Long Term Care Insurance Essay

Given the increasing longevity of Americans and the costs of providing long-term care, anticipation of the costs should be a major element of every family’s financial planning. Current information suggests however, that very few families or individuals give this consideration. What factors might impede this advance planning? What measures might be effective in raising awareness among Americans about this important matter? Support your answer with at least one outside reference. People tend to be irrational in their decisions with regard to long-term medical care. The factors that impede rational decision-making among health care consumers have not changed over the last decade. The major problem is that consumers lack relevant information about the availability and effectiveness of health care services in long-term perspective (RWJF, 1998). Another problem is that rational decision-making about long-term care inhibits the sense of autonomy among consumers; in other words, â€Å"consumer unwillingness to plan for future long-term care needs undercuts their autonomy and precipitates a rush toward dependence and financial difficulties† (RWJF, 1998). Ultimately, consumers have a hidden hope that their relatives and not medical facilities will help them resolve their decision-making issues in future. Here, an information campaign could help develop consumer awareness about the benefits of advance planning, as well as the availability, and the quality of health care services. Very often, physicians themselves fail to assess long-term consumer needs; as a result, better training and full information about the types of long-term health care arrangement may help improve the situation. The number of those involved into advance planning programs will serve a reliable indicator for the program effectiveness in the long run. 2. More than three-fourths of the elderly needing assistance is cared for by family members, many of whom also work outside the home. What implications does this have for employers? What types of employer policies might be appropriate regarding those engaged in providing long-term care for a family member? Support your answer with at least one outside reference. Statistical research suggests that â€Å"over three quarters – 78 percent – of adults receiving long-term care at home rely exclusively on assistance from family members, friends, and volunteers, referred to as informal care† (Thompson, 2004). Despite the benefits which caregiving offers to a disabled person, it has far-reaching negative implications for the mental, physical, and social state of the caregiver. Beyond the mere fact that caregivers are more vulnerable to mental and physical health complications, they face serious employment challenges. â€Å"Some caregivers reduce their hours and others withdraw completely from the labor force† (Thompson, 2004). Employers find it difficult to work with employees, who are depressed or are ill as a result of excessive caregiving. Here, Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) may save employers and employees from financial and physical losses. LTCI is usually a small expenditure for a firm (all LTCI premiums are tax deductible). Simultaneously, â€Å"it assures quality when needed, and equally important, helps the employee protect assets for retirement† (Florek, 2005). Taking into account that workplace accommodations made by caregivers usually cost up to $30 billion annually in lost productivity (Florek, 2005), LTCI may become an excellent solution, providing employers and employees with a chance for a better quality of care without substantial losses for business. 3. Concerns regarding the potential costs of caring for those with mental illness have caused the majority of insurers and HMOs to rely on â€Å"carve-outs† written into their policies. In your own words, describe what the term â€Å"carve-out† means in regards to the behavioral health industry. What are the advantages and disadvantages to this practice? Support your answer with at least one outside reference. â€Å"Carve-out† is a relatively new alternative model of health care provision in behavioral health industry. In simple terms, a â€Å"carve-out† is a system of administrative measures used by health care facilities to shift their responsibility for consumers’ mental health onto a different network of mental health providers. In carve-outs, â€Å"a specialty organization or vendor assumes the responsibility for identifying a network of mental health providers, establishing a mechanism for accessing those providers† (Entrepreneur, 1998). The impact of carve-outs on the quality of health care is rather controversial. Not all states were able to perceive the benefits of significant cost reduction that usually follows the development and implementation of carve-out initiatives at the state level (Brisson et al, 1997). Although Massachusetts was the one to experience dramatic decrease in medical expenditures, that was not the case for Tennessee (Brisson et al, 1997). Moreover, Merrick, Garnick & Horgan (2001) suggest that carve out benefits do not protect enrollees from the â€Å"risk of catastrophic expenditures†. In terms of quality care, the results of scarce research suggest that the implementation of carve-out mechanisms is not associated with a better (or worse) quality of care (Busch, Frank & Lehman, 2004). As a result, the advantages of carve-out programs do not seem to go beyond the dry financial statistics in regards to the reduction of expenditures in mental health industry. References Brisson, A. E. , Frank, R. G. , Notman, E. S. & Gazmararian, J. A. (1997). Impact of a managed behavioral health care carve-out: A case study of one HMO. National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved January 26, 2009 from http://www. nber. org/papers/w6242. pdf Busch, A. B. , Frank, R. G. & Lehman, A. F. (2004). The effect of a managed behavioral health carve-out on quality of care for Medicaid patients diagnosed as having schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 61: 442-448. Entrepreneur. (1998). Managing behavioral health. Entrepreneur. com. Retrieved January 26, 2009 from https://www. entrepreneur. com/tradejournals/article/54586928_1. html Florek, P. (2005). Long-term care insurance: protecting the employer, employee, and family. RedOrbit. Retrieved January 26, 2009 from http://www. redorbit. com/news/technology/267111/longterm_care_insurance_protecting_the_employer_employee_and_family/index. html Merrick, E. L. , Garnick, D. W. & Horgan, C. (2001). Benefits in behavioral health carve-out plans for Fortune 500 firms. Psychiatr Serv, 52: 943-948. RWJF. (1998). Advance planning helps consumers make better decisions about long-term care. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Retrieved January 26, 2009 from http://www. rwjf. org/reports/grr/022308s. htm Thompson, L. (2004). Long-term care: support for family caregivers. Georgetown University. Retrieved January 26, 2009 from http://ltc. georgetown. edu/pdfs/caregivers. pdf

