PHI Summative Assessment

Introduction Health is defined as the stage of being physically, mentally and socially sound. To elaborate, health is both the inner and outer state, the stage of being free of diseases, the state of the soul, being more optimistic and not giving up in any kind of difficulties.(Manni, 2009). Health promotion is an important and crucial factor that is required to develop a healthy society. It can be defined as the process of making of people aware about their health, understand the risk factors associated with adverse health effects, as well as educating people and implementing a wide range of social and environmental interventions to improve their health and encouraging them to live a healthy life (Naidoo and Wills, 2009). Promoting health through interpersonal relationship is an endeavour to take control of an individual’s health determinant which includes social behaviour, economic and environmental conditions. This involves a health professional with the knowledge, attitude and the skil ls to influence clients through communication on how to improve their health and maintain a productive life. (Naidoo and Wills, 2009). Thus health professionals play a central role in uplifting individual’s health status. For instance, health care professionals can make people aware about the risks associated with smoking and alcohol, risk of practising unsafe sex, risk associated with high fat and calorie rich diet etc. In this report, the factors that may influence individual’s health, concept, attitude and behaviour are highlighted. Furthermore, the role of social and health workers in improving individual’s health and well being are reviewed. The health professional with self awareness and interpersonal skills can effectively communicate with people to achieve therapeutic benefits. Also, they can educate and inform people to achieve a positive outcome of holistic health using the fundamental aspect of care. Overall, the goal of therapeutic communication is t o help clients talk about and resolve their feelings and problems related to health, illness, treatments, and nursing care (Craven & Hirnle, 2007). This main of this assignment is to analyse the interaction between a social worker and a pregnant service user (a mother named Kim) who was a drug and alcohol dependant, and as a result of her addiction, her three children from the previous relationship were taken away from her care. This is because, she was found irresponsible about her children and was not providing enough care and support to her children. Factors that affected Kim’s way of living and its affect on her life and health There are several factors that may influence an individual concept of health which include, psychological and lifestyle issues. This was evidenced in the DVD clip of â€Å"Someone To Watch Over Me†, where it was witnessed that the drug and alcohol addiction made her to neglect her own children, and as a result, they were removed from her care by social services. In the DVD, it was also shown that she was expecting a fourth child with a new partner, Adam who had mental health issues. In this example, it was evidenced that Kim’s lifestyle choices, i.e. her way of living her life, made her the alcohol and drug addict. This had a significant impact on her family life. Moreover, the influence of the society could have been another major factor that would have pushed her to adopt the lifestyle she was living. The societal factors that could have contributed to Kim’s way of living life could be the kind of people living in her society, their educational and economic bac kground The consequences of all these influencing factors directly made an impact on her ability to look after her children, as well as her is a her ability to cope with the demands of her children. The effects of Kim’s way of living can also have serious consequences on Kim’s health. It is now well established that alcohol increases the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke by the biochemical process known as lipid peroxidation. This increases the level of free radicals in the circulation leading to the formation of atherosclerotic plague. Similarly smoking clogs the arterial flow of blood and leads to ischemia (Laslett, et.al. 2012). Thus, her tendency to smoke alarmingly increases her risk of acquiring coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer and respiratory disease. Substance abuse-involving drugs, and alcohol, or both- are associated with a range of destructive social conditions, financial problems, lost productivity, failure in school, domestic violence, child abuse, and crime (Health people.gov). To conclude, the impact of Kim’s way of living life can be really big and can bring serious consequences to her personal and social life. According to research, the risk factors associated with substance misuse can result in mental health and behavioural issues which were also evidenced in Kim’s lifestyle (Vivancos, et.al. 2013). Other research have indicated the link between coronary heart disease and various psychological factors including stress, depression, lack of social support and anger (Stansfied and Marmot, 2001; Naidoo and Wills, 2009). Although these links are yet to be established fully, these factors may encourage people to involve in drug, alcohol and smoking additions which are found to have direct links with heart attack, stroke, cancer, respiratory diseases. The impact of these factors on Kim’s unborn baby also cannot be neglected. As stated earlier, Kim’s current partner had a history of mental healt h illness, which although is manageable, can be hereditary and transfer to her unborn baby through her partner. Nurnberger, et.al (2003) suggested a genetic relationship between depression and alcohol dependence in some families. In the study they found that both alcoholism and depression can be genetically transmitted having a direct effect on the offspring. This can affect the baby’s personal and mental development, which can affect the baby’s development throughout the life. More so, prenatal and perinatal risk factors have been associated generally with behaviour problems in children. Maternal substance use, specifically smoking during pregnancy and persistence smoking during and after pregnancy, has been associated with conduct disorder in girls and boys (Romans & Seeman, 2006). Although Kim’s lifestyle choices may have been influenced by her social and community network, however, Kim lacked social and community support. She wasan unemployed full time mother who was unable to cope with the demands of her three children on her own. She did not seem to have a social support network from her friends or family to assist her with her three children before they were removed by social services. She had no educational backgrounds and not aware of social support network available which could have educated and supported her in dealing with issues relating to her health. Based on the video clip, these are other reasons why she might have started taking excessive drugs, alcohol and smoking as coping mechanism. Culture is both influencing and influenced by universal values, emotions and feelings that people may share across different groups within the same culture or in some cases, across cultures (Peace and Corps, 2011). Although the direct role of culture on Kim ’s way of living was difficult to predict, considering the definition by Peace and Corps, it might have influenced her either directly or indirectly. Impact of Kim’s way of living on her children Kim’s lifestyle could not only be a risk to her health, experiencing such event can also be a danger to her children’s future. It can have a major impact on the psychology her children if they see their mother’s way of living her life, which can also impact the lifestyle they might choose to live and may also encourage them to copy the same way of living. The idea that early childhood experience have long-term implications is not new; what