My Sociological Imagination Essay

â€Å"The sociological Imagination is defined as the ability to understand the one’s own issues are not caused simply by one’s own beliefs or thoughts but by society and how it is structured.† (Mills, The Sociological Imagination, 1959). Therefore, one can never solve their problems until they understand that they cannot be solved simply on an individual level but must be addressed on the social level. It is the ability to see how society is structured and how things such as societal norms influence people into performing certain actions. It involves observing outcomes from a different perspective in order to understand what influenced those outcomes. Growing up in one’s environment is likely to play as a factor in the way they go about things in the life. People cannot change their environment so they sometimes have to change themselves in order to become to fit in with their societies or to become successful person. The sociological perspective better known as the sociological imagination helps individuals see through a broader scope of the society. Being a part of a general category like a working class youth or a student, you must learn how to view the world through by society. My agent of socialization belongs to my university and friends or peer who surrounded me recently because I believe the service-learning that we will be taking part in will help to expand our sociological imaginations. For myself, my parents are born into a certain environment and depending on how the utilized their sociological imagination, play a part in the environment we become a part of. As I’m coming from the working class family, there is an assumption that you have to go to the school or university for your social status or prestige of your life in my society. My parents always wanted more for me so they enlisted me in a catholic elementary and private high school in my county. So I saw how different I was compared to my other friend’s not in intelligence but in wisdoms. I knew that I was capable of doing more and becoming more because  not only I did I believe in myself, my parents did too. It’s correct because when you are in private high school or catholic school, you have to pay tuition fees and a lot of people do not have money to spare with it. Instead of having the latest pairs of sneakers or shoes and throwing big parties for every holiday and your birthday, w e can save some money for the future and my education. From being in my current university student’s life, my entire life that I learn so much not only academically, but that I do not have to settle for what our social class or social location places us. After my private high school in my country, I went to my fist college in the United States. I encountered the language barriers and a lot of cultural differences in my first six months of college life here. I also learned that no matter how good you do academically, you will always be stereotyped and looks at differently because you’re a minority who comes from different cultures in the society. The sociological imagination is a capacity, ability, and a quality of mind that allows an individual to understand and connect her or his life with the forces and dynamics that impact it. It is about not blaming others for what they do, it is about judging ourselves before we judge others and understand people as if we understand ourselves for example if a student comes late to class there could be many reasons behind this student being late; there could have been traffic or an accident on the way that made him or her come late to class, so we should not judge but understand. Although we should separate between personal trouble and public issue, for example a student could be coming to class late all the time because of his or her laziness this would be called a personal trouble but if all students are coming late to class than this is called a public issue, meaning there is something wrong with the class. Sociological imagination engages in, the minority status, gender, socioeconomic status and the family structure. Sociological imagination is a social fact and empathy; social fact is the idea, feeling, behavior of individuals. An example of social fact is when  the sun is rising, this is a social fact that we cannot change whether we like it or not it will still rise. There are many sociological issues in society; one of the issues learned in this course is the race and racism issue. Race and racism are two different issues race is a social constructed aspect of identity in all cultures, race is not biological it is powerful; it is what makes us who we are for example what we are born with like hair texture and skin color. Racism is an interlocking system of advantage based on race existing at individual and cultural symbolic. Racism comes from power, and culture. Racism happens when some social groups have more power over another social groups, but racism have changed even if it still exist it is not visible in which it is been described as dangerous or a hidden fact. Racism is racism that it can’t be better or worse in any country. Even though being born with a specific skin color is a cause of geographic conditions, in which where the person is born for example being born in a sunny place is different than being born in a place in which doesn’t have sun, so all humans are the same if we put skin color a side, also black people are born with more melanin in their skin and that protects them from getting cancer that’s why white skin colored people are more likely to get cancer than people with dark skin. So there are always advantages and disadvantages about what we have and what we don’t have. Society will always look at you twice before becoming a consideration for different things in an adult life. It takes a great deal of my social imagination to attend college. Not many people in my country feel like they are capable of going to college because of their general categories or social locations. College has always been a big thing in my family. My parents did not want me to settle for just any job that they wanted me to have a career and one that I enjoy. They want me to do well in the life so no only I can get out of the middle social class but I can also take them with me in my success. There is a limited amount of people in my immediate family who actually went to the college in here so going for me is a really big deal. I did not do really well in my past high school so that lead me to a selected few number of colleges to attend when I applied to school in  here. I ended up choosing some universities close to my home town for my first student’s life. I decide d to go to Webster Thailand campus because I did not want to branch to far away from my family. I know that if I continue to do good academically I can transfer to a college in the big city like Singapore and still be close to my family. The sociological imagination distinguishes between two very distinct ends of reality, the â€Å"private troubles† and the â€Å"public issues†. To understand social reality, private troubles must be examined in the context of the larger issue. For example, a child who doing poor school work may be suffering from a private trouble but that issue is part of a larger picture. Is his trouble coming from a larger social problem that is also affecting his community? Is his trouble something which is common among his peer group? All feelings and emotions are inter-related in order to understand one end of society you must understand the others. The sociological imagination, written by C. Wright Mills, is an insightful critique of the research taking place in sociology. Mills states that the sociological imagination is the quality of mind that allows one to understand â€Å"history and biography and the relations between the two within society† (p.6). It allows one to switch from one perspective to another allowing for a comprehensive view of the â€Å"socio-cultural system†. Mills stated some very valid points in this analysis. By defining troubles and issues, he points to each of the connections they have to each other. A good example is on Page 9, when Mills mentions marriage. He states that â€Å"inside a marriage a man and a woman may experience personal troubles, but when the divorce rate during the first four years of marriage is 250 out of 1000 attempt, this is an indication of a structural issue†. Education is a key into overcoming one social location or the class. Doing good academically we can branch into different fields in which we can utilize and expand our experiences. Our social class will no longer be a fallback because we can get different types of scholarships. Social perspective plays a major part in one’s decision to go to the college because people want more in life not just what they were given. They want  to learn more and they want to be more so getting a college education will get them there. People’s lives are shaped by society. They become accustomed to different things and try to stay in the trends in the society. One’s society plays a huge role in one’s personality and the way that they might live their lives. Social Stratification is regarded quite differently by the principle perspectives of sociology. Proponents of structural-functional analysis suggest that since social stratification exists in most state of the societies, a hierarchy must therefore be beneficial in helping to stabilize their existence. Talcott Parsons, an American sociologist, asserted that stability and social order are achieved by means of a universal value consensus. Functionalists assert that stratification exists solely to satisfy the functional per requisites necessary for a functional proficiency in any society. Conflict theorists consider the inaccessibility of resources and lack of social mobility n many stratified societies. They conclude, often working from the theories of Karl Marx, that stratification means that working class people are not likely to advance socioeconomically, while the wealthy may continue to exploit the proletariat generation after generation. Marx distinguished social classes by their connection to the means of production. Therefore the ruling class (the bourgeoisie) and the working class (the proletariat), identify their social positions by their relationship to the means of production. The maintenance of status quo is achieved by various methods of social control employed by the bourgeoisie in the course of many aspects of social life, such as through ideologies of submission promoted through the institution of religion. In the conclusion, my sociological imagination leads me to where I am today. I did not let other stereotypes about my social location and my social class play a part in my decision making process. I took a stand and decided to go to college to better not only for myself but for my family. The sociological imagination is an awareness of the relationship between an individual and wider society; a key element in this is the ability to view  one’s society as an outsider’s would. As being humans, we can’t let our social location determine our abilities. We must explore beyond what we are given and what we are told is right. Humans must defeat their ordinary life by not setting themselves up for limited expectations in the society and we should also try to exceed our or everyone else’s expectations in our life. REFERENCES Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. New York; Oxford University Press. Web. Engels, Friedrich and Marx, Karl. 1998. Manifesto of the Communist Party. New York. Web 10 Sep, 2013. Web 10 Sep, 2013. C Wright Mills, (1959), The Sociological Imagination, reprinted (2000), Oxford University, chapters 1-3 and 7, pages 3–75 and 132-143. Schwalbe, Michael. 1956. The Sociologically examined life: pieces of the conversation. Collins, Patricia Hill. December 1986. Social Problems 33. Web.

The Effect of Organisational Structure and Culture on Information Security Risk Processes

Risk assessment is regarded as an integral part of any information security management framework. This is because an information security management framework exists to enable an organisation to maximise the use of its information within a level of risk that is acceptable to the organisation. In information security management literature risk assessment processes are presented as pivotal to the success of the information security management framework. Risk assessment is used to establish the ISMS, determine the information security risks that an organisation faces, and identify the security countermeasures necessary to reduce the risks to an appropriate level. The emphasis is on an â€Å"appropriate response† to the measure of risk where appropriate is considered in the overall context of the organisation. Risk assessment is enmeshed with additional organisational processes that construct what is termed an Information Security Management System (ISMS). An information security management system is primarily described in the information security management standard ISO 27001 [9, clauses 4-8]. It is an abstracted organisational model found in information security management literature which articulates a systematised view of the information security management functions and processes described in much of the information security management literature. The role of an Information Security Management System (ISMS) is to ensure that adequate controls are â€Å"established, implemented, monitored, reviewed and improved, where necessary, to ensure that the specific security and business objectives of an organisation are met. † [8, p. viii]. In this regard, an ISMS is comprised of logical management functions and management processes. The relationship between risk assessment and the other information security management processes is described in Figure One which shows that the processes interact in a continuous loop, termed the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle (PDCA) or Deming Wheel in security management literature. The dominating decision making processes are risk based and constitute some form of risk assessment or evaluation. However the extent to which the process is a â€Å"technical†, standardised one, is highly dependent on the organisational context, as this paper discusses.

