what is required by statute. One notable statement that has gained wider acceptance among many firms is the corporate social responsibility report. This is due to recognition that the traditional financial reporting does not give sufficient information about organization performance. In India some companies have recognized the value of human resource and include related inf ormation in their annual report, they include Infosys, steel authority of India (SAIL), Bharat Heavy Electrical ltd (BHEL), Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation of India Ltd, Mineral and Metals Trading Corporation of India, Hindustan Zinc Ltd, Associated cement Companies Ltd, Madras Refineries Ltd, Oil India ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, and the Cement Corporation of India (Punita 2007). Historical development of human resource accounting Human resource accounting can be traced back in the medieval European practice of calculating the expected future earning of a prisoner versus the cost of keeping him. At that time a prisoner was considered as the general property of capturing side and therefore after a victory a decision had to be made on whether to capture a prisoner or kill him depending on cost benefit analysis. If expected benefit outweighed the cost the prisoner was capture but if cost were greater than benefit he was killed. For instance in 1964 Sweden and Austria agreed upon the following price list (figures given in taler) Field marshal 20,000 Colonel 1,000 Cavalry captain 200 Infantry captain 150 Non-commissioned officers 16 Private 8 Though this was a rough measure, it highlights the fact that human resource has value and such value can be measured using appropriate basis. Development of human resource accounting as a detailed and systematic activity began in 1960 by Rensis Likert. Likert defends long-term planning by strong pressure on human resources qualitative variable, resulting in greater benefit in the long run. He defined human resource as to include all such assets as a firms human organization, its customers, loyalty, shareholders loyalty, supplier loyalty, its reputation among the financial community and it reputation in the general society (bowers, 1973). William potty made the first attempt to value the human beings in monetary terms. He was of the opinion that labor was the source of wealth and must be taken into consideration when making an estimate of wealth. From 1960s the behavioral scientist started a real work of studying about human resource accounting (Flamholtz, 1969). This development can be dividend into five stages according to Flamholtz. Stage one (1960 1966) during this era there was increased academic interest in the area of human resource accounting. At this time most people focused on deriving human resource accounting concept from other theories such as psychological theory and economic theory of capital. Stage two (1966 1971) at this stage the focus shifted to developing different models for human resource accounting. The model developed covered monetary, non-monetary value and cost of human resource. The objective of developing such model was to help the firm in managing their human resource and assessing human resource asset in a realistic manner. The main contributor to the study at this era was Roger Hermanson. During his ph.D studies, he studied the problem of measuring the value of human resource as an element of goodwill. Thereafter researchers who were inspired by his work continued to develop methods and concepts of accounting for human asset. Stage three (1971 1976) there was rapid growth in research in the area of human resource accounting. The field gain more acceptance and wide spread interest. During this era most researchers tried to evaluate how human resource accounting could be applied in businesses. A notable experiment was that of R.G. Barry which gave substantial contribution to researchers (Boudreau, 1996). Stage four (1976- 1980) during this era there was minimal research in the field of human resource accounting. This was due to the fact that there were complex issues that needed further exploration and deeper empirical research than the simple model developed earlier. The other reason for slow growth in human resource accounting at this time was unwillingness among many organizations to offer sponsorship for research in this area. Stage five (1980 onward) the shifting from manufacturing to service economies in many developed countries renewed the interest in the area of human resource accounting. In addition the realization of the usefulness of human resource in facilitating growth, profitability and survival of the business contributed to the renewal of interest in the field. Unlike in the previous studies where the main interest was academic with few practical application but since 1990s the focus shifted to application of human resource accounting to business management. Various models which incorporate both tangible and intangible asset have been developed to suit the specific need of the organization. At this time most organization began using human resource accounting as part of financial and managerial accounting practice. Objectives of HRA systems Its basically adopted to treat human resources as assets, to generate human data about names, to assign value to human assets in the balance sheet. The objectives include: Provide information for making management decisions about acquiring, allocating, developing and maintaining human resources in order to attain cost effective organization objective. To develop methods of ensuring human resources cost and value and to allow management personnel to monitor effectively the use of human resources. Provide a system of asset control i.e. whether assets are conserved, deflated, or appreciated (Boedker et al 2008). Aid in the development of management principals by classifying the financial consequences of various practices. Develop a theory that will explain the nature and determinants of the value of people to enterprises. Significance of human resource accounting A well defined human resource accounting can help the management to become more efficient, in addition it is useful in internal reporting and to external users of financial statement. Usefulness in internal reporting Helps in planning Human resource cost acting provides cost information required in human resource planning process thereby