is new, however, is the emerging understanding of how early childhood experience can influence biology of the developing child in ways that can influence health, well-being and competence decades later (Hertzman, 1999). Role of a health professional/or a nurse in addressing the issues of Kim and her unborn child The health professional caseload includes the substance misuse, Kim and her partner, Adam’s mental health issues. This is because, these issues put the unborn child in a significant risk of adverse health consequences. As a health professional, a nurse’s duty would be to address Kim’s health and development issues before and after the delivery of the child]. Another issue the nurse can face in Kim’s case could be lack of co-operation during the delivery of the service. There could arise the issues of stress as the nurse can be in fear that her client might not cooperate in the set agreements that would be required while giving her the health service. In Kim’s case, despite the risk, the health professional decided not to put the unborn baby on the child protection register and had empathised with them by giving them a second chance to prove they can be good parents by educating and monitoring them. She was also concerned regarding the risks involved during the trial if anything would happen to the baby. This was the big decision that was made, considering the fact that Kim had been a drug and alcohol addict which also resulted the loss of her right to look after her children and Adam, who had mental health illness. . However, making decisions like this was a part of her role because it involved educating her clients to take charge of their lives and health. Her decision is also supported by the guideline provided by public health agency (2009), which state that a fundamental aspect of health promotion is to empower people to have more control over aspects of their lives that affects their health. and enable them to live individually, socially, and economically productive lives. Discussion and Conclusion The DVD clip â€Å"Someone to Watch over Me† portrayed some health risk associated with each character’s lifestyle. Kim was addicted to drug, alcohol and smoking that made her totally irrepsobile towards her children, and thus, were ultimately taken away from her custody. There are other studies that have suggested the similar risk associated with chronic use of drugs and alcohol. Morales (2013) suggested alcohol dependence as a risk factor that can result in suicidal attempt. Furthermore, it suggested that chronic alcohol and drug intake is associated with mental illness such as depression and anxiety. It further suggested that excessive alcohol intake can decrease the person’s self control ability and common sense, thus putting them in a singnificant risk of harming themselves or even creating thoughts of suicidal activities. It was witnessed that children were kept under her custody were starting, and the level of personal hygiene and sanitation was below the standard. The children looked dirty and all them appeared confused, which clearly showed the lack of care and management from their mother. The reason behind this is quite understandable, which is also explained by Craven and Hirnle (2007). They explained the term â€Å"dehumanization† as the process of depriving a person’s personality, spirit, privacy, and other human qualities., whichleads to a stage where an individual neglects the individuality, ignore their specific needs and fail to recognize the importance of their care to the loved onces.To solve the health and social issues associated with Kim and Adam’s conditions, there were objectives set by the health professional with an aim to improving their conditions. A second chance was given where they had to agree upon certain thing in oder to have a fourth child. She and her partner Adam would have to follow a set of rules and sign an agreement to be closely monitored due to Kim’s past irresponsible behaviour However, this decision raised concern to Kim because she had feared that her unborn baby might be taken away from her by the social service care because she had previously failed to manage her three children due to drug and alcohol misuse. Drug and alcohol misuse ruined her life as she went on to lose her all three children as their grown up in extremely miserable condition with lack of food and sanitation. Alchol and drug abuse was the main culprit behind this, which as well affected her health. He had developed a self-reactive and self-destructive over the course of time with chronic abuse of drug and alcohol. The correlation between such behaviours and alcohol and drug abuse was also explained by Morales (2013), and thus, corroborated with Kim’s condition. Although Kim agreed on the certain conditions in order to have a fourth child, however, the decision can be challenging to Kim. Although, she decided to give up her previous way of living her life, to abruptly quit alcohol and drug is not easy and would require a great level of commitment from Kim itself. Health care professionals can help Kim in many ways to bring her back to a normal stage from where she and her newly born child can live a better quality of life In the DVD, Kim was witnessed smoking with her partner. Thus suggested that Kim was still unaware of the adverse health effects the smoking can induce during pregnancy.. One immediate action Kim should take was to quit smoking as she was in her final stage of pregnancy. Smoking in such stage could affect to herself, as well as her unborn child. The child might also be affected after the birth as the effect of smoking can persist longer even after the birth of the child. Communication could be an effective approach to deal w ith Kim’s condition in building a bridge between a health professional and Kim towards an aspect of achieving a positive progress in her health. References Accessed: December 2013 Bhopal (2007) Bhopal R S. Ethnicity, race and health in multicultural societies. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2007. Craven, R. F. & Hirnle, C. J. (2007). Textbooks of Basic Nursing: Caroline Bunker Rosdalh Mary T. Kowalski 9 Edition. 2008 Craven, R. F., & Hirnle, C. J. (2012). Fundamental of nursing: Human health and function (7th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: LippinCott William & Wilkins. Depatment of work and pensions. Household below average income statistics.London: Department of work pension; 2005. Keating D, Hertman C editors (1999). Developing health and the wealth of nations. Social biological and educational dynamics. New York: the Guildford press. Laslett, L.J., Alagona, P.,Jr, Clark, B.A.,3rd, Drozda, J.P.,Jr, Saldivar, F., Wilson, S.R., Poe, C. & Hart, M. 2012, â€Å"The worldwide environment of cardiovascular disease: prevalence, diagnosis, therapy, and policy issues: a report from the American College of Cardiology†, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, vol. 60, no. 25 Suppl, pp. S1-49. Marmot M, Wilkinson R G 2006 (eds) Social determinant of health, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford. An overview of factors known to affect health including unemployment, work and social support. Morales, J.C. (2013). Suicide: A permanent decision to a passing problem. United States of America. Palibrio. Copyright. Naidoo J, Wills J 2009 Foundation for health promotion. Page last updated: Thursday, June 06, 2013. Promoting Health: A Practical Guide by Ina Simnett, Linda Ewles Stansfield & Marmot 2001 cited in foundation of health promotion Naidoo Jane and Jane willis 2009 Vivancos, R., Abubakar, I., Phillips-Howard, P. & Hunter, P.R. 2013, â€Å"School-based sex education is associated with reduced risky sexual behaviour and sexually transmitted infections in young adults†, Public health, vol. 127, no. 1, pp. 53-57. Www. Healthypeople.gov/2020/lhi/substanceabuse.aspx?tab=overview Www.health promotionagency.org.uk/ Healthpromotion/Health/section 2.htm. Accessed: December 2013.

