The Cooperative Bank free essay sample

This paper examines the foundation and operational systems of the cooperative bank and its attempt to position itself within the context of two generic identities; the cooperative movement and the generic identity of the banking industry. It takes a look at the ethical policy concepts of the bank as its business model and how this has evolved as a differentiation characteristic for the banking industry. It also explores briefly the evolution of the bank since conception, its successes and challenges so far, and its target markets. The cooperative bank was established in 1872. It has a proud history as part of the cooperative movement whose early foundations are traced back to efforts of peasants to break free from capitalist principles and its social system. Its ethical policy strategy was launched in 1992 and states who it chooses not to do business with. These include but not limited to the following: (i)Businesses with links to environmental damage (ii)Arms and fur trade (iii)Genetic modification and animal testing A report by Nicholls (2007) 1 â€Å"defines ethical markets as an aggregated consumer-provider (demand-supply) exchange transactions of goods or services that have as one of their defining product characteristics – a normalised notion of social and/or environmental benefit. We will write a custom essay sample on The Cooperative Bank or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † The cooperative bank operates as a business that is not driven solely by capital but also by human rights and social justice. The bank enjoyed tremendous success in the early 80’s and pioneered innovative ideas such as free interest bearing cheque accounts and free in-credit banking. Due to change and innovation, the organizational structure of cooperative banks has evolved. Co-operative banks today increasingly consist of complex ownership structures that mimic the organisational models of commercial banks. According to Wyman (2008) 2 ‘‘their defining characteristics are no longer as clear cut as during inception’’. Differentiating individual contributions of members and their share of the accruing benefits is becoming increasingly difficult. By the early 90’s, deregulation of the banking sector opened up the current account market to intense competition and consumerism. Based on market research, the bank adopted a new marketing strategy centred on its ethical stance; this created a new public image and awareness, which increased its target market and customer base; currently at over 6million consumers. The bank is also not quoted on the stock market and has just one shareholder which is the cooperative group. 3 this means it is less susceptible to the current fluctuations of the money market and provides better security for customer investments in relation to more popular high credible banks. The 1999 launch of its wholly internet bank, Smile has the 2nd highest customer ratings among UK banks. BBC (2008). 4 In the 2005/06 financial year, whilst making profits of ? 96. 5 million, it turned away business of nearly ? 10 million. 5 This loss of funds is crucial for investment purposes and critics ask if the cooperative bank can successfully lead in the ever competitive banking industry. A look at the big four banks such as Barclays, Hsbc etc show a major strength in their accumulated capital base. Barclays bank has an estimated capital base of $32. 5 billion, 6 this gives it a competitive advantage in providing cutting edge technology, innovative marketing strategies, and broader branch networks etc which all serve to increase the banks’ image in the public eye. The cooperative bank currently faces issues such as insufficient funds to compete strategically with these bigger banks and thus focuses more on providing value and social consciousness through its ethical policy strategy. It also lacks high street accessibility; this relates to its poor branch network in comparison to these other bigger banks. This puts the cooperative bank in a disadvantaged position with customers and target market. Conclusively, the cooperative bank has achieved tremendous growth since inception and essentially struggles with achieving a competitive edge within industry. It appears a lot still has to be done to increase the strength of the brand and the bank needs to review its existing policies and operational structure. We propose that, it takes advantage of the current market fluctuations in the banking sector and increase its direct and indirect marketing strategy. A greater level of awareness on its ethical policy stance and cautious investment drive should be emphasized.

Essay about Huck Finn River

Essay about Huck Finn River Essay about Huck Finn River Mark Twain’s masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, primarily takes place around the majestic Mississippi River. In fact, there wouldn’t be a story full of adventures if the Mississippi River wasn’t there to provide Huck and Jim a mode of transportation. However, the river symbolizes much more than a physical landmark throughout the story. Twain effectively utilizes the river to play several roles in his novel. For Huck and Jim, the grand Mississippi offers them a gateway to new adventures, freedom, and comfort. When Jim decided to become a fugitive slave after realizing that he would be sold, Huck makes a daring commitment to follow him. Although Huck had his own reasons to flee, he possessed an insatiable thirst for adventure. â€Å"Next morning I said it was getting slow and dull, and I wanted to get a stirring up, some way. I said I reckoned I would slip over the river and find out what was going on.† (Twain 54) Huck dresses up as a girl in o rder to find out what was going on in the next town. It was a risky and foolish adventure, especially since Huck was aiding a runaway fugitive down the Mississippi River. The river simply didn’t allow Huck and Jim to have many uneventful days. Fog from the river also makes the duo miss the mouth of the Ohio River, resulting in witnessing a dangerous family feud, crashing their raft into a steamboat, and assisting two low-life con artists. These adventurous turn of events were all made possible by the Mississippi River. Since these events happened in real physical towns and landmarks near the river, Twain is able to provide the reader a high level of authenticity. For Huck and Jim, the river represents freedom and hope for a better life. Jim is shackled by the cruel reality of slavery; his wife and children were enslaved and separated as well. He has no intentions of being sold to a slave state and decides to utilize the river as an opportunity for a new life. Although Jim is an uneducated slave, he is smart enough to know that he would be free if the river carried him to a free state. The river was a great idea, because it wouldn’t leave tracks behind for slave catchers to follow his trail. Jim’s grand plan was to allow the river to carry him to freedom, which would allow him to work towards buying his family’s freedom. This idealistic plan could only be made possible if the river’s currents would allow it. Although Huck is white and legally not a slave, he feels hopelessly enslaved by society and his drunken father. â€Å"All right; I can stop anywhere I want to.† (Twain 34) After Huck escapes, his adventures on the Mississippi River begin. The river enables him to finally be in control of his own life. Neither the Widow Douglas nor Pap is able to mold him into something Huck is clearly not cut out to be. While floating down the river on a raft, Huck and Jim are finally able to experience a taste of freedom. Although floating down the river on a raft may seem to be a cluttered and cramped