A Financial Analysis of Coca Cola

The Coca-Cola Company is the world largest beverage company. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world’s most valuable brand, the company markets four of the world’s top 5 non-alcoholic sparkling brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta, and Sprite. Consumers in more than 200 countries are enjoying the company’s beverages at a rate exceeding 1. 4 billion servings each day. The Coca-Cola Company engages in the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups worldwide. The company offers nonalcoholic beverages, principally carbonated soft drinks, as well as noncarbonated beverages. Its beverage products comprise bottled and canned soft drinks and beverages products. The companys products also include beverage concentrates, such as flavoring ingredients and sweeteners; syrups, the beverage ingredients produced by combining concentrates, sweeteners, and added water; and fountain syrups that use equipment for mixing the syrups with carbonated or noncarbonated water for immediate consumption, and are sold to fountain retailers, such as restaurants. The Coca-Cola Company owns or licenses more than 400 brands, which consists of noncarbonated beverages, including waters and flavored waters, juice and juice drinks, energy and sports drinks, teas, and coffees. It also has ownership interests in numerous bottling and canning operations. Finished beverage products bearing the CompanyGCOs trademarks are sold in more than 200 countries. As of December 31, 2006, the Company operated through eight segments: Africa; East, South Asia and Pacific Rim; European Union; Latin America; North America; North Asia, Eurasia and Middle East; Bottling Investments, and Corporate. In June 2007, the Company completed the acquisition of Energy Brands, Inc. , known as glaceau. The company markets its nonalcoholic beverages under various brand names, including Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta, and Sprite. It sells its finished beverage products primarily to distributors. The company sells its beverage concentrates and syrups to bottling and canning operators, distributors, fountain wholesalers, and fountain retailers. History In May 1886 Coca-Cola was invented by John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. John Pemberton concocted the Coca Cola formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard. The name was a suggestion given by his bookkeeper Frank Robinson who also scripted the famous logo . The soft drink was first sold to the public at the soda fountain in Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta. Until 1905, the soft drink, marketed as a tonic, contained extracts of cocaine as well as cocoa nut. In 1887, Asa Candler, his partrner bought the formula from Mr. Pemberton for $2,300. By thelate 1890s, Coca Cola was one of the America’s best selling drinks, largely due to Candler’s aggressive marketing of the product. Under Candler’s ownership the company increased its sales by over 4000% between 1890 and 1900. Mission,Vision Values Mission The Coca-Cola Company in everything they do is inspired by their enduring mission: †¢To Refresh the World in body, mind, and spirit. †¢To Inspire Moments of Optimism through our brands and our actions. †¢To Create Value and Make a Difference everywhere we engage. Vision To achieve sustainable growth, they have established a vision with clear goals. †¢Profit: Maximizing return to shareowners while being mindful of our overall responsibilities. People: Being a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be. Taken together, these statements will give an accounting picture of the firm’s operations and financial position. Detailed data will be provided to show what has actually happened to assets, earnings, and dividends over the past few years and somehow include some verbal statements to explain somehow why things turned out the way they did. Furthermore, we will also be presenting the following measures or indices to provide clear insights of the management and how well they have performed in maximizing shareholder wealth. 1. Net Operating Working Capital (NOWC) 2. Total Net Operating Capital (TNOC) 3. Net Operating Profit After Taxes (NOPAT) 4. Free Cash Flow (FCF) 5. Net Investment in Operating Capital (NIOC) 6. Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) 7. Economic Value Added (EVA) 8. Market Value Added (MVA) Balance Sheets Table 1 shows The Coca-Cola Company’s most recent five-year balance sheets, which represent â€Å"snapshots† of its financial position on the last day of each year. The Balance Sheet presents a picture of the business net worth at a particular point in time. It summarizes all the financial data about the company business, breaking that data into 3 categories; assets, liabilities, and equity. The relationship between them is expressed in this equation: Assets = Liabilities + Equity. Assets are what a company uses to operate its business, while its liabilities and equity are two sources that support these assets. Owner’s equity, referred to as shareholders’ equity in a publicly traded company, is the amount of money initially invested into the company plus any retained earnings, and it represents a source of funding for the business. Table 1. The Coca Cola Company 5 Year Balance Sheet Analysis of Total Assets As shown above, the total assets of the company is consistently depict an increasing trend, which shows that it is financially stable and has been profitable. The increase in cash and cash equivalent in 2004 compared to 2003 was due primarily to net cash provided by operating activities of $5,968 million. A significant portion of this cash was generated in locations outside the US. The decrease in cash and cash equivalent in 2006 compared to 2005 was due to increase in property, plant and equipment amounting to almost 1. million brought about by acquisitions and purchases which consequently increases the net fixed assets and other non current assets. Along with the assets, the total liabilities and stockholder’s equity also increased throughout the past 5 years. Based on the company’s annual report, the increase in loans and notes payable of $1,948 million in 2004 was due to the issuance of commercial p aper to meet short-term cash needs in the US, including the quarterly dividend payments and repurchases of common stock. The decrease in loans and notes payable in 2006 compared to 2005 was primarily due to the net repayment of commercial paper and short term debts. Income Statement The Coca Cola Company’s income statement for the past 5-year as shown on Table 2, reflects the company’s performance during these period unlike the balance sheet that provides snapshot of a firm at point in time. The Income Statement is also known as Profit and Loss Statement (PL). The Income Statement shows your Revenues, Expenses, and Profit for a particular period. Its a snapshot of the company that shows whether or not your business is profitable at that point in time. Below is a simple illustration of the PL: Revenue Expenses = Profit/Loss. This is very useful for internal use as well as to external users for it shows whether the company made or lost money during the period being reported. Through this income statement, investors and creditors would be able to forecast future performance, assess the risk of achieving future cash flows. As shown on Figure 1 and Table 2, the Coca Cola Company had experienced a consistently profits for the past five years. Thus, it projects that they operate profitably and demonstrates its ability to use borrowed and invested funds in a successful manner. This positive result that was manifested in the Coca Cola Company’s PL is synonymous to company’s ability to operate profitably which benefits its employees particularly the management, shareholders, as it’s also equally important to creditors particularly current lenders and investors The increase in cash and cash equivalent in 2004 compared to 2003 was due primarily to net cash provided by operating activities of $5,968 million. A significant portion of this cash was generated in locations outside the US. The decrease in cash and cash equivalent in 2006 compared to 2005 was due to increase in property, plant and equipment amounting to almost 1. 9 million brought about by acquisitions and purchases which consequently increases the net fixed assets and other non current assets. Figure 1 The following table indicates, on a percentage basis, the estimated impact of key factors resulting in significant increases (decreases) in net operating revenues: Percent Change Year Ended December 31 2006 vs 20052005 vs 20042004 vs 20032003 vs 2002 Increase in gallon sales4%3%2%3% Structural cahnges-20-3-1 Price and product/geographic mix2101 Impact of currency fluctuations versus the US dollar 0255 Total Percentage increase 4%6%4%8% Net Cash Flow The net cash flow differs from accounting profit because some of the revenues and expenses reflected in accounting profits may not have been received or paid out in cash during the year. Depreciation is typically the largest noncash item, so net cash flow is Table 2 – Income Statement ften expressed as net income plus depreciation. Investors are at least as interested in a firm’s projected net cash flow as in reported earnings because it is cash, not paper profit, that is paid out as dividends and plowed back into business to produce growth. Figure 2 – Net Cash Flow The above calculations are in accordance to the income statements and balance sheets. As exhibited, the net cash flow is continuo usly increasing which strongly suggests that the Coca-Cola Company’s ability to generate cash from operations is one of the fundamental financial strength Free Cash Flow (FCF) This is the cash flow that is actually available for distribution to investors after the company has made all the investments in fixed assets and working capital necessary to sustain ongoing operations. Figure 3 – Free Cash Flow (FCF) As shown in Fig. 3 that in 2004 the FCF of the company plummeted but this was primarily the impact of the major acquisition of plants and bottling companies in Germany, South Africa including the big purchase of San Miguel Corporation, the biggest bottling company in the Philippines. And in year 2005, the company was able to bounced back in their FCF, a significant increase from -$236. 0 millions to almost 6 billion. Net Operating Working Capital (NOWC) This is a traditional measure of company’s liquidity and potential for growth. Net operating working capital is defined as non-interest bearing current assets minus non-interest charging liabilities. This also known as â€Å"investor-supplied capital†, which is equal to cash, account s receivables, and inventories less accounts payable and accruals. This particular measure is not being used when assessing management’s performance as it is not including natural or human capital in its calculation. Total Net Operating Capital (TNOC) It is defined as the sum of net operating working capital and operating long-term assets (liabilities). Other way of calculating this is by adding up the funds provided by investors, such as notes payables, long-term bonds, preferred stock, and common stock. Year 2004 always shows a major changes among the five years operation of the company. The company increased its operating capital to $25,248 from $21,593, or by almost $4 billion, during 2004. Furthermore, most of this increase went into working capital, which rose from $2,647 to $6,015 million, or by almost $4 billion. This is again caused by the aforementioned major acquisition. CONCLUSION Performing this research on Coca-Cola was very hard work. It took a lot of time and dedication to put all of this information together. Coca-Cola can be seen as a group of individuals working together to become stronger and the best. If one individual appears to be weak, the others must pull together to help compensate for the weakness being presented. Working as a team on this project is similar to how we view Coca-Cola. We were a group of individuals working together to become stronger and the best. We fed off of each others energy to achieve a good project in the end. By doing this research, I found out that Coca-Cola makes Odwalla, which I believe is well-known in Africa and was recently introduced in the United States. I learned that Coca-Cola has used commercial paper throughout various years. For those who do not know what commercial paper is, keep reading. Commercial paper is a type of unsecured promissory note issued by large, strong firms and sold primarily to other business firms, to insurance companies, to pension funds, to money market mutual funds, and to banks (Brigham, page 803). This came as a surprise to me at first, but then I realized that even successful firms need help along the way. Coca-Cola appears to be doing well with its current operations. Since Coca-Cola has done well in the past, I believe that they will continue to do well in the future. The non-alcoholic beverage industry seems to be growing with each passing societal change-from people wanting to have soda, but with fewer calories, from people wanting water with a kick, from people wanting energy, and for moms who want their kids to drink things that are good for them. Coca-Cola will be able to keep up with these changes as long as they keep inspiring and letting their employees to be the best they can be. With success comes hard times trying to stay the best and Coca-Cola is living proof of that. Coca-Cola has been around for more than 200 years and counting. With business of this longevity, they must be doing something right. After all, a building is only as strong as its foundation. Coca-Cola was built on a foundation of being the best at what they do and they have not fallen as of yet, so keep up the good work.

Museum paper- art history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Museum paper- art history - Essay Example These types of images were giving way to more humanist styles in forms of expression as images were depicted in a more optical style. These changes can be seen when comparing pottery currently on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, such as the Panathenaic prize vase and the Amphora Depicting Oedipus and the Sphinx of Thebes. There are numerous similarities between these two objects, but with approximately 100 years between manufacture, stylistic differences are also evident. Both objects are classified as amphora, which was a type of two-handled urn that was often used to carry wine or water. These types of vessels were often decorated with scenes from heroic stories and mythology as in the image of Oedipus talking with the Sphinx in the later example (Skaar, 2006). This ceramic amphora was made in the red figure style in the city of Athens sometime between 450-440 BC by the Achilles painter. It stands approximately 13 inches high and is approximately 6  ½ inches in diameter at its widest point near the center (Bostom Museum). Despite the tradition, though, the earlier example seems to be more of a commemorative piece as it depicts five stylized runners and is marked with the words â€Å"of the prizes from Athens† (Boston Museum). This amphora is also ceramic and created in Athens, but is made in what is called the black figure style approximately 100 years earlier between 530-520 BC by the Euphiletos Painter. It stands approximately 24 inches tall and measures approximately 16 inches around at its widest point near the top (Boston Museum). Both vases have some damage as a result of time. The Prize vase shows some signs of damage and attempts at restoration while some of the pigment for the Oedipus amphora has worn away leaving some of the story of the vase up to science and history. The museum’s assessment of these pieces seems largely correct.