Significance of Gender in Romeo and Juliet

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the Montagues and the Capulets have very different relationships with their children. A major reason for this, as well as much of the conflict in the tale, comes from the gender roles that Romeo and Juliet are expected to play into. Adding to that conflict is the fact that both Romeo and Juliet push the boundaries of these roles and struggle to fit into them. Romeo plays the over emotional lover, while Juliet is clever and dominant. Throughout the play we can see that both Romeo and Juliet have to struggle with the people around them because they are not acting within their respective gender roles. One of the first moments in the play where Romeo’s non-normative attitude towards love is addressed directly is when Mercutio, in Act 2 Scene 4, reflects on Romeo and Rosaline. â€Å"Why, is not this better now than groaning for love? / now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo; now art / thou what thou art, by art as well as by nature† (2. 4. 20). Mercutio is excited to have his friend ‘back’. In the the last two lines of this quote, Mercutio implies that not worrying over love is normal. That, in hanging with the boys and not following his wild emotions, Romeo is being what Romeo ought to be,â€Å"art as well as by nature†. The implication here is that the way he was reacting before to Rosaline is not natural. This lovelorn that overpowers all else Romeo feels comes back much harder with Juliet. Mercutio’s comment about Rosaline infers the abnormality of Romeo. This seed that is planted in the mind of the audience can then take root and be even more noticeable without Mercutio commenting on it directly with Juliet. In the first scene of Act 3, Romeo struggles with his masculinity versus his love. When he chooses not to fight Tybalt with Juliet in mind, Romeo open questions his own masculinity. He is after all, a part of this society and surely recognizes, to a certain extent, the unusualness of his feelings. â€Å"†¦O sweet Juliet, / Thy beauty hath made me effeminate / And in my temper soften'd valour's steel! † (3. 1. 7) To Romeo, it is as if Juliet’s beauty has him bewitched. He doesn’t put the blame on himself or even her, but her beauty. He is giving life to it, admitting that it subdues him. By attributing Juliet’s beauty with such a powerful presence, Romeo is only underlining his romantic nature. Several other characters make note of Romeo’s feminine/emotional nature. The Nurse and The Friar are two of the more observant characters in the play. In Act 3, Scene 3, when talking of Romeo, The Nurse says, â€Å"Stand up, stand up; stand, and you be a man: / For Juliet's sake, for her sake, rise and stand† (3. 3. 3). She is saying that Romeo needs to be less emotional, that it is taking away from his manhood. Later on in the same scene, the Friar tells Romeo to stop crying, that it makes him look like a girl. â€Å"Hold thy desperate hand: / Art thou a man? thy form cries out thou art: / Thy tears are womanish†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (3. 3. 4). Throughout the whole play, Romeo is picked on for his emotional way of life. His unusually demeanor could also be his fatal flaw. Early on in the play, when Romeo and his friends sneak into the Capulet party, Capulet speaks highly of Romeo, and tells Tybalt not to cause trouble. There is a kindness in his tone that cannot help to make one think that perhaps if Romeo approached Capulet and asked to marry Juliet, th at Capulet might have said yes. But he doesn’t do this, and there is no way of really knowing what Capulet would have said. Romeo’s struggle with people not accepting how he doesn’t really fit the mold is not as definitively consequential as Juliet’s. No one is telling Romeo what to do, Lady Montague doesn’t want him to be involved in fighting, but no one is trying to determine the rest of his life for him. Juliet’s struggle isn’t a social conflict. She isn’t being made fun of by her friends, or criticized casually by the people around her. She is being controlled and pushed towards life commitments that she wants no part of. Romeo has a lot at stake, emotionally, but the rest of Juliet’s life is at stake. In one of her first moments with her mother, this conflict is explicitly shown, â€Å"LADY CAPULET: Marry, that ‘marry' is the very theme /I came to talk of. Tell me, daughter Juliet, / How stands your disposition to be married? JULIET: It is an honour that I dream not of. † (1. 3. 4) Lady Capulet reflects the societal expectations. And although Juliet’s line has no huge impact on Lady Capulet, it does foreshadow her relationship with the world. And inevitably, one side will have to give in. There is a distinct change we see in how Juliet’s father treats her during the play. In Act 1, Scene 2, when Paris asks for Juliet’s hand in marriage, Capulet says that in the end the decision is hers to make, â€Å"â€Å"But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart, / My will to her consent is but a part; / An she agree, within her scope of choice / Lies my consent and fair according voice. † (1. 2. 2) He is telling Paris that he has his blessing, but he must woo Juliet because her consent is important to him. This gives the impression that Capulet is a kind, non-restrictive, even liberal parent. But later on in the play, when Juliet refuses to marry Paris, Capulet really loses his temper at her, â€Å"How now, how now, chop-logic! What is this? / ‘Proud,' and ‘I thank you,' and ‘I thank you not;' / And yet ‘not proud,' mistress minion, you, / Thank me no thankings, nor, proud me no prouds, / But fettle your fine joints ‘gainst Thursday next, / To go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church, / Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither. / Out, you green-sickness carrion! out, you baggage! / You tallow-face! † (3. 5. 3) What happened to his earlier attitude? One could argue that Capulet is, in fact, not a very thoughtful liberal father, but sees himself as one because his daughter, Juliet, is for the most part a good kid. And she has never really disobeyed him before. This sign of independence and disrespect is too much for him and his true controlling nature is revealed. The parts of Juliet’s home life that seem supportive and loving only remain as such while she is doing what others want her to do. As soon as she makes a decision for herself, all of that support is taken away. Capulet commands her to marry Paris or be kicked out of his house. If Juliet was a boy, or if she wasn’t pushed into the role of the girl than these problems would not come up. Romeo and Juliet defy their families. They put aside the quarrel that takes up so much energy and violence. Romeo ignores his friends in chasing after Juliet, and Juliet battles with her parents. Their marriage is a rebellion against both Houses. Both characters do not fit into the gender roles that other characters expect of them. It is this shared defiance that holds them together, but also that ruins them. If neither one had expectations put on them, then Juliet wouldn’t have had to marry Paris. But the shared deviance and secretive nature to their relationship is a large part of what gave them such passion. Shakespeare is examining the roles men and women are asked to play in society, asking us to think about the consequences.

Affect of power relations on organizational change and development Essay

Affect of power relations on organizational change and development - Essay Example The consolidation exercises resorted to by the various organizations have made the companies leaner and flatter as management levels are being eliminated. Organizations are now trying to reduce bureaucracy and make the executives directly responsible and accountable for their tasks. Political as well as institutional systems play an important role in the power dynamics during any organizational change process. Some of these forces resist change due to changing dynamics while others stimulate them for the same reason (cited in Boonstra and Gravenhorst 1998). During any change process, CEO and the management along with consultants etc try to use their power to influence the process of change. At times this use of power to influence others can cause resistance while at other times it can facilitate the change process as noted by Fable and Yukl (1992) Power dynamics can be displayed openly or invisibly by the agents involved. For example, Bachrach and Baratz (1962) say that management ca n exclude participation by keeping certain decision from being open to discussions during a change process. In open display of power dynamics, managers hold meeting and discussions where they try to convince and influence others through facts, expertise or experiences. Theories of power dynamics and change management Boonstra and Gravenhorst (1998) look at power dynamics under five different perspectives. They build on the various researches that have studied the bases of power and root their first perspective on these. They say that â€Å"change in organizations is demanded by the top management and they need their position and power in order to effect change† (Boonstra and Gravenhorst 1998). In the second perspective they say that personal power is also used and thought the starting point of change is power, logical arguments and facts to support change are presented. The next two perspectives are based on the research in organization theory and management. In the fourth pe rspective, they see the role of agencies in exerting power to control processes and the various â€Å"interest groups† use power to negotiate the direction in which the change process should go. So far, the use of power was prominently observable in the various perspectives. In the fifth perspective, this is more subtle. The change agents tend to instill values, norms and perceptions through â€Å"management of meaning† and emphasize on the usefulness aspects of the desired change. The fifth perspective is about using the models developed by the organizational learning and organizational schools. They say that these models use the power of discussions and employee participation to bring about the desired change. Earlier literature on power viewed it as the ability of the change agent to influence the subjects to accept that change within a particular reference context (French and Raven 1959). Boonstra and Gravenhorst (1998) say that Bass in 1960 described two sources o f power – personal and position. In the position power, a manager has received authority to act by virtue of his position in the organization. This is the dominating power of the management and any confrontations to proposals put forward by the management are considered as resistance and hence are intolerable as per Hardy and Clegg (1996) quoted by Boonstra and Gravenhorst (1998). Bouwen (1995) describe this authoritarian model of change as â€Å"