Ooredoo Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ooredoo - Coursework Example All employees must obey and follow the general work ethic while the other corporate social culture requires that employees should respect one another. Structure is another framework as posited by Peters (2011). This involve the structure of the organization with a well layout from the top managers and directors to subordinate works (Palatkovà ¡, 2011). It also outline the chain of command defining how orders move within the organizational structure. Strategy is another framework where the company maintain and build a competitive, differentiated advantage and cost leadership over competition (Peters, 2011). Another framework is style. In this case, it refers to the mode of leadership a company adopts. For example, the style can be decentralization or centralization within the company where an employee can talk to the management at any time. Singh (2013) asserts that staff is another framework where the company need to have employees with different capabilities. For example, the considerations with regard to this include age, culture and religion variations. Another framework is skills where the company should have an excellent training program for employees and a special one for mangers (Palatkovà ¡, 2011). Through this, employees and managers will have the necessary competence for working in the company (Peters, 2011). Finally, system is another framework that involve the daily activities and procedures that the company staff members engage in to get job done. For example, this may involve setting up goals for each employee, assessing the employee to see what they have done so far and finally rewarding hardworking

MacAskills Strong Claim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

MacAskills Strong Claim - Essay Example The argument is generally based on the charity sector as compared to the paradigm ethical careers, reasons why charity work is viewed as the most ethical career choice. This is therefore justified by the positive effect one has on the world and the community by pursuing such a career and also if the career can make a difference and if it can make the world a better place when it is pursued. Morally controversial careers can sometimes be very lucrative than a morally innocuous career but very few people will wish to pursue such a career-making their wages to be great high. These morally controversial careers differ from reprehensible careers and they include careers such as working for a company involved in the arms industry, working for the petrochemical company, some careers within the finance sector like the ones involved in the speculating on wheat thereby increasing price volatility and disrupting the livelihood of the global poor. Also, there is the reprehensible career which in cludes working as a hit man, drug dealer or a child trafficker and the non-consequentialists tend to reason typically much stronger against this reprehensible career and for this reason they are considered typically illegal whereas the morally controversial careers are not. On pure consequentialists grounds it is most unlikely that a moral sensitive individual could actually bring themselves to pursue such a career and by doing so could impair their ability to influence others to also pursue philanthropy.

Literary Analysis of The Things They Carried Essay

Literary Analysis of The Things They Carried - Essay Example The main thesis of the discussion is keeping the war firmly in minds and passing it from one generation to another. The war should be in the minds of people as it gives a reason the war took place and helps in keeping the heroes who lost their lives alive. The loss of lives should educate individuals on the importance of living in peace and harmony as well as it provides the need to protect the dignity of the heroes. The narrator of the story should have the skill of narrating the story in a special way creating the picture into the minds of the audience. The thesis adequately provides enough information to assist in making an opinion from the draft. The achievements that the soldiers had from the war and the negative factors that the soldiers as well had encounter in the process of the war and after fighting. From the thesis, it is clear that a significant number of soldiers lost their lives and dear friends. In addition, the soldiers had the possession of condoms, cigarettes, lighters and cakes from the same war. According to the thesis in the provision, it is possible to create a precise opinion due to the availability of adequate necessary information. In order to make the thesis firmer, discussing on the weapons and strategies that the soldiers made use of would greatly help strengthening the thesis than it is now. However, including information on the means of getting food and shelter to hide from the intensive adverse conditions of the war can assist in developing more focus on the thesis. The information that the draft addresses includes, the challenges that soldiers faced in the war in Vietnam. From the draft, it is clear that the loss of life is the major effect that the soldiers had to cope with until the end of the war. The mental challenge also affects the soldiers due to the fear of loss of life and witnessing the death of their comrades in the