Disorders in Adrenal Cortex Hormone Secretion

Addison’s disease or ‘adrenal insufficiency’ is a condition in which the adrenal glands do not produce sufficient amounts of the hormone cortisol (Mayo 2006). This hormone helps to control the blood pressure, cardiovascular activity, immune responses, insulin function, metabolism, etc in the body (NIDDK 2004). In some cases, a hormone that controls the blood pressure and the fluid balance in the body (aldosterone) is also affected (NIDDK 2004). The adrenal glands are present above the kidneys and produce several other hormones required for normal functioning of the body (Mayo 2006).Addison’s disease can occur in both sexes equally and in all age groups, but is more common in the middle-age group (Mayo 2006). The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus (structures present in the skull) control the activity of the adrenal gland by ensuring proper production and release of the cortisol hormone. The hypothalamus produces a hormone CRH (corticotropin-releasing horm one), that stimulates the pituitary to produce the ACTH hormones that further stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol (NIDDK 2004).Addison’s disease may develop due to deficient production of cortisol by the adrenal gland (primary insufficiency) or due to decreased stimulation from the pituitary gland (secondary insufficiency) (NIDDK 2004). Primary adrenal insufficiency may develop due to an immune dysfunction. Most of the cases of develop due to the body’s defense mechanism attacking the tissues of the adrenal cortex and resulting in deficient production of the hormone (NIDDK 2004). Primary adrenal insufficiency may also develop in association with ‘Polyendocrine Deficiency Syndrome’, in which several hormonal levels are deficient due to a genetic disorder (NIDDK 2004).Several other causes including tuberculosis, infections, hemorrhage, tumors, spread of tumors, surgery, etc, of the adrenal glands could result in primary insufficiency (Mayo 2006 ). Secondary adrenal insufficiency can develop due to reduced production of ACTH by the pituitary glands or CRH by the hypothalamus (Mayo 2006). The ACTH production stimulates the adrenal glands to produce cortisol, and the CRH hormone encourages the pituitary to release ACTH (NIDDK 2004). The level of ACTH is controlled by a negative feedback mechanism.Tumors that affect the pituitary, surgical removal of the gland, radiotherapy to the head and neck region, reduced supply of blood to the pituitary, etc, could also result in secondary adrenal insufficiency (NIDDK 2004). Pheochromocytoma is a tumor that arises from adrenal glands that result in excessive production of the hormones epinephrine and nor-epinephrine (Mayo 2006). These hormones control the blood pressure, the rate at which the heart beats and several other activities in the body (Nanda 2006).They are required especially in stressful conditions such as fright, flight and fight, emotional stress, etc (Mayo 2006). The tumor develops from the inner portion of the adrenal gland known as ‘adrenal medulla’ (Nanda 2006). Most of the Pheochromocytoma are benign or self-limiting in nature (about 90 %), and only a small proportion is cancerous (10 %) (Nanda 2006). The tumor can occur in both sexes and in all age-groups, but is more common in the middle-age group. The exact cause Pheochromocytoma is still not understood. The tumor usually develops from the chromaffin cells present in the adrenal medulla (Mayo 2006).The tumor generally arises from one of the adrenal glands, and in rare cases it develops from both (about 10 %) (NCI 2005). Pheochromocytoma can also develop from extra-adrenal sites in about 10 to 15 % of all cases (NCI 2005), as the chromaffin cells are present in various tissues of the body (Mayo 2006). Multiple endocrine neoplasia, type II (MEN-II) is a condition in which tumors develop from various endocrine glands present in the body such as the thyroid, the parathyroid, adrenal gl ands, etc, resulting in hormonal imbalances (Mayo 2006).Such patients usually develop bilateral tumors in the adrenal glands (NCI 2005). Pheochromocytoma can exist in Van-Hippel-Lindau Disease that tends to affect several organs in the body. It can also be associated with neurofibromatosis in which tumors develop in various parts including the skin, optic nerve and the bones (Mayo 2006). The other conditions in which Pheochromocytoma can exist include tuberous sclerosis, cerebellar hemangioblastoma, Sturge-Weber’s syndrome, etc (NCI 2005).