Principles and practices of management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Principles and practices of management - Essay Example In this company oeople are brought together on the basis of defined roles within the structure of the organisation. The nature of the tasks to be undertaken is a predominant feature of Byfords of Holt. Goals are identified by management, and certain rules, relationships and norms of behaviour established. Byfords of Holt tends to be relatively permanent, although there may be changes in actual membership. Byfords of Holt uses line communication which means authority flows vertically down through the structure, for example from the managing director to managers, section leaders, supervisors and other staff. There is a direct relationship between superior and subordinate, with each subordinate responsible to only one person. Line relationships are associated with functional or departmental division of work and organisational control. Line managers have authority and responsibility for all matters and activities within their own department. Manor Hotel uses informal communication method which helps it to achieve the goals. It helps to provide satisfaction of members' social needs, and a sense of personal identity and belonging. This type of communication provides additional channels of communication and provides a means of motivation, for example, through status, social interaction, variety in routine jobs, and informal methods of work. Informal type of communication provides a feeling of stability and security, and through informal 'norms' of behaviour can exercise a form of control over members (Cole, 1990). With the help of this method of communication Manor Hotel has an important influence on the morale, motivation, job satisfaction and performance of staff. It can provide members with greater opportunity to use their initiative and creativity in both personal and organisational development Staff relationships has a great influence on the decision making process. Persons in a staff position have no direct authority in their own right but act as an extension of their superior and exercise only 'representative' authority. In Manor Hotel there is no direct relationship between the personal assistant and other staff except where delegated authority and responsibility has been given for some specific activity. This may be partially because of the close relationship between the personal assistant and the superior, and partially dependent upon the knowledge and experience of the assistant, and the strength of the assistant's own personality (Senior, 2001). Successful management of Manor Hotel lies in responding to internal and external change. This involves the clarification of objectives, the specification of problems, and the search for and implementation of solutions. Manor Hotel is seen as an information-processing network with numerous decision points. An understanding of how decisions are made helps in understanding behaviour in the organisation. The decision making in Byfords of Holt involves the isolation of those functions most directly concerned with the achievement of objectives and the identification of main decision areas or sub-systems. Viewing Byfords of Holt as a system emphasises the need for good information and channels of communication in order to assist effective decision making in it. Applying Handy's theory to both companies it is possible to say that companies apply different types of culture. Byfords of Holt has 'A Web'

An overcome approach to the Melting Pot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An overcome approach to the Melting Pot - Essay Example Enlistment was next used after the United States entered World War I in 1917. The first peacetime call up came with the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. Active conscription ("the draft") ended in 1973. Currently, male U.S. citizens, if aged eighteen through twenty five, are required to register with the Selective Service System, whose mission is "to provide manpower to the armed forces in an emergency" including a "Health Care Personnel Delivery System"2 and "to run an Alternative Service Program for men classified as conscientious objectors during a draft." No one has been prosecuted for violating the conscription law in the USA since 1986.3 Conscription should be considered as a hypothetical panacea to cut down, for example, crime, teenage pregnancy and substance abuse rates decline; or to foster a more hard-working, respectful, disciplined, honorable and prepared for life youth4. Enlistment could surely help all of those immigrants in the States to get more, deeper and better integrated within the American society by helping their adoptive country to reinstate peace and freedom where needed by the time they give to the society something in reward for all they have already received. Mandatory military service is one of the oldest forms of national service and is common to both democratic and non-democratic countries. Such democratic countries as Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey require male and occasionally female citizens to participate in military service when they become 18 years old. These countries prove that conscription, when handled properly, can be an asset to the military, the society and the conscript. Furthermore,... An overcome approach to the â€Å"Melting Pot† After the introduction of a bill to reinstate the military draft by Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY) on January 7, 2003, rumours went out on the real reach of this measure. A little over a year after, another bill, this time by Representative Tim Johnson, announced on October 5, 2004, that the House defeated a bill that would have reinstated the military draft. H.R. 163 was introduced by and would have required every U.S. citizen, and every other person residing in the United States, between the ages of 18 and 26 to perform a two-year period of national service, unless exempted, either as a member of an active or reserve component of the armed forces or in a civilian capacity that promotes national defence . Detractors of H.R. 163 argued that too many have already lost their lives at the battle field and the Vietnam issue became a recurrent double edged argument. However, it has to be understood and taken into account that the USA are involved in several campaigns all over the world to guarantee freedom and Human Rights where otherwise would be rotten to the core. In addition to this, the military draft should be assumed not as a punishment or backward movement, more proper of a reactionary society than of a leading and modern one, but as a different solution for daily concerns. Besides, military draft is another way to interpret the path to the achievement of the American Dream, overcoming the well worn â€Å"Melting Pot† topic: recruits and conscripts can enter the military branch of their liking, request to be trained in a specific field, and serve in the state of their choice.

Internet and Music Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Internet and Music Industry - Essay Example The music industry is not limited to the artists and the record companies. It also includes the composers, the musicians’ representatives, television and radio broadcasting companies, advertising agencies and so much more. It has, for the past 50 years, earned most of its revenues through selling its artists’ albums in the form of long play (LP) record albums, cassette tapes, compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs). Aside from these albums sold in record stores, revenue also comes from music videos played on television, music played over the radio, and, of course, concerts and tours. The music industry is considered to be one of the top industries as far as value and income are concerned. In the last few years, however, with the rise of the Internet, the music industry has found new ways to earn money. Record companies began to collect orders online and ship their products to any part of the world which has internet access. And even later, they learned to collect money in exchange for downloadable music. This meant that they needed less money to produce and store their products. It also meant faster service for the customers and, therefore, faster influx of cash. The internet became a very good source of income as it has a greater consumer reach, faster response time, and it presented a lot of choices for the consumers. But, as with many happy stories, there is a down side to this new technology. The internet also gave way to both small and large scale piracy. It allowed its users to violate intellectual property rights in a snap, that they do not even realize it until much later. The instant connection between people that the internet provided allowed its users to share files, especially music and other multimedia content. The rise of multimedia tools and social networks, such as YouTube, Facebook, Bebo, Friendster, and MySpace, made copyright infringement easier, faster and even harder to control. 39% of social network users embed copyrighted materials into their pages and 79% of them say that these embedded media reflect their personality. In the early part, consumers did not realize that this was a form of piracy and just enjoyed acquiring "free" music. Then after some time, when record companies started to feel the pain of illegal downloads, they started informing the world of how their properties are being stolen even if unintended. Still, illegal downloads have gone up from 36% in 2006 to 43% in 2007.4 The record companies