Causes of the Global Financial Crisis

Causes of the Global Financial Crisis 1. What were the main causes of the global financial crisis? What steps could the UK government take to reduce the dangers of another crisis? Discuss using course material AND your own research. Introduction: Through Globalization different country get the opportunity for international trade, increase the capacity of capital flows and spread the uses of technology by enhancing the global economic condition (IMF: 1997). Over the last 30 years especially in the mid 80s and mid 90s cross border transaction increased ten times faster than before and foreign direct investment increased three times faster than before (Economist: 1997). The globalization has involved national economies which are incorporated through trade and foreign investment. It has also created the difference between manufacturing and services by using different technology and processing (Kobrin: 1999). Gereffi says, â€Å"Due to this globalization the global economy has changed during the last ten years and so. Many development countries also moved up in the international system.† The origination of global financial crisis After the second quarter of 2008 the US financial market collapsed and the global financial crisis started. As US is the leader for all international financial systems the crisis has extended to the other countries rapidly. The decreasing rate of cash flows, decrease in asset prices and increasing rate of uncertainty in financial systems affected the whole global economy and starts the financial crisis globally. After the great Depression in 50s this is the largest economic breakdown as described the International Monetary Fund in 2009 (Frenkel Rapetti: 2009). The View of the Current Global Crisis: This global economy is struck by the recent economic crisis and mainly worsens the financial condition since September 2008. In Latin America the economic condition condensed in the second quarter in 2008. The causes of the financial crisis were foreign remittances of Latin America have reduced in 2% and the rate of international trade also reduced to 2-3% in this economic downturn. Most of the countries which economy is driven by the foreign trade are hampered due to this economic downturn. The decreasing rate of export commodity prices including the export industry commodity prices also lead to the financial crisis in recent years and results in lower GDP rate. However the economic shock results in export revenue plunged. Also the instable exchange rate and increased yield price disintegrate the stock market (Ocampo: 2009). Morgan (2009) found out few susceptibility of the global financial crisis. Those are debt and leverage, intra-financial multiplication, inequality in global tra de. This economic downturn showed up mainly after the fall down of Lehman Brothers in 2008. New US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pointed out some factors in G7 conference, â€Å"in order to improve the financial condition all countries should maintain a pledge to open trade and investment policies.† He also pointed out some factors to be improved in order to get the economic growth. The factors are: Praise for recent economic moves by China; Help for banks; and The need for a speedy end to the Doha talks on world trade The Steps Could be Taken by the UK Government to Recover this Global Financial Crisis Improving the modern time global economic crisis has become the greatest challenge for every government. To recover the global economic crisis UK government should plan the necessary steps: must re-establish the confidence, growth, and jobs; The finance institutions need to be renovate to provide loan in order to restructure the faith financial regulation need to be toughen. International financial institutions need to be altered and funded in order to recover this crisis and take precautions for future crisis. build an complete, emerald, and sustainable recovery. The global economy can be out of recession and can be out of future crisis with above assurance by performing globally. Re-establish the confidence, growth, and jobs In order to re-establish jobs UK government should take a unique and intensive financial growth by creating jobs to the hard working families by the end of this year amount to $5 trillion raise output by 4 per cent, and accelerate the transition to a green economy UK government should use the full range of monetary policy, using exceptional instruments, consistent with price stability and central bank should maintain the development policies for longer time. In order to reinstate the growth of the economy UK government must reinstate the national lending and international capital flows. To overcome these situations UK government need to supply liquidity to the banking system and benefits the financial institutions. UK government needs to carry out well functioning international monitoring system in order to avoid competitive devaluation of UK currency by creating structured economic policies. Finance institutions need to be renovate to provide loan The global economic crises are mainly driven through the failure of financial sector and financial regulations of every country. To recover the situation UK government should take positive steps by constructing a reliable, supervisory and dogmatic framework for the future financial sector. This framework would support the global growth and fulfill the demand of the business and local citizens. UK government must ensure that to maintain the global financial system the national regulatory systems need to strong enough to provide reliability and cooperation between countries. The regulatory systems will be stronger if regulators and supervisors protect consumers and investors and reduce the financial economic cycle rather than increase it. UK government should implement a plan to Strengthening the Financial System. The plan includes: new financial stability board (FSB) need to be formed. This FSB would provide future predictions of financial risks and also necessary steps with the help of IMF. macro-prudential risks need to be taken to organize the regulatory systems after the recovery reliability of capital in the banking system need to be confirmed through quality, quantity. To carry out this implementation plant the finance minister should take the necessary step. Financial regulation need to be toughened Due to the recession all the markets around the world are facing challenges. As the international market is depending on each other with the cross border transaction and relating to this matter the UK government should strengthen the international financial institutions to recover this situation. So this government needs to increase its resources through the global financial institutions. Resources should be used effectively to support the financial progress. The longer term consequences of the financial institutions need to be toughened to overcome this crisis. A fair and sustainable recovery need to make sure UK government should not focus to re-establish the growth of the global economy but they also should focus on the criterion which has hampered the economy of the underdeveloped country. The Government should also ensure that the damage to the global economy should be minimized. UK Government should provide more resources to recover their financial condition and should create a social protection for the underdeveloped countries. As a part of the G20 UK government can do some contributions to those underdeveloped countries. They should create employment opportunities for those who are affected by this financial crisis. For both the men and women the labor market needs to be formed. Fulfill the commitment However this is most important for everyone to work together and set up a plan to fulfill the commitment to recover the financial crisis and make sure this crisis will not continue further after the second quarter of this year. Conclusion; After all the analysis it is clear that global financial crisis has created major impact on the global economy. Many developed, developing and underdeveloped countries are badly affected by this crisis. Since US market directly motivating the other countries market so it is clear that the crisis started form there and spread out to the global economy. Some countries faced reduction in remittances due to this financial crisis. Many countries stock price has decreased due to the exploitation of currency exchange rate. To overcome this situation all the government should implement dependable macroeconomic policies and impose regulation on national financial systems. In developing countries the crisis is getting deteriorated in terms of balance of payments and the economic sense of balance. References 1. Shiller, Robert J. The subprime solution: how todays global financial crisis happened. Princeton. NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008. 2. Summer, Lawrence H.† International Financial Crises: Causes, Prevention, and Cures†. The American Review, May, 2000, pp. 1-16. 3. Blankburg, Palma. â€Å"The Global Financial Crisis†. Cambridge Journal of Economics, July 1, 2009, pp. 531-538. 4. Crotty, James. â€Å"Structural causes of the global financial crisis: a critical assessment of the new financial architecture†. Cambridge Journal of Economics, April 23, 2009, pp. 563-580. 5. Morgan, Jamie. â€Å"The limits of central bank policy: economic crisis and the challenge of effective solutions.† Cambridge Journal of Economics, March 31, 2009, pp. 581-608. 6. Frankel, Roberto. â€Å"A developing country view of the current global crisis: what should not be forgotten and what should be done.† Cambridge Journal of Economics, March 25, 2009, pp. 685-702. 7. Ocampo, Josie. A. â€Å"Latin America and the global financial crisis.† Cambridge Journal of Economics, March 13, 2009, pp. 703-724. 8. [Global Financial Crisis], via JSTORE, accessed[February/2009]. 9. â€Å"G7 pledges to avoid protectionism†, BBC News, 14 February, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7889222.stm. accessed February 2010. 10. Sing, Anup. â€Å"Global Financial Crisis†, Global Issues, 25 July, 2009. http://www.globalissues.org/article/768/global-financial-crisis. accessed in February 2010.

Mock Job Application Formal Letter

Miss B Watkins Darlington College Haughton Road Darlington DL1 1DR 5th November 2012 Mr L Fordham Tewit Park Harrogate HG1 1JD Dear Mr. Fordham I am writing to you with regards to the open job position Business Support Assistant. I discovered this position in a recent internet search and was immediately interested. I am currently searching for a job in which I can broaden my knowledge and progress myself further whilst also gaining experience. I believe I am the best candidate for this particular position as I have a wide business background and will be extremely committed and hard working.As well as this I personally believe I have the correct characteristics for this type of work; confident well organized, polite, punctual, motivated and ready for a challenge. I also have excellent computer skills. I studied ICT at GCSE level and I also have lots of experience using computers throughout my previous jobs. As required I have a great understanding of Microsoft office and can efficient ly use all of the Microsoft programs including Word, PowerPoint, Publisher and Excel. I work well individually as well as part of a team as I love to meet new people and I have a very friendly personality.Due to this, I can communicate very easily and efficiently. I have previously worked in a call centre therefore I have a good knowledge of how to deal with queries over the telephone and I can fulfil this role with confidence. I feel I would thoroughly enjoy being a part of your team and contributing towards your future developments. I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my letter and It would be much appreciated if you could consider my offer and I will look forward to hopefully hearing from you soon. Yours sincerely B. Watkins Miss B Watkins