facilitating preparation of future forecasts and budget (booth 1998). Help in decision making human resource accounting provides data in areas where alternative option exist e.g. whether to acquire a trained employee or develop one from within, or whether to retrench or retain an employee. Instead of applying non-monetary measures of potential ability, the economic value of recruits will be better criteria for selection and optimization of the expected value of the organization human resource and subsequent valuation of adequacy of return on investment in human resource. Helps in capital budgeting the present technique used in capital budgeting decision consider the human dimension as a qualitative factor. This is not realistic in the present scenario where huge investment is being made in development of employees and therefore human resource accounting system would justly assess the impact of capital budgeting on human and non-human asset. Helps in control human resource accounting help to ensure that human resource objective are attained objectively and efficiently as it provide information necessary to implement the control function. The standard cost of acquisition and development is compared with actual cost incurred and the variance if any is analyzed to identify the possible lapses in personnel management function (Scarpello and Theeke, 1989). Helps in performance evaluation the present convention of measurement of return on investment ignores the changes in human resources and this encourages mangers to use their human resource to include their short term objective. Inclusion of human resource input would be a good performance measure as it would reveal the return on human asset. It helps in activity analysis measurement of human resource value would provide top management with new set of financial ratio for effective organization activities analysis e.g. ratio of human and non-human resources indicate the degree of labor intensity. Higher labor intensity could be used as a result of outdated technology requiring the utilization of high proportion of labor or employment of unwarranted existing labor (Tang, 2005). Usefulness in external reporting In business creditors and other external users of acting information would find data in human resource useful as it would measure change in asset value over period of time thereby reflecting the correct measure of corporate growth. Capitalization of expenses relating to development of human resource also reflects a correct financial position and performance of the organization. The market value of share may reflect changes in value of human resource thereby enhancing the companys image among the competitors while increasing the confidence of shareholders. Usefulness in management of human resources Acquisition of human resource human resource accounting provide information for budget preparation for cost involved in recruiting, selecting and hiring human resource. Besides in selection process personnel executive needs data about economic value of a candidate in order to choose the one with the highest economic value. Allocation of human resource human resource accounting provide quantitative information about capabilities, skills and other personal attribute of employee which will help management in attaining a perfect allocation of organization human resources whereby employees are assigned jobs perfectly matching their own abilities in order to fully utilize their skills and capabilities. Maintenance of human resource presently organization use turnover rates to measure the extent of human resource observation. However such parameters are not adequate as they do not fully reflect the impact of turnover. With inclusion in human resource accounting the management may monitor the investment cost through human resource replacement cost which provides the economic magnitude of turnover rate as well (Drake, 1997). Evaluation and reward for employees as human resource accounting can provide management with changes in value of human resources over time both in monetary and non-monetary term, the figures will not only make possible the determination of salary and wages on the basis of employees value but will also provide a criterion to both the management and unions in negotiating any increases in compensation and reward payment. Training of human resource organization invests heavily on human resource development program without evaluating expected payoff of return because this outlay cost is considered as expenses rather than investment. Since human resource accounting involves treating this expense as asset the information about this cot and the benefit of this program would be evaluated on a rational basis. Case for and against human resource accounting Argument against human resource accounting Incase of high employee turnover rates there may be no basis for capitalization since there is no future benefits to carry asset status. If the definition of asset is future economic benefits the rights of which are owned or controlled by the firm then one may question whether human resources indeed are assets. Unless one is working in a slave society human resource are not owned in the convectional sense of the world, and therefore employees may be opposed to the capitalization because of the connotations that goes with it. The development of human resource accounting is necessary to provide a firm with accurate financial reports to guide its decisions. Its also needed to increase the validity of criteria of measurements used in organizations research. According to asset recognition criteria, an asset is the future economic benefits the rights of which are owned or controlled by an enterprise. Therefore as long as future benefits are expected to come from these training costs, they can be treated as assets. However, as Cea Garcia observes, this does not hold true in reality; There is a clear absence of correspondence between the real assets in the present firms and those recognized in the balance sheet, in front of a pure economic approach where assets is every instrument or way that can be used in production -distribution of a firms process or, in general, every category of economic value which can be transformed into goods or services or any instrument at the service of the firm or that the firm uses, regardless its juridical state, and also all those goods and rights that the firm