Managing Human Resource in Health and Social Care Essay

Managing Human Resource in Health and Social Care - Essay Example Current approaches in human resources suggest a number of weaknesses: a hasty, stop-gap attitude towards problems of human resources; dispersion of accountability within human resources management (HRM); a limited notion of personnel administration that fails to include all aspects of HRM; and finally the short-term outlook of HRM (Dussault & Dubois, 2004, p.iii). Performance monitoring and promoting Performance should be monitored in the health and social care system, as they are instrumental in stimulating, creating and maintaining health and social care improvement. Around the world, rapidly changing landscape between acute and chronic diseases is placing various demands on the health and social care workforce. To provide effective health and social care for chronic conditions, the skills of the health care professional have to be extended along with the existing ones, to fulfill the new complicated situations. First, the workforce must adopt a patient-centric approach. Second, se rvice providers need the necessary communication expertise, which should enable them to cooperate with other providers and patients. Third, the workforce must equip with expertise to ensure that the security and quality of patient care is continuously improved. Fourth, the workforce needs expertises that assist them in checking patients across time and using and sharing information through available technology. Finally, the workforce must develop broadest perspective to consider patient’s care and provider’s role (WHO, 2005, pp.11-12). Methods of Monitoring Performance Management by walking around: Getting out of your office and being physically present on a regular basis is an important place to start. One will gain a great sense of â€Å"what’s going on†Ã¢â‚¬â€as well as a first-hand feel for what is not understood or what needs to better communicate. Managers of a health and social care unit should take ad-hoc approach in this case. They can visit and revisit same premises during change of shifts of nursing staffs with special emphasis on the ICU after a critical surgery to check the activities of nursing and other staffs. Visits or walking around monitoring without any prior notice is very important in a health care set up where work division is very important. Visiting the reception at least thrice a day by the management personnel is very important because that is where the patients get the first impression about the care they would get within the unit. 360-degree assessment: It involves polling various people who have contact with a particular employee, to get an idea about the employee’s performance. The employee also is polled regarding his or her own performance, with those results then compared to the feedback collected from others. People involved respond to speci?c questions on a feedback form. One can either make up your own form or purchase a generic one developed for use within your business area (Dorio and S helly, 2011, pp.61-64). The required staff should to be evaluated occasionally (in six months or annually) by many evaluators including his boss, direct subordinates, equals, internal clientele and external clientele. In a hospital doctors can provide feedback about nurses and vice versa. And it is quite possible about feedback among intra-nurses or intra-doctors can be used for performance monitoring purposes. Identifying training and development needs- Assessment for

Solving This Case Please Essay Example for Free

Solving This Case Please Essay Professor A. Van Cauwenbergh of Antwerp University, in a paper presented at the Tenth Anniversary Conference of the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, presented four revisions to traditional Management Theory. In summary, the revisions are: (1) The initiative for the renewal and adjustment of the activities of a firm should come from the different levels in the management hierarchy. â€Å"Strategy is not a privilege of top management†. (2) Firms, especially big firms, are incoherent systems (goals of the different component systems are not simply subdivisions of an overall goal; there are individual, conflicting goals as well). Some of these differences are manifestations of organizational initiative and vitality. Using information systems and central planning and rule making to suppress all differences is destructive to organizations. (3) The most vital â€Å"fluid† of an enterprise is the aggregate of its entrepreneurial values. The most fundamental and motivation and control come through these shared values relative to work, quality, efficiency, etc. Management often neglects these values and assumes that the collection and dissemination of information will provide sufficient motivation and control. (4) Enterprises are open systems; their structure and operating processes are determined by their environment. This means organizations must be designed to continually adjust to the environment. Questions:  1. If these revisions are correct, how is planning to be organized? How should the information system support the planning organization? 2. Can the information system aid in achieving shared values? 3. How might a comprehensive system be used to stifle initiative

The Overuse of Psychotropic Medications for Children Essay -- Antidepr

In less than a year, John Geis was seen by four different medical doctors who diagnosed him with five separate illnesses, including autism, bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression), insomnia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). John's pill regimen kept multiplying, consuming a daily cocktail of mind-altering drugs. The harmful concoction included Risperdal (antipsychotic), Prozac (antidepressant), Adderall (psychostimulant). John's story is far too common in America today. In this paper, I will explore what lead up to the mass labeling and drugging of young boys in America. I will provide evidence of unethical and illegal business practices by the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, driven by greed. Psychiatry once subscribed to the Freudian view that mental illness comes from roots in unconscious conflicts (usually appearing in adolescence), that affects the mind as though it were separate from the brain. With the introduction of psychoactive drugs in the 1950s, and sharply accelerating in the 1980s, it was then that the psychiatric focus shifted to the brain, as if it were a physical disease. Psychiatrists began to refer to themselves as psychopharmacologists, and became far less interested in exploring the life stories of their patients and more interested in treating their patients with drugs. The psychiatric profession became optimistic that the use of psychoactive drugs would be beneficial with the new biological model that psychiatry adopted. Their optimism began to fade as serious side-effects of the drugs were becoming apparent, and an anti-psychiatry attitude began to spread rapidly. (Angell) Consequently ,with the   new medical model came the need ... ... XXXIII, No. 13, 4 July 1997, p. 31. Perdone, Matthew, and Pete Yost. "Johnson & Johnson to Pay $2.2 Billion to Resolve Drug Marketing Allegations." Huff Post. HuffingtonPost.com, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. . Stolzer, J.M. "A Systematic Deconstruction of the â€Å"Disordered American Boy† Hypothesis." New Male Studies:An International Journal 1.3 (2012): 77-95. Print. Webster, Richard (2005). Why Freud Was Wrong: Sin, Science and Psychoanalysis. Oxford: The Orwell Press. pp. 595–596 Wilson, Duff. "Child’s Ordeal Shows Risks of Psychosis Drugs for Young." New York Times [New York City] 1 Sept. 2010, Late ed., Business Day: 11. Print. Zilbergeld, Bernie (1983). The Shrinking of America: Myths of Psychological Change. Boston: Little, Brown & Company. pp. 78–79

Cisco Systems Inc Implementing ERP Essay

Cisco was far away the biggest software vendor customer supporting the application that supported order entry, manufacturing and financial. Cisco wanted to grow from $500 million to $5 billion plus company, but the application was not proving the degree of maintainability, reliability and redundancy are needed. Moreover, Cisco was not able to make the needed changes to the application anymore to meet their business needed because it was too customized (n.a 146). Difficulties in system replacement of the functional areas further perpetuated deterioration of the legacy environment of Cisco. Moreover, system outages were a routine, and this was exacerbated by product shortcomings that made it difficult to recover from the outages. Finally, the legacy environment of Cisco dramatically failed in January 1994 that it was hard to ignore the shortcomings of their existing systems leading to shut down for two days. The struggle, to recover by Cisco from the shutdown, made the managers of Cisc o conclude that there was a need for an alternative approach, hence the decision to deploy ERP system (n.a 147). What are the main reasons for Cisco to select Oracle as an ERP vendor? Before selecting Oracle as an ERP vendor, Cisco and KPMG went to the software market to identify the best packages of software. They oriented their process of selection to what people were actually using and in two days narrowed down to five packages. After evaluating the packages for a week, the team settled on two candidates, another major player in the market of ERP and oracle. The decision was also based on the fact that the vendors were not to be significantly smaller than Cisco. Finally cisco settled on oracle because of numerous factors (n.a 148). Cisco’s project was strongly being driven by manufacturing and Oracle has a better capability of manufacturing compared to other vendors (n.a 148-149). Oracle also had many promises concerning the long term package functionality development. Moreover, Oracle was flexible and was close by in addition to a belief that Oracle was highly motivated to the success of the project (n.a 149). How did Cisco form its ERP implementation team? In forming the ERP implementation team, Cisco sought the very best to include in the project from its core of 20 to about 100, to represent a cross section of the business community of Cisco. Recruitment to the team was for a short term duration and not a career change to the selected candidates. Cisco also extended relationship with KPMG because of the firm’s performance through the selection process of the software and its continued commitment to provide seasoned personnel to the project (n.a 151 para 2). The Cisco’s team members were placed into five â€Å"process area teams† (tracks) with each track comprising of Cisco business leader, Cisco information systems leader, IT and Business consultants from either Oracle or KPMG, and other personnel as team members from the business (para 3). The management of the tracks was being done from the office of the project management which comprised of KPMG project manager Mark Lee, and Tom Herbert, Cisco’s business project manager. Sitting on top of the whole structure of project management was the Executive Steering Committee which included VP of customer advocacy, VP of manufacturing, Corporate Controller, Partner in charge of the KPMG’s West Coast Consulting, and Oracles senior VP of Applications (para 4). References Pearson Custom Business Resources. New York: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010. Print. Source document