Research Proposal Electronic Health Records

Effects of Technological Experience on Adoption and Usage of Electronic Health Records Introduction The integration of electronic health records in the IT infrastructures supporting medical facilities enables improved access to and recording of patient data, enhanced ability to make more informed and more-timely decisions, and decreased errors. Despite these benefits, there are mixed results as to the use of EHR.The aim of this research is to determine if medical health professionals who lack experience with technology are slower to adopt and use electronic health records (EHR). Research has shown that the healthcare industry is plagued by rapidly increasing costs and poor quality. The United States medical care is the world’s most costly, but its outcomes are mediocre compared with other industrialized, and some non-industrialized, nations. Medical errors are a major problem resulting in upwards of 98000 deaths a year; as a result, patient safety has become a top priority.The healthcare system has been slow to take advantage of EHR and realize the benefits of computerization: that is, to improve access to records and patient data, to reduce incorrect dose errors, avoid drug interactions, and ensure the right patient is in the operating room (Noteboom 2012). Despite the obvious benefits a 2007 survey by the American Hospital Association reported that only 11% of hospitals had fully implemented EHR. Another study by Vishwanath& Scamurra reported less than 10% of physicians in different practices and settings in the US use EHR. Blumenthal (2009) cites only 1. 5% of US hospitals have comprehensive EHR systems.A similar 2009 study by the American Hospital Association shows less than 2% of hospitals use comprehensive EHR and about 8% use a basic EHR in at least one care unit. These findings indicate the adoption of HER continues to be low in US hospitals (Manos, 2009). Understanding the reason for the lack of technological integration is pivotal to securing q uality and affordable medical care. Education expert Mark Prensky (2001) defined two terms, digital natives and digital immigrants, which he used to describe those who have an innate ability for technology from an early age (native) and those who are slower to learn and adopt it (immigrant).This disparity is suggested to play a key role in the ability and desire of professional to use technological solutions in their day-to-day activities. Our intent is to expand this possibility to medical health professionals’ use of electronic health records. Our research will attempt to determine if being native to technology has any impact on a practitioner’s desire to incorporate information technology in to their work routine. We will also see if natives have perform better in health information settings as has been shown in other areas.Previous Research A 2008 study by DesRoches et al. attempted to discern barriers to the adoption of electronic health records. The authors condu cted a survey of physicians registered in the masterfile of the American Medical Association, excluding Doctors of Osteopathy. The authors listed 4 basic reasons the respondents could choose from; financial barriers, organizational barriers, legal barriers, and barriers from the state of the technology. Respondents could further clarify their responses base on subgroups.Financial barriers could include initial capital to implement the systems or uncertainty about the return on investment. Organizational barriers were sub-divided in to physician didn’t want to, the physicians did not have the capacity to, or they feared there would be a loss of productivity during implementation. Legal barriers included fears of breaches of confidentiality, hackers, and legal liability. State of technology included failure to locate an EHR that could meet their needs or that the system would become obsolete to quickly.Their results show that 66% of physicians without EHR’s cited capital costs as a reason. The also responded with not finding a system to meet their needs, 54%, uncertainty about their return on the investment, 50%, and concern that a system would become obsolete, 44%. Physicians working in locations with EHRs tended to highlight the same barriers, though less frequently. The authors concluded that financial limitations are the greatest barrier to the adoption of electronic health records. They do admit that their study, like all surveys, could be subject to response bias.Burt (2005) also surveyed physicians, this time from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a yearly survey conducted by the US census bureau. The authors were attempting to find correlations between EHR implementation and other statistics, such as age, practice size, and ownership (physician, physician group, or HMO). They used regression modeling and bivariate analysis of three years of survey data. They found that practices owned by HMOs were three times more likely to adopt EHR as single physician or group owned practices.Also, large physician group owned practices (20 or more) had an increased usage of EHR over small group and single physician owned. The authors reported that there were no variations due to practice size in the different ownership groups. Physicians’ age did not have any effect on EHR usage. The authors concluded that the ability of larger practices to spread the sizable investment required to purchase and implement the technology over more physicians and services was the largest factor in implementation EHR. Laerum (2001) was the first to look at how individual Physicians interact and use EHRs on an everyday basis.The conducted surveys and telephone interviews with physician in 32 units of 19 hospitals in Norway, because a much higher percentage of Norwegian hospitals use EHR, about 73%. The authors selected 23 possible common tasks a physician that could be assisted by or completed by an EHR. The also collected computer lite racy data, respondent age and sex and overall satisfaction with the system. The authors found that very few of the possible tasks were being utilized in the EHR. The found that on average physicians were using EHR for 2 to 7 of the possible 23 tasks.Most of the tasks used related to reading patient data. The also found that the computer literacy rate was high (72. 2/100) and there was no correlation with respondents age or sex. They gave the users satisfaction as a generally positive rating. Though demonstrating that physicians use EHR less than they could they gave no explanation as to why. Simon (2009) followed the same path as Laerum mentioned above, surveying physicians usage of EHR in practices that have systems deployed. The authors identified ten main functions available in EHR systems deployed in hospitals in Massachusetts.They attempted to determine if these ten functions were actually being utilized or if the physicians were still using paper. The authors deployed mail bas ed surveys, in 2005 and 2007, to physician in Massachusetts. The surveys asked the practitioners if they had an EHR deployed in their hospital, if and how they used the EHR for the ten predetermined tasks, and simple demographic information. The authors found that while EHR deployment grew by 12% (from 23% to 35% of hospitals), the amount of usage self reported didn't change.EHRs were still mostly being used for reading patient data, but there was a small increase in the use of electronic prescribing, with 19. 9% of physicians with this function available in 2005 using it most of the time, compared to 42. 