Car Safety and Newtons Law of Motion Essays - Airbag, Bags

Car Safety and Newtons Law of MotionAirbags What is an Airbags? Airbag is a vehicle safety device feature designed to protect passenger during a car accident to help prevent the people inside the car from hitting a hard surface. style.visibilityppt_xppt_ystyle.visibilitystyle.visibilityppt_y Airbags It designed in a thin nylon bag that stored in a steel wheel. It will inflates in frontal impact in which the car strikes about 16 km/h. style.visibilitystyle.visibility History of the Airbags Airbags first came about in the 1950s and it took more than 30 years to introduced in the public. It was conceived by John Hendrik. style.visibilitystyle.visibilitystyle.rotationppt_xppt_yppt_xppt_ystyle.visibilitystyle.rotationppt_xppt_yppt_xppt_y Newtons Law and Airbags Designed follow by Newtons First Law Object at rest stay at rest, object in motion stay in motion, unless acts upon by an outside force. Newtons First Law of motion affects us when we are in a moving vertical because a person travelling in a car, even though we are still in a car, we are nevertheless travelling at the same speed as the car. If the car stop suddenly, the person tends to keep moving with the same direction and speed as before the collision.style.visibilitystyle.rotationppt_hppt_wstyle.visibilityppt_xppt_yppt_xppt_ystyle.visibilityppt_wppt_h How does airbags work? During a collisions, the airbags protect the driver from serious injury caused when you hit the steering wheels. It also slow you down more gradually. style.visibilitystyle.visibilityppt_xppt_ystyle.visibilityppt_xppt_y The Important of airbags It is important to have airbags in case of an emergency because Newtons Law of Motion say that an object in motion would stay in motion unless hit by an unbalanced force. In this case, the object in motion is the person and the unbalanced force is the airbags. If in the car accident, there is no seat belt and airbags to protect you, it is a very high chance that can make you get danger.style.visibilityppt_wppt_hstyle.visibilityppt_xppt_yppt_yppt_yppt_y Thank You!! Bibliography http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/safety-regulatory-devices/airbag.htm http://www.slideshare.net/shonimaprakash/shonimasafety-airbags-in-cars-18221605 http://www.takata.com/en/around/airbag01.html http://www.explainthatstuff.com/airbags.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7TcBESSGsA http://www.privatefleet.com.au/glossary/what-is-airbags/

Sucess and Misery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sucess and Misery - Essay Example These challenges include becoming a success or failure in terms of academic achievements or the ability of a child to become strongly involved in sports activities. (pp. 16 – 17) When a child becomes unsuccessful in either school or sports activities, they tend to develop a self-inferiority complex as they grow old even if they have very supportive parents (p. 16). There are also cases wherein some children may not experience financial problems because their parents are able to financially support his/her material needs. However, not all of these children are able to enjoy a good family life since their parents need to spend more time on career rather than spending time on them. On the contrary, some children can experience having supportive parents but failed to enjoy the benefit of having excessive monetary wealth. The childhood experience of each person has something to do with their ability to balance having a good career and a family life. Normally, children who had experienced having a good childhood and family life are the ones with a greater chance of being able to maintain a successful family life when they get married. Some people are unsuccessful when it comes to balancing a successful career and a good family life. As a result of staying focus on career growth, some people could be experiencing enormous success with his or her professional life but remains empty in terms of being able to maintain a good relationship with a special someone or build a long-term happy family (p. 3). It is not a very bad thing to become successful in business or having a stable profession. However, the consequences of spending too much time on career development is so great that we tend to lose our relationship and attachment with our love ones. As an end result, a married man can have uncontrollable family and relationship problems which may have started from the absence of regular communication and quality time with the wife and children. Eventually, a successful