Summary one page ISO9000 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary one page ISO9000 - Essay Example In identifying this system, the ordering and relationship of the processes are critically defined. Second, management responsibility is the thorough implementation and development of the specified management system utilized by the company with the emphasis to the customer’s satisfaction to a given product. Moreover, it involves the creation of policy and objectives inherent in a company. Third, resource management refers to the determination and validation of the company’s human resources, infrastructure, and work environment. For the human resource in particular, the ISO 9000 identifies the competency of the personnel in line with his or her designated work. Fourth, product realization is mainly characterized by planning and application of the processes, design, and production of the customer-oriented product. The planning phase points to the identification of the processes, verification, monitoring and other related activities specific to the product. And production phase is the company’s activity to monitor and control the release, delivery, and distribution of its products. And fifth, the measurement, analysis, and improvement of the ISO 9000 are largely marked by the demonstration, quality control, and continuity of the effectiveness of the quality management system. For the analysis, the important data are identified, collected, and analyzed to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of quality management system. By and large, ISO 9000 is customer-oriented set of standard aimed to fulfill and satisfy the customer’s needs and

BUS303 MODULE 2 LP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

BUS303 MODULE 2 LP - Essay Example I actually commend the University for according students with the opportunity to make partial payments through accomplishing a Promissory Note form, which is to be secured from the Dean’s office prior to major examinations. Since my financial sources were not enough, I secured the form and lined up at the Cashier to make a partial payment. After about 30 minutes of queuing, the system experienced technical difficulties and those in line were told to either wait, try to pay through an authorized bank, or return the next day. The follow day, I directly went to the cashier; and true to her word, accepted my partial payment. I proceeded to the registrar to validate the payment and secure my examination permit, only to be told that the Promissory Note (PN) needed to be signed first at the Dean’s office. When I went to the Dean’s office, the line of students securing the signature on their respective PNs was longer than the eyes could see. After a patient wait and when one’s turn was due, the authorized signatory informed me that I needed to pay an additional $xxx amount; otherwise, I would not be given an exam permit despite the amount that I already paid. I had to go back to the Cashier, have the PN signed, return to the registrar and finally secure the exam permit. It would have been so much easier to have communicated all the payment protocols during orientation; or to have a flowchart of procedures posted near the Cashier and Accounting Offices. I hereby enjoin University personnel in charge of creating policies and procedures to publish payment protocols and avoid students queuing and being referred back to departments to secure signatures or make additional payments, which are fairly easy to comply with explicitly disseminated guidelines. This would likewise facilitate payment and collection and avoid unnecessary returns. Hoping for your immediate action in this regard. In writing the persuasive memo, the guidelines in writing persuasive

How can a product be repositioned Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

How can a product be repositioned - Essay Example The vitality of the factors and elements such as Segmenting, targeting and positioning can be analyzed form the fact that these can either make or break the future of your product or service that you intend to provide to your consumers. The concept of re positioning of a product or service in the similar way is not a new one. organizations large or small , are faced with the option of repositioning their products , mostly when the market for their current products has matured , the high flux of changing consumer demands , and also the fact that some organizations are faced with severe losses and in some cases end of the life cycle of their products . Thus by re positioning is meant that the organization decided to fabricate basically upon the core product or service. The basic re positioning idea is applied by organizations both to retain the present market share and customers, as well as bag a high number of future customers of the product or service. It is basically a long term plan, which requires detailed market research, product life cycle analysis, market research, competitor analysis etc. Also this provides the organization to renew the marketing mi and change how they deal wit the four P's of the product or the service i.e. Product, Place, Promotion and price. It is an important aspect for you to know also as to how your organization, product and service are perceived in the market place. This helps organizations build positively. Further more, the concepts of Buyer behaviour and marketing communication also come in. The basic buyer behaviour varies from time to time. And marketing communication on the other hand varies but needs the most attention. Here we also need to mull over an imperative reality that re positioning in point of fact also means there is a calamitous need to apportion resources, which in turn means that you need to augment the quantity as well as the quality of communications. Lucid appearance of ideas and policies lend a hand in establishing the brand. Along with this tag along the incurring of extra new costs like in those of: training the employees, Renewing or merely revising a website, purchase of new sales materials, Publicity campaigning, advertising. There is an assortment of ways to re position a brand. The secret to enhanced communication is deemed as high-quality internal communication .It should be a run through to discuss with the staff of the organization and specific departments involved to make them understand why this 'Re Positioning' is taking place , what does the organization aim to achieve with this re positioning etc . Once this internal sharing of ideas is done with. The organization can now focus on external communication. (Pellow, 1) Main Body: Relationship between the three Concepts : Product Re - positioning , Communications , Buyer Behaviour The relationship between consumer buying behaviour and communications, and product repositioning is very straight and quite comprehensible. The fact that he marketing mix is a very vital attribute of a product. The four P's need to be based first, then the consumer buyer behaviour and communication needs to be settled. In regards o communication, is specific external communic