6% in 2007. Linder (2006) expanded on this by asking why physicians aren't using EHRs. The authors also conducted a survey of Partners Healthcare; which supports an internally developed, web based, fully functioning EHR called Longitudinal Medical Record. They also expanded their base to include nurses, nurse practitioners, and physicians.The survey contained basic demographic info rmation, self-reporting skill level with the EHR, how often they used the EHR, and what they felt were barriers to their use of the system. Since this survey was contained to a system that had already implemented the EHR, the authors had removed the typical barriers of capital as reported above, but they still found that 25% never or rarely used the system, and less than 15% used the system exclusively every time, i. e. never took paper notes or wrote paper prescriptions.They found no correlation of EHR usage to age or gender, but did find that nurses were slightly less likely to use the system. The most uprising data was why practitioners said they didn’t use the EHR with 62% of respondents saying they didn't want to suffer a loss of eye contact with the patients and 31% of respondents saying that they thought it was rude to use a computer in front of a patient. Other notable reasons were falling behind schedule at 52%, computer being to slow (49%), typing skill (32%), and p referring to write â€Å"long prose notes† (28%).This was the first study to identify social barriers to the adoption of EHR in professional settings. Since the majority of the research had been unable to identify simple solutions a series of workshops consisting of industry leaders were formed to study the problem. Kaplan (2009) reports that participants convened and discussed current issues and challenges with widespread adoption of EHR. The workshops conclude that while there are still some technical issues with Information technology in the health sector the main focus needs to shift to revealing sociological and cultural problems.Noteboom (2012) took a different method to determine barriers to EHR adoption; eschewing all previous research in to problems with the usage of EHRs. The authors decide to use an approach more commonly seen in social sciences called open coding, a type of grounded theory. This method is almost the complete revers of traditional research in that it starts with data collection. From this data, key points of text, in this case transcripts from case studies, are marked with a series of codes.These codes are anchors that allow key points of data to be gathered. The researcher can then use these key points to construct a theory or hypothesis. Noteboom started with simple interviews with physician, attempting to elicit â€Å"perceptions, meanings, feelings, reasons, and comments† about their interaction with EHRs. The interviewed physician at the Research Medical Center, Kansas City, and labeled the transcripts of these interviews. From these interviews the authors discovered that users of EHR fall victim to positive and negative work cycles.Positive cycles are ways in which the system helps the physician, i. e. quicker reading of patient data or mining historical data. Negative cycles are tasks that take longer like data entry, which was done by nurses prior to EHR implementation, or lack of specific functions for special ists, calculate rad dosage for radiation therapy. Design Our research methodology will consist of a case study of medical health professional, preferably physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and nurse practitioners, currently employed in an institute running EHRs.The primary data will be gathered through interviews to elicit perceptions on ability to adapt to and use new technology, feelings on the implementation of the technology, comments about the systems, and history of their technology use (to determine natives and immigrants). Secondary data will be collected by having competent users observing participants interaction with the system and evaluating their efficacy. Once the data has been collected it will be analyzed to determine if there is any correlation between digital natives and digital immigrants as it pertains to their use of EHR.Special attention will be paid to how often the system is used compared to the theoretical maximum and how efficient the practitioner is compared to how efficient they perceive they are. Requirements to conduct this study are small. All that is required are willing hospitals that have EHR systems installed, hopefully with a diverse staff spanning many age groups and experience levels. We would also require around 5 interviewers who are well versed in assessing software efficacy to conduct the interviews and gauge practitioners’ abilities on the EHR system.Statistical data will be calculated on IBM SPSS or similar. ? References Bates, D. W. , Ebell, M. , Gotlieb, E. , Zapp, J. , & Mullins, H. C. (2003). A proposal for electronic medical records in US primary care. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 10(1), 1-10. Blumenthal, D. (2009). Stimulating the adoption of health information technology. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(15), 1477-1479. Burt, C. W. , & Sisk, J. E. (2005). Which physicians and practices are using electronic medical records?. Health Affairs, 24(5), 1334-1343. DesRoch es, C.M. , Campbell, E. G. , Rao, S. R. , Donelan, K. , Ferris, T. G. , Jha, A. , †¦ & Blumenthal, D. (2008). Electronic health records in ambulatory care—a national survey of physicians. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(1), 50-60 Kohn, L. T. , Corrigan, J. , & Donaldson, M. S. (2000). To err is human: building a safer health system (Vol. 6). Joseph Henry Press. Kaplan, B. , & Harris-Salamone, K. D. (2009). Health IT success and failure: recommendations from literature and an AMIA workshop. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 16(3), 291-299.L? rum, H. , Ellingsen, G. , & Faxvaag, A. (2001). Doctors' use of electronic medical records systems in hospitals: cross sectional survey. Bmj, 323(7325), 1344-1348. Linder, J. A. , Schnipper, J. L. , Tsurikova, R. , Melnikas, A. J. , Volk, L. A. , & Middleton, B. (2006). Barriers to electronic health record use during patient visits. In AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings (Vol. 2006, p. 499). American Medical Informatics Association Manos, D. (2009). New study shows few hospitals have comprehensive EHR. Healthcare IT News. McDonald, C. J. (1997).The barriers to electronic medical record systems and how to overcome them. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 4(3), 213-221. Noteboom, C. , Bastola, D. , & Qureshi, S. (2012, January). Cycles of Electronic Health Records Adaptation by Physicians: How Do the Positive and Negative Experiences with the EHR System Affect Physicians' EHR Adaptation Process?. In System Science (HICSS), 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on (pp. 2685-2695). IEEE Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants Part 2: Do they really think differently?.On the horizon, 9(6), 1-6 Simon, S. R. , Soran, C. S. , Kaushal, R. , Jenter, C. A. , Volk, L. A. , Burdick, E. , †¦ & Bates, D. W. (2009). Physicians' use of key functions in electronic health records from 2005 to 2007: a statewide survey. Journal of the American Medical Informati cs Association, 16(4), 465-470. Vishwanath, A. , & Scamurra, S. D. (2007). Barriers to the adoption of electronic health records: using concept mapping to develop a comprehensive empirical model. Health Informatics Journal, 13(2), 119-134.