Primary Source Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Primary Source Analysis - Essay Example The poor were often mistreated and subjected to intense, sometimes brutal employment with minimal wages or opportunities. Aristotle is attempting to illustrate the importance of democracy as a foundational value system in political leadership and identify the risks associated with wealthier individuals coming to power and creating unfair, self-centered governments. Aristotle identifies that tyrannical leadership is often created by those who were born into wealth and influence who do not learn important lessons regarding compliance and submission. Aristotle points out that the most valuable position in a society is within the middle class ranks since it is here where lessons about servitude, ethical behavior and moral principles are developed. The rich, on the other hand, seem to be more influential and eventually rise to authority in government without having the important lessons learned about how to treat others properly. Key terms in this document include democracy and oligarchy.

Efficiency Wages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Efficiency Wages - Essay Example Regarding a model of costly labor turnover, Stiglitz1 writes, firms are likely to pay too high wages. But it should be emphasized that it is possible that the competitive wage is too low. Since the 1970s, the persistently high unemployment rates in many industrial economies have made more and more economists believe that involuntary unemployment is one of the major stylized facts of modern economies. Therefore, a satisfactory macroeconomic labor model should explain well such a stylized fact. The efficiency wage theory has in recent years generally been regarded as a powerful vehicle for explaining why involuntary unemployment has persisted in the labor market. In constructing a business cycle model, "a potential problem of the efficiency-wage hypothesis is the absence of a link between aggregate demand and economic activity"2. Hence, until Akerlof and Yellen (1985) presented the near-rational model, efficiency wage theories still left unanswered the question of how changes in the money supply can affect real output. In macroeconomic theory, the wage is simply regarded as the amount of money that employees receive and is assumed to be exactly equal to the average cost of labor to employers. In practice, the components of wages are more complicated than the simple economic setting would suggest. There exist some gaps between the amounts that trading partners pay and receive. For example, the actual average cost of labor to employers is equal to the wage that employees receive after the addition of hiring and training costs, firing (severance pay) and retirement (pension) costs, various taxes and insurance fees, sometimes traffic and housing outlays, and so on. Some of these costs, especially taxes, insurance, and traffic fees, are set by the process of political negotiations. The resetting processes relating to these costs are always time-consuming and controversial in modern democratic societies, and these costs are not as flexible as other components of wages determined by competitive markets o r monopsonists. Since some components of wages are always inflexible, partial rigidity of wages is thus a realistic specification for economic modeling. When we recognize that wages have the property of partial rigidity, it is logical to expect that money nonneutrality will hence result. The basic tenet of the efficiency wage theory is that the effort or productivity of a worker is positively related to his real wage and firms have the market power to set the wage. Therefore, in order to maintain high productivity, it may be profitable for firms not to lower their wages in the presence of involuntary unemployment. The main reasons that are provided for the positive relationship between worker productivity and wage levels include nutritional concerns3, morale effects4, adverse selection5, and the shirking problem6. The shirking viewpoint proposed by Shapiro and Stiglitz (1984) is the most popular version of the theory. Its essential feature is that firms cannot precisely observe the efforts of workers due to incomplete information and costly monitoring; equilibrium unemployment is therefore necessary as a worker discipline device. I thus adopt a shirking model as the analytical framework of this paper to examine the effects of partial rigidity of wages. The earliest theoretical work on efficiency wages

Poverty has been a big economic problem in the world Term Paper

Poverty has been a big economic problem in the world - Term Paper Example Taking for instance, lack of income is brought out as poverty, but it is unreliable to measure. It may also be related to consumption. Poverty is mostly what is seen to be and what has been measured. The comparisons of these provide a scope that has an endless debate. Another angle can be taken as material lack or want. In this, it tries to refer to little wealth or lack of some of assets like shelter, clothing, TV’s and radios. The other definition refers to the deprivation in capability, so much focusing in what one can and what one cannot do or cannot be. This goes beyond the lack of want to further include the physical capabilities or even the self respect from the society. [Squire, L, 1993] In this era, where there is a global meltdown, the evil, which is breeding in most of nations, has increased poverty levels among people. The world is now faced with a condition where the rich are getting richer while the poor are continuously getting poorer. The global cause of povert y is less talked about and, therefore, very little has been done as a direct strategy in alleviating this poverty directly. There are interconnections, which are assured by the globalizations as well as the rules. Also, practices and the judgments that apply internationally count in these interconnections. These are mostly from the leaders of the affluent countries or the major global actors like the international organizations, corporations and the powerful people. With such manipulation from the global leaders, the governments of those who are underprivileged and the people who are in them are so much helpless in alleviating the poverty that affects them. It is in this that one sees many of the people struggling for survival while the few continue enjoying the riches at the expense of many. The statistics on poverty show that even in nations like the US, which are developed, 15 to 25 percent constitutes of poor people. They are not able to provide for basic needs like food, shelte r and these have high populations. Where there are many adults and children as well. Most of the population lives below a dollar a day. 2. Discuss the major impact to society of the problem The society has been affected by poverty in a very great way. Poverty as seen has deeper roots that if not uprooted properly, will lead to a cycle of poverty better known as the vicious poverty cycle. It is a process of activities that are in a cause and effect state. The sociological readings have revealed that poverty is transferred from one generation to another, from family values, from these routines and standards of living, which leave little room for development and which are beyond anyone’s day to day operations. The situation of a family inclined towards a moment to moment viewpoint. The main concern, which is to provide for food and shelter, has been the major concern. Being able to provide a better habitat for the children to live in, being self sufficient and having futuristic plans are very vital. The effect as of poverty has been seen to have the same effects as the consequences of not gratifying the needs of the individuals. It has been noted that the poor are mostly emaciated and unwell. They mostly live in under standard conditions. Poverty leads to drug abuse and addictions that affect the health of the people involved. The poor are not able to afford the drugs that are needed to cure the diseases that are affecting them. [IMF, 2001] They end up using those that have been left out.

How Walmart as a brand uses social media, newsletters, and online Term Paper - 2

How Walmart as a brand uses social media, newsletters, and online selling propositions in persuading their customers - Term Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that in contemporary business within the globalized world, effective marketing is inevitable. Most successful companies employ proper use of internet marketing to explore and maintain market share within the globalized world. For instance, large companies use Internet marketing in advertising their products and services to the entire world market. Internet marketing is a fundamental form of promoting and selling products to consumers. Firms using the internet as a marketing tool can collect information from consumers that help in improving their product and services. Moreover, the cost of production is lowered and managing competition becomes easy. It is crucial for a brand to possess a unique social media strategy in persuading consumers. Using the main networks, the brands can focus on the interests of the customers and make decisions on improving quality of products and services. Wal-Mart brand uses Facebook as a social media platform fo r marketing. Consequently, the company has developed the various timeline and web pages for customers to join. Facebook pages allow the company to interact directly with customers hence attracting many customers. Moreover, Facebook pages allow Walmart to launch new products to customers and provide guidelines on how to use the products. Furthermore, Walmart provides pictures of the products which help in winning customers’ loyalty and building brand image. Positive comments and many likes in the updates posted by Walmart further advertise the products to many other web users. In addition, Walmart uses many  Twitter handles to post products, discussing emerging issues on the products and answering customers’ requests.

Strategic Management in the Non Profit Sector Essay - 1

Strategic Management in the Non Profit Sector - Essay Example Partnerships are an important function in the non-profit sector. The positioning of efforts in tandem with that of another organisation helps the organisation move towards effective goal achievement. This also promotes harmony in activities and the society in general. The structuring and strategic management of goals and structures within an organisation must lead to partnerships with external parties. This is due to the fact that a not for profit organisation basically deals with what is outside, rather than what is inside. Its activities revolve around the betterment of people and their environments. For this reason, it is important to work in tandem with other organisations that can provide it with something that is lacking within the organisation in question. This is a matter of strategic positioning and the strategic use and management of resources that belong to the society as a whole. Partnerships are also a good option in strategic management for new and developing organisati ons as it helps in the sharing of costs and resources. It also helps the new organisation in garnering the requisite amount of experience and leverage in the market.

Branding of a City in the 21st Century Coursework - 1

Branding of a City in the 21st Century - Coursework Example While the consumer's awareness of a brand, and the reasons for choosing an associated product may depend on various factors including peer reference, peer approval, or other social factors beyond the direct control of the brand's investor, the brand's marketing mix is definitely within the investor's control, and something that demands big budget investment. Therefore, investor's and researchers are always concerned about the actual effects and results of marketing components including advertisement, sales promotions, and company emblems - upon the consumer's perception and their consequence upon brand equity. In the last decade, a lot of research has been dedicated to conceptualizing and measuring customer-based brand equity. However, apart from putting forth various influencing factors, no integrative framework has so far been developed to account for the complex psychological processes underlying the formation of customer-based brand equity. This has strong implications as far as message processing and persuasion in tourism and city image is concerned. The modern day consumers' decision making as far a choice of a brand remains widely unquestioned as far as practical observations and research go. This is especially true of city branding whether it is for tourists or for possible settlers. There are a variety of models to conceptualize and measure "brand equity" in order to explain how brand equity is generated in the consumer's mind in terms of images of cities. These models consist of a thorough analysis of each factor that influences the decision making process as well as several synoptic approaches examining the influence of different variables on brand equity are available (Kotler, 1997 , p. 443). This promotes a deeper understanding of the elements of brand identity for cities as this is a fairly new phenomenon that has sprung from the advent of globalization. The elements of the brand equity in this regard have been studied from the perspective of case studies so as to understand the perception management elements that go in to creating an image for a city. (Kaplanidou et al, 2003) Brand Identity is that element of perception management and awareness in a city's image, which has its focus in the results of a