Public Bank Group : strategy and analysis

Executive SummaryThe rubric of this assignment is Public Bank Group and it consists of a sum of three subdivisions in this assignment. The first subdivision explains about the scheme and mission statement that practiced by Public Bank, and the linkage between scheme and mission statement of Public Bank. The 2nd subdivision of the assignment explains about the organisation construction design of Public Bank and what is the importance and forte of the construction that applied by Public Bank. The last subdivision of the assignment contains of the competition arise between Public Bank, Maybank, and CIMB Bank. Besides that, I would take SWOT analysis to analyse the competition arise between its rivals in order to cognize whose is better. Assorted methods have been used to research for findings such as interview, e-brary, cyberspace, and books.Table of ContentssExecutive Summary Table of Contentss 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Mission Statement and Strategy of Public Bank 2.1 Mission of Public Bank Group 2.2 The linkage between Mission of and Strategy of the Public Bank Group 2.3 Drumhead 3.0 Organization Structure Design of the Public Bank Group 3.1 Interviewee Statement 3.2 Divisional Structure of Public Bank Jalan Yang Kalsom 3.3 Drumhead 4.0 Competition Arise between Public Bank, Maybank and CIMB Bank 4.1 Identify the Public Bank Group’s Rivals 4.2 SWOT Analysis 4.3 Drumhead 5.0 Conclusion and Recommendations 6.0 Mentions 7.0 Appendix1.0 IntroductionStrategic direction is a set of managerial determinations and actions that determine the long tally public presentation of a corporation as stated in Strategic direction and concern policy ( Wheelen and Hunger, 2012 ) . The assignment rubric is about Public Bank Group in Malaysia. Public Bank Group is the 3rd largest banking group in Malaysia by plus size with entire assets of RM305.73 billion as at the terminal of 2013, and is ranked 2nd among all the public listed companies on Bursa Malaysia Securities in footings of market capitalisation. There are entire of three subdivisions in the assignment. Section one will be covering the scheme and mission statement that practiced by Public Bank Group. Furthermore, subdivision two will be covering the organisation construction design that applied by Public Bank Group while subdivision three will be covering the competition arise between Public Bank Group and its rivals which is CIMB Bank and Maybank.2.0 Mission Statement and Strategy of Public BankBased on the Idaho National Laboratory ( Inlportal.inl.gov, 2014 ) , Mission Definition consists of those actions taken to specify the mission for a system and the environment that affects its executing. The mission statement must specify the bing status that justifies the plan or undertaking demand, the coveted terminal province or merchandise ( s ) , and the public presentation outlook.2.1 Mission of Public Bank GroupHarmonizing to the one-year study of Public Bank Group ( Public Bank Berhad, 2013 ) , the corporate mission of Public Bank Group is to prolong the place of being the most efficient, profitable and respected premier fiscal establishment in Malaysia. To accomplish the corporate mission, Public Bank Group will hold a corporate scheme that sets out what its long-run aims are in footings of what concern it plans to be involved and concern scheme that sets out how the organisation plans to win in a given concern country.2.2 The linkage between Mission of and Strategy of the Public Bank GroupAs we mentioned earlier, Public Bank Group adopts corporate scheme that focused on consistent growing scheme, which is to prosecute organic growing in the retail banking concern concentrating on the broad-based retail consumers and small-and moderate-sized endeavors ( â€Å" SMEs † ) , and strives to farther increase its leading in the retail banking market as stated in official web site of Public Bank Group ( Pbebank.com, n.d. ) . A recent article ( Nickols, 2011 ) , stated that a scheme or general program of action might be formulated for wide, long-run, corporate ends and aims, for more specific concern unit ends and aims, or for a functional unit, even one every bit little as a cost centre. There are different degrees of scheme within an organisation which is corporate scheme, concern scheme and functional scheme. Corporate scheme ( Yunizal Arief, 2014 ) , is a scheme of corporate that requires the company’s top directors and determination addressed to the satisfaction of the stakeholders of the company. The directors at the corporate degree by and large make up one's mind what sort of concern to be conducted to bring forth long-run net income maximization and better the company’s gross stockholders. Furthermore, corporate scheme can take for growing, stableness or reclamation. The Unlocking the concern environment ( Brinkman, 2010 ) , published that a growing scheme aims to increase the sum of concern undertaken by spread outing the scope of merchandises or services, and the markets it serves. As defined in Strategic direction ( Dess and Miller, 1993 ) , concern scheme is all about how houses compete, and in concern, competition is all about value: making it and capturing it. From the information above, we can reason that the schemes that practiced by Public Bank Group are able to accomplish their mission statement because the schemes and mission statement are interrelated. Therefore, to accomplish the place of being the most profitable, Public Bank Group adopts corporate scheme that focused on consistent growing scheme. Harmonizing to Ivey Business Journal ( Liabotis, 2007 ) , far excessively many companies fail to accomplish their growing marks in gross and profitableness. However, the chance of accomplishing profitable growing is heightened whenever an organisation has a clear growing scheme and strong executing substructure. One without the other impairs the chance of success. Furthermore, to prolong the place of being the most efficient, Public Bank Group adopts concern scheme that focused on the Group ‘s retail banking concern continues to aim retail consumer and commercial loans and funding, sedimentations and fee-based concerns. Besides that, to drive concern growing and increase its market portion in retail banking, the Public Bank Group leverages on its well-established client service substructure, procedures and patterns to present prompt and consistent service to run into the demands of its clients. As stated by The Boston Group ( Leichtfuss et al. , 2010 ) , Banks should take stairss to ingrain cost efficiency by industrialising procedures, set uping cardinal or regional processing centres, and developing IT and operations platforms. Therefore, all Bankss will be forced to better their procedure efficiency in the coming old ages, non merely to cut down costs but besides better client service.2.3 DrumheadBy analysing the Public Bank Groupâ₠¬â„¢s scheme through the one-year study 2013, we could reason that Public Bank Group able to accomplish the mission statement as mentioned above.3.0 Organization Structure Design of the Public Bank GroupBased on Unlocking the concern environment ( Brinkman, 2010 ) , the manner an organisation organizes itself in footings of who does desire, and who reports to whom, is fundamentally what organisational construction is concerned with. The construction of an organisation needs to guarantee that it is able to accomplish its mission and aims in an effectual and efficient mode. In other words, an organisation needs to be structured in an appropriate manner to acquire things done, while besides enabling a grade of flexibleness that will enable it to run into what can frequently be fast paced alterations in the external concern environment. Sometimes, direction may make up one's mind that the construction of an organisation needs to alter, and this is referred to as organisational design.3.1 Interviewee StatementName: Sarah Choong Suet Yee Position: Senior Financial ExecutiveWhat is the organisational construction of this subdivision?One subdivision directorOne Business Managers ( loan and mortgage )Assistant subdivision director ( operation )Departments:SOO- Senior Operation OfficerOO- Operation OfficerOIC- Officer in ChargeWhat are the classs of section in this subdivision?Investing – insurance & A ; unit trustCredit Card – recognition card & A ; safety boxCustomer Service – Customer service representatives ( CSR )Operationss ( Teller, under control of OO )3.2 Divisional Structure of Public Bank Jalan Yang KalsomAs stated by Strategic Management ( Miller and Dess, 1998 ) , a divisional or strategic concern unit ( SBU ) is a construction covers a set of comparatively independent entities governed by a cardinal disposal. Harmonizing to Miss Choong the Senior Financial Executive of Public Bank Group in Ipoh Jalan Yang Kalsom Branch, the organisation construction that applied by Public Bank is one subdivision director, one concern troughs ( loan and mortgage ) and adjunct subdivision director ( operation ) . Hence, I assumed that the organisation construction that applied by Public Bank Group is divisional construction. Figure 1: Organization construction of Public Bank Branch at Jalan Yang Kalsom ( Own Adaptation, 2014 ) As the figure above, subdivision director is ranked highest place in the Public Bank Branch Jalan Yang Kalsom. The subdivision director of Public Bank Jalan Yang Kalsom will make up one's mind the concluding determination of all the planning and waies. After that, the concern trough and the helper subdivision director will be in-charge on the loan and mortgage unit. Furthermore, the helper subdivision director will be in-charge on the client service unit, investing unit, operation unit and recognition card unit. For illustration, a client is confronting history jobs so the client will be served by the officer at client service unit. The divisional construction is of import to the Public Bank Group because it helps organisation to avoid many jobs typically found in organisations structured by map. Furthermore, directors can more dressed ore on their ain peculiar merchandise lines and markets, and they have entree to resources and staff functional specializers. Delegating determination devising to take down managerial degrees moves determinations closer to merchandises and markets, which facilitates faster determinations from those who are more specialised and knowing in the merchandise country. This allows a high grade of accent to be placed on merchandises and markets. Besides that, it besides improves a firm’s ability to accommodate during rapid environmental alteration.3.3 DrumheadIn short, the organisation construction design is really of import to all the organisations particularly Public Bank Group. The divisional construction helps Public Bank Group to avoid many jobs typically found in organisation structured by map.4.0 Competition Arise between Public Bank, Maybank and CIMB BankWhen there is competition arise between Public Bank, Maybank, and CIMB Bank, Public Bank needs to happen out about its rivals. The first measure is rival analysis which is the procedure of placing cardinal rivals ; measuring their aims, schemes, strengths, and failings. In this manner, the company would be able to happen countries of possible competitory advantages and disadvantages as stated in the Principles of Marketing ( Kotler and Armstrong, 1991 ) .4.2 SWOT AnalysisIn this subdivision, I will utilize SWOT analysis to analyse the competition arise between Public Bank, Maybank, and CIMB Bank. Based on The Principles of Marketing ( Kotler and Armstrong, 1991 ) , SWOT analysis is an overall rating of the company’s strengths, failings, chances, and menaces. Strengths include internal capablenesss, resources, and positive stuational factors that may assist the company to function its clients an d accomplish its aims. Failings include internal restrictions and negative stituational factors that may interfere with the company’s public presentation. Opportunities are favourable factors or tendencies in the external environment that the company may be able to work to its advantage. And menaces are unfavourable external factors or tendencies that may show challenges to public presentation.4.3 DrumheadAs the illustrated on Table 1, I’m assume that the scheme used by Public Bank is better than Maybank and CIMB Bank because Public Bank has the nucleus competences with the higher one-year returns increasing yearly and unbroken net income path record of their group. Harmonizing to the Pubic Bank Investor Presentation Citi ASEAN Investor Conference 2014 Singapore ( Public Bank Berhad, 2014 ) , Public Bank has 47 old ages of unbroken profitableness and healthy net income growing in the past 5 old ages.5.0 Conclusion and RecommendationsStrategic direction is a set of mana gerial determinations and actions that determine the long-term public presentation of a corporation as stated in Strategic direction and concern policy ( Wheelen and Hunger, 2012 ) . In subdivision 1, Public Bank Group has adopts the growing scheme and concern scheme in order to accomplish the corporate mission â€Å"To sustain the place of being the most efficient, profitable and respected premier fiscal establishment in Malaysia† . In subdivision 2, the divisional construction has brings a batch of benefit to all the organisation particularly Public Bank Group where it helps the organisation to avoid many jobs typically found in organisations structured by map. In subdivision 3, Public Bank is much better after compared with its rivals which is Maybank and CIMB Bank through the SWOT analysis. Last but non least, the recommendation for the Public Bank Group is to maintain set more attempts on their development in order to accomplish and prolong the place of being the most efficient, profitable and respected premier fiscal establishment in Malaysia.