Comment on the dramatic significance of any 3 scenes in Hamlet Essay Example

Comment on the dramatic significance of any 3 scenes in Hamlet Essay Example Comment on the dramatic significance of any 3 scenes in Hamlet Paper Comment on the dramatic significance of any 3 scenes in Hamlet Paper has been one of the most remembered names in the world of ancient literature. He was well known for his romantic comedies and tragedies , which gained a lot of fame , and recognition. As we see , in Hamlet , how he has made use of different techniques in order to bring out the dramatic significance in the play. In Elizabethan times , revenge was considered to be manly , and courageous. They believed , society would function in a better manner if man could control his passion , and this has been beautifully shown in the play . Hamlet has been one of Shakespeares most remembered plays. Through this play , Shakespeare once again told that era of his deep insight into the human mind , and the rich use of language , reveals a lot about the Elizabethan era . His passages , reflect philosophical thoughts , which were usually spoken in rhyme or verse . Since there was no effective back drop , the essence and style of Shakespeare was created only through his words. In the opening scene of the play, the reader begins to guess what is going to happen. The first line itself creates a sense of curiosity , and it is in the form of a question , Whos there? . The use of certain details creates an eerie atmosphere , phrases such as struck twelve and , bitter cold , are just some examples. The use of questions , such as Has this thing appeared again tonight? , tends to hint at future events. In this particular scene , we are introduced to the main character , Hamlet . It is as if other characters , such as Horatio , introduce us to Hamlet by saying that the apparition that is dumb , may speak to Hamlet . The use of imagery , and the specific mention of a ghost tends to create excitement and horror in the reader , and the contemporary audience took interest in scary manifestations. This scene also tells us how past events effect the present and the future. The very mention of a ghost , and its silence sows the seeds of tragedy . The reader gets more and more involved in the play , and this curiosity is sustained through out the play. The reader is not shocked , when the ghost first enters for the others players have already spoken about it to the audience. The audience are immediately told whos ghost it is for , In the same figure like the King thats dead. The arrival of the ghost creates a dramatic tension , and Horatios next words , fear and wonder , tend to amaze the reader , keeping the curtain unveiled. The ghosts silence arouses excitement in the audience , and the bewildered characters make the scene look very natural. The ghostly night , has been associated with the preparation of War with Norway. It emphasizes on the awaiting tragedy , and strengthens the confusion in the reader. Once again , we see there is use of gruesome imagery , lines and phrases such as , The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead.. and , Stars with trains of fire and dews of blood. The language over here is very direct , and expressive. Words such as blood and dead horrify the reader , introduce the basic theme of the play , which is revenge. Shakespeare also believed in using supernatural elements in his play , No fairy takes ; nor witch hath power to charm. Marcellus says this when the young men talk about the , Saviors birth. Normally , in Greek plays , the chorus was used. In Elizabethan plays , the prologue was used , but in this play , Hamlet uses the opening scene to express his views and ideas. The next scene which once again dramatizes the play , is act 3 , scene 2. In this scene , we see Hamlets state of mind. Shakespeares language tends to intensify the turmoil that he is going through , and the audience seam to appreciate this. Basically , in this scene Hamlet instructs the actors , and his instructions reveal his fondness of drama . He makes important points on an actors performance , we see this in line such as , Let your own discretion be your tutor. Here we see , a number of contrasts ,such as Horatios balanced temperament contrasted to Hamlets violent and unexpected mood swings. In this particular scene , we are exposed to a more sentimental , and emotional side of Hamlet. We see , that he believes clowns are the saddest people. His thoughtful views on friendship , show us his admiration for Horatio . Here it is seen , that friendship is one of the themes in the novel as well. Once again , Shakespeare shows his deep insight into the human mind in the line , Give me that man that is not passions slave , and I will wear him. Hamlets abrupt dismissal of Rozencrantz and Guildenstern shows the dramatic contrast to his whole hearted praise for Horatio. It tells us that a person who is balanced , and does not over dramatize is always appreciated. Hamlet deliberately procrastinates , and this shows us that even though he is brave and courageous , he does not really wish to kill his uncle. Hosting the play is just one of the ways of procrastinating , Hamlet was hoping that the King would not show guilt , and the ghost would be proved wrong. Having a play , in the play adds to the dramatic significance of the novel , making Hamlets desperation more credible and comprehendible. In Shakespeares plays , one would find a lot of repetition or lists. It helps to make the dialogue more strong , effective and emphasizes on the state of mind of the character. For instance , in the play , The Murder of Gonzago , we come across the line , Whether love lead fortune , or else fortune lead love. It has a highly philosophical tone , and the repetition of the same words , and the letter L makes the line more memorable. In this scene , we also come across a number of similes , one which is from Ophelia to Hamlet , You are as good as a chorus , my lord. At the end of the play , when Hamlet is successful in bringing out guilt onto Claudiss face , there is a line with the same word repeated three times to show his guilt , fear , and nervousness. Lights ,lights , lights! Shakespeares settings always tell the reader of what is coming up next . Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn , and the hell itself breathes out. In this particular line , we see that the atmosphere tells the audience that something unpleasant is awaiting the main character. A metaphor has been used , for hell is given the human quality of beathing. Another very dramatic technique of Shakespeare is using cross reference . I will speak daggers to her , in Macbeth a similar image is created in the readers mind. Hamlets soliloquies enables the audience to see Hamlets feelings about himself , and other characters in the play. It basically aims at seeing the main characters inner feelings , and his confused state of mind is usually seen only through his soliloquy. We also meet a new phase of Hamlet as he exposes a new sentimental and emotional side , that is new to us. The scene ends with a short soliloquy of Hamlet , and the line , Now could I drink hot blood. This particular line talks of the revenge that Hamlet wants to avenge. Animals are part of the Elizabethan natural order in the universe and are parallel of the characters. It is very relevant to the audience , as it relates to the scene , emphasizing on the evil side of it. Another very dramatic scene is Act 5 , scene 2. The very beginning of the scene , talks of old memories a t sea , and he finds actual proof that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are really not his true friends. It stated that Hamlet should be executed immediately on his arrival in England , and the idea of making them taste a bit of their own medicine , teaches the audience that Hamlet was ready to take revenge. Hamlet , once again justifies his idea of taking revenge in these lines , giving four reasons. He hath killed my king , and whored my mother, Popped in between thelection and my hopes, Thrown out his angle for my proper life. In this particular scene , we see that Hamlet has grown stone hearted , and even after his 2 schoolfellows have died , he has no feelings of remorse or sorrow whatsoever. In his conversation with Horatio , it is seen he is a different person , and is now confident of avenging his fathers murder. The language over here has a consistent cold tone , and it is not very difficult to understand. In certain lives we see that forceful words have been used , such as , Grinding of the axe and , My head should be struck off. The mention of weapons , tells the reader that something unpleasant is awaiting the characters in the play. Shakespeare , creates an atmosphere with the trumpets and drums , making the particular moment in the scene memorable. In this scene , we meet a new person , Osric. We learn a lot about this character , through what Hamlet thinks of him . We see , that Hamlet does not particularly like him , and in his sarcastic and casual ton e , we see that he considers him to be a person of no great substance or morals. Claudius hosts a fencing match , between Laertes and Hamlet , and we see that Hamlet accepts it , and is ready to undertake anything that fate has in store for him . Even though , Laertes accepts Hamlets apology , we see that he really doesnt forgive him , and still looks forward to murdering him. The audience sense victory , the King orders for vine and music in case Hamlet wins . Claudiuss slow and conniving moves , of slipping a poisoned pearl into the cup , tell the audience what is really in his mind. It excites them , and baffles them at the same time. Another theme in the novel , is a mother-son relationship. We see this time and again , when Gertrude tries her level best to encourage her son , and wipes the sweat of his face in intervals . We see that Gertrude may have also been guilty , of re marrying and may be her sons words may have convinced her to take her own life. It is here when Hamlet realizes what is really going on and he coaxes the king to drink the rest of the poison. Claudiuss melodramatic line , It is too late , shows his selfish nature , telling us that he did not really value his wifes life. Once again over here we see repetition and lists , in Hamlets lines to the King , Here , thou incestuous , murderous , damned Dane. We see that even Laertes in successful in killing Hamlet , and so is Hamlet. The unexpected death of all the characters makes the end very emotional , and frightening. Hamlets last words to Horation tell us of his dedication to him ,Now crack a noble heart. Goodnight sweet prince. This line has a double meaning and does not clearly tell the audience of what Hamlet is actually trying to say. I truly enjoyed reading the play , and it was not only exciting , but very moralistic as well. The saying , Procrastination is the thief of time , is proved right for Hamlet is so reluctant to kill his uncle , and in the end , he has to give up on his own life as well. It dealt with many themes , and it is easy for everyone to relate to it. The change in Hamlets character at different intervals remind anyone of his/her very own state of mind . The play has given revenge a very positive side , and it once again shows the confused and rebellious side of any human.