The changing market environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The changing market environment - Essay Example The markets have transformed to international from local. With the increase in the exposure to masses and increased geographical market coverage, the need of quick and up to date information has also increased. With the changing business environment the buyers are also changing. With the increasing incomes the buyers have become more selective. For a company to launch its product in a new market it has become important to have the information from the buyer needs to buyer wants. On the other hand it is also important to have the knowledge of how to present the product in effective manner in order to reach the customer in an effective manner. With the changing business needs the new marketing techniques such as product differentiation, branding and advertising are also gaining immense importance. This paper is aimed at finding out the appropriate marketing communication strategy for Jalsberg cheese which is a famous branded cheese in American Market and ready to be marketed in new Eur opean market. Norseland Inc. was founded in 1978. The purpose of the company was to market and distribute Jarlsberg and other Norwegian cheese in United States. The Company is a 100% owned subsidiary of TINE Norwegian Diaries, which has the main responsibility for the production and marketing of Jarlsberg cheese. Introduction of Product: Jalsberg cheese has some snob appeal. Customers want to show they have 'good taste'. Without complaining they accept the higher price of Jalsberg compared to other competitive products. The mild and creamy taste appeals to Americans, and many think that the taste of the traditional Swiss cheese, Emmenthaie is too sharp Present market: Jalsberg cheese has a major supply share in the US cheese market. The characteristics of typical Jalsberg buyer are: Female Earning more than US$ 80,000 per year. Over 40 years Now the company is aiming to introduce its Cheese brand Jalsberg in the newly extended European market. In order to undertake successful brand positioning Norseland has to design a marketing communication strategy, which should be crafted according to the European market conditions and consumer behaviour. The successful product positioning and promotion is only possible if all the required information in this lieu is gathered and used in the right direction. In order to fulfil modern information needs, new information technologies have also been evolved. The information regarding the buyer preferences and behaviour plays an important part in helping the management to take important decisions regarding the product such as

Sources of Tort law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sources of Tort law - Essay Example Judicial acknowledgment of spontaneous standards brings about a declaratory (more willingly than constitutive) function that cares for custom as a legal reality. The legal system finds the law by being acquainted with social standards, but does not "create" the law (Fisheries, 1951, International Court of Justice, Kontou, 1994). The most distinguished demonstration is the organization of tort law, where, devoid of a central legislative power, custom positions adjacent to treaties as a principal source of law. (Statute of the International Court of Justice, Article 38 section 1). At any time they are provided with legitimate position in a legal system, customary rules are frequently provided with the similar impact as other key sources of law. Even though frequently secondary to formal legislation, customary rules obtain their power from the agreement of a standardized practice and an individual conviction that obedience to them is mandatory (opinio iuris), devoid of essentially being officially integrated into any written body of law (Malanczuk, 1997, NorthSea Continental Shelf, Roht-Arriaza, 1995, Sands, 2003, Scott, 2000). Consequently, they are more often than not characterized as irrelevant sources of law (Brownlie, 1990, The Corfu Channel, 1949, Trendtex Trading Corporation, 1977, Vierdag, 1982, Weber, 1978, Baxter, 1970, Brownnlie, 1987, De Vattel, 1960, Goldsmith and Posner, 1999). This conception entails that the custom continues to be the definite source of law notwithstanding following its judicial recognition. In this context, the judicial assess ments that are on familiar terms with a custom present merely persuasive evidence of its subsistence and do not themselves turn out to be foundations of law. Sequentially, this puts off the doctrine of stare decisis from shaping up customary law. Contemporary legal systems commonly distinguish customary rules that have materialized either within the boundaries of positive legislation (consuetudo secundum legem) or in fields that are not regimented by positive law (consuetudo praeter legem). Where custom is in open disagreement with legislation (custom contra legem) the latter more often than not wins through. In some cases in point, nonetheless, a custom supplants previous legislation (abrogative custom), and a number of arguments have been completed in favor of the up-and-coming practices that run counter to outdated stipulations of public tort law (desuetudo) (Kontou, 1994, International Law Commission, 1962. Internatinal Law Commission, 1966, Mendelson, 1998, Tunkin, 1974). The perception of opinio iuris initiates a difference involving mere behavioural regularities and internalized responsibilities. This difference may possibly be associated to the parties' responsiveness of the anticipated collective payoffs from the game, a difference that is significantly vital in the normative context (Weber, 1978). A couple of groupings of social rules are commonly recognized. These include those that reveal simple behavioural arrangements that are not indispensable to the legal order. Another is those that reveal an internalized conviction that the implementation is essential or publicly sought-after. A simple behavioural regularity, missing the qualitative component of opinio iuris, does not produce a customary rule. In legal terminology, such behaviour is a sheer usage; in economic contexts it merely stands for an