does not own now but used to own or will own later on, by virtue of collateral contracts or agreement which may induce it. It may be argued that the rate of amortization and the rate of capitalization may coincide and therefore the net effect on the income statement may be as under convection human resources cost expense treatment. The period with which the employee will work for the enterprise is uncertain and therefore the amortization is subjective. Marvin Weiss (1972) discussed the argument for and against Human Resources Accounting argue that there is inability to determine the period of future benefits, the ownership status of such assets and inability to amortize such assets on an objective way. As Ebersberger (1981) argues, even where the logic of HRA is a plausible one must confront the issue of measurement. How does one place a value on an individuals head? How can one value commitment to an employer or ones ability to work as a team. The management may use human resource accounting to manipulate the workers. The manager may reduce the value of a worker as a way of punishment for perceived or real differences. There is an immense amount of power placed in the hands of the valuers of human resource. Any value placed on an employee may have irreparable damage on employees attitude. Managers may also transfer some workers near the end of the period to clean up their balance sheet. Employee may demand to be paid in accordance to their reported value particularly if they believe this would lead to a higher pay HRA may have a disastrous effect on the morale of the employee if his or her value reduces through depreciation. Moreover human beings grow, learn and mature at different rates and therefore a standard depreciation rate is inapplicable. Case for Human Resource Accounting Whereas there may be workers turnover, this may not be justification for expensing the cost of human resources. Failure to capitalize may negate the going concern concept. If an employer were to expect such high turnover then he would not incur expenditure on employee training and development in the first place! On average it is expected that workers will remain long enough for the firm to recoup its investment costs. Workers may not be owned as such but the convention of substance over form argues that what matters in transaction is the economic substance not the legal form. Leased assets are recognized in the books despite the fact that they are not owned. Human resource expenditure like training and development are incurred for workers who are in the process of learning and therefore they do not benefit the operations of the year in which the costs are incurred. For that reason it is inconsistency for charging such costs in the year of expenditure. Instead they should be capitalized and amortised over the years expected to benefit from the employees services. In pension cost accounting armotisation or accrual of expenditure related to employees is required. Such accrual methods take into consideration length of service and turnover rates. Whereas it is agreeable that armotisation rate are subjective, it must be noted that depreciation rates for the tangible assets are mere estimates based on assumptions. It is therefore no justification to prohibit capitalization and armotisation of human resource expenditure. Measurements in human resource accounting The main reason why human resource accounting have taken a long period to be incorporated in the companys final report is the difficulty or challenge of assigning monetary value to various human asset cost, investment and employees worth. There are mainly two methods that are used in assigning monetary value to employee cost, investment or worth. This includes: the cost approach the economic value approach The cost approach is based on the actual cost incurred by the company in relation with employees. The economic value approach considers human resource as asset and tries to identify the future earning resulting from use of human asset. The cost approach Cost is the amount of cash or equivalent given to acquire property or services. If property other than cash is given to acquire property or services the cost is the cash equivalent of property given. When property or the services acquired are sold or consumed the cost are matched with related revenue to determine the amount of net income or net loss. The cost of property or service that are acquired and are still on hand at any particular time represent asset. Such costs are also called unexpired cost. As asset are sold or consumed they become expired cost or expenses. Therefore in accounting cost incurred are recorded in the financial statement as either asset or expenses. Costs which are recorded as expenses in the current period include those which provide benefit during the current accounting period (Schwarz Murphy, 2008). for instance when machinery is purchased the portion of cost recorded as expenses include depreciation for the year (i.e. the benefit accruing from the use of asset in that particular year) while the portion of cost recorded as asset in the net book value (cost accumulated depreciation). Under costing approach various techniques that can be used to value human resource include Historical cost approach The actual cost incurred on recruiting, selecting, training and developing the human resources of the organization are capitalized and written off over the expected useful life of the human resource. Under this method the cost of acquisition i.e. recruitment, selection, hiring and training employees are capitalized and written off over the expected useful life of the employees (Flamholtz, 1999). If the employee decide to leave the employment before anticipated period of service then the amortized portion of cost remaining in the companys book is written off against the profit and loss account in that year. If the employee stays beyond the expected term of service then amortization of cost is rescheduled. According to Caplan (1974) the basic theory behind the historical cost method is that human resources value can be determined by accumulating the cost of investment. Human resource accounting in this respect involves a decision to capitalize rather than to expense costs incurred in t raining and development of employees. When referring to training cost, historical cost means the sacrifice necessary to hire and train people. The