Communications and Media the use of social media Essay Example for Free

Communications and Media the use of social media Essay What SouthWest Airlines (SWA) has done is to consolidate customers and fans for the better performance of its operation in light of competition it is facing. This is a clear case where social media is being used as a channel that supports community building, customer collaboration and sharing ideas and market trends that propel the performance of a company. This strategy should be adopted in an ideal education situation so that university systems could look for ways of engaging and motivating learners to be more proactive. Still on SWA, the Company actively engaged fans on Facebook through posting different items and argumentative debates just to gather opinions on what customers expect from them. This is what Dani and Singer (2008) term as ‘discrete approach to marketing and feasibility study on what people expect’ (p. 192). American University of Sharjah needs to integrate a number of social media tools into the learning process to reflect the success SWA has enjoyed within the shortest period of time it has been on business. Beginning with how SWA has integrated Facebook within its platform, it is important to note that what American University of Sharjah should strive to achieve is to have social networking. To contextualize this point, when using Facebook to engage customers, the case (Southern Airlines by Adam Saffer) reports that by posting a video from Air Zealand there were 58 comments and 95 likes. These comments according to the author helped the Company strategize on the best approaches to deal with the demands of its client. Contextualizing this case, research by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI 2007) has shown that at least 87 percent of students in universities have social media accounts and as such, Facebook account for about 90 percent. This statistics shows that social networking websites have become integral parts of students’ live at American University of Sharjah. It is from this perspective that the university should try as much as possible to engage students in dec ision making process by posting agendas and policies for debate. That is, facebook should be integrated as part of learning process. From the case, it has been noted that SWA communicated with Facebook fans in response to the questions and issues they were having. When there was a query or a problem from their fans, they could respond to the question on time and publicly. This is particularly to the issue that Lala Palelei asked on November 2nd 2009. It is from this approach that it is recommended for American University of Sharjah to actively engage with students through Facebook. As a matter of fact, Alexander Astin proposed a developmental theory that sought to engage with learners (Geyer et al. 2009). In his theory, he proposed that social interaction with learners help them grow psychologically and physically. Just like what SWA did, responding to the issues students are asking should be evidence-based. That is, answers should be well researched so that engagement includes effo rts students invest in their educational activities and such empirically connected to the objectives of the university. Just like SWA, American University of Sharjah is active on Twitter. It is important to note that adoption of official Twitter account is one factor, making it outpace empirical understanding of the use of such technology and the available theories regarding why it (the Twitter account) may alter a number of organizational process is another. It is from this observation that the university should make twitter account serve the purpose SWA’s twitter account is doing. The case reads, ‘of the social tools, SWA has found Twitter to be its primary means of interacting with its public.’ There are inherent reasons as to why the Company finds Twitter to be a source of interaction. Citing a case, it is reported that Jessica Turner had an interesting post concerning newest service location which was geared towards attracting debates on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This post attracted attention of its followers to an extent that the SWA managed to understand dynamic s of the market through what is termed as ‘two-way communication between SWA and its publics.’ Basically, this is the recommendation the University needsa two-way communication between students, teaching staff and the public. This recommendation is evidence-based. Scholars such as Daly (2010) have studied the relationship between social practices and new technologies and found greater utility in the concept of affordance and unity because by positively engaging others through social media forums explain why organizations using same technology are likely to engage in disparate or similar work practices and communication. On 14th December 2014 the University through its official Facebook account posted the 12th NGN10 Competition where engineering students from the university were invited to contribute on the best way to make the lightest tower crane. While this approach is similar to what Christi Day did about his Twitter post on ‘Grab your bag. It’s onâ€⠄¢ it is recommended that for effective interaction, the university should integrate marketing campaign when making such posts so that a conversation is generated between interested parties and students. Flickr and You Tube are other two social media SWA has used to capitalize on the needs of its customers and fans. On Flickr the information provided is that organizations such as the University can use social media to counter unrealistic claims and complaints aimed at tarnishing its image. This is in regard to complain made by Scooteriscracy. However, to maintain transparency and avoid circumstances as the one SWA found itself in, the line between personal business and professional posting should be distinct. It is recommended that the University should be careful in its posting. Nuts about Southwest as the name of SWA’s You Tube should be used as a benchmark in helping American University of Sharjah note that the use of social media also encompasses permitting every employer to self-publish as long as such publication conforms to specific regulations of the institution. It is apparent that the manner in which the University uses You Tube does not allow people, including stude nts to communicate or share their views and opinions across faculties or organizational boundaries. To conceptualize this recommendation, Brzozowski et al. (2009) conducted a research on the benefits of institutional engagements of leaners on social media. After interviewing 425 undergraduate students from the Midwestern institution, is was found that when learners are allowed to share, post or participate in education forums posted through social media there is a positive correlation between student engagement in the affairs of school and success of the school in policy drafting and implementation. In fact it is through this recommendation that SWA has managed to achieve its objectivegreat customer service (being ranked as the airline with the least cases of complaints per passenger since it started monitoring the data in 1987). It is important to mention, just like Fuller and Valacich (2008) does that the usage of social media in American University of Sharjah should be about providing meta-knowledge. That is, making the institution understand the type of people in its environ and what they may do so that good relationships and rapport is maintained. Just like what SWA is doing through blogging, the University could let students and employees create profiles pages on different social media where such pages have corporate directories information, photos as well as summary of content that individuals have contributed. It is from such initiatives that people will learn more about the interests, backgrounds and activities of students, workers. It is apparent that what SWA has succeeded in is creativity which as not only placed it as one of the fasted growing companies but also made it become effective. This will be achieved if the University allows participation by all in social media activities. Finally, Ameri can University of Sharjah has a reputation to keep and for the usage of social media, maintenance of confidentiality, transparency and respect to the property should note be overshadowed by the quest to adopt the recommendation provided. References Brzo zowski, M., Sandholm, T., Hogg, T. (2009). Effects of feedback and peer pressure on contributions to enterprise social media. Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Supporting Group Work (pp. 61–70). New York: ACM. doi:10.1145/1531674.1531684 Daly, E. M., Geyer, W., Millen, D. R. (2010). The network effects of recommending social connections. Proceedings of the Fourth Conference on Recommender Systems (pp. 301–304). New York: ACM. doi:10.1145/1864708.1864772 Dani s, C., Singer, D. (2008). A wiki instance in the enterprise: Opportunities, concerns and reality. Proceedings of the 2008 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (pp. 495–504). New York: ACM. doi:0.1145/1460563.1460642 Fuller, R. M., Valacich, J. S. (2008). Media, tasks, and communication processes: A theory of media synchronicity. MIS Quarterly, 32, 575–600. Geyer, W., Millen, D. R., Dugan, C., Brownholtz, B. (2009). People sensemaking and relationship building on an enterprise social networking site. Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press. doi:10.1109/HICSS.2009.343 Higher Education Research Institute (2007) College freshmen and online social networking sites.Available at: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/PDFs/pubs/briefs/brief- 091107SocialNetworking.pdf (last accessed 17th December 2014). Source document