Learning Journey Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Learning Journey Report - Essay Example Based on everyday encounter with people at home, at work, and elsewhere, this is true indeed and each time I engage myself to communicate with others, I feel a sense of relief at having experienced one basic nature of human being. As a learning individual, I have observed that communication enhances my capacity toward self-awareness such that I can determine my personal judgment and feeling over something out of the natural response to stimuli from people who assume different life roles in relation to me. I learn that becoming educated is a natural process of growth to maturity that depends on the learner’s enthusiasm and willingness to be subjected to the varying complexities of obtaining and sharing knowledge with fellow learners. Though I notice that it has been a typical concern to identify factors that affect student learning and often, the skills and knowledge of an academic instructor are readily assumed to take the key function of evaluating how teaching methods impact learning, communication still plays the crucial part. More than merely satisfying the fundamental necessity of gaining information, communication has made me acknowledge the value in understanding and being understood by my educator. As part of the team, I have found that my self-concept is constantly evolving in my attempt to conform to the organization and behave according to the culture and general attitude of the team in achieving the desired ends. Defining self proceeds as I seek fulfillment in effective communication which requires not only active participation in the activities but even understanding the strengths and weaknesses alike in people and circumstances within a social sphere from which driving force to come about a change or evolution may be derived. In this course, there have been several times I manage to observe that my own behavior is modified depending on the manner by which I perceive an arriving stimulus and respond to it correspondingly. I used to suppose t hat ‘being real to oneself’ simply meant going by the nature I am without needing to pay regard to the impact of the people in the group or society around me, thinking that the concept of self is understood just once in a lifetime. Along with this misconception is the belief that former foundations bear the sole responsibility of substantiating the self, yet by objective and subjective learning, formation of self-identity is apparently ceaseless and may not be confined only to a few aspects of growth. Until I had come to the point of ascertaining that ‘sense of self’ is yielded through evolutionary stages, it usually felt complicated to handle self-awareness and what the exact meaning is of a true self in the past. To this extent, I have thus realized by far that human interactions or communication schemes portray a huge role in creating a person’s identity which continues to evolve with time and socio-cultural influences. When I came across serious commitment and risks as a member of the team, I recall the time I struggled getting over a hard feeling toward the fact that while there were open-minded individuals, others bore tendencies at unnecessary argumentation, then I unconsciously allowed myself to seek alternatives to divert my unpleasant emotions for comfort. Out of having to cope with the difficulty of erasing deep-rooted sentiments that had gone through an intense motion,

Human Resource Law - Scenario Two Research Paper

Human Resource Law - Scenario Two - Research Paper Example Secondly, the dismissal process should be implemented as soon as possible, as delaying the process may lead to the development of resentment among the employees, which is not good for the business. It should also be noted that firing 3 out of 8 employees will be discharging 37.5 percent of the workforce. Based on the provisions of the US department of labor, discharging more than 33 percent of the employees should come after a 60 days’ on-paper notice to the affected employees. Therefore, this implies that the firm must meet this condition – so as to avoid legal action. From serving them with the notice, the firm will avoid suits for unemployment benefits (American Bar Association, 2006). The evaluation of the employees to be discharged should also involve a review of the personnel memoranda and the policy manual, to ensure that any vague assurances or promises are eliminated. In the area of defining specific cause for discharge, disclaimers should be placed to reaffirm that even if the expected standards are not met, continued employment will be ‘at will’ and termination can be done without cause (American Bar Association, 2006). ... The employees to be discharged The first one is Diane. Her cause for discharge will be her minor attendance problems – which she attributes to the sickness of children or other personal matters. However, it is expected that she may file a lawsuit seeking to get unemployment benefits and compensation after dismissal. Following the suit, the firm should present all information on prior warnings, applicable statements and witness statements. Through presenting this information, it will be proved that she violated the policies on lateness and that according to the employment agreement, she signed against the offense – especially in the case of repeat offenses (Barmby, Orme, & Treble, 1991). However, it should be noted that the grounds for firing her are not gross enough to warrant her refusal to unemployment benefits. What she would need to prove, so as to win the case of discrimination, would include that she served the company for more than five years, and that no other o ffense could be traced from her record. From proving that her actions did not amount to gross misconduct, which injures the interests of the company substantially, she can win the case. The company can increase its chances of winning the case, by offering her a 60-day notice before firing her; or offer her warnings, which if she defies, they can now prove that she violated the warnings (American Bar Association, 2006). The second employee to be fired is Greg. The grounds for firing him include that his absence at work on Saturdays and Sundays has caused a burden to the firm and other employees, which constitutes minimal burden over the business of the employer. Following his absence on weekends, the firm has had to make reasonable changes to the work environment, especially