Free Essays on Jeanette Rankin

Who were the three black forces in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century? The three major forces behind the Blacks’ position in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century consisted of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and Marcus Garvey. They were the most effective of all of the different activists of the time. They each came from different times and different places. They were also all brought up differently while they were young. They were all about 10 years apart from each other. Here is their story. Booker T. Washington was the first to emerge. He was born into slavery on April 5, 1856 in the state of Virginia. (Notes, 1) After the Emancipation Proclamation his mother had taken him and two other children to the state of West Virginia. (Amer. Jour., 571) After leaving, he and his family had started working in Coal and Salt mines. (Notes, 1) He was at the age of nine when he first started working in the mines. The hours were long and hard. He went back to Virginia to go to school. (Amer. Jour., 571) He enrolled in Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. (Amer. Jour., 571) He worked as a Janitor while attending. (Notes, 1) It was the premier black educations institution in the South at the current time. (Amer. Jour., 571) He worked hard to get through the school and graduated. He taught for three years and then founded the Tuskegee Institute in 1881. It was for black students in rural Alabama. (Amer. Jour., 571) His thoughts were that all students would be b! est served if they learned a trade and become work place disciplined. (Amer. Jour., 571) With a trade he believed that black people would develop more self-respect and economic independence. (Amer. Jour., 571) Another African-American Leader was W.E.B. DuBois. He was born in Massachusetts in February of 1868. He did not accept Washington’s view of black social inequality. He was the first African-American to graduate from Harv... Free Essays on Jeanette Rankin Free Essays on Jeanette Rankin Who were the three black forces in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century? The three major forces behind the Blacks’ position in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century consisted of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and Marcus Garvey. They were the most effective of all of the different activists of the time. They each came from different times and different places. They were also all brought up differently while they were young. They were all about 10 years apart from each other. Here is their story. Booker T. Washington was the first to emerge. He was born into slavery on April 5, 1856 in the state of Virginia. (Notes, 1) After the Emancipation Proclamation his mother had taken him and two other children to the state of West Virginia. (Amer. Jour., 571) After leaving, he and his family had started working in Coal and Salt mines. (Notes, 1) He was at the age of nine when he first started working in the mines. The hours were long and hard. He went back to Virginia to go to school. (Amer. Jour., 571) He enrolled in Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. (Amer. Jour., 571) He worked as a Janitor while attending. (Notes, 1) It was the premier black educations institution in the South at the current time. (Amer. Jour., 571) He worked hard to get through the school and graduated. He taught for three years and then founded the Tuskegee Institute in 1881. It was for black students in rural Alabama. (Amer. Jour., 571) His thoughts were that all students would be b! est served if they learned a trade and become work place disciplined. (Amer. Jour., 571) With a trade he believed that black people would develop more self-respect and economic independence. (Amer. Jour., 571) Another African-American Leader was W.E.B. DuBois. He was born in Massachusetts in February of 1868. He did not accept Washington’s view of black social inequality. He was the first African-American to graduate from Harv...

RAW - Scott Monk essays

RAW - Scott Monk essays The novel RAW, by Scott Monk, intended for young adults, clearly informs the responder of the effects institutionalisation has on an individual. The text reveals the impacts it encompasses on the behaviours of those who are placed in institutions. A definition of an institution could be an organisational pattern of group behaviour established, and usually accepted as a fundamental part of a culture, therefore; the institutions refer to a psychological condition which has been brought about due to a depersonalised environment. Automatic behaviours often occur as a result of institutionalization, such as, expressionless faces, along with a general apathy. Their personal appearances, as well as personal morals become less important. Institutionalisation is likely to surface, if the residence in which their identities, interests and strengths are not respected. There are several types of institutions such as, Education systems, Legal systems, Economic systems, along with Health and Soc ial Culture systems, to name a few. All institutions aim at recuperating the individual so they can regain the ability to live within a non fabricated world. Furthermore, the Poem Hospital Evening, by Gwen Hardwood deals with institutions, and the end result of what effects institutions can have upon an individual. Sleepers, directed by Barry levinson also deals with institutions in regards to four men from Hell's Kitchen who avenge their boyhood loss of innocence at the hands of reform school guards. This movie also depicts the behaviours which institutionalisation brings. All these mentions texts can be segmented into Compliance, Protest, and enforcement. RAW provides an insight on the effects of Justice Centres. Brett Dalton, the protagonist of the text RAW reveals the highly wrought behaviours in which institutionalisation can create among an individual, when one is challenged or confronted by the structures of an Authority. Brett, an expe...

Word Choice Each vs. Every - Writing Tips with Proofed

Word Choice Each vs. Every - Writing Tips with Proofed Word Choice: Each vs. Every â€Å"Each† and â€Å"every† are both determiners. They also both refer to something as singular. They are even interchangeable in some cases! As such, it’s not surprising that people mix them up sometimes. However, these terms also have slightly different uses, so you need to be careful to avoid errors. Each vs. Every (Groups of Three or More Things) Both of these terms can be used to refer to a group of people or things. For example: We were told to read each book on the list. We were told to read every book on the list. In this case, both sentences imply reading all of the books on the list. The only difference is that â€Å"each† makes us think of reading the books one by one, while â€Å"every† makes us think of them collectively. But this only works when the group comprises three or more things. And the difference between these terms becomes obvious if we apply them to a group of two things. Each vs. Every (Two Things) If you are referring to two people or things, the word you will need is â€Å"each†: He had an apple in each hand. âÅ"“ He had an apple in every hand. âÅ"â€" The first sentence here implies that someone is holding two apples. The second sentence, by comparison, suggests that we’re dealing with some kind of many-handed octopus man. Or possibly a Hindu deity. Every vs. All Since it is used for larger groups, â€Å"every† is like the word â€Å"all† in that both terms refer to a group of three or more things collectively. However, â€Å"every† is only ever used with singular countable nouns, while â€Å"all† is used with plural nouns or uncountable nouns: Every alpaca deserves a hug. All alpacas deserve a hug. If we compare the sentences above, we can see the differences: â€Å"every† is used with a singular noun and a singular verb; â€Å"all† is used with a plural noun and plural verb. So while thinking of â€Å"every† as a synonym for â€Å"all† can be helpful, you still need to combine it with singular terms. Hug me! Each and Every? Finally, a quick note on the phrase â€Å"each and every.† Some people combine these terms as a form of emphasis when referring to larger groups. This is fine, but it is technically a redundant expression. You should not therefore use â€Å"each and every† in formal writing (e.g., a college paper).

Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation - Essay Example The ideas identified here are further polished and developed in the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development and then the finalized solutions to cure the sufferings of the humanity are turned into Novartis product line. The objectives of the growth and welfare go hand in hand throughout these stages. The company’s goals and objectives are in line with its mission and all initial goals and objective contribute towards the final mission of the company. A more than 50.6 billion dollar sale in 2010 provide Novartis the solid financial grounds to support its research activities, fulfillment of commitments towards people, patients, communities, and environment. This not only contributes to the making of a corporate citizenship face of the company but shareholders also yield an increase of 5% in dividends. Novartis portfolio is widening rapidly and recent mergers and business purchases are a symbol of company’s confident march towards success. The fruit of this growth r eaching end to end and employees’ commitment towards the growth of the business marks this fact. (Report, 2010).Aforementioned short description of the company helps us to conclude our discussions with a sufficient insight into the scale of Novartis business and operations. This helps us to select the company for the SLP project and preparation of a detailed case. Moreover, the available sources of information can lead to the in-depth study of the company which is the most exciting part of any SLP project.

The Comparison of Reading a Book and Watching a Movie Essay

The Comparison of Reading a Book and Watching a Movie - Essay Example Watching a movie on the other hand needs only a little effort from the audience. Everything including character voices, scenery and real outside world are readily presented to the audience. The audience watches only the shortened version of the book episodes. One gets emotionally attached to the movie through the emotions being portrayed by the characters in the movie. What an author of a book may try to explain in many pages might be large to an extent that it may not be completely covered in a movie, this because, most of the movie producers usually stick to plot of the movie thus eliminating the long lines in the book. Thus, in general movies lack the vivid explanation that the author of the book intended for the reader. In addition to that, while reading a book one can leave a bookmark in order to pick up quickly from where one left the last time they were reading. On the other hand, watching a movie does not give you the chance to pick from where you left last time. You have to start in order to enjoy it. While reading a book, the reader can imagine the characters presented in it according to the characteristics and descriptions. In between its pages, a book provides a sweet escape from reality where imagination reigns supreme. One can make them up in their head as they want to. In movies, this is not so as there are ready finished ideal characters presented as heroes. This may be upsetting to most people. One becomes a critic of the author as they read a book. This better because you know first-hand the real information contained in it. Also books have rich vocabularies without any wrong words and they can enrich the reader’s vocabulary. Watching a movie makes one become a critic of the producer. This is less advantageous than the book reader because one does not know what was written before. Also movies lack a rich collection of vocabularies as compared to books. Reading a book can take a