The Zero Based Budgeting Accounting Essay

The Zero Based Budgeting Accounting Essay Zero-based budgeting avails a better approach to dealing with the drawbacks associated with incremental budgeting. Unlike in incremental budgeting, zero-based approach does not necessarily start from the previous years budget level; instead, the existing operations are evaluated and continuance of the operation or activity ought to be justified on the basis of its utility and its need to the company. Zero-based budgeting pursues to justify resource allocation within individual budget scheme, irrespective of prior period budgets. The budget in this case is initially allocated as zero unless the manager responsible makes the case for resource allocation. Every plan in this case is justified as per the total cost and the total benefits and past performance is not in any way referred as a building block. The goal of zero-based budgeting is to re-evaluate and re-examine all programs and expenditures for each budgeting cycle by computing workload and effectiveness appraisals so as to verif y substitute levels of financing for each program or expenditure. Zero-based budgeting approach avails some distinctive advantages compared to traditional incremental budgeting such as: it allocates financial resources based on planning requirements and results; and, in order to attain efficiency, zero-based approach encourages managers to search for alternative operation plans. However, despite the outlined advantages, zero-based approach also manifest some disadvantages; first, since the budgeting process is sophisticated, the process can consume a lot of managerial time and may appear to be too drastic a solution for the task at hand; second, short-term benefits may take precedence and obscure long-term planning as the latter is less dominant within the planning process; and, third, since the new budget is launched every year, there may be annual conflicts over budget allocation. In order to circumvent these drawbacks, especially concerning the managerial time required, one alternative may be to conduct a rolling budget every year and carry out zero-based budgeting perhaps three to five years, or in cases where a considerable modification that occurs within operations. This compromise may aid to weed out waste and inefficiency, especially within a period of intense competition and reengineering that is characteristic of the mobile phone industry. Indeed, zero-based budgeting is an effective means of controlling for unnecessary costs since the departments and divisions in Pear Ltd do not automatically receive a distinctive sum every year, each amount of money apportioned to each unit bear a purpose, which keeps waste and discretionary spending to a minimum. Zero-based budgeting minimizes the entitlement mentality with respect to cost increases, and bears the potential to render budget discussions to be more meaningful. Activity Based Budgeting Activity-based budgeting awards financial resources to activities that see the highest return in the form of enhanced revenues for the company. Thus, the organization can be able to translate its vision into a strategy with definable objectives so as to create value. The benefit of adoption of activity-based budgeting is that Pear Ltd can be to accurately link revenues to strategic objectives, which, in turn, may enhance revenue moving forward. Nevertheless, the implementation of an activity-based model demands investment of substantial time and resources, which may not be immediately feasible for Pear Ltd. The most effective performance budgets manifest how the invested resources fund day-to-day tasks and activities, and how the activities are anticipated to generate certain outputs and the outcomes that should be the result. If Pear Ltd adopts a performance-based budget, the company will have a good idea of how money is anticipated to translate into results. One of the drawbacks to this approach is that the budget process must incorporate the review of performance measures and time for discussions of performance against expectations. Performance-based budgeting Performance-based budgeting (PBB) process is a continuum that incorporates the accessibility and utilization of performance grounded in information at each of the varied phases of the budget process. Performance budgets mainly seek to contain information of a number of elements, namely: inputs, outputs, efficiency, and effectiveness. PBB mainly start at begin policy level in which the organization develop goals and explicit policy objectives. Decisions are mainly taken to link budget allocations to the set goals, objectives, and measures. Priority-based budgeting This approach represents an adjustment of zero-based budgeting method whose focal point centers on highlighting corporate priorities and apportioning growth accordingly. This demands a thorough ongoing review of departmental services. Based on the analysis for every unit the elements of spending could be classified as highly desirable or beneficial. Such decisions are supplied to the decision makers. Priority-driven-budgeting is a powerful tool that aids entities to: better manage the expectations of constituents; address present or anticipated fiscal constraints; highlight on the revenues at hand and utilize them in the most productive ways possible; spend within the entities means; and, attain the best results for the invested resources. Flexible budgeting can be employed by Pear Ltd management in planning by indicating what costs will be at diverse levels of activity. In so doing, flexible budgeting can be employed to solve the problem that emanate from employing static budgets for performance evaluation. Whereas the traditional incremental budgeting may not be necessarily flawed, the adoption of flexible budgets can award managers some feel for the impact of both fixed and variable costs. Pear Ltds management could shift from traditional incremental budgeting to zero-based budgeting. The adoption of zero-based budgeting suits the Pear Ltd, especially since in the mobile phone industry competition is rife. This is informed by the fact that it allows every managerial activity to be properly identified and then assessed by analyzing alternative levels of operation for a particular activity. The highlighted alternatives may be ranked and relative priorities laid for attaining effectiveness and efficiency. Alternatives to traditional incremental budgeting offer Pear Ltds management the most ideal characteristics of a budgeting system such as flexibility, responsiveness, and coordination. A move towards a decentralized structure can be critical to easing the drawbacks associated with traditional budgeting process. Critically evaluate alternative methods of product costing and the role of such methods in supporting such areas as the evaluation of strategy and cost control. Costing systems differ along three dimensions, namely: the components being measured; what is included in product cost; and, the manner in which the cost are accumulated. The differences in costs emanate from the urge to incorporate or exclude certain forms of information in product costs. The differentials manifested between the approaches stem from the timing of the cost recognition whereby the core issue centres on when the fixed production costs become expenses. Eventually, both methods produce the same merged appraisal of total profit; nevertheless, there may be differences in short-term phase profit measures and stock valuations. Basic approach to product costing normally incorporates assigning direct costs to products and allocating manufacturing overhead costs to products. The core product costing methods in this category include job costing and process costing. Job costing encompasses the transfer of outlays to a certain manufacturing job and may include contract costing and batch costing. Overhead is allocated to jobs and the approach is utilized when individual lots of products are distinctive, especially when the entities are billed directly to customers. Process costing infers the accumulation of labor, material, and overheads outlays across whole divisions or entities whereby the entire production cost being allocated to individual units. Process costing incorporates aspects such as operation costing, unit costing/output costing, service costing, and multiple/composite costing. Alternative Product Costing There is an overall concurrence as to the accounting treatment of key aspects such as product costs and of period costs; however, there is constantly a debate centering on what item costs should be billed as product costs. This is largely a case of designation of absorption costing (AC) and variable costing (VC)/ marginal costing) that embodies diverse approaches to product cost description and dimension, and consequently profit measurement. Absorption costing embodies the traditional approach that deems all production costs to be product costs. The accounting treatment of fixed production costs varies as per each approach. Hence, all the approaches deliver varied periodic stock valuation whereby in absorption costing, stocks remain valued at full cost of production while under VC; the stocks remain valued at variable production cost. Similarly, the methods may also yield to diverse periodic profit measurements. Variable costing system incorporate direct material, direct labour, and the variable constituent of overhead within product cost. Fixed overhead, in this case, is treated as a period cost. Absorption costing system incorporates direct material, direct labour, and both the inconsistent and rigid elements of overhead in product cost. Factory overhead, in this case, is absorbed into the product cost. Job order costing Job order costing explores and establishes the outlay of individual jobs/batches. The direct material employed and the direct labour hours are accumulated for each job whereby manufacturing overhead is mainly applied as per the direct labour hours. One of the advantages of employing this approach is that the outlays of every job can be independently analyzed. If the actual cost was extremely high, the manager is at liberty of reviewing the actual material and labour costs to establish the reason for the surge. While job order costing can be an effective tool for some companies, it can create additional work tracking costs that may not necessarily add value. Activity-based costing Activity-based costing represents a managerial accounting method that approximates the outlay of products and services by apportioning overhead costs to direct costs. Activity based costing system represents a modified absorption costing system