training concept is generally used to define three different issues which are difficult to distinguish in practice; they include capacitating, training, and development. Capacitating is the workers acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary for his job. Training better adapts the worker to the job while development mainly focuses on promotion to higher job levels (Guzman 1996). Once capitalized the resulting balance should be amortized as an expense in the periods when the employee became a productive member of the organization and unamortized balances should be written off when the employee leaves the organization. Merits Easy to work and simple to understand. It follows the traditional concept of matching cost with revenue. It is favored because it is most similar to convectional accounting It can provide a basis of evaluating a companys return on its investment in human resources. Limitations Suffers from problem of historical costs accounting. The users of accounts may view these values as a measure of the potential usefulness of an employee. Difficulty in estimating use of human resources. One cannot tell when an employee may quit a job. The economic value of human resources may increase with experience, but armotisation reduces the reported value. It is difficult to reconcile the two. Ignores the aggregate value of employees potential services. People may learn things outside the organization which will be useful in their jobs yet these may not be taken in account. Training and development cost that are capitalized do not guarantee employee increased performance. Opportunity cost approach The value of the human resource is determined according to its alternative use. An estimate of alternative use of the human resource is required. The value of the human resource is the price that the alternative use is ready to pay for it. Opportunity costs are considered as an asset value when [they are] the target of an alternative use [Hekimian and Jones, 1967]. The alternative use is the alternative department. As a result, only scarce resources would have an alternative use. This approach suggests competitive bidding for scarce employees in an organization i.e. opportunity costs of employees linked to scarcity. The approach proposes the capitalizing of additional earning potential of each human resource within the company. The opportunity cost approach requires at least two departments or cost centers both desiring the services of the same person or a group of people. Limitations It cannot value employees who have no alternative use. The valuation of employees on alternative use and competitive bid is inaccurate and misleading. One may not have values in the alternative use but perfectly useful in one department. This valuation restricts alternative use within the organization. In real life there is alternative use outside the business and moreover alternative use within the business may not be identifiable because of constraints in an organizational environment. Standard cost approach The method was developed by David Watson. The approach advocates for a standard cost per grade of employees updated every year. Replacement cost can be used to develop standard costs of recruiting, training and developing individuals. Such standards can be used to compare results with those planned. Any resource produced should be analyzed and would form a useful basis of control. Under this method, standard cost of recruiting, hiring, training and developing per grade of employees are determined annually. The total standard cost for all personnel of the company is the value of human resources The problem is that the determination of the standard cost from each grade of employee is a ticklish process (Moore, 2007). Economic value added approach This approach utilizes the concept of present value. The value of human resource is considered as the present value of future benefit expected to be received from employees service (Lev and Schwartz, 1971). Various scholars have suggested a number of valuation techniques under the present value approach. The technique varies in terms of recognition of benefits. Some argue that the benefits to be discounted are the expected stream of payments that the firm will make to the human resource. In either case the human resource in it is seen as a future stream of benefits up to the date of death or retirement, discounted at an appropriate discount rate. This method is perhaps the most appealing because it incorporates the entire stream of benefits. However, present value approach suffers from the following limitations It ignores the possibility of a human resource leaving employment in the given organization other than through death or retirement. Having many reasons as to why people may leave an organization. Difficult to establish the actual benefits from employment because some of the determining factors like trade unions are out of organizations control. Teamwork is a thing more than the sum of the values of individuals. Present value approach does not reflect the contribution of the team as a whole. It ignores the organizations effect on the value of a human resource. The economic value of human resources may be of group, individual or the whole organization. The method for calculating economic value of human resource may be classified as either monetary or non monetary Monetary measures of human resource value Flamholtz model The Flamholtz model considers the value of human resource as the present worth of services likely to be rendered by an employee in future. When an employee moves from one position to the other at the same level or to different levels the profile of services offered will be different. The value of individual will therefore comprise of the present cumulative value of all possible services to be offered by the employee his career at the organization. The value of individual cannot be determined with certainty and is considered to have two dimensions. Conditional value of individual This is the amount that organization expects to realize from employee service during his productive life in the firm. It is mainly composed of three factors namely Productivity this include various services that employee is expected to undertake in his current position. Transferability this include a number of services that the employee is expected to offer in different position at the same level.