Child with Autism Essay Example for Free

Child with Autism Essay There are many books out there relative to the matter of Autism, but I have to say that â€Å"Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew† is a the must read for my parents and my colleagues at work, that’s why I chose it for this assignment. Summary This book is an expansion of a successful article that Ellen Notbohm published in 2005. She used the same title. Ellen is a mother of two special needs children, one with autism and the other one with ADHD; however this book is written from the perception of an individual with autism. This is not a long book. It has only ten chapters and is about 130 pages, including the preface and the introduction, called in this book as, â€Å"It begins†. In this part of the book, â€Å"It begins†, the author tries to convince families and caregivers who are dealing with autism, to see it not like a disease. Ellen wants people to help their children to live with it, not to teach them to suffer for something that the children can not even control or they may not even know about. After this introduction, we found that each chapter can be described like a handbook. Each of the ten chapters has just a few bits of information about the common problems that a child with autism presents. However, when you finish reading the book, you will find that this information all together is a complete and trustful story encyclopedia that can help parents, teachers and many other professionals who work with ASD individuals a young age. In the first chapter, the wish is that people may be able to understand that she or he is just a child that needs love, patience, and help. I’m â€Å"autistic†; I’m not a label, I’m just a child. Going beyond with this marvelous book we found how the sensory issues are the reason of many behavior problems. Behavior doesn’t appear from nowhere, an incomprehensible and unexpected behavior has a sensory cause. Ellen advises parents and caregivers to think and reconsider about their beliefs. She also made some suggestions that can help us to identify and work around the child’s sensory structure. Meltdowns, the well-known meltdowns. These are also addressed in this book. Ellen describes the four trigger clusters, sensory overload, physical/physiological, emotional, and poor examples from adults. She indicates the way to identify their causes as well. She makes us to stop thinking or saying that â€Å"she/he won’t† to analyze and identify what is causing the behavior. Visual learners, this is explained in chapter four. This chapter tells us how these children are concrete learners, and visual thinkers. She also illustrates how verbal communication doesn’t make any sense to these children, by given some examples that she calls common snags. She reminds us that we have to help these children by developing a functional way that she/he can use to express their needs, wants, feelings, fears, etc. If they don’t know how to communicate they will find the way to let us know, which can be expressed with any variety of behaviors. Some techniques are also provided in this book, to help these children to develop or improved social interaction and the formation of self esteem. Ellen, who is talking in this book as a child, reminds parents and caregivers that he/she is trying his/her best with his/her poor and limited social skills. Ellen describes her feels when her son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She pictures her emotions and thoughts, and her continued fight with her hopelessness. Ellen finishes the book by saying that it didn’t take long to realize she wouldn’t change her son in any aspect even if she could. â€Å"I wouldn’t have him be anything other than exactly what he is†. Relationship between the book and CEC Standards of the course The relationship between this book â€Å"Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew† and the standards for professional educators, CEC, can begin with Standard One, that states how the â€Å"special educators use this knowledge as a ground upon which to construct their own personal understandings†. This book provides valuable information that can help teachers who work with ASD students to get a better idea of their world, and gather this information to build strategies or interventions that will help these children to develop or increase skills that will lead to improvement of their lives. Standard Nine, which addresses the engagement in professional and learning activities with families, colleagues, and activities that will lead to a professional growth, have a relationship with this book, because even though this book is more like a personal reflection from a mother of a child with autism, the book offers with details a full description of the primary problems that every child with autism has to face every day. The information provided in this book is helping educators to obtain knowledge and develop understanding of those incomprehensible and unexpected behaviors that many children with autism have. The last standard and the most important: Standard Ten which emphasizes â€Å"collaboration with families, other educators, related service providers, and personnel from community agencies in culturally responsive ways†, collaboration that can help to address the needs of the students. The collaboration can be practiced by sharing this book with parents, teachers, therapists, etc. As I mentioned in my introduction the information provided by the author can be considered as a handbook. Therefore by sharing this book with them, the special educator can be seen as a resource that is facilitating information to parents across settings and services. Professional practice with parents of ASD children My professional growth as a special educator has been impacted by this book enormously. Last school year when I was transferred to Redondo Elementary, although I have a background as a Special Educator, I didn’t know about autism at all. As a result I found myself desperately trying to find information that will help me to understand autism. One of my colleagues recommended this book and I purchased it immediately. I will say that Standard One is reflecting on my professional growth, because, when I read this book, I found the answer to many questions such as: Why is it that she/he claps? Why is it that she/he spins around? , etc. Knowledge that I apply to my teaching every day. Standard Nine reflects on my professional growth because, after reading this book, I am more â€Å"aware of how their own and others attitudes, behaviors, and ways of communicating can influence my practice†. Now I am able to understand more the culture of autism, and I’m also feeling more perceptive about my students’ needs and parents’ concerns. Standard Ten, which is always the most important for my â€Å"collaboration†. I like to extend an invitation to all my parents during my open house or family nights that we have at my school to read this book. I also like to extend an invitation to my parents to come and see me if they are having difficulties with their child at home, so we can work together to implement an intervention to address that particular problem. I would like to finish with this personal account book review/reflection sharing my favorite quotation of this book. â€Å"Patience. Patience. Patience. Work to view my autism as a different ability rather than disability†.

Integrating health care systems Essay Example for Free

Integrating health care systems Essay Integrating health care systems Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Integrated health systems deem to be component of the resolution to the general glitch of sustaining global healthcare structure. Various methodical literature reviews have been developed to funnel decision-makers and other stakeholders to strategize and execute integrated health schemes. The inefficiencies and inequality in health systems have persisted for long due to economic breakdown. The rationale of advancement of health systems is to improve efficiency and equity in health care provision (Boslaugh, 2013). The rationale of this paper is to compare, contrast and describe two articles related to integration of healthcare systems. â€Å"Integrated health care networks in Latin America: toward a conceptual a framework for analysis† is an article by ML Và ¡zquez, and â€Å"Ten key principles for successful health systems integration† by E Suter (Retrived from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004930/).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Integrated health systems are considered as right step towards the challenge of sustainability (Lorenzi, 2005). The efforts to ensure that the state of health care system across countries include introduction of health care networks. This system is also known as integrated health care delivery system. Other efforts include guiding health professionals and other related stakeholders to strategize and execute integrated health care configuration (Kronenfeld, 2004). Integrated health care systems are generally believed to offer greater performance in terms of safety, quality as a result of standardized protocols and effective communication. However, these results have not been fully realized (Joumard , 2010).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These two articles were published in 2009. There is need to integrate health care systems since they are characterized by overrated expenses, sluggish public disbursement on health as part of gross domestic product, as well as gross inequalities (Mesa-Lago, 2007). In both articles the health care systems are integrated to meet patient needs, to ensure comprehensive services across the health care scheme, consistent care delivery between professional groups, information coordination, performance management, physician integration, organization leadership and culture, financial management, and governance construction (Retrieved from http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?pid=S1020-49892009001000012script=sci_arttext).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Suter descried the condition of health systems in Canada while Và ¡zquez elaborate about the state of health care condition in Latin America (Geyndt, 2001). Health care system in Latin America has been jeopardized by economic breakdown, gross inequalities, and overrated expenditure. On contrary, health care is greatly affected by service demand, gradual cost inflation, as well as staff shortages. In both articles endeavors to integrate health care structure face hindrances. In Canada, efforts for integration are affected by inadequate information related to executing and integration-linked initiatives (Rathwell, 1994). That is the information is isolated and not easily accessed. On the other hand, despite integration in health structure in health systems, the issues of inequalities still prevail in health services. Recent study reveals that health care integration in Canada is not sustainable in the modern form (Morrison, 2013).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, calls for superior integration of health care service delivery, as an approach to attend to equity of efficiency and access, have been demonstrated in health reforms by multilateral institutions and national governments across the world. These efforts include proper planning to help the health care professionals to make superior decisions as well as the introduction of integrated health care networks. These efforts will strengthen the capacity of health care systems. The objective of these reforms is to improve overcoming inequalities as well as improving efficiency. The only remaining part is to ensure there are appropriate strategies to analyze the capability of the alterations being put into place to deliver integration plans. References Boslaugh, S. (2013). Health care systems around the world: a comparative guide. New York, NY: SAGE publishers. Geyndt, W. D. (2001). Improving the quality of health care in Latin America. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 13(2), 85-87. Health care comes home the human factors. (2011). Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. Integrating mental health into primary care: a global perspective.. (2008). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization ;. Joumard, I., AndreÃÅ' , C., Nicq, C. (2010). Health Care Systems. Paris: OECD. Kronenfeld, J. J. (2004). Chronic care, health care systems, and services integration. Amsterdam: Elsevier JAI. Lorenzi, N. M. (2005). Transforming health care through information (2nd ed.). New York: Springer. Mesa-Lago, C. (2007). Social Security In Latin America: Pension And Health Care Reforms In The Last Quarter Century. Latin American Research Review, 42(2), 181-201. Morrison, J. (2013). CPhA and other health care professions: Working for a better health care system. Canadian Pharmacists Journal / Revue des Pharmaciens du Canada, 146(3), 171-172. Rathwell, T. (1994). Health Care In Canada: A System In Turmoil. Health Policy, 27(1), 5-17. SciELO Salud Publica. (n.d.). SciELO Salud Publica. Retrieved August 25, 2014, from http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?pid=S1020-49892009001000012script=sci_arttext Suter, E., Oelke, N., Adair, C., Armitage, G. (1930, March 6). Abstract. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved August 25, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004930/ Source document