Motivation and Reward Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Motivation and Reward - Case Study Example One of the major problems facing enterprises is how to get optimum results from the massive investments in these enterprises and the foremost problem among these is the problem of motivating human resources, problems of under-Utilization of abilities, frustration, instigated behavior, unfavorable job attitudes and low morale appear to prevail as much among managers and supervisors as among workers. Motivation has been defined as the force that gives rise to a behavior. There are various factors that influence the behavior and among them the needs of the individual are most important (Douglas, 1997. p.52). The main object of HRD philosophy is respect for the dignity of the worker as a human being and motivates his enormous potential for contribution and growth. HRD efforts have therefore to gain the confidence of the worker that he is seen as a member who is important to the organization. Proper communication plays a pivotal role to achieve results in this priority area. (Bhatia, 1999, p.52) Normally, a worker feels a sense of belonging when the organization shares with him various company information. Shop communication forums at the work place enable information sharing with the grass-roots levels of the workforce. The forum' holds communication sessions in the shop on various aspects of the plant with information focus on production targets and performance of the shop, cost control, energy conservation and techno-economic factors, safety, housekeeping and various other thrust areas. Since the employees themselves communicate the information to their co-workers, a unified team throbbing with commitment and zeal to deliver results trades shape at the work place. (Bhatia, 1999, p.54) Constraints are, however, faced in the vastness of the workforce. Due to vastness of the workforce, there may be some constraints, while implementing the programme. However, there is wide scope for increasing the ambit of the communication efforts and information sharing has to become an inbuilt managerial function in the shop floor. (b) Workers Luncheon Sessions and the Performance Improvement Plan Normally, in these sessions, the workers are invited to a discussion with the senior line managers of the shop on the targets and performance shot-falls/ assignments and encouraged to suggest improvements and highlight attention areas. (Bhatia, 1999, p.55) These discussions explore the latent potential of the silent workers in the shop and provide a forum for their self-expression and contribution to the process of collective decision-making. 2. Employee Facilities HRD

Extended Essay in German.Generationenkonflikt in der Literatur

Extended in German.Generationenkonflikt in der Literatur - Essay Example Als Beispiel sei hier nur kurz der Konflikt Kà ¶nig Davids und seines Thronfolgers Absalom erwà ¤hnt, der in dem Verrat Absaloms und dessen Tod gipfelt. Die Sympathien liegen bei dem Vater, der den Tod seines Sohnes zwar tief betrauert aber den Kampf gegen den Sohn als unvermeidlich und gerechtfertigt ansah. Dies ist nur ein Beispiel in dem die Nachfolge des Sohnes von seinem Vater verwehrt wird – es stellt eine Extremsituation dar, die dem natà ¼rlichen Prinzip der Erbfolge und des Generationenwechsels zu widersprechen scheint, und den Sieg des alternden Tyrannen gegenà ¼ber der jà ¼ngeren Generation schildert. Fà ¼r ein moderneres Beispiel denke man an den Konflikt zwischen dem tyrannischen Kà ¶nig Friedrich Wilhelm I. von Preußen und seinem à ¤ltesten Sohn Friedrich, spà ¤ter "der Große" genannt. Der streng-verstà ¤ndislose Vater trieb den jungen Friedrich dazu, im Jahre 1730 einen Fluchtversuch mit Hilfe seines Adjutanten, Leutnant von Katte, zu unternehmen. Dies kam nach damaliger Ansicht einem Verrat gleich, und der junge Kronprinz wurde von seinem Vater gezwungen der Hinrichtung von Kattes zuzusehen. Er selbt entkam nur knapp dem gleichen Schicksal. Eine andere Konfliktsituation ergibt sich, wenn der Vater die Nachfolge seines Sohnes aktiv fà ¶rdern will, aber den Sohn nach seinem eigenen Charakter zu formen gedenkt, und die Neigungen und Vorstellungen der Lebensgestaltung seines Sohnes entweder aktiv unterdrà ¼ckt oder auch nur nicht zu erkennen vermag. Der Vater wird hier oft als mitten im Leben stehend geschildert, er ist zweifellos eine Respekt und Furcht einflà ¶ssende Figur gegen die der sich als unterlegen und schwach empfindende Sohn nicht anzugehen vermag. Diese Entwicklung in der Literatur begann im spà ¤ten 18. Jahrhundert – eine typische Konstellation ist der empfindsame, kà ¼nstlerisch begabte und sensible Sohn der sich einer nà ¼chternen und strengen Vaterfigur nicht gewachsen