Law - Law of Tort Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Law - Law of Tort - Essay Example The law is also concerned with the option of transferring blame. This implies that using the law blames can be transferred to another person or party. Tort law therefore provides remedies to an individual or a party for losses suffered due unreasonable actions of another person or party. There are two categories of tort laws and they are concerned with suits that are aimed at protecting an individual’s privacy against any violation. Negligence and intentional are the two basic categories or torts and they signify the main tort claims made in most civil courts (Yeats, Giliker & Luckham, 2005). From the given scenario, Charles a freelance photographer sneaks into Bertram compound without his knowledge and proceed to takes his nude photograph. Charles was able to gain access to the highly restricted compound through Desdemona’s assistance. Later a market researcher named Alex tries to have an interview with Bertram in his house without his content. Bertram denies him a cha nce for an interview based on the warning sign at his drive. In particular, the sign states that any trespasser will be prosecuted. Bertram go ahead and caries the market researcher to the drive although he had proved his identity. According occupier’s liability act of 1984, Alex Charles and Desdemona, violated Bertram’s right to privacy on the other hand Bertram violated Alex’s rights by carrying him forcefully. ... Firstly, Bertram is a billionaire who believes that he should have a private life free from any intruder. He has gone to an extent of placing a sign at his drive indicating that all trespassers will be prosecuted. As an ordinary person, Bertram is entitled to privacy according to the law and therefore any trespassing is a violation of his rights (Yeats, Giliker, Luckham, 2005). Secondly, his house is a private property and therefore he has the right to allow accept or reject visitors accordingly. Concerning the two unauthorized visitors to Bertram’s compound, Charles has a more serious case to answer according to tort law. Although he is a journalist, he needed endorsement before gaining access to Bertram’s compound. In addition, Charles took unauthorized photographs in two separate occasions and this proves that his acts were intentional. Charles not only intentionally took unauthorized photograph of Bertram and his compound but he took nude photographs of the complain ant. These activities are intentional and therefore Bertram has legal claims according to the tort law. Basing on those arguments Bertram can proceed to make a legal suit against the trespassers; however, he should make his claims with caution in order to attract the relevant remedies. He has to be aware of the possible claims that Charles can present in the courtroom in defence of his action. Charles can base his counterclaims on the requirements of his career as a journalist. From this basis, Charles can claim that as a journalist, his work serves the public and therefore he needs to cover events that are of public interest. He can therefore claim that the highly restricted Bertram’s compound is of public interest and therefore he should have some legal protections against any legal suit that

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 29

Management - Essay Example Therefore, it is important for Intel to have a proper understanding and interpretation of its external environment. The external environment comprises of the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal and environment aspects (Penrose 60). The political aspects of the external environment relate to the fact that Intel is a multinational company that operates in different states. In effect, the political stability of the country determines the manner in which the company penetrates the market. Politics tend to have great influence on other aspects of the market such as policy and the economy. The ideology adopted by political players determines the direction in which the economy takes and the manner in which the company operates. Intel took over four years negotiating with the Vietnamese government to be allowed to operate in the country. The economic and technological aspects of the environment go to the financial capacity and competitiveness of the various states. The recent economic down turn greatly affected the company’s profitability and level of investment in innovation and new technology. The legal aspect of the environment affects the manner in which the company operates in the specific environment. Unf riendly policies limit the extent of the company’s operations. The porter’s five forces analysis framework interrogates the environment on five main areas. The competition, the substitutes, consumer bargaining power, supplier bargaining power and the intensity of the competition, are the fundamental aspects of the external environment. The technology market is increasingly expanding, and it allows companies to specialize in particular fields. Intel is one among the largest semiconductor chip makers. The chipset industry has a diverse structure that engages different inventors and producers. The competition is differentiated buy the customer loyalty and the legal boundaries that

Oil Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Oil - Research Paper Example Hence, forming a potential market to the oil-producing states where mostly they tend to have the final say regarding the commodity’s price. However, it is not that America lacks its own reserves, but their yield is inadequate to provide for its large population that normally consumes approximately 6.6 billion barrels annually (Bruce, 2007). This prompted the state to seek other sources of oil that will manage to cater adequately for its demand. America yielded to 21% investing in other states compared to its direct dealing operations. This was in the form of establishing corporations that will specialize in either oil drilling or having other diverse roles in ensuring adequate attainment of oil in the oil rich states, and in turn benefit; hence using diplomacy (Hitchcock, 2010). Currently, America produces 21 billion barrels that normally provide 6.6 billion barrels of oil meant for its population’s demand annually. According to conservationists, this annual consumption is adequate in providing America for 3.5 years, but only through proper application of other substitute saving methods besides effective technology especially in the transport sector. However, studies indicate America’s oil consumption trend continues to augment, where by the year 2020 according to Ghouri’s statistics would read 24,900, 2,596, 2,321 thousand in USA, Canada and Mexico respectively. This was a comparison with the year 1999 oil consumption statistics having 19,519, 1,943, 1,970 thousand in USA, Canada and Mexico accordingly (Ghouri, 2001). The augmenting demand trend has prompted America to depend on imports from other states, since the reserves, that it possesses does not equal its consumption. This is because the demand is outdoing the already diminishing reserves’ production. Studies indicate that American shore reserves are diminishing, which leaves the state with no alternative except offshore drilling, which is expensive. This is due to the capital necessitated

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 29

Management - Essay Example Therefore, it is important for Intel to have a proper understanding and interpretation of its external environment. The external environment comprises of the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal and environment aspects (Penrose 60). The political aspects of the external environment relate to the fact that Intel is a multinational company that operates in different states. In effect, the political stability of the country determines the manner in which the company penetrates the market. Politics tend to have great influence on other aspects of the market such as policy and the economy. The ideology adopted by political players determines the direction in which the economy takes and the manner in which the company operates. Intel took over four years negotiating with the Vietnamese government to be allowed to operate in the country. The economic and technological aspects of the environment go to the financial capacity and competitiveness of the various states. The recent economic down turn greatly affected the company’s profitability and level of investment in innovation and new technology. The legal aspect of the environment affects the manner in which the company operates in the specific environment. Unf riendly policies limit the extent of the company’s operations. The porter’s five forces analysis framework interrogates the environment on five main areas. The competition, the substitutes, consumer bargaining power, supplier bargaining power and the intensity of the competition, are the fundamental aspects of the external environment. The technology market is increasingly expanding, and it allows companies to specialize in particular fields. Intel is one among the largest semiconductor chip makers. The chipset industry has a diverse structure that engages different inventors and producers. The competition is differentiated buy the customer loyalty and the legal boundaries that

Art history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Art history - Essay Example This is an appropriate comparison as both this piece and many pieces which have been found on the walls of pyramids, are symmetrical and surreal with extremely high activity which serves to tell a story. By symmetrical it is meant that the right and left side of the mural is equivalent in color scheme, size of characters as well as their placement. For example, Jesus, while centered in the upper quadrant of the piece, is accompanied on both sides by two angelic creatures. The similarities to Egyptian pyramid murals is also visible in the life-less qualities of the two dimensional people included in the work. An example of this is the depiction of feet. Jesus’ feet in this piece, are eerily small compared to the rest of his body which is a continuity of disproportion. The angels on either side of him, resemble deer with human-like faces with angel wings. On both sides of the lower portion of Jesus’ positioning, there appear to be votives held by ascending chains. It is not clear what they are but what is clear, is that they are in equal proportion on the left and the right sides of Jesus. This could be assimilated to weights and balances which often represent justice and fairness. These could also be the ornate objects used by priests in the catholic church, in many religious ceremonies, as a symbolic act. The middle to lower portion of the piece is marked by 12 or so individuals with glowing halos above their heads. Certainly this may b e and is most likely, the 12 apostles of Christ. They appear to be glorified similarly to Christ but certainly not to the same extent. They appear below Christ and the angels which makes sense within the natural order of Christian belief and Biblical ideology. In this same portion of the mural, below the throne of Christ, there are what appear to be two windows or doors, which are each guarded or inclusive