The Production and Storage of Khoa

The Production and Storage of Khoa Khoa is a traditional dairy product which is produced in India by both organized and unorganized sector. It is the base for various traditional sweets manufactured in India. Apart from the traditional method of manufacturing khoa many methods were developed recently for the manufacture and storage of it. In the present essay I had mentioned about various technologies available for manufacture and storage of khoa. According to the National Dairy Development Board, India the annual production of milk during the year 2007-2008 is 104.8 million tonnes. India has two types of sectors for the marketing of milk and its products, one is organized sector and another is unorganized sector. The unorganized sector accounts for 88% of total milk production in India and it includes marketing of raw milk and traditional products such as locally manufactured ghee, fresh cheese, and sweets. The organized sector accounts for 10-12% of total milk production in India and it includes the dairy cooperatives and organized private dairies which produces Western-style dairy processed products based on pasteurization. The share of organized sector in the total milk production handling is increasing by the years (FAO, 2002). In India out of all dairy products consumed traditional products account for over 90 percent. In order to protect the surplus milk from spoilage simple processes were developed to produce products like curds (yoghurt-like fermented product), Makkhan (butter), Khoa (desiccated milk product), Chhana and Paneer (soft cottage cheese-like cultured product) and Ghee (clarified butter) (FAO, 2001). And nearly 7% of milk produced in India is converted to khoa (ICMR, 2000). KHOA MANUFACTURING PROCESS In India, khoa is traditionally manufactured by continuous boiling of milk in a shallow iron or stainless steel vessel to remove moisture and the process continues till the total solid level is attained in the range of 65 to 72% (Pal and Raju, 2006). As per the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA), India (1955) rules, khoa sold by whatever variety or name such as Pindi, Danedar, Dhap, Mawa, or Kava which is obtained from cow or buffalo (or goat or sheep) milk or milk solids or a combination there of by rapid desiccation and having not less than 30 per cent milk fat on dry weight basis. The Bureau of Indian Standards has given the requirements for three types of khoa, viz. Pindi, Danedar and Dhap in terms of total solids, fat, ash, acidity, coliforms and yeast and mold counts (Indian Standard (IS): 4883, 1980). A minimum fat level of 5.5 in buffalo milk is required to achieve the PFA standard. Khoa has been categorized into three major groups i.e. Pindi (for Burfi, Peda), Dhap (Gulab jamun) and Danedar (Kalakand) on the basis of composition, texture and end use. KHOA MANUFACTURING PROCESS CHEMICAL ASPECTS Khoa contain 75-80% moisture, 25-37% fat, 17 -20% protein, 22-25% lactose, and 3.6-3.8% ash (Aneja et al. 2002).The milk is subjected to high heat temperature during the manufacture of khoa which initiates number of physico-chemical changes resulting in characteristics sensory, textural and structural properties in khoa. The continuous heating will reduce water activity, inactivates various milk enzymes and destroy pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms apart from development of desirable flavors and texture. The heating process promotes the denaturation and coagulation of milk proteins and the process is more rapid due to frothing and incorporation of air by continuous stirring (Sindhu et al. 2000). The disruption of fat globule membrane and subsequent release of free fat that account for 44.8-62.8 percent of total fat in khoa occurs due to vigorous agitation during heating process of milk (Mann and Gupta, 2006). Adhikari et al. (1994) has studied the interaction between milk macrom olecules during heating of buffalo milk using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and observed casein-casein, casein-whey protein and casein-lactose interaction with gradual heating of milk. The khoa made with buffalo milk and milk of high total solid will have more brown colour in the end product and this is due to browning reactions (Gothwal and Bhavdasan1992). Patil et al. (1992) has investigated khoa microstructure using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and revealed that khoa consists of larger protein granules made up of partially fused casein micelles and non-micellar proteins. They also observed reduction in the size of protein granules and inter-granular space during working or agitation of khoa manufacture process and it also resulted in large amount of fat globules membrane fractions. FACTORS AFFECTING KHOA QUALITY Type of milk: Buffalo milk is generally used instead of cow milk for the manufacture of khoa due to its higher yield, softer body and smooth texture. The khoa manufactured from cow milk have dry surface, yellow colour, sticky and sandy texture (Pal and Gupta, 1985). Amount of free fat: An optimum amount of free fat is necessary for desirable body and textural properties of khoa(Boghra and Rajorhia ,1982). Total solid level: There is significant positive correlation between total solid level milk and instrumental hardness, gumminess and chewiness of khoa (Gupta et al., 1990). Working of Khoa: The formation of large lactose crystals can be reduced through working of khoa when compared to un-worked khoa and working results in no perceived sandiness upon storage. EQUIPMENTS USED IN KHOA MANUFACTURING PROCESS Khoa is generally manufactured by halwais in jacketed kettles, which has several disadvantages like poor and inconsistent quality and limited shelf life of about 5 days at 30Â °C (International Conference on Traditional Dairy Foods, 2007).Most attempts made for up-gradation of the technology of khoa are directed towards mechanization of the process and developing continuous khoa making plants (Aneja et al., 2002). Agrawala et al. (1987) has developed mechanized conical process vat for preparation of khoa. It consists of a stainless steel conical vat with a cone angle of 60ÂÂ ° and steam-jacket partitioned into 4-segments for efficient use of thermal energy and less heat loss. Due its batch type of operation, it is suitable only for making limited quantities of the product. National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) which is situated at Anand (Gujarat), India has developed an Inclined Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger (ISSHE) for continuous manufacture of khoa (Punjrath et al., 1990). Concentrated milk of 42 to 45% total solids is used as feed in this machine and its inclination permits the formation of a pool of boiling milk critical to formation of khoa. Thin Film Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger (TSSHE) system has developed by Dodeja et al. (1992) at NDRI for the continuous manufacture of khoa and it consists of two Scraped Surface Heat Exchangers (SSHE) which are arranged in a cascade fashion. In this machine milk is concentrated in first SSHE to about 40-45% Total Solids and finally to khoa in the second SSHE. But feed for this unit is buffalo milk and thus rendering it suitable for organized small and large dairies and entrepreneurs which is not in the case of Inclined Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger. The capacity of both TSSHE and SSHE is about 50 kg khoa per hour and many organized dairies have adopted these continuous khoa making machines. Three-stage continuous khoa manufacture unit has been developed by Christie and Shah (1992). It has three jacketed cylinders placed in a cascade arrangement which helps in easy transfer of milk from one cylinder in to other and it works as heat exchanger. The heat exchangers are installed with a mechanism of providing inclination and the slope allows the movement of the contents in longitudinal direction. The unit has a variable pulley drive which helps in speed adjustment and it is highly bulky requiring too much flooring area. (Pal and Cheryan, 1987) and (Kumar and Pal, 1994) have implemented Reverse osmosis (RO) technique for the manufacture of khoa from cow milk and buffalo milk respectively. This process comprises pre-concentration of milk (2.5-fold for cow milk and 1.5-fold for buffalo milk) using RO process followed by desiccation in a steam-jacketed open pan for the manufacture of khoa. The final product obtained by this membrane process was found to be identical to the conventionally prepared product. This process saves energy during the initial concentration of milk. In order to make this process continuous jacketed pan should be replace with SSHE. Different workers incorporated whey solids in the form of whey protein concentrate (WPC) in the milk and reported that increased addition of WPC in the milk resulted in large granulation in khoa and increased yield (Dewani and Jayaprakasha, 2002). FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY MANAGEMENT ISSUES DURING KHOA STORAGE Due to higher nutrients and high water activity (.96),Khoa is easily Susceptible to growth of bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus are the main contaminating micro organisms in khoa and they cause many food-borne diseases. To prevent and reduce microbiological hazard from khoa HACCP should be applied. The microbial quality of Khoa is initially good during production time and it will gradually deteriorate during storage and marketing. The main Critical Control Point for the deterioration was identified as airtight packaging. This problem can be solved through changing the packaging material to muslin cloth which allows free air flow, reduced the microbial proliferation (ICMR, 2000). METHODS TO INCREASE STORAGE LIFE OF KHOA The storage life of khoa is only two to three days, under ambient conditions, and 15-20 days under refrigerated conditions (Ramzan and Rahman, 1973). Rancidity is one of the reason which deteriorates quality of khoa and it adversely affects storage life of khoa (Bashir et al., 2003).Addition of potassium sorbate effectively improves the storage life of khoa at higher temperatures. Jha and Verma(1988) have observed increased storage stability of khoa for 40 days by addition of potassium sorbate. Other workers also stated that the storage life of khoa can be enhanced by using different types of food preservatives and antimicrobial agents (Wadhawa et al., 1993). At elevated temperatures the storage stability of freshly prepared khoa can be adversely affected. By measuring free fatty acids, peroxide value and iodine value we can determine storage stability of khoa. The free fatty acid, peroxide and iodine values for freshly prepared khoa were 0.025%, 0.38 meq/kg and 80, respectively. The increase in free fatty acid and peroxide value and decrease in iodine value are the indicators of development of rancidity in khoa during three months of storage at elevated temperature. By adding BHA and BHT we can retard the development of rancidity in khoa on storage. But, BHT will act comparitively better than BHA. Therefore, we can increase the storage stability of khoa by adding synthetic antioxidants like BHA and BHT at elevated temperatures (Rehman and Salariya, 2005). CONCLUSION Although so many technologies are developed for the production and storage of khoa, there is a still a need of investigation of chemical and physical aspects during manufacturing of khoa in order to understand factors responsible for quality. And all the known technologies of manufacturing of khoa should be transferred to small holder farmers who are the major contributors of milk production in India .So that they can increase their prices of products by producing products which will meet the modern quality standards.

Trapped Characters in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men :: Steinbeck Of Mice and Men Essays

In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses stereotypes and discrimination to convey a message of how the characters feel.   A lot of the stereotypes and clichà ©s are just common beliefs of the times, but a few are situational. To quote a quite distinguished reader, "Characters are ‘trapped’- either by what others think of them, or by their situation." A lot of the character’s feelings about themselves and what others think of them will lead to loneliness. Crooks is a character who is mistreated   in many ways because he is black. Crooks is the stable buck of the barn.   It’s not certain whether Crooks is his name, or his nickname, but we know he got kicked in the back by a horse and had a crooked back ever since.   Nevertheless he gets yelled at by the boss every time something’s wrong. " ‘The boss gives him hell when he’s mad.   But the stable buck don’t give a damn about that,’ " says Candy, p.32.   Crooks also isn’t allowed in the bunk houses because people say   he stinks. Crooks talks with Lennie in the book, "Crooks laughed again. ‘A guy can talk to you an’ be sure you won’t go blabbin’." p.78. This most likely makes Crooks feel not wanted at all, Which roots to loneliness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lennie is not so much stereotyped, but rather trapped because of his size.   Because Lennie is so big, Curley thinks he has to prove something by beating up Lennie.   Lennie gets on Curley’s bad side when he didn’t do anything wrong.   Lennie is then forced to fight.   " ‘I don’t want no trouble,’ he said plaintively. ‘Don’t let him sock me, George.’ " p.32.   This is not an everyday discrimination like racism.   It’s one of those circumstantial incidents that was described in quote in the introduction.   This is an excellent example of how John Steinbeck uses extraordinary circumstances to create appeal and realism to the reader.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Curley’s wife is probably the most loathed on the ranch.   Because of   the way she looks and acts, people think she is easy, or a   "tart".   " ‘Jesus, what a tramp,’ he said. ‘So that’s what Curley picks for a wife.’ " said George, p.35.   She just wants someone to talk to.