Race biases in face recognition

Race biases in face recognition Abstract The objective of determining the amount of face consciousness among people from the same races and those from different races is an interesting field of study. It has been discovered that most people are not able to distinguish the difference between two people who are of different racial backgrounds from theirs.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Race biases in face recognition specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is even more difficult if the person encounters both groups of these people at different intervals in the society. People of the same race are also believed to have the same habits and so, it is a common occurrence when people are judged based on their perceived racial backgrounds. Introduction Race bias in face recognition is a common issue among many people from all walks of life. For most people, it is always easy for them to identify the faces of people from their own races than from other race s. The result of this has always been a misidentification which most of the times leads to incrimination of people who are innocent. People who have never interacted with other races experience difficulties in distinguishing the difference existing between people of the same race that they do not constitute. This is different when identifying people from their own race as they are able to tell the difference. One of the most important research questions in relation to this subject is whether the difference in visual signals is extorted from the same race, and other race facial characteristic. According to the research carried out by Bothwell and his colleagues (1989) a conclusion was drawn that â€Å"the image processing system is less sensitive to spatial relations between features in other-race faces than in the same race faces† (20). This conjecture is proved by the comparison of recognition capacity in faces that are upright and the ones which are inverted. The effect of face inversion is a deficiency in the roots ability and a reduction in the cognitive capacity of the observer or participant in the experiment.Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Methodology The first step in this case, is to determine the sample over which the assessment will be carried out. This involves the selection of twenty people belonging to different races. A fifty – fifty difference in gender will be employed to make the outcome of the experiment more convincing and useful. The stimuli should consist of passport photographs taken from the front. They should have the black and white shade and categorized according to gender. The person preparing this test should ensure that none of these people has unique physical characteristics such as long hair, different style of clothing or even eye glasses. The other recommendation is that half of this population should consist of one race and the other half the other race under consideration. Visual basic software is then used to describe these images to the people participating in the experiment. Seated at approximately one meter from the screen of the computer, the participants are requested to carefully examine the images. These are displayed randomly at an interval of about three seconds. A constraint is created such that three consecutive images should not for people from the same race. After a specific period of just running the images on the screen, the other half of the images that had been presented are displayed before the participants. The participants are not aware that the images being displayed are different from the previous ones and so they are asked to select a yes if they are able to recognize a face and a no if they had never seen it before. The results are rated on 7 point scale and finally the participants fill out forms describing their racial backgrounds including the racial characteristics of the community they grew up around. From the experiment, the following graph was plotted. Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Race biases in face recognition specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Discussion Form the graph above, it was clearly identified that first, the students were able to identify the aligned faces better than the misaligned ones. The rate of acceptance was however, higher amongst people of the same race in the aligned case. As for the misaligned faces, the rate of acceptance was lower in other races than in the individual race. The participants were able to recognize the people behind the images of the misaligned faces better when the person was from their racial background. People who grew up in neighborhoods with different races were able to recognize the person behind the images more accurately irrespective of their racial affiliations. This owe to the fact that they have interact ed with people from many races to the extent that they can tell even in the event of the misaligned faces. Many researchers have suggested that people from different racial backgrounds have physical features and facial expressions that resemble. The conclusion drawn from the whole experiment is that, the amalgamated effects on the faces of the sample population were experienced more with the same race image compared other race faces, and the substance of this process of mis-aligning the faces demonstrate how the relations between people of the same race are more stimuli related. According to Yin (1968) â€Å"these findings provide direct evidence that the representations underlying the holistic facial recognition are coarsely defined, being able to accommodate two faces of a different race to a certain extent† (141). He goes on to explain that â€Å"these representations are considered specific to the extent that the whole procedure is more significant for faces with which o ne has considerable visual experiences referred to as same race or SR faces† (141). Besides that this mindset scholar made an assumption that â€Å"individuals in diverse society’s records that people of other races resemble exclusively in facial characteristics† (142).Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is one of the reasons contributing to the problem of racial discrimination. The characteristics of most people are judged basing on the racial community they originate. As a result, most people have been complaining that they are being treated unfairly owing to the generalization of their racial characteristics. Blacks in the United States for example, are believed to be hooligans and as a result of this, a large percentage of them are jailed despite them being innocent. The best example of this is the case presented by Bothwell and his colleagues. A white woman was raped by a black man, and when this lady was given photos of the people who matched her description, she picked the wrong person. After ten years, this lady came up and revealed that all the people in the pictures resembled and so she just picked up any one of them. This is what race biases in face recognition entail. An understanding of this issue is important as it will prevent a recurrent of such cases. According to the results obtained from this experiment, the subjects or participants seem to be more precise on the when identifying the misaligned faces compared to the aligned ones. The interaction amongst the members of the same race, the race of the faces used as samples and the alignments showed a high level of importance as indicated by the projections. Another conclusion assessed from these projections is that the combined effect was more pronounced in the case of the misaligned faces more than the aligned faces. Most of the participants were able to identify the images based on the top part of the face. There is no significant difference in the results obtained when the faces are aligned for the races in question. Conclusion This experiment can suggest that most people identify members of their races when their faces are aligned. Most of them could not tell the difference while observing the lower part of the faces in the misaligned faces while a majority of them were able to make ap propriate judgments from the top part of the faces. Conclusions drawn from this experiment, and many others related to it is that â€Å"other-race effect is brought about by early categorization of race at the expense of individual characteristics† (Yin, 1968). The moment an individual is perceived to belong to a particular racial background; other traits they control become irrelevant as their identity is judged from this. Reference List Bothwell, R.K., Brigham, J.C., Malpass, R.S. (1989). â€Å"Cross-racial identiï ¬ cation†. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 15, 19–25. Yin, R. K. (1968). â€Å"Looking at upside-down faces†. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 81, 141-145.