The Information Technology skills Essay Example for Free

The Information Technology skills Essay It is clear to me how University of Phoenix’ convenient and efficient educational program designed for working professionals, has helped me grow. I see tremendous change and development in myself. I have not only matured personally and professionally, but have also grown to believe in orderly goals and motives with respect to my existence. My life has been organized and I see greater potential for my progress. The outlook of the entire university, dedicated to the success of its students, may be viewed now in who I am as compared to who I was before joining the BS of Information Technology program. When I started the program at University of Phoenix, my professional attitude was unseasoned. I was an unsure person, someone who had not matured. My humble and uninformed self did not allow me to think much of my career. I had briefly dreamt of becoming a graphic designer. However, I had wrongly imagined that I would not go too far. My mind was set at thinking that I might have to do with unsuitable jobs. What else are high school graduates supposed to do? I did not aspire to be great or hold lofty goals for my career. My goals were in fact, not many. I only desired to keep myself employed. My knowledge base was limited. I was raw. To that end, I am absolutely honest to claim that I knew little or nothing about the things I have learned at the University of Phoenix. Knowledge has been added on to my life at a rapid pace with this great program. Before this, life could seem sluggish to me as an unaware person. At work, I did not consider myself a professional. I did not even present myself as such. I was simply working; holding a job because one has to do that in this uncertain world. I would describe my writing skills before the program as ranging from bad to good. This is one of the areas where I have experienced drastic change. Besides, I now have extremely different views about myself and my career. My verbal communication skills before the program may also be described as varying from bad to good. With less confidence, the way I presented myself was obviously poor. I did not grasp at the time that professionally, one must appear assertive and proficient to get the work done. At present, I like to view myself as a thorough professional. My critical thinking skills before the program were good. All the same, my â€Å"Critical Thinking† (PHL/251) general education course worked wonders to polish my skills. It was for this reason that I had chosen the course. I believe that my decision was absolutely correct. After all, critical thinking is crucial in both personal and professional life. My interpersonal skills were always excellent, according to my opinion. This is because I believe in people, trust them, and wish to know more about them in order to be of assistance to them. I chose the general education course called â€Å"U. S. History to 1865† (HIS/110) because I was deeply interested in understanding the mechanics of human relationships, as well as the causes and effects of human decisions. Learning about U. S. history was essential, seeing that the people I share my space with do also share the same history. Hence, I believed unconsciously that I would be able to improve myself in my relations with others if I studied human history. Once again, my decision to opt for this general education course was correct, seeing that I now deal even more effectively in my personal and professional relationships. The most important core courses with respect to my employment were â€Å"Critical Thinking: Strategies in Decision Making† (MGT/350) and â€Å"Project Planning and Implementation† (CMGT/410). I opted for these courses because I believe that professionals who know the functions of management are always more successful than the rest. Furthermore, these courses helped me to assimilate my ideas about team projects as well as leadership. I further believe that all professionals must be armed with knowledge of management, even if this knowledge is specialized in terms of Information Technology. What is more, decision makers, project planners and implementers must always bear in mind the people connected with the decisions and projects. Indeed, this idea connected with my love for people and interest in human relations. Moreover, I now connect better with the people at my workplace, and truly understand more about the mechanics of decision making and project planning as well as implementation. One of the terminal objectives of my program was, of course, for me to mature into a successful individual in my professional life. Even at my current organization – General Mills, where I presently work as a Network Engineer – development and innovation are priorities as well as major targets. Hence, both the University of Phoenix and General Mills have contributed to my current upsurge or growth. But the job without the education at University of Phoenix would definitely not be as good as it is at present. At this time, however, my job is a huge part of who I am and who I want to be. The program at University of Phoenix has really been a great source of inspiration for me. Employment may have helped me go on living. But the education here has helped me to live life fully, to enjoy my work and to be proper in all respects. It has shown me the way to live life in a way that is better, not just to live as I may have heard others living. Life does not just drag on anymore. It is full of enthusiasm and anticipation for a bright present and future. I am applying the tools that I have learned through the University of Phoenix, and there is hope to use them in better ways to achieve higher goals. I am eager to learn even more of that which would help me along. Learning should be a life-long process so that one’s intellectual powers do not rust. Before the program, it was as though I, as a resource, was underutilized. Now I feel fully functional. Just as General Mills thrives on research and development, I see myself flourishing with an increase in my knowledge base and the utilization of my mental resources to their fullest capacity. The Information Technology skills learned by me through the program at University of Phoenix are incomparable to anything I have ever been taught. I feel more grown-up now because of what this program has done for me. I have been shown much of my potential. It seems that I have learned a lot and there is excitement in me now to know more. Life does not seem like dreary employment anymore. I enjoy my personal and professional life much more now that I have been a part of the University of Phoenix. As far as my ethical outlook is concerned, I see no change between the past and the present, and I do not see it changing either. My values have not changed. My self-esteem has increased because the way I see myself has changed. Whereas I may have been covered by darkness in my mind, I now see myself in the light, capable of doing much, maintaining goals, and wanting to do all that is good. I certainly have become advanced in my professional attitude. With regards to my personal attitude, I even walk more confidently now and that has a serious affect upon my professionalism too. At work, I have to be responsible, knowing and showing that I can make it right and to the top. It is as though I have been cultivated and I know what I am doing now. My career views have changed so much that whereas I had seen myself doing basic jobs and not going too far in my professional life before I joined University of Phoenix, now I feel confident and able to be the leader at work. I feel that the axiom ‘the sky is the limit’ is working in my life now. Earlier I may have thought that it is impossible to have such an attitude unless one’s performance was really marvelous. But this program has been about trying to do one’s best and fulfilling one’s potential. It has made me open my eyes and view the world out there full of possibilities for a bright human being wanting to do more and wanting to do what is excellent. I feel capable of reaching the top of my company now. Furthermore, now that I have had a glimpse of my highest potential, I also feel self-assured and competent enough to be at the top of another organization, if not my present company. A part of this newly found confidence in me is a result of observation. Even so, the knowledge that has been imparted to me with the wonderful Information Technology program takes most of the credit for my motivation today. Resonant with my new goals is the fact that my knowledge base has grown impressively. I now know not only that which is taught at undergraduate level in my field, but I am also seen by others as a better professional. My professional sense is increasing, signaling that I must continue trying to do better. I do not see the way down now. What is more, I am now able to hold professional presentations and meetings with high level professionals at General Mills. I am also more interested in my work at present. Over the next five years, my professional and personal attitudes may become more refined. I hope to become more mature and confident. I now understand how learning more can make one grow. I do not only want to continue learning, but I also want to continue growing until I can become a self-actualized individual. I wish to develop my ability to move to higher levels in my career through greater productivity. My goal is to be my best and also to be the very best in others’ opinion. I would like to attend a graduate program. I have so greatly and positively been influenced by the undergraduate program at University of Phoenix that I hunger for more of education. I understand to an extent how much it can do for me. Before the program, I did not think much of education besides the fact that it is necessary to a certain level. But because I have been working and noticing the changes that education brings into my professional life, I long to gather more knowledge. Education is directly related to success. I love the changes higher education has brought to my life and I welcome this fantastic transformation on an ongoing basis. Thinking is the basis of our actions, and if the undergraduate program at University of Phoenix could do so much for my life and attitudes, I cannot yet imagine where a graduate program might put me with regards to my professional position. I need more guidance for the future though, to be specific about what I would really do. I see the possibilities laid open before me, but which way do I really go? Many ways seem important. Perhaps I would settle for an MBA. In any case, I would have liked the University of Phoenix to better assist me in getting to the right place at the right time in future. To get a clearer sense of my educational goal at present, I may have to go for education counseling. I would like to recommend at this point that the University of Phoenix should incorporate an extensive education counseling program for its students. Over the next five years, I wish to grow to have more business sense. This may happen through higher education and additional years of experience at work. In point of fact, I would like to improve in all spheres of my life, and in the areas of my being that are good now, I would like to keep a balance whereby I do not drift to the low side of things. With my new outlook, I feel ready to take responsibility to add value to the world, even if it is solely by way of doing my job well and showing others that honesty, hard work and learning can go a long way. I feel worthwhile now and am prepared to continue struggling through life with zeal. When life gets slothful, I know what I must do to change that and to be promoted learn. I must continue learning.