Al Capone Essay -- essays research papers

His name was Alphonse Capone. His background, along with thousands of other Italians, the Capone family moved to Brooklyn. It was a new beginning in a New World. The Capone’s were a quiet and peaceful family. Nothing about the Capone family was disturbed, violent, or dishonest. The children and the parents were close. They really enjoyed baseball and were often at games. There was no mental disabilities, no traumatic event that sent the boys into the dangerous life of crime. They did not display sociopath or psychotic personalities; they were not crazy. They were a law-abiding, unremarkable Italian-American family with conventional patterns of behavior and frustrations. They displayed no special genius for crime. Family Parents-Gabriele and Teresina Capone Brothers-Vincenzo (James), Raffaele (Ralph), Salvatore (Frank), Alphonse (Al). Home-The Capone’s lived in a cold-water tenement flat that had no indoor toilet or furnishings. The neighborhood was virtually a slum. Th e family moved to better lodgings in an apartment over their father’s barbershop at 69 Park Avenue in Brooklyn. This move exposed Al to cultural influences well beyond what was supplied by the Italian immigrant community. Most of the people living around Park Avenue were Irish, although Germans, Swedes and Chinese were also in the neighborhood. Moving into a broader ethnic part of town allowed Al to escape from the all-Italian neighborhood. In their spare time, the ragged children gave the streets an explosive vitality as they played stickball, dodged traffic, brawled and bawled. To be a kid growing up in immigrant Brooklyn, you had to be in a gang (Italian, Jewish or Irish gang). They were not the vicious urban street gangs of today, but rather groups of territorial neighborhood boys who hung out together. Capone was a tough, scrappy kid and belonged to the South Brooklyn Rippers and then later to the Forty Thieves Juniors and the Five Point Juniors Education-The school system was deeply prejudiced against them and did little to encourage any interest in higher education. Al Capone found school a place of constant discipline relieved by sudden outbreaks of violence. At fourteen, Al lost his temper at the teacher; she hit him and he hit her back. He was expelled and never went to school again. The immigrant parents expected their children to leave school as soon as they were old enough to wor... ...0th. 1918 they gave birth to their son Albert â€Å"sonny† Francis Capone. Capone had by then turned Illinois into a lawless state. People were actually afraid to pass threw this state because of it. People didn’t understand Capone, yeah he was a dangerous man but only to the people he need to be dangerous against. He wouldn’t just walk up and kill you, unless you deserved it. Plus he never did his â€Å"dirty† work he had hit men for that. Capone was later sent to Alcatrez prison for tax evasion. They never caught him for the many murders he plotted, the brotha’s, the alcohol only tax evasion. After about a year Capone had escaped. He went back to his power that was slowly dying. He rose again. After awhile he got sick of Syphilis. Later that year he had passed away on January 25th,1943. Although he had died his power still remained. The cops eventually cracked down on it releasing his power and having Chicago return to its original state. Al C apone had once said â€Å"You can go a long way with a smile, but a lot further with a smile and a gun.† Capone had proved that quote he made. He had always had a smile on his face and a gun in his hand with that he became America’s most popular mobster. Al Capone Essay -- essays research papers His name was Alphonse Capone. His background, along with thousands of other Italians, the Capone family moved to Brooklyn. It was a new beginning in a New World. The Capone’s were a quiet and peaceful family. Nothing about the Capone family was disturbed, violent, or dishonest. The children and the parents were close. They really enjoyed baseball and were often at games. There was no mental disabilities, no traumatic event that sent the boys into the dangerous life of crime. They did not display sociopath or psychotic personalities; they were not crazy. They were a law-abiding, unremarkable Italian-American family with conventional patterns of behavior and frustrations. They displayed no special genius for crime. Family Parents-Gabriele and Teresina Capone Brothers-Vincenzo (James), Raffaele (Ralph), Salvatore (Frank), Alphonse (Al). Home-The Capone’s lived in a cold-water tenement flat that had no indoor toilet or furnishings. The neighborhood was virtually a slum. Th e family moved to better lodgings in an apartment over their father’s barbershop at 69 Park Avenue in Brooklyn. This move exposed Al to cultural influences well beyond what was supplied by the Italian immigrant community. Most of the people living around Park Avenue were Irish, although Germans, Swedes and Chinese were also in the neighborhood. Moving into a broader ethnic part of town allowed Al to escape from the all-Italian neighborhood. In their spare time, the ragged children gave the streets an explosive vitality as they played stickball, dodged traffic, brawled and bawled. To be a kid growing up in immigrant Brooklyn, you had to be in a gang (Italian, Jewish or Irish gang). They were not the vicious urban street gangs of today, but rather groups of territorial neighborhood boys who hung out together. Capone was a tough, scrappy kid and belonged to the South Brooklyn Rippers and then later to the Forty Thieves Juniors and the Five Point Juniors Education-The school system was deeply prejudiced against them and did little to encourage any interest in higher education. Al Capone found school a place of constant discipline relieved by sudden outbreaks of violence. At fourteen, Al lost his temper at the teacher; she hit him and he hit her back. He was expelled and never went to school again. The immigrant parents expected their children to leave school as soon as they were old enough to wor... ...0th. 1918 they gave birth to their son Albert â€Å"sonny† Francis Capone. Capone had by then turned Illinois into a lawless state. People were actually afraid to pass threw this state because of it. People didn’t understand Capone, yeah he was a dangerous man but only to the people he need to be dangerous against. He wouldn’t just walk up and kill you, unless you deserved it. Plus he never did his â€Å"dirty† work he had hit men for that. Capone was later sent to Alcatrez prison for tax evasion. They never caught him for the many murders he plotted, the brotha’s, the alcohol only tax evasion. After about a year Capone had escaped. He went back to his power that was slowly dying. He rose again. After awhile he got sick of Syphilis. Later that year he had passed away on January 25th,1943. Although he had died his power still remained. The cops eventually cracked down on it releasing his power and having Chicago return to its original state. Al C apone had once said â€Å"You can go a long way with a smile, but a lot further with a smile and a gun.† Capone had proved that quote he made. He had always had a smile on his face and a gun in his hand with that he became America’s most popular mobster.

CRT Monitors vs. LCD Monitors Essay -- Compare Contrast Comparison

CRT Monitors vs. LCD Monitors The monitor is likely the most important part of the computer. Without it, you would have no idea what you were doing. Imagine trying to write a term paper, or surf the Internet without one. It would be impossible. While the technology powering the displays doesn’t change as fast as it does for other parts of the computer, there are advances which provide consumers with many choices for displays. Today, the most popular displays come in two types, Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) and Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs). CRTs have been around longer, and are the most common due to the fact that they are cheaper. However the convenient size of LCDs along with falling prices has made them a popular choice as of late. This paper will examine the similarities and differences of the two, and try to determine if one is better than the other. The CRT monitors work in a fashion similar to that of standard television sets. An electron gun is mounted at the back of the monitor. The gun fires a steam of electrons in a sweeping motion towards the front of the monitor. The electrons then pass through either an aperture grille, or a shadow mask. These items work to filter the electrons into focused beams onto the front plate. The grill does this via thin vertical wires, while the mask does this with a series of small holes. After passing through the filter, the electrons collide with the screen. The screen is covered with a serried of red, green and yellow phosphors that light up when hit by the electrons. By combining different intensities of the three colors, many different colors and images can be created. While LCDs also create pictures by lighting up red, green and yellow pixels, the ... ...f whether the extra cost of the LCD is worth the space it will save on the desk. After examining the two types of monitors, it seems that they are similar in more aspects than they are different. Over the last few years LCD screens have closed the gap in many of the categories in which the CRT was superior. In most cases, the choice depends on the personal preference of the individual user. For the hard-core gamer or digital artist a CRT may be slightly better due to the faster response time and better color purity. For most consumers the choice of an LCD or CRT monitor will depend on the price issue. While the cost of LCD screens has been declining over the past few years, they are still considerably more expensive that a comparable CRT. However if money isn’t an issue, a slim and sleek looking LCD might be the way to go over the massive CRT behemoths.

Assess The View That The Nuclear Family Is No Longer The Norm

The nuclear family was commonly seen in many countries of the world due to its practicality and replaced the extended family in most societies. The nuclear family is defined by George Peter Murdock as a married male and female couple raising one or more children in one household.This structure became the norm in modern society as it fulfils Murdock’s 4 functions of the family: Sexual; helps maintain a healthy and stable relationship between the parents, Reproductive; to continue the population and produce workers for society, Economic; to support the family by working in society and sharing roles between the man and woman, Education; to serve as a source of primary socialisation for children so that they may function properly in society. Sociobiologists believe that our behaviour is due to biological instincts.The nuclear family proved that it worked so was continued to be used as it was seen crucial to the survival of our species and zoologist, Desmond Morris mentioned that à ¢â‚¬ËœMost successful cultures use the nuclear family’. The ‘cereal packet family’ is a term given by Edmund Leech in 1967 when he recognised the power of the image of the nuclear family. It’s a socially constructed model laden with assumptions of how families ought to be. Such an image creates a normalised social construction of what a family should look like. However, many other family structures are being used which suggests that the nuclear family is not the norm.For example, the Kibbutz lived in an extended family structure, meaning that their entire family lived together and not just their immediate family. The Nayar tribe are an example of people who used the extended family due to living in poverty. The wives would get support from family members and work together to raise the children whilst the men would go out and provide for the family. Felicity Edholm critiqued Murdock’s idea of the nuclear family by saying, ‘the family is sociall y constructed. ’ This means that it has varied from culture and is also not biological for humans.Therefore, Murdock defined the nuclear family from his cultural perspective and completely ignored others. Edholm referred to this as ‘The Unnatural Family’. In the UK today, many other family structures are in place due to a number of things. Since the early 1990s, divorce rates have increased by a fair amount, creating lone-parent families. This also led to a lot of people remarrying, creating reconstituted (step) families. These go against Murdock’s nuclear family due to having both parents living separately or having children from different relationships.In fact, these family structures have become more common than the nuclear family itself. Recently, same sex marriages have been approved in many places around the world, allowing gay couples to start families of their own. This also goes against Murdock’s idea of the nuclear family which involved a couple each of a different sex. In conclusion, the nuclear family is no longer considered the norm due to mass increase of lone-parent and reconstituted families because of a divorce being extremely to get. Although the nuclear family may well work and be very practical in society, it just isn’t easily accessed by many people.