The Role of Stakeholders in the Indigenous Employment Program of Rio Case Study

The Role of Stakeholders in the Indigenous Employment Program of Rio Tinto - Case Study Example The company has been steadfast in creating employment opportunities for the indigenous people in Australia. A majority of these people are of aboriginal origins, but some of them belong to other tribes or sub-tribes. Since most of its major operations and plants are located in rural or remote areas, Rio Tinto feels obligated to return the favor by promoting the development of those areas. The only way it is capable of doing this is by creating space for those people in their company. This gives indigenous people the opportunity to secure the futures of current and future generations, and move away from the mainly subsistence form of life they are used. In this day and age, it is worrying to know that there are people who are so close, yet so far, to civilization. What Rio Tinto is doing is bringing civilization to the indigenous people of Australia, and there is nothing better than what they are doing at the moment. It is worth noting that the company is not solely focused on just employing indigenous people. It supports (through educational grants and other forms of support) individuals from indigenous communities who have the potential to make positive changes in society. This makes a lot of sense because if its only intention was to employ people it would be unable to find enough people to employ. For example, if the company wanted indigenous people to form ten percent of its total workforce and only managed to realize a five percent figure, where would the other five percent come from? Rio Tinto’s strategy is based on spot, supporting, training and then employing individuals from indigenous communities. This ensures that its conveyor belt does not run dry, and keeps churning out skilled and qualified personnel. For many years, the indigenous peoples of Australia were maligned, ridiculed, scorned and mistreated2. This however changed with the passing and signing into law of several legislations that made it mandatory for indigenous people to be accorded their full rights as lawful citizens of Australia.

Teenage pregnancy does not effects the future of both the child and Essay

Teenage pregnancy does not effects the future of both the child and the mother - Essay Example They further assert that most people are willing to support young ladies as well as their children. This is evidenced by what takes place in the U.S.; the citizens of the U.S. participate significantly in raising enough cash for the upbringing of the young children as well as for the care of their mothers. For instance, it is documented that the U.S. spent approximately $9 billion on teenagers’ children in 2004. The dollar amount rose significantly in 2008; approximately $11 billion was spent on children born out of marriage. From this amount, one can deduce that the U.S. spends approximately $1,647 on each child born to teenagers each year (Misra, Goggins & Matte, 2014). Thus, it beats logic when a person to asserts that the future of teenage mothers and their children is doomed. The current society is also full of humane people. This is evidenced by the fact that there are organizations as well as individuals who participate in upbringing of teens’ children. It is also evident that working together of the government with non-governmental organizations aid in the addressing the socioeconomic challenges that teen mothers face in life (Misra, Goggins & Matte, 2014). Although teen mothers, as well as their children, receive support from taxpayers money, government, and non-governmental organizations, it is evident their future lives will be affected significantly. In most occasions, teenage pregnancy affects the future of both the mother and the child negatively. This is evidenced by the Bhana and MCambi’s article. According to Bhana and MCambi (2013), teenage pregnancy is associated with a high level of stigmatization. Teenage girls when pregnant as well as when having children find it very hard to relate with their fellow students because of self-denial. The rearing of a child while at school is also a big problem to teenage mothers. In most occasions, such mothers are requested by their respective schools