Subsidizing Distribution of Free

Subsidizing Distribution of Free Anti-Virus Software Essay In today’s technologically dependent society, organizations can run a high risk of infection from computer viruses. Due to this, it is necessary, as the CIO of the organization, to explore the need for distribution of free anti-virus software to home users on the network. As such, many organizations are faced with technical problems resulting from network security. An analysis of these security problems, to include an exploration of the role of the various IT users within the corporation, will reveal the need for distribution of free anti-virus software. According to Vamosi (2004), â€Å"millions of PCs worldwide still do not have basic antivirus protection, and thus are susceptible to infection†. For Vamosi, the problem for many corporations lies within the fact that the computers within the corporation lack protection from virus attack and, as a result, would benefit from the instillation of free antivirus software. There are many potential issues that can affect the network security of an organization. Specifically, there is a dire need for organizations to implement security plans and to install antivirus software on their network computers. As Vamosi describes, the problems associated with computer viruses could simply be solved if security organizations offered the programs free of charge. â€Å"Let the antivirus companies corporate clients pay for the software and the annual signature-file subscriptions, and let the home users download both for free† (Vamosi, 2004). As such, it is essential to give further discussion into the role of the various users in the IT process, to include the roles of top management/non-IT management, IT professionals, and end-users in maintaining network security in order to determine the overall effectiveness of providing the home users with free anti-virus software. The core to the IT team includes the IT Management staff. The IT management staff, traditionally, will pair with non-IT management to make executive decisions. More specifically, the Chief Information Officer is the IT manager responsible for â€Å"the day to day operations of an IT Department and the work of any contracted IT employees† (Watkins, 2008). It is important to mention that it will be this group of corporate employees that looks closely at the corporate budget in order to determine if the distribution of free anti-virus software to home users is a fiscally sound decision. Supporting the IT management team are the IT professionals. These individuals â€Å"are trained to handle a wide variety of development, support, and administrative tasks related to keeping information systems operating efficiently and being used effectively† (Watkins, 2008). The IT staff members will handle the day to day issues associated with installing the antivirus software as well as troubleshooting issues that arise with the network itself. Providing the free anti-virus software will certainly provide assurance for this employee group that the network is safe and secure for home use. The end-users in the corporation must also be considered in determining whether or not it is effective to install and distribute free anti-virus software on home use computers. In general, the end-users are those individuals who will work on computers within their home. As Watkins (2008) describes, â€Å"End-users typically have four types of issues, hardware-specific problems, operating-system specific problems, application-specific problems, and network/Internet specific problems. † In discussing the role of end users in this scenario, it is important to mention that end users also have different levels of skills. End-users â€Å"often lack is training in specific applications and in advanced Internet searching. They may also may be unaware of good security practices and often need help solving unexpected hardware and software problems† (Watkins, 2008). The core problem with security, as has been observed by many professionals in the IT field, was, at one time, that of viruses. That is, the viruses would load computers with adware and bring the PC to a halt. And, as InfoWorld describes, many of the problems and issues resulting from viruses and other technical problems are the result of issues arising from within the organization itself. â€Å"The threat posed by their own employees isn’t lost on security pros, 56 percent of whom rated workers who fail to follow security policy as a significant security challenge† (2006). Based on the above, it is then necessary to take into consideration the variety in perspective in regards to computer virus attack held by users in the IT system. According to Gaudin, â€Å"slightly more than 50 percent of end users surveyed say spam is not a problem in their workplace. However, 79. 1 percent of IT managers say it is a problem in the workplace. † At the same time, â€Å"when end users were asked if they think spam is under control at their company, 8. 4 percent say its out of control; 23. 3 percent say its barely under control, and 68 percent say it is under control. â€Å" This statistic can be compared to the results of IT administrators asked the same question. According to the survey results, â€Å"10 percent say its out of control; 33 percent say its barely out of control, and 56 percent say they have it under control† (2004). It is necessary to determine, then, the specific role that corporate home users play in the receipt of free antivirus software. In order to best secure the organization and protect the home users from potential attacks, it is necessary to develop a strategic plan of action that will protect home users accessing the corporate network. A plan of action, to include the distribution of free anti-virus software is essential, â€Å"as predatory as today’s criminally minded hackers are, IT professionals face plenty of threats from within their own enterprises — none more glaring than their own lack of a comprehensive plan for security† (InfoWorld, 2006). As the literature reveals, it is highly recommended that the corporation provide home users with free antivirus software. Doing this will enable the organization to more effectively secure the network while protecting corporate security from virus and other outside attack. References Gaudin, S. (2004). IT and End Users Differ on Spam Severity, Retrieved May 7, 2009 from: http://www. enterpriseitplanet. com/security/news/article. php/3370591 InfoWorld (2006). IT’s Confidence Crisis. Retrieved August 18, 2007 from http://www. infoworld. com/article/06/10/30/44FEsecsurvey_1. html Vamosi, R. (2004). Antivirus software must be free. Heres why, Retrieved August 18, 2007 from: http://reviews-zdnet. com. com/4520-7297-5123825. html Watkins, P. (2008). Module 03 Background Information. Retrieved May 15, 2009 from E:\modules\module03\background. htm.