Impact of Television Advertisement on Buying Behaviour of Adolescents Essay

Market arena in India has been witnessing several changes in character and complexity since the last few years. These changes include a higher reach of mass media, particularly due to an increased penetration of satellite channels, availability of a greater assortment of products and services, a higher level of consumer spending on items other than basic necessities, a more discerning choice behavior exhibited by consumer preference for better value in products and services. A gradual development of the economy has indeed influenced these changes. However, the most important impetus for the transformation of markets is the visible increase in competition. Given these signals, the key question vexing most companies is: how does one compete and grow in rapidly changing and competitive markets? The answer is Television Advertisement. Television the great invention of J. K. Baird has today became a mass media of modern communication; as a result there has been an increase in great amount of commercial propaganda. Today’s producer invests huge amount of money on TV advertisement and in finding new ways of attracting consumers towards his products. As a result consumerism is the new religion of the day. Consumerism is having great effect on various groups of the society. Adolescents are the important group of the society. So, it will be of great use to find-out how television advertising affects them? In the city consumerism had already begun to spin its web. Adolescents are the main targets of this, which attempts to change their consumption pattern, lifestyle & views. Consumerism is also influencing adolescent’s buying behaviour & higher desire of acquiring luxurious goods in their future-life. In short the producer of today is trying to capture the market by focusing its special attention towards adverting by keeping adolescents in their point of view. The best example of consumerism is advertising strategy adopted by China for capturing market. Their main focus is on adolescents. China has gained great share in the international market due to adverting its adolescents-related products. They became successful in earning foreign revenue just by changing adolescent’s psychology through advertising. This example of China depicts how a growth rate in economy is accelerated by mere advertising for adolescents. In 1991 Indian Government introduced new ‘Industrial Policy’ and adopted the concept of ‘Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization, as a result there is rapid growth in Industrialization. Many foreign and multinational companies entered into Indian market to sell their products. To capture the market many producers are engaged in advertising their products on Television. TV advertisements are displayed in a very attractive manner. Generally the help of film stars and cricket stars is taken for advertising the products. This strategy of the producers is having a great impact on buying behavior of adolescents. Adolescents get easily attracted towards these TV advertisements and try to follow their favorite film stars and cricket stars. TV advertisements are playing a crucial role in changing the buying behavior of adolescents. Today adolescents prefer to buy luxurious goods and desires to live a comfortable life in future. Today there is a drastic change in eating and clothing habits of adolescents due to TV advertisements as a result there is increased profitability of the producers. Meaning of Basic Terms Adolescence  Adolescence (lat adolescere,(to) grow) is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological (i. e. pubertal), social, and psychological changes, though the biological or physiological ones are the easiest to measure objectively. Historically, puberty has been heavily associated with teenagers and the onset of adolescent development. [1][2][3][4] In recent years, however, the start of puberty has seen an increase in preadolescence and extension beyond the teenage years, making adolescence less simple to discern. 1][5][2] The end of adolescence and the beginning of adulthood varies by country as well as by function, as even within a single country there will be different ages at which an individual is considered mature enough to be entrusted with particular tasks, such as driving a vehicle, having sexual relations, serving in the armed forces, voting, or marrying. Also, adolescence is usually accompanied by an increased independence allowed by the parents or legal guardians and less supervision, contrary to the preadolescence stage. Puberty Puberty is the stage of the lifespan in which a child develops secondary sex characteristics (for example a deeper voice or larger adam’s apple in boys, and development of breasts and more curved and prominent hips in girls) as his or her hormonal balance shifts strongly towards an adult state. This is triggered by the pituitary gland, which secretes a surge of hormones, such as testosterone (boys) or estrogen and progesterone (girls) into the blood stream and begins the rapid maturation of the gonads: the girl’s ovaries and the boy’s testicles. Some boys may develop Gynecomastia due to an imbalance of sex hormones, tissue responsiveness or obesity. Put simply, puberty is the time when a child’s body starts changing into an adult’s body. The onset of puberty in girls appears to be related to body fat percentage. Girls start going through puberty earlier than boys, although there have been cases of boys having signs of puberty as early as the age of 9. The average age for girls to start puberty is 10-12 while the average age for boys to start puberty is 12-14. Adolescent psychology Adolescent psychology is associated with notable changes in mood sometimes known as mood swings. Cognitive, emotional and attitudinal changes which are characteristic of adolescence, often take place during this period, and this can be a cause of conflict on one hand and positive personality development on the other. Because the adolescents are experiencing various strong cognitive and physical changes, for the first time in their lives they may start to view their friends, their peer group, as more important and influential than their parents/guardians. Because of peer pressure, they may sometimes indulge in activities not deemed socially acceptable, although this may be more of a social phenomenon than a psychological one. [6] This overlap is addressed within the study of psychosociology. The home is an important aspect of adolescent psychology: home environment and family have a substantial impact on the developing minds of teenagers, and these developments may reach a climax during adolescence. For example, abusive parents may lead a child to â€Å"poke fun† at other classmates when he/she is seven years old or so, but during adolescence, it may become progressively orse, for example, the child may now be using drugs or becoming intolerably violent among other classmates. If the concepts and theory behind right or wrong were not established early on in a child’s life, the lack of this knowledge may impair a teenager’s ability to make beneficial decisions as well as allowing his/her impulses to control his/her decisions. In the search for a unique social identity for themselves, adolescents are frequently confused about what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong. ‘ G.  Stanley Hall denoted this period as one of â€Å"Storm and Stress† and, according to him, conflict at this developmental stage is normal and not unusual. Margaret Mead, on the other hand, attributed the behavior of adolescents to their culture and upbringing. [7] However, Piaget, attributed this stage in development with greatly increased cognitive abilities; at this stage of life the individual’s thoughts start taking more of an abstract form and the egocentric thoughts decrease, hence the individual is able to think and reason in a wider perspective. 8] Positive psychology is sometimes brought up when addressing adolescent psychology as well. This approach towards adolescents refers to providing them with motivation to become socially acceptable and notable individuals, since many adolescents find themselves bored, indecisive and/or unmotivated. [9] Adolescents may be subject to peer pressure within their adolescent time span, consisting of the need to have sex, consume alcoholic beverages, use drugs, defy their parental figures, or commit any activity in which the person who is subjected to may not deem appropriate, among other things. Peer pressure is a common experience between adolescents and may result briefly or on a larger scale. It should also be noted that adolescence is the stage of a psychological breakthrough in a person’s life when the cognitive development is rapid[10] and the thoughts, ideas and concepts developed at this period of life greatly influence the individual’s future life, playing a major role in character and personality formation. [11] Struggles with adolescent identity and depression usually set in when an adolescent experiences a loss. The most important loss in their lives is the changing relationship between the adolescent and their parents. Adolescents may also experience strife in their relationships with friends. This may be because of things their friends do, such as smoking, that they feel if they don’t do, they’ll lose their friendship. Teen depression can be extremely intense at times because of physical and hormonal changes but emotional instability is part of being a teenager. Their changing mind, body and relationships often present themselves as stressful and that change, they assume, is something to be feared. [12] Views of family relationships during adolescence are changing. The old view of family relationships during adolescence put an emphasis on conflict and disengagement and thought storm and stress was normal and even inevitable. However, the new view puts emphasis on transformation or relationships and maintenance of connectedness. Consumer behavior

Literary Devices in “The Woman at the Store” Essay

There are many different literary devices used in Katherine Mansfields The Woman at the Store, they are used effectively. Regularly Mansfield uses personification, characterization and irony. This short essay will show what the main literary devices are in this story. Irony has a significant literary device in this story; the storys plot is enormously ironic. The reader expects that the womans husband will be coming back soon, but he is dead already, which is ironic. The reader does not expect that the child knows that her mother killed her father. And that this is shown in something as pure as a drawingAnother key literary device in this story is her characterization. She characterizes the characters in this story so realistically that the reader has the idea that he has known the characters for all long time already, and he can visualize them perfectly. For example, when Mansfield writes about Jo: Not once that day he had sung I dont care, for dont you see, my wifes mother was in front of me! It was the first that we had been without it for a month, and now there seemed something uncanny in his silence. With this sentence the reader knows that Jo normally is a happy man, that he likes to sing, that he does not like mother-in-laws and that he now knows that something special is going to happen. Another important literary device is the use of personification. One good example is: the sun pushed through the pale clouds and shed a vivid light over the scene. This describes how the sun found a hole to shine through.  There are many different literary devices used in The Woman at the Store but irony, characterization and personification are some key devices and Katherine Mansfield uses them well but that is what she is famous for.