whereby the indirect outlays are outlined to their cost pools to reflect resource exploitation of indirect reserves by the cost object. Activity-based costing (ABC) represents a two-stage product costing method that first allocates costs to activities and then allots them to products based on the products consumption of activities. Activity-based costing mainly incorporates four steps: first, identifying the activities that consume resources and assign cost to them; second, outlining the cost drivers connected with every action; third, computing a cost rate per cost driver unit/transaction (each activity should possess multiple cost drivers); fourth, establishment of output metrics and conveying outlays to products in multiplying the outlay dr iver fee by the quantity of outlay driver units registered in the manufacturing of the product. Since product mix has grown more diverse, activity based costing has evolved to become a useful tool. Activity-based costing allows managers to arrive at decisions by employing product outlay constituent that only covers those actions that add to the manufacturing of the product. Nevertheless, ABC demands more detailed analysis of the activities within the plant that require additional resources from the company. The key benefit of this approach is the potential to approximate the outlay of entity products and services precisely. ABC helps to underline wasteful or non-profitable ventures that impact on the productivity of the production processes. Marginal costing Marginal costing is an approach that employs variable costs. Variable costs, in this case, embody those outlays that stay the identical per unit, but vary in sum as per the overall quantity of units manufactured. Fixed costs essentially remain the same in total irrespective of the number of units produced. Since variable costs are mainly controlled costs, marginal costing enables mangers to make decisions devoid of being swayed by uninhibited statistics such as fixed outlays. Marginal costing also embodies a valuable device to utilize when the entity business environment is extremely competitive. The product pricing can be engineered to recover the changeable outlays of the products. However, disregarding fixed outlays may modify the proceeds to recover overall outlays of the business. The Role of Alternative Methods of Product Costing in Supporting Evaluation of Strategy and Cost Control Alternative methods of product costing are critical to the evaluation of company strategy and overall cost control. In the contemporary competitive business environment accurate product costing is essential to a business survival. Such methods are critical in supporting such areas as the evaluation of strategy and cost control. The approaches are critical in shaping precise divisional and product outlays as a foundation for estimating the cost effectiveness of divisions and the productivity of diverse products. Cost allocation plays a strategic role in shaping competitiveness, especially in informing the effectiveness of the decision-making. Alternative methods of transfer pricing The rapid advances in technology, communication, and transportation have yielded to a large number of multinational enterprises that bear the flexibility to place their enterprises and activities anywhere in the world. The main rationale of transfer pricing is to render most favourable decision making within a decentralized organization so as to maximize the profit of the organization. A transfer price integrates the cost one sub-entity of a corporation charges for a given product or service supplied to the next sub-entity within the same corporation. The sub-entities may be profit centres, cost centres, or investment centres. Pear Ltd central managements adoption of alternative transfer prices may possess significant impact on aspects such as motivation, performance indication and autonomy across the range of Pear Ltds responsibility centres. Motivation in this case combines goal congruence and effort and includes the aspiration to achieve a given goal outlined by the management merged with the search of those goals. Ideally, alternative transfer prices should possess properties such as promoting goal congruence, motivating management effort, useful in evaluating subunit performance, and preserving an enhanced level of subunit autonomy in decision making. The advantages of transfer pricing across Pear Ltds range of responsibility centres include better, timely decisions owing to the managers proximity to local conditions; the managers are not diverted by regular, restricted decision difficulties; managers motivation increases since they have better control over results; and enhanced decision making that avails better training for mangers for enhanced level positions within the future. Some of the disadvantages that can be cited include lack of goal congruence among mangers within diverse parts of the organization; inadequate information available to top management; and, lack of coordination among managers in diverse parts of the organization. Alternative methods of transfer pricing Market-based transfer pricing Market-based transfer pricing details when the outside market for the product is well-defined, competitive, and stable, organizations frequently tend to institute the market price as a benchmark for the transfer price. This approach, however, attracts some concerns, especially when the outside company is neither competitive nor stable. This may distort internal decision making for relying on market-based transfer prices that mirror distress prices or a variety of special pricing strategies. Market-based pricing overall leads to finest decisions, especially when: a) the marketplace is perfectly competitive; b) there is low interdependencies of sub-divisions; and, c) there is lack of extra costs or gains to the association in its entirety from buying or selling within the external market rather than transacting internally. Using market prices for transfers in certain conditions leads to goal congruence. Division managers will be acting in their own best interests to arrive at decisions that may be within the best interests of the organization as a whole. Nevertheless, one can argue that computing transfer prices grounded in cost will most probably make Pear Ltd to pay little attention to mitigating outlays since all expenditures incurred amid production will be recovered. Negotiated transfer pricing This approach features a firm identifying regulations for the computation of transfer prices. Divisional managers, in this case, are persuaded to settle or jointly agreeable transfer prices. The exact transfer price in this case hinges on the negotiating powers of the divisions. The bargained transfer price manifests a number of properties: attainment of goal congruence; critical for evaluating division performance since the transfer derives from express bargaining between the set divisions; motivating administration endeavour given that once bargained, the transfer price is autonomous of real costs of the subunit (the subunits in this case manifest every reason to direct the organization resourcefully to increase profits; and, safeguarding subunit independence since the transfer pricing flows from express negotiations between the two subunits. Cost-based transfer pricing In the lack of perfectly developed market-price, majority of the companies base their pricing on the manufacturing cost of the supplying sub-entity. The most prominent methods employed include: full cost, cost-plus, variable cost plus lump sum charge, dual transfer prices, variable cost plus opportunity cost. One possible restraint of full-cost-based transfer prices derives from the fact that they can yield to suboptimal conclusions for the organization as a whole. Transferring products internally at incremental cost possess the following properties: attains goal congruence; not useful for evaluating subunit performance since transfer price fails to exceed full costs. Transferring products internally at incremental cost fails to preserve subunit autonomy since it is rule-based and some divisions have no say in and, thus, no capability to set the transfer price. However, transferring products internally at incremental cost will motivate management effort if based on budgeted costs (actual costs are comparable to budgeted costs). If, however, the transfers are grounded are based on actual costs, Pear Ltd possess little incentive to control costs. Although, neither approach can be cited to be perfect, negotiated transfer pricing possesses more favourable properties compared to the cost-based transfer pricing. Both transfer-pricing approaches attain goal congruence; however, bargained transfer pricing assists in the estimation of subunit performance, stimulates management action, and conserves subunit autonomy, while the transfer price remain based on incremental costs fails to attain these objectives. The benefits of utilization of alternative methods of transfer pricing between responsibility centres is that the operating managers possess the incentives to closely weigh and conduct cost-benefit analysis prior to requesting groups services or products. Similarly, the operating managers possess an inducement to pursue the job and the development undertaken by the responsibility centres. Decentralization would encourage plant managers to enhance output so as to achieve the highest profitability, and inspire plant managers to track cost cutting measures that would increase margins. Manufacturing managers would be equally motivated to design their operations as per the criteria that satisfy the marketing managers approval, hence enhancing cooperation between the responsibility centres. The problem that emanate from adoption of alternative transfer pricing by Pear Ltds central management is that the contract may necessitate extensive internal negotiations with regard to cost, time, and technical specification. Similarly, Pear Ltds divisions need to consistently sell their services or products to the operating division and this could possibly result in loss of morale. To the degree that the focal point of the responsibility centres is on short-term schemes stipulated by the operating divisions, the current arrangement would lead to goal congruence and motivation. Goal congruence is attained since both the central management (operating divisions) and the responsibility centres are motivated to work the organizational goals such as enhancing the environment. The operating divisions would be highly motivated to utilize the services of the responsibility centres so as to attain the objectives outlined for them by the administration.