The Analysis of Unknown Citizen Essay Example for Free

The Analysis of Unknown Citizen Essay The Unknown Citizen seems to describe story about the Unknown Soldier, a term used to recognize people whose bodies are found after a battle but cannot be identified. This poem begins by the word â€Å"He was found by the Bureau of Statistics† It is describing a person referred to as, simply, He. We take this to be The Unknown Citizen, which makes sense because his name isn’t known, the ordinary average citizen in the modern industrialized urban society who has no individuality and identity. The concept of this poem suggests that the lives of many normal people are so conventional and uneventful that they might as well be unknown or anonymous. There is a message that the writer wants to be told to the readers, it is â€Å" you don’t want to end up like the Unknown Citizen†. In the final of the poem, the writer asks two questions, they are â€Å"Was he free? Was he happy?†. By asking these questions, the poet is drawing our attention to the question of freedom and happiness. It’s interesting that these two questions are referred to in the singular, as the question, as if being free and being happy were the same thing. The Unknown Citizen uses the old-fashion style, eventhough it is written in modern era. The writer, Auden, is known as a master of of the rhyming couplet (AA, BB), the simplest rhyme scheme in English. Auden is considered a modernist writer, but his work is unlike that of any other poet of the past century. The Unknown Citizen deserves a central place in our nation’s capital, considering all his huge accomplishments like having five kids. It will be right down the street from the Bureau of Statistics, a huge, drab marble building.

Poverty effects on childs self esteem

Poverty effects on childs self esteem POVERTY EFFECTS ON A CHILDS SELF ESTEEM by First Name, MI, Last Name A Paper Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements of HS5006 Survey of Research Methodology [Name] [Month, Year] Address: City, State, Zip: Phone: E-mail: Instructor: Mentor: Abstract A childs self esteem is very important in determining the future of the child. A child must grow with a positive self esteem. Self esteem is affected by poverty. Poverty affects the socio-economic welfare of the family which in turn affects the child. This usually happens when the parents of the poor child are not able to afford what other children are getting form their parents including better education, medical cover, social facilities among others. The poor child who suffers from low self-esteem is not able to compete with the rest because he is psychologically affected. The effects of low self esteem could go on even up to adulthood. This article examines the impacts of poverty on a childs self esteem. Table of contents Introduction Background Problem statement Significance of the study Literature review a) Theoretical literature review b) Empirical literature review Methodology Discussion and findings Recommendations Conclusion 1.0 Introduction Self esteem is the key driving factor in a childs achievement in life. For a child to succeed he must have a positive sense of self esteem. A child with low self esteem is always out competed by the rest of the children with positive self esteem.   Self esteem can make one either to do well or poorly in every day activities. On the other hand, poverty is the lack of finances to meet the daily financial commitments. A poor person, according to the United Nations is a person who lives below a