Minimum Wage in Malaysia

Minimum wage in Malaysia: need for it and its’ possible effectiveness 1. 0. Introduction Background Information There has been growing debates concerning the minimum wage in Malaysia, with strong opinions from both sides of the arguments. In 1979 edition of their introductory textbook, William B. Aumol and Alan Blinder explained, â€Å"The primary consequence of the minimum wage law is not an increase in the incomes of the least skilled workers but a restriction of their employment opportunities† (p. 7). On the other side of the debate, social activists, policymakers and other non-economists often argue for an increase in the minimum wage. Advocates of the minimum wage have included Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, A. Philip Randolph, Walter R. Reuther, Edward Filene, Beatrice and Sydney Webb. Finally, Malaysia took its stance and made its first legislative attempt at putting in place a national minimum wage on twenty first June 2011 . Introduced by Human Resources Deputy Minister, Maznah Mazlan in Parliament, the National Wages Consultative Council (NWCC) bill was tabled for its first reading. Most significantly, the general public does not widely share the negative opinion of the minimum wage, according to surveys. What questions us, is whether there is a need for minimum wage, and if there, how effective it might be. Statement of the Problem This paper will investigate on the need and the effectiveness of the yet to be minimum wage bill among security guards, cleaners with its current value of RM720. The idea of having a national minimum wage in Malaysia has been proposed more than 12 years ago by the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), when Tun Mahatir was still the Prime Minister, and has been continuously rejected, until more recently, the current prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib has stated in the Malaysia Budget 2011 speech â€Å"Businesses must embrace the minimum wage as a business strategy†. A minimum wage theoretically, is planned to affect the low-skilled workers such as janitors, cleaners and security, who are paid with low wages which affect their standards of living. With a minimum wage in effect, they were supposed to be able to raise their standards of living and live a more comfortable life. Conversely, Orrenius and Zavodny (2008) and Ragayah Haji mat Zin(2007) argue that the effect of a minimum wage may just put these low skilled workers out of employment because of economic conditions in country, putting the low-skilled workers in an even worse situation: unemployment. Research Purpose This paper aims to investigate whether or not Malaysia is in need for implementation of a national minimum wage, based on the reviews of recent developments in the literature pertaining to the overall effects of a minimum wage, and the opinions of the janitors, cleaners and security guards. The focus is on the perceptions of low-paid workers as mentioned earlier and their satisfaction with the amount they are being paid and whether or not it covered their day to day expenses. Analysis can be made on whether or not these workers were exploited by the absence of a minimum wage and that a minimum wage is indeed can end such situations. To answer the questions surveys will be done and literature review will be made that will analyze on how are salaries are appointed and later on the consequences of implementing the minimum wage. This paper aims to answer the following questions: 1)Is there any need for Malaysia to implement national minimum wage? 2) As for now are low-paid workers are paid enough to cover their daily expenses? )Does the law bring a tangible change? Significance of the Study There are lots of studies pertaining to the issue of minimum wage around the globe, however, only few had focused on the issue being practiced in Malaysia, like Rohayu Abd. Ghani in her article† Salary and Wages in Malaysia† and David Lim in his article â€Å"†Sweet Labor† and Wages in Malaysian Manufacturing† . Referring to the history of an alysis, some have focused on developing countries that have already implemented the minimum wage, like P. Jones, where he discusses issues pertaining Ghana; or first world countries, like M. Bowey and A. Lupton where comprehensive explanation about implementation in United Kingdom was done or D. Neumark and W. Wascher analyzing the situation in USA. This brings us to the conclusion that more studies need to be done to find out the conditions of so-called â€Å"black workers†: janitors, cleaners and security guards in Malaysia. Ironically, many newspaper articles have addressed the economic conditions in Malaysia, the effects of those on citizens of Malaysia. But never the question of implementing the minimum wage policy was taken any further. Findings of the investigation will be helpful in determining if the minimum wage needs to be implemented, to analyze whether it would be actually successful in improving the lives of janitors, cleaners and security guards, and whether or not their current salaries will be sufficient for them to live a comfortable life, as concerning this issue Shireen (1998) has shown that poverty in Malaysia officially seen s as a situation of relative rather than absolute deprivation. By understanding their conditions, a better decision of how the minimum wage could be implemented can be recommended and the proximity of the issue can be understood. 2. Literature review Bowey and Lupton (1982) has discussed that wage and salary administration is complex and subtle, and littered with techniques designed to reduce the complexity for the administrator and cope with the subtleties. The explanations that are brought together are the descriptions of the most important techniques that are available for coping with the principal tasks of wage and salary administration, and shows how and when these may be used. They propagate that there are many systems of payment which attempt to relate earnings to the work done and before any such system can be used it is necessary to assess that work in some way by comparing the nature of the work (eg. Is it heavy work? Does it carry a large amount of responsibility? ), it may also involve assessing the rate at which the employees are working and rewarding them according to their different rates of performance. The first method is job evaluation while latter is work measurement. Regarding this matter they outline that â€Å"Job evaluation and work measurement are two subjective areas which are of crucial importance to the operative and the manager as they radically affect the payback and the quality of work† ( Bowey & Lupton, 1982, p. 159). And here is the issue that we have, why is that in some instances, wage amounts differ, regarding the fact that it’s one country, one sector of work, but yet, some workers are abused and get to be paid a very low salary. The inform us that there are three different consideration while salary is being allocated to each job. First, the mechanics of assigning different amount of money to different positions is the job hierarchy and different standards of performance. Second, consideration of the absolute levels of pay which should be given when pay in other organizations is taken into account. Third, the process of negotiation between the management and the union about levels of payment. And exactly the third consideration appears to be quite an issue. Why is that we require the workers to give the just amount of performance, finishing the assigned work, but we aren’t just in giving enough reward for the effort contributed. It appears, that using the power as an upper- manager who hires, the abundance of work supplying the market, especially with the flow of illegal immigrants, workers will have to agree on terms offered. Do we consider the undue influence and abuse of situation as an ethical act? Bowey & Lupton(1982) stated that: With management by objectives, the employee and his superior agree a set of objectives for the coming year, and the individual is given salary increase at the end of the year, which is partly determined by how well he has succeeded in achieving those targets (p. ) Theoretically, the wage systems seems just fine. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Malaysia. Plantation workers are initially paid RM350 and can achieve RM700 with bonuses. Would that be enough for an average Malaysian citizen to cover rent, food expenses? They argue that â€Å"If we give equal rations to everyone, who do we designate to carry out the most onerous tasks-and on what basis do we make this choice? † ( Bowey & Lupton, 1982, p. 159). In the end, whether we like it or not management has to make decisions about the worth of the contribution comparing different levels of jobs and finally assigns the salary, even if the appointed salary makes it cheaper than in other place as starting amount of salary differs from the budget of one institution to another. Journal Business Asia has analyzed the ambivalent attitude of government to foreign labor. Before the crisis 2. 5 million immigrant workers were regarded as â€Å"undesirable but necessary encumbrance†( Business Asia,2000,p. 2) . It is a very degrading attitude toward human being, be he from first world country or third, but what matters is that, in the end, we can’t change much. Laws and bills are issued, but these workers still are considered cheap workers for black jobs. This type of attitude is problematic, as the accountability and dignity of an employee disappears, especially when allocating the salary. Wikipedia (2011) states that the minimum wa ge that Malaysia has stated for plantation workers is RM350 and that even may reach RM700 with bonuses! The article explains further â€Å"Officially-orchestrated- and mostly employer-funded-repatriation programmes saw the number of registered foreign workers drop below 700,000 by end 1999, from peak of 1. 2million in 1997†(Business Asia,2000,p. 12) . Though, after the pressure from exasperated employers, the government announced the lifting of a freeze on the recruitment of foreign workers, but yet, â€Å"the grudging nature of the concession was underlined by an accompanying list of 138 categories of job† for Malaysians only (Business Asia, 2000,p. 12). And ironically, all these statement are done by those who â€Å"stated an intention to transform Malaysia from a production to a knowledge- based economy† (Business Asia, 2000, p. 12). Employers complain that â€Å"Instead of encouraging the free-thinking innovators needed to help realize such a lofty ambition, the education system seems expressly programmed to eliminate them† (Business Asia,2000, p. 12). All of the above had lead to the core of the issue, the rise of salary. The fear among employers is that a rise in wages will eventually begin â€Å"outstripping productivity gains† (Business Asia,2000, p. 2). Despite the increase of GDP by 3. 7% wages by relative modest grew by 2. 7%. The question is what should stand above, a just increase in wages, which a company can afford, or the increase of the profits at the expense of exploitation of decent workers. As Annil Netto reports at Indian-Malaysian Online â€Å"The Malaysian Trades Union Congress, an umbrella for private sector unions, threatened by nationwide strike if its request for a minimum would be ignored, even so, the Malaysian government gave a cool response †. In March 2000 a national survey by MUTC and International Labor Organization has revealed that some 2 million workers earned less than a poverty- line income of RM600, MTUC demanded at least RM1,200, which we still do not have in 2011. Further, Jones (1997) examines the impact of minimum wage legislation in developing countries with incomplete coverage, using the case of Ghana. Her extensive research has proved that the implementation of the minimum wage was not an efficient policy for reducing the incidence of poverty in a situation where coverage of the minimum wage legislation is partial. The reason is that people working outside of the wage sector e. g. Farmers who survive by selling and consuming their own output are not covered by the minimum wage, and they are the ones who are in need of the minimum wage. Thus, the implementation of the minimum wage becomes non-effective. Her results have shown that the minimum wage in Ghana had a negative impact on employment; there were significant job losses due to the policy. Although the study is based on the case of Ghana, it can be deduced that if Malaysia were to implement the minimum wage, it should cover a large proportion of the population, and not just those working in the public sector, to increase coverage. Ghana and Malaysia are two different countries of different cultures and mentalities, government structure, though communality are the social problems that each faces. But the differences might tell us that policies implemented in one will not necessarily give the same results if applied in the other. The main key point that could be inserted is that the minimum wage should have a large coverage, in our research cleaners and guards. Saget (2001) examines the relationship between the level of minimum wage and employment and between the level of minimum wage and poverty through literature survey and also empirical evidence. The response of employment and poverty to changes in the minimum wage on more than twenty countries was tested in the research, and â€Å"†¦ he data analysis had given strong support to the proposition that the minimum wage may bring positive results in poverty alleviation by improving the living conditions of workers and their families. † (Saget, 2001,p. 31). The literature survey however, had differing opinions, for example some papers mentioned that raising the minimum wage in developing countries may contribute to a widening of the gap between the covered and uncovered sector, similar to Jones (2007), generating relative poverty. Unlike Jones (2007), Saget's (2001) analysis proved that minimum wage had no negative results on employment whereas Jones had shown that the minimum wage policy had caused significant job losses. This is because Jones’ study was focused on incomplete coverage of the minimum wage while Saget looked into the minimum wage in general, cross country to see the effects it had on poverty and employment. Therefore based on Jones’ study, if Malaysia were to implement the minimum wage, then up till now there would be a reduction in poverty, which is positive and one of the goals of Malaysia in becoming a high income nation by 2020. Jones did not manage to find a significant link between unemployment and the minimum wage thus, this means that a minimum wage would not cause unemployment to increase significantly. However, the results could also mean that countries that implement the minimum wage are more committed to reducing the level of poverty in the country thus leading to results which imply that setting a higher minimum wage would reduce poverty. Lo (2010) in his paper titled ‘The case for a minimum wage in Malaysia† is a highly passionate in support of the minimum wage. It is perhaps due to the fact that the writer is the secretary of the MTUC which is the very same organization that has been pushing for minimum wage legislation in Malaysia for over 12 years now. Malaysian workers suffer from suppressed wages because of the influx of cheap foreign labor, but having a minimum wage according to the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) would hurt Malaysian’s competitiveness due to the increase in costs firms will have to incur. However this is countered by Lo (2010), â€Å"If a firm cannot even provide a decent living wage to its workers – one that is enough to meet their basic needs – it has no business being in business†(p. 3). He also suggested that Malaysia can’t always depend on cheap foreign labor forever. Although now it would be expensive to invest in research and development to develop tools that would improve productivity, it would be cheaper in the long run to use these machines. Furthermore, higher wages lead to higher productivity. It would encourage employers to invest in research and development to increase overall productivity and efficiency. Malaysia has not been spending much on research and development, especially private sector, but this would change if there was minimum wage legislation, and more on research and development would give Malaysia a better future. According to this, Malaysia should implement the minimum wage, because of the effects it has in reducing social poverty and also its potential in enhancing economic growth and productivity improvements. â€Å"There is a growing view among economists that the minimum wage offers substantial benefits to low-wage workers without negative effect. Although there are still dissenters, the best recent research has shown that the job loss reported in earlier analyses does not, in fact, occur when the minimum wage is increased† (Fox, 2006, p. 1). Also, over 650 economists, including five Nobel Prize winners and six past presidents of the American Economic Association, recently signed a statement stating that federal and state minimum wage increases â€Å"can significantly improve the lives of low-income workers and their families, without the adverse effects hat critics have claimed† (EPI, 2006). Although the paper focused purely on the evidences from the USA, the effects of minimum wage are still similar if it were to be implemented in Malaysia. However, there could be major differences as Malaysia would be implementing the minimum wage for the first time, while the USA has been doing it for much longer and their case is to do with raising the minimum wage. Malaysia would face lots of opposition in the beginning as t he adjustment process would take time. Card and Krueger (1995) extensively describe the effectiveness of minimum wages of each sector of US population. As stated by CIA World Factbook (2011) US GDP for year 1995 was 2. 51 and 3. 7 for year 2006, and current GDP of Malaysia is 3. 9,hence we can conclude similarities in the phase of economical development. Card and Krueger present us a new body of evidence showing that recent minimum wage increases have not had the negative employment effects predicted by the textbook model. Some of the new evidence points toward a positive effect of minimum wage on employment most show no effect at all. Moreover, a reanalysis of previous minimum wage studies finds little support for the prediction that minimum wages reduce employment, like Richard Lester during the 1940 or Card and Krueger initial work in 1988, California state as a case study. If accepted, the findings will call into question the standard model of the labor market that has dominated economists’ thinking for the past half century. They have showed us the empirical findings which result in later: first of all, a study of employment in the fast- food industry after the increase in New Jersey minimum wage was not affected adversely by law, stating that â€Å"modest increases in the minimum wage have no adverse effect on the employment outcomes of low-wage workers† (Card & Krueger, 1995, p. 114) as Lo ( 2010) and Saget (2001) had argued above. The results were gathered from 400 restaurants. Relative to restaurants in Pennsylvania, where the minimum wage remained unchanged, they found that â€Å"employment growth within New Jersey was higher at restaurants† (Card & Krueger,1995, p. 46). Second, a cross-state analysis finds that the 1990 and 1991 increases in the federal minimum wage did not affect teenage employment adversely. Thirdly, an increase in the minimum wage leads to a situation in which workers who previously were paid different wages all receive the new minimum wage. Card & Krueger(1995) ar gue that once there is an increase in the minimum wage it would result in a â€Å"ripple effect†, leading to pay raises for workers who previously earned wages above the new minimum. Surprisingly, increases in minimum wage do not appear to be offset by reductions in fringe benefits. Increase of such kinds has decreased the minimum dispersion, partially reversing the trend toward rising wage inequality that has dominated the labor market since the early 1980s. Finally, as a fact minimum wage is a blunt instrument for reducing poverty. It’s â€Å"an amount that is smaller than most other federal antipoverty programs, and that can have only limited effects on the overall income distribution† (Card & Krueger,1995, p. 3). They also note, that â€Å"more than 60 percent of all workers have worked for the minimum wage at some time during their careers(Card & Krueger,1995, p. ). References Anonymous (2000). No staff, no skills, Business Asia, Vol. 32 Issue 14, p12, 4/5p Card D. , Krueger A. B. ,(1995). Myth and measurement. The new economics of the minimum wage. Fox, L. (2006). Minimum wage trends: Understanding past and contemporary research. Retrieved from http://www. epi. org/publications/entry/bp178/ Jones, P. (1997). The Impact of Minimum Wage Legisl ation in Developing Countries where Coverage is Incomplete. Retrieved from http://www. bepress. com/cgi/viewcontent. cgi? article=1066=csae- redir=1#search=†jones+ghana+wage† Lo, A. 2010). The case for a minimum wage. Retrieved from http://www. mtuc. org. my/andrewminimumwageaug2010. pdf M Bowey,A. , Lupton, T. (1982)Managing Salary and Wage systems,Great Britain: Gower Publishing Company Retrieved from http://www. indianmalaysian. com/minimum_wage. htm Retrieved from https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/ html Saget, C. (2001). Poverty reduction and decent work in developing countries: Do minimum wages help?. International Labour Review, 140. Retrieved from http://www. ingentaconnect. com/content/ilo/ilr/2001/00000140/00000003/art00002