How to Improve Competitiveness of Cashmere Industry

How to Improve Competitiveness of Cashmere Industry 1. INTRODUCTION China is the largest cashmere producer in the all over the world, with the sum total output approximately accounting for over 75% of global production, followed by Mongolia, Iran, Afghanistan, and South Africa. Meanwhile, China is the top cashmere exporter with about 80% of global exportsnearly 75% of cashmere products in global cashmere consumption market are produced in China. (Report on the first Asian conference on cashmere 2007; China International Cashmere Forum 2005) Additionally, China has the unique geographical advantage which is beneficial for raising cashmere goats, among which numerous and fine varieties are herded due to the continuous and complicated ecological environment and long-term artificial selection. Furthermore, the cashmere fibre which exhibits good property in fineness, strength, elongation, is of best quality, and thus is called as gold soft or fibre diamond. Although Chinese cashmere industry owns unique resource competitive advantages, however, with the d evelopment of economic globalization, the industrial competition among countries is intensified and the dimensions of Chinese cashmere industry dilate rapidly, due to which a great number of serious problems have been exposed to the Chinese cashmere industry, These problems have become the restricting factors of favourable development of the industry, and the industry is inevitably faced with enormous challenges. Therefore, how to enhance the overall competitiveness and gain competitive advantage is of great importance to Chinese cashmere industry, which is the major content of this paper. This paper begins with the description of the theories on competitiveness, in particular the competitive advantage and Porters National Diamond Model. Then the paper analyzes the current situation of cashmere industry in China by means of Porters National Diamond Model, along with the case study of successful cashmere industries in other countries and some successful Chinese cashmere companies, to identify the key lessons that could be learned by Chinese cashmere industry and thus win the industrial competitive advantages and improve the sustainable development of the industry. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW For each country, industrial competitiveness is of great importance because it determines the industrial development level and status in the global market competition, and thus it is one of subjects of wide concern from nations to firms. 2.1 Definition of Competitiveness The insights into the question what is the competitiveness can be gained from the works of Johnson (1992), Hammer Champy (1993), Murths (1998), Barney (2001) and Esty (2001). From the point of view of Johnson (1992), competitiveness is the capability of an entity to provide more value to and better satisfy the customers than its competitors. Murths (1998) identified that competitiveness is used to demonstrate the economic strength of an economic entity with regard to its rivals within the global market where goods, services, people, skills and ideas are not subject to geographical restriction and could freely displace (Murths 1998). According to Esty (2001), competitiveness is demonstrated from the aspects of assets and processes. Assets are categorized as inherited one such as natural resources and created one like structures, which are transformed into economic returns by processes. , 2.2 Theories of competitiveness The theoretical foundation of industrial competitiveness could be classified into two theories: comparative advantage theory and competitive advantage theory. Comparative Advantage Theory David Ricardo, the classical economist, put forward the comparative advantage theory as the foundation of international trade. Comparative advantage theory demonstrates that a country should focus on the industries which have relatively higher production efficiency to exchange the goods from the industries with lower production efficiency. (Chacholiades 1990). Heckscher-Ohlin modified and extended the theory, and explained that cross-country variations in relative factor endowments could also shape the pattern of trade (Gankhuyag Ser-Od 2009). Competitive Advantage Theory In his book The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Michael Porter addressed a question: Why do some social groups, economic institutions, and nations advance and prosper?'(Porter 1990). On the basis of analyzing the characteristics of national environment, Porter addressed the theory of national competitive advantage. Michael Porter pointed out that traditional economic theories including comparative advantage theory cannot explain the sources of competitiveness. Further he stated that industrial competitiveness should be analyzed with the competitive advantage theory which indicates the different competitiveness presented with respect to the same industry in different countries or areas under the same competitive environment (Porter 1990). The main difference between comparative advantage theory and competitive advantage theory is that the former one emphasizes the comparative relationship between different industries within one country; however, the competitive advantage theory is a bout the same industry within different countries. Grant (1991) assessed the book The Competitive Advantage of Nations and expressed that at all three levelsthe firm, the industry and the nation, Porter offers new insights into the determinants of competitive advantage. 2.3 Michael Porters National Diamond Michael Porter pointed out that the ability to establish or maintain competitive advantage within international market is determined by four direct variables and two indirect variables which formed the framework of National Diamond (as seen in Figure 1) The four direct determinants are factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries and firm strategy, structure and rivalry, and the two indirect variables are chance and government. The six variables combined determine that whether a country could have a strong diamondthe competitive advantage. (Porter, 1990) A brief description of the six variables is as below: Factor condition is analyzed from the characteristics of factors of production, the processes by which they are created, and their relationship to firms competitiveness (Grant 1991). The factors are categorized as basic factors such as natural resources, climate, location and demographics and advanced factors such as communications infrastructure, sophisticated skills and research facilities (Porter 1990). For demand conditions, Michael Porter presented that home demand could provide driving force for enhancing competitive advantage, because customers demands could exert pressure to the firms (Porter 1990). Source: Porter M, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, The Macmillan Press LTD, London, 1990 Figure 1 Michael Porters National Diamond With respect to related and supporting industries: Porter stated that whether an industry has competitive advantages is closely associated with its related and supporting industries. Usually a successful industry would collectively develop with a cluster of related and supporting industries instead of standing alone (Porter 1990). Concern firm strategy, structure and rivalry, Porter identified that the different industrial characteristics within different countries determine the competitive advantages (Porter 1990). The characteristics include strategies, structures, goals, managerial practices, individual attitudes and intensity of rivalry within the business sector (Grant 1991). Chance plays a role in influencing the four direct variables and thus affects the competitive advantage. Additionally, government could provide chances and make challenges for industries even though it does not directly participate in industry competition (Porter 1990). 3. ANALYSIS ON CHINESE CASHEMRE INDUSTRY WITH CASE STUDY 3.1 Factor Conditions In the book of Competitive Advantage of Nations, Porter noted the variable of factor conditions could be hierarchically categorized as basic factors and advanced factors. The importance of basic factors is gradually reducing because the demands for basic factors have decreased along with the market globalization, which means multinational companies could purchase within the globalized market. Therefore, it is unstable to build competitive advantage on the basic factors (Porter 1990). From the point view of basic factors, China is preponderant in cashmere resources with the best quality of raw cashmere and strong product processing capacity. Meanwhile, China is a labour-intensive country thereby that is helpful in reducing labour cost and other integrated cost. In comparison with China, Scotland also possesses the advantaged cashmere resources, and the Scottish cashmere product is highly admired for its quality and finish. Although the labour cost in Scotland is not as low as in China, the Scottish cashmere industry performs much better than that in China. Therefore, basic factors are less important in determining the industrial competitiveness. While advanced factors are of importance to gain competitive advantage. Advanced factor require ambitious and continuous investment to sophisticated labour and technology expenditure. If a country would like to establish formidable and sustainable industrial competitive advantage through the variable of factor conditions, it must develop the advanced factors rather than basic factors. Unlike basic factors, advanced factors cannot be purchased but have to be developed through investment (Porter 1990). From the point view of advanced factors, in China the capacity of independent innovation needs improvement for cashmere firms. Because the Chinese cashmere industry has only developed for a short time, comparing with the European long-term established firms Chinese cashmere firms has large disparity in the aspects of technical innovation and product marketing. Meanwhile, the capacity of independent innovation is imbalanced across cashmere firms in Chinalarge firms put considerable investment on technical innovation whereas small and medium ones invest inadequately and lack of creativeness. Although some Chinese cashmere firms has started the research in the field of dyeing and spinning, some key technologies still have not been grasped unlike in developed countries. In contrast, Todd Duncan provide the evidence that advanced factors is significant for gaining competitive advantage. Todd Duncan was founded in 1867, and now it has become the European leading cashmere yarn knitting firm, which provide cashmere yarn with most fashionable colours to luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton , Gucci, Prada, Chanel, Herms and Christian Dior. Todd Duncan are well known for its production technologies. As far back as it was founded, Todd Duncan were in the lead in the field of cashmere blending yarn. Now it is still well known for its manufacturing technique in single strand. Collaborative with the most advanced textile technologies, it produces the finest and noblest yarns. In addition, in Todd Duncan, computer assisted programmes are used in dyeing procedure such as colour management. High-tech facilities like colour matcher are also used to check the colour accuracy, which is in the lead position of the industry (todd-duncan 2010). Review back to 1980s, it is because paying attention to the advanced factor such as processing technology, Chinese cashmere industry could take a turn. In 1980s, some cashmere firms led by Erdos Cashmere Group and Snowlotus Cashmere Group first introduced the most advanced cashmere carding machines and carding process from Japan. After learning the process and making further processing technology improvement, Chinese carding technique of goat cashmere made a qualitative leap, and the dehaired cashmere made-up rate and quality exceeded the international level. Thus, it enhanced Chinese cashmere industry into a new age (China International Cashmere Forum 2005). From the examples of Todd Duncan and Erdos Cashmere Group, it can be seen that Chinese cashmere industry should not only rely on the resources advantage. The rapid development of Chinese cashmere industry in the past 30 years mainly manifested the growth of cashmere firm numbers. When the industry enters into autumn, this kind of growth will be certainly restricted by the finiteness of the cashmere resources. The industry will be increasingly detailed classified into small sections which ask for higher production specialization degree. Therefore, Chinese cashmere firms must enhance the technology innovation capacity and improve the scientific and technological contents and added value for the cashmere products in order to gain competitive advantage in global competition. However, there are some barriers for Chinese cashmere industry enhancing the technology innovation. For small and medium cashmere firms, they have blockage in financing channels that cannot obtain adequate innovative resources. Additionally, the constructions of technology innovation infrastructure, investment policy and favourable legal environment are lagging behind. Only when a beneficial environment established, Chinese cashmere industry can develop technology innovation in order to produce high add-valued products. 3.2 Firm Strategy, Structure and Rivalry In terms of firm strategy, structure and rivalry, Porter identified that the competitive advantage is influencing by the different industrial characteristics which include strategies, structures, goals, managerial practices, individual attitudes and intensity of rivalry within the business sector (Grant 1991). From the point view of firm strategies, it includes competitive strategy, marketing strategy, branding strategy, etc. According to Philip Kotler, Each company must find the way that makes most sense, given its situation, opportunities, objectives and resources (Kotler 1999). At present, however, in the global market a great many cashmere products are produced in China whereas less Chinese cashmere brands could be found in the high-end market. Zhang Zhi, executive director of Erdos Cashmere Group, stated that lacking of brand building is the root cause of blocking up the development of Chinese cashmere industry (China International Cashmere Forum 2005). Most of the exporting cashmere products enter international market through OEM production, however the products in own brands are less than 10% of the total exports. Chinese cashmere industry has become the processing workshop for foreign companies. Lacking of brand build-up is the most conspicuous weakness of Chinese cashmere industry. Referring to brand building, Loro Piana provides a good example. Founded in 1924 in Italy, Loro Piana now is the largest and foremost cashmere manufacturer in the western world. On the basis of sourcing finest fibre from Northern China and Mongolia and understanding customers needs and lifestyles, Loro Piana produces cashmere goods in Italian companys own mills, creating and delivering value to consumers (Loro Piana 2010). According to Luxury Institute Survey, in European high net-worth consumers rank, Loro Piana was ranked as the best of the best luxury brands in the category of mens fashion, followed by Ermenegildo and Giorgio Armani (luxury institute 2010). One Chinese cashmere brand also performs well. 1436 Erdos, a brand belongs to Erdos Cashmere Group. Although the brand of Erdos is regarded as the most well known brand in China, it cannot arouse attention in the global high-end market. Therefore, establishing a global brand is the pursuit of Erdos Group. 1436 Erdos, taking its name from the features of its prestige cashmere fibre which is ranked as highest grade, develops finest cashmere products with top quality. On the basis of drawing up the brand strategyserving high-end markets and positioning itself as the worlds leading luxury brand in China, makes other responding firm strategies such as product and marketing strategies to improve its competitiveness in the international market. Erdos cashmere products were given to Mikado, Japanese Prime Minister and other ministers as official national gift when Chinas national leaders visit to Japan in 2008 when it was only one year since the brand established (1436 Erdos 2010). In addition, according to Porter (1990), the driving power enhancing firms to participate in international competition is of significant importance. The driving power could be raised from international demand, or local competitions or market thrust. The most relevant factor in creating and maintaining industrial competitive advantage is the powerful rivalry. In the international competition, successful industries must have got through severe domestic competition, and were forced to reform or to renovate. However, in China there are over 2000 cashmere products firms, among which most of them are incapable of developing new products or exploring new techniques. Most of the firms only can process inferior quality products on the base of imitating other brands style. The competitions among most of the cashmere firms mainly are the price competition. Thus, the current situation of Chinese cashmere industry poorly performsunreasonable redundant low-level production and disorderly competition. In contrast, taking Ballantyne cashmere as example, it presents that rivalry competition could stimulate competitiveness improvement. Ballantyne Cashmere was founded in 1921 in Scotland, now it is enjoyed by increasing consumers. At present, fashionable cashmere products developed by the fashion firms such as Ralph Lauren, Channel, Christian Dior and Givenchy are increasingly widely praised by consumers. Therefore, as the traditional cashmere manufacturer, Ballantyne has begun to consider the new comp etitors. From the performance of the competitors, Alfredo Canessa, the chairman of Ballantyne has noticed consumers changing demands thus he led Ballantyne to improve the product design by means of combining cashmere with other different textiles like silk fabric (Ballantyne 2010). Likewise, Erdos Group has begun transitions. Erdos cashmere products were complained for outdated design in the past. However, now it is making efforts to rebuild product identity. Gilles Dufour, as former art director of Channel for twenty years, has been invited as the new art director of Erdos Group to develop new cashmere product collections. Gilles Dufour introduced Erdos a semi-fashion trend which advocates the beauty of simple luxury, aiming to establish a leading luxury brand in China in order to improve the competitiveness. (Erdos 2010). Through the examples of Loro Piana, Ballantyne and Erdos Group, it could be found that the firm strategy and rivalry is significantly crucial to enhance competitiveness for both firms and industries. However, cashmere firms have to consider the following barriers when make strategies. First, there is no such a strategy that could be successfully adopted by every firm, and the suitable strategy is the best one. Second, most of the Chinese cashmere firms only pay attention to rivalry competition particularly price competition which could hinder the Chinese cashmere industry form the positive competition awareness. 4. CONCLUSION The goal of this paper is to find how to improve the competitiveness of cashmere industry in China. In order to the goal, this paper adopted Michael Porters National Diamond Model to describe the determinants which influence the competitiveness of Chinese cashmere industry. The Diamond theory identifies four direct factors with two indirect factors, namely the factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting strategies and firm strategy, structure and rivalry with chance and government. This paper mainly analyzed how Chinese cashmere industry performs from the aspects of factor conditions and firm strategy, structure and rivalry. Additionally, many cases of successful cashmere firms have been studied to learn the lessons from their business operations in order to provide a reference for Chinese cashmere industry. However there are some barriers should be paid attention by Chinese cashmere firms. Chinese cashmere industry should develop in a sustainable way to improve the competitiveness in global cashmere market.

Clear Channel and the Cultural and Socio-Political Ramifications of Med

Clear Channel and the Cultural and Socio-Political Ramifications of Media Consolidation I.INTRODUCTION In 1996, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act thereby lifting restrictions on media ownership that had been in place for over sixty years (Moyers 2003; Bagdikian 2000: xviii). It was now possible for a single media company to own not just two radio stations in any given local market, but eight. On the national level, there was no longer any limit on the number of stations a company could own – the Act abandoned the previous nation-wide ownership cap of forty stations (20 FM and 20 AM). This â€Å"anti-regulatory sentiment in government† has continued and in 2004 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a new rule that would allow corporations to own â€Å"45 percent of the media in a single market, up from [the] 35 percent† established by the 1996 Act (Croteau & Hoynes 2001: 30; AFL-CIO 2004). Companies can now also own both a newspaper and a television station in the same city (AFL-CIO 2004). This deregulation has led to a frenzied wave of mergers – most notably the Viacom/CBS merger in 1999, the largest in history (Croteau & Hoynes 2001: 21). Ownership of the media has rapidly consolidated into fewer and fewer hands as companies have moved to gobble up newspapers, television stations, and radio stations across the country. Perhaps no other company has benefited more from this deregulation than the company which is the focus of this essay – Clear Channel Communications, Inc (CC). The Telecommunications Act and the actions of the FCC paved the way for the rise of this radio industry behemoth. In 1995, the company owned 43 radio stations nationwide. By 2002, it owned 1,239, making it the largest radio company in th... ...in Dubious Times. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. McChesney, Robert W. and John Nichols. 2002. Our Media, Not Theirs: The Democratic Struggle Against Corporate Media. New York: Seven Stories Press. Moyers, Bill. 2003. â€Å"Transcript: Bill Moyers Interviews Larry Klayman.† NOW: With Bill Moyers, July 11. Retrieved November 4, 2004 (http://www.pbs.org/now/printable/transcript_clearc_print.html). Open Secrets. 2004. â€Å"TV/Radio Stations: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates and Parties.† Retrieved October 7, 2004 (http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.asp?Ind=C2100). Spivak, Laurie. 2004. â€Å"Culture War May find WMD.† Retrieved October 2, 2004 (http://www.alternet.org/story/18090). Turner, Ted. 2003. â€Å"Monopoly of Democracy?† The Washington Post, May 30. Retrieved October 28, 2004 (http://washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A56132-2003May29?language=printer). Clear Channel and the Cultural and Socio-Political Ramifications of Med Clear Channel and the Cultural and Socio-Political Ramifications of Media Consolidation I.INTRODUCTION In 1996, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act thereby lifting restrictions on media ownership that had been in place for over sixty years (Moyers 2003; Bagdikian 2000: xviii). It was now possible for a single media company to own not just two radio stations in any given local market, but eight. On the national level, there was no longer any limit on the number of stations a company could own – the Act abandoned the previous nation-wide ownership cap of forty stations (20 FM and 20 AM). This â€Å"anti-regulatory sentiment in government† has continued and in 2004 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a new rule that would allow corporations to own â€Å"45 percent of the media in a single market, up from [the] 35 percent† established by the 1996 Act (Croteau & Hoynes 2001: 30; AFL-CIO 2004). Companies can now also own both a newspaper and a television station in the same city (AFL-CIO 2004). This deregulation has led to a frenzied wave of mergers – most notably the Viacom/CBS merger in 1999, the largest in history (Croteau & Hoynes 2001: 21). Ownership of the media has rapidly consolidated into fewer and fewer hands as companies have moved to gobble up newspapers, television stations, and radio stations across the country. Perhaps no other company has benefited more from this deregulation than the company which is the focus of this essay – Clear Channel Communications, Inc (CC). The Telecommunications Act and the actions of the FCC paved the way for the rise of this radio industry behemoth. In 1995, the company owned 43 radio stations nationwide. By 2002, it owned 1,239, making it the largest radio company in th... ...in Dubious Times. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. McChesney, Robert W. and John Nichols. 2002. Our Media, Not Theirs: The Democratic Struggle Against Corporate Media. New York: Seven Stories Press. Moyers, Bill. 2003. â€Å"Transcript: Bill Moyers Interviews Larry Klayman.† NOW: With Bill Moyers, July 11. Retrieved November 4, 2004 (http://www.pbs.org/now/printable/transcript_clearc_print.html). Open Secrets. 2004. â€Å"TV/Radio Stations: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates and Parties.† Retrieved October 7, 2004 (http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.asp?Ind=C2100). Spivak, Laurie. 2004. â€Å"Culture War May find WMD.† Retrieved October 2, 2004 (http://www.alternet.org/story/18090). Turner, Ted. 2003. â€Å"Monopoly of Democracy?† The Washington Post, May 30. Retrieved October 28, 2004 (http://washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A56132-2003May29?language=printer).

The 3 Models of Criminal Justice

Compare the three models of the criminal justice process (the Wedding Cake, the Funnel and the Net Models) The criminal justice process is very complex process and varies from state to state. Three models of the criminal justice process as discussed and reviewed in chapter 9 of out textbook are the funnel, wedding and net. (Meyer, Grant 2003) In this essay I will compare these three models of the criminal justice process and give my opinion on which model I think best describes the criminal justice system as it is today.I will also give you a rationale for the choice that I choose. The first model I will discuss is the funnel model. This model looks at how decisions are made at each level in the criminal justice process and sort out those people and cases that it feels should not go through the entire process from those whom it feels should. This process is used as a means of limiting the number cases to a small percentage of cases that have to be resolved by trial advocacy and incar ceration. The process limits the amount of offenders in court and incarcerated at any given time.The benefit of this model is it prevents the criminal justice system from becoming backed up. The truth is the criminal Justice system is already backed up, and crimes are increasing on a daily basis. A common misconception of the funnel process is that it â€Å"lets criminals off,† however this is not true. Most cases are often dismissed or pleas are bargained due to lack of evidence. The truth is that there is not enough money, to prosecute every crime. It is up to the State (States attorney), or The Attorney general which crimes are worth prosecuting, and which one’s need to be thrown out, or plea bargained.The Next model that I will discuss is the wedding cake model; it is referred to as a wedding cake because with this model criminal justice officials decide how to deal with cases according to their informal discretionary definition of â€Å"seriousness. † This model was developed by Samuel Walker, a scholar who analyzed the judicial system. This model divides the criminal justice system up into four different categories: celebrated cases, serious felonies, lesser felonies and misdemeanors this model looks at the seriousness of the charge, the past criminal record of the offender, as well as the relationship of the victim to the offender. At the very top of the cake, the smallest layer represents famous (or rather, infamous) cases that attract a lot of publicity and, unfortunately, often contribute to public misinformation about the criminal justice. † (Meyer, Grant 2003) Lastly I will discuss the nets model. This model allows some offenders to exit the system and go free at certain stages during the criminal justice process; whereas some criminal struggle unsuccessfully to get free and often end up further entangle in the system.This model is designed to give the police desecration to use some criminals as informants to assist them in catching the ring leader. This model is also used as a plea bargaining tool whereas defendants with little information to trade with the prosecutor may get less attractive plea deals than their accomplices in crime that have more knowledge with which to bargain ((Meyer, Grant 2003). This model has become more familiar to me as I was growing up, in Chicago, IL. I knew several guys who would go out and commit crimes together, and brag about it.They would eventually get caught, and end up telling on each other to get lesser time. They also tell about other crimes, to save their skins. I guess it’s a great model to use to get the big guy, or big fish, but I do not agree to turn a blind eye to crime, whether it’s small or big. In my opinion the model I think best describes today’s criminal justice system is the wedding cake model. Much like this model in today’s criminal justice system is broken down into layers. With the first being celebrated cases or cas e that receive much media attention.Than in today’s system we look serious felonies these are cases where bail maybe revoked. The third layer of the cake in this model is lesser felonies’ often in these cases pleas are taken. The final layer is misdemeanor cases. This model gives us a basic understanding of cases is categorized today. Reference The Wedding Cake Model Theory of Criminal Justice; Copyright  © 1999-2011Demand Media, Inc. ; By. Mike Broemmel; retrieved fromwww. howe. com The Courts in Our CriminalJustice System, by Jon’a F. Meyer and Diana R. Grant.Published by Prentice-Hall. Copyright  © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc Reference the Wedding Cake Model Theory of Criminal Justice; Copyright  © 1999-2011Demand Media, Inc. ; By. Mike Broemmel; retrieved fromwww. howe. comThe Courts in Our Criminal Justice System, by Jon’a F. Meyer and Diana R. Grant. Published by Prentice-Hall. Copyright  © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc. The Courts in Ou r Criminal Justice System, by Jon’s F. Meyer and Diana R. Grant. Published by Prentice-Hall. Copyright  © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Net-Zero Energy Homes

Definition of a Net-zero Energy Home A Net-zero Energy Home (NZEH) is â€Å"capable of producing, at minimum, an annual output of renewable energy that is equal to the total amount of its annual consumed/ purchased energy from energy utilities† and emits zero net carbon (1). This concept is becoming increasingly popular as people are becoming more aware of the effects of buildings on the environment. However, to build a net-zero home, in-depth design considerations to minimize â€Å"the energy requirements for space heating, cooling and water heating† are required (2).This will result in the least amount of artificial ighting, heating, and air conditioning to be used to achieve human comfort level (2). Designing for Building Orientation The best building orientation for making efficient use of solar energy is south. Thus, running the buildings long axis from east to west and facing within 30 degrees of due south is strongly recommended (Figure 1). This allows the house to receive at least 90 percent of the optimal winter solar heat gain. The buildings south orientation should also be clear from obstacles to allow unblocked sunlight to enter the house (3).Use and Placement of Windows Windows let in sunlight but trap long-wave radiation, making the indoor temperature rise; however, in the absence of sunlight, windows let out considerable amount of heated air due to their high conductivity. To minimize this effect, selecting windows with special coatings are recommended. Window sizes have to be determined carefully because of these unique properties, to balance heat loss and heat gain: Net window area should be at least five percent of net floor area with each room or space having one or more windows.Glare can often become problematic especially through south-facing windows but this can be prevented by using low-emissivity oated windows. Sloped or horizontal windows such as skylights must be used with caution because they can become major areas of un controllable heat loss, overheating, and condensation (3). Controlling Airtightness Holes, cracks, floors, walls, ceilings, roofs, and outlets are all susceptible locations of air leakage. Air leakage equals energy leakage because as heated air leaks out of the building, the cooler air outside tends to get sucked into the building.Therefore, tight sealants around all Joints and openings are required. Proper Insulating Techniques An NZEH should also be well insulated around the building envelope to minimize eat transfer. This is achieved by using proper installation of insulation that meets the required R-value (Figure 2). This will not only minimize the energy loss but also reduce the need for supplementary heating (3). Providing Ventilation by Mechanical or Natural Systems Ventilation can either be mechanically or naturally provided.Before energy conservation became an issue to building occupants and the construction industry, buildings were not as airtight as they are today and na tural ventilation was sufficient. Building occupants could open and close windows for fresh air and continuous entilation was always present through the building's cracks and openings. In airtight buildings, natural ventilation is unreliable because buildings have fewer openings and cracks for natural air flow and the weather is often too cold or rainy for occupants to leave windows open for maintaining adequate relative humidity and fresh air circulation (4).One of the mechanical ventilation systems is the exhaust-only system, which exhausts air out of the building through an exhaust fan (Figure 3). This can be cost effective and functional provided that the building is airtight enough to run this system. If the building has cracks that act as an air path, the air that gets exhausted out can get sucked back into the building, essentially defeating the purpose of the system. Also, in humid climates, the exhaust-only system tends to cause condensation problems in wall cavities (4).Su pply-only ventilation provides fresh air through vents and is extremely effective in providing high indoor air quality when the system is designed and installed according to the building size and specifications. This system can also be combined with a heating system or a humidifying system to suit the occupants' needs. This system makes the indoor air pressure higher than the outdoor air pressure, which can work to the occupants' advantage if the building is located in hot and humid climates because the positive air pressure will resist the hot and humid pressure from getting sucked into the building.However, this is problematic in cold climates because hot and moist indoor air will push against the warm side of the wall cavities, which leads to condensation problems (5). An exhaust and supply balanced system is the most ideal system as it can serve all climates. Increasing the Efficiency of Furnace and Air Conditioner Systems Two of the major sources of energy consumption in todays households are the furnace in the winter and the air conditioner (A/C) in the summer. Increasing the quality and efficiency of the furnace and A/C will make some of the greatest returns in cost.Three main factors contribute to healthy and efficient furnace and A/C systems: Correct installation by qualified trades. Properly sealed supply and return duct system with approved tapes or mastics to minimize air loss. Continued maintenance throughout the lifetime of the furnace and A/C. Where space and cost conditions permit, consider ground-source heat pump echnology as opposed to ENERGY [email  protected] furnaces: â€Å"A ground-source heat pump uses the earth or ground water or both as the sources of heat in the winter, and as the â€Å"sink† for heat removed from the home in the summer.For this reason, ground- source heat pump systems have come to be known as earth-energy systems (EESs). Heat is removed from the earth through a liquid, such as ground water or an antifreeze solution, upgraded by the heat pump, and transferred to indoor air. During summer months, the process is reversed: heat is extracted from indoor air and transferred to the earth through the ground water or antifreeze solution. A direct-expansion (DX) earth-energy system uses refrigerant in the ground-heat exchanger instead of an antifreeze solution† (6). Figure : Schematic Diagram of a Ground-source Heat Pump Source: http://www. ge04va. vt. edu/A3/A3. tm Water Conservation Techniques through Efficient Water Distribution Systems After heating and cooling, water heating is typically the next largest energy user ot the home because it is necessary for so many domestic activities. Heating water is a large cost especially if a home has out-dated appliances. These next tips can substantially reduce energy consumption simply from water conservation based eating systems. Firstly, a tank less on-demand water heater is advantageous for residences already conserving water, for hot water users relatively close together, and for communities living where natural gas is readily available (Figure 5).Secondly, consider a solar hot water pre-heat system with a parallel piping system for the hot water outlets. Solar energy is the most economical and available energy source and should be utilized to its full potential. The key is to have a knowledgeable solar hot water instillation company perform the installation so proper instillation is achieved. Finally, another cost-effective method to conserve water usage is to install low-flow fixtures. Thousands of gallons of water are wasted everyday because of unnecessary use from high-flow fixtures. Figure : The Process of a tank less water heater Source: http://kerrygoldplumbing. om/tankless-gas-water-heaters Energy Efficient Lighting Fixtures and Lighting Energy efficient lighting fixtures, lighting, and energy efficient appliances meet a standard of reduced energy use rated by ENERGY STARL Such appliances consume significantly less energy and water than the standard products. Energy efficient ighting fixtures use about 25% the amount of energy of a regular incandescent light fixture (7). Such fixtures are specifically made to work with fluorescent or LED lights and therefore use less energy. Fluorescent light bulbs consist of a gas-filled tube and magnetic or electronic ballast (8).These bulbs last about 10 times longer (9 years at 3 hours/day) and run cooler than a standard incandescent light bulb (8). Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting consists of a semiconductor diode that converts applied voltage to light (9). LED lighting is available in many different colors and izes, has a lifetime of more than 22 years but still very expensive. Energy Efficient Appliances Energy efficient appliances are rated by ENERGY [email  protected] and use 10 to 50 percent less energy and water than standard models because these products use advanced technology in their systems (10).These appliances are readily available and can be found at all appliance retailers such as Future Shop, Best Buy and Sears. Photovoltaic (PV) systems Photovoltaic (PV) systems are comprised of solar cells which convert sunlight directly into electricity (11). These cells or semiconductor wafers, installed on the sun-facing ide of buildings, are protected from rain, hail and other inclement weather elements by a glass sheet (11). As photons from the sunlight knock electrons into an excited higher energy state, electricity is created and captured by the solar cells (11).These solar cells are connected in either series or parallel or both to form PV modules, and in applications the PV modules are arranged in arrays. PV systems produce D power and electricity fed into the electricity grid is converted by inverters to AC power. Current PVsystems in use have a 12 to 18 percent average efficiency in converting sunlight to electricity (11). Current developments have achieved an efficiency of 42 percent (11). Residential Applica tions for PV Systems In residential building, PVsystems are typically installed on roofs or on walls.Roof tiles with integrated PV cells can also be purchased. The use of the residential PV system allows the home to be connected to the electricity grid and surplus power deposited into the grid. To acquire a net-zero energy balance, the goal is to produce as much power from PV systems as you consume from the power grid, so that at the end of the year the homeowner pays absolutely nothing for power. The upfront cost f current PV systems is still relatively high typically costing installed (12).Working Towards a Canadian NZEH Building Standard Although there is currently no Canadian net-zero energy home building code, work is progressing to lead Canada towards such a building approach. Leading the way is the Net Zero Energy Home Coalition, formed in 2004, whose mandate is to promote existing and available energy efficient and renewable energy technologies to supply residential energy i n a sustainable manner in order to minimize the production of greenhouse gases and create healthier, greener communities (1).Comprised of ome builders and developers keen in applying renewable energy resources to residential building, the Coalition in partnership with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Natural Resources Canada, Industry Canada, and Environment Canada, aims to establish a new Canadian NZEH building standard by 2030. To showcase the viability of NZEHs, the CMHC, supported by the Net-zero Energy Home Coalition, is currently leading a demonstration building project called the Initiative.Fifteen teams across Canada were selected to build demonstration homes using the various techniques discussed in the previous ections. To date, six of the fifteen homes have been completed in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec (13). Initiative NZEH Examples – New and Old The Alstonvale Net Zero House is an example of new NZEH construction while the Now House Project dem onstrates how NZEH principles can be economically applied in home renovations. The Alstonvale Net Zero House The Alstonvale Net Zero House (shown on the cover) is a single-family detached house in Hudson, Qu ©bec currently under construction.It features an air-tight, well- insulated building envelope, extensive passive heating and cooling techniques hrough large south facing windows, sunscreens, and natural sources of shade (14). An air-to-water pump heating system connected to a PV system provides heated water for the in-floor radiant system and other domestic uses (Figure 9). Instead of standard landscaping, a large portion of the site will remain undisturbed and act as a natural habitat tor the local wildlite (14). The Now House Demonstration The Now House Project is a retrofit of a 60-year old home in Toronto, Ontario.The project goal was â€Å"to demonstrate how home owners and contractors can dramatically mprove the energy efficiency of existing homes with a few relatively simple modifications† (15). Energy requirements were reduced by upgrading the insulation, installing low-e, argon-filled windows and energy efficient ENERGY [email  protected] appliances, and replacing incandescent lighting with LED lighting (16). Increased energy efficiency and renewable energy production were accomplished through installation of solar hot water panels, a photovoltaic array, and a waste water heat recovery system (16).Figure : A Comparison of Energy Consumption between the Now House and Average Canadian Homes Source: http://www. mhc-schl. gc. ca/en/inpr/su/eqho/noho/ upload/Now-House_E-Oct30. pdf Figure 10 on page 8 compares energy consumption rates between the average Canadian home and the Now House w. Taking into account space heating, water heating, major appliances, interior lighting and space cooling, the Now House will consume only 38 percent as much energy as an average Canadian home (16). From this demonstration, the project shows that NZEH principl es are economically viable for renovating similarly older homes across the country. https://happyhealthyhome.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/hhh_report_final.pdfhttps://www.pinterest.com/aimej_r/maison-bioclimatique/http://www.whitebear.k12.mn.us/https://www.energystar.gov/ia/new_homes/features/Appliances_062906.pdfhttps://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/oee.nrcan.gc.ca/files/pdf/publications/infosource/pub/cipec/Managementguide_E.pdfhttps://www.energystar.gov/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamphttp://thefreedictionary.com/https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=appliances.pr_energy_guidehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaicshttp://www.energy.ca.gov/reports/2003-11-13_500-03-083F.PDFhttps://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/inpr/su/eqho/ecte/ecte_005.cfmhttps://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Mortgage_and_Housing_Corporationhttps://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/inpr/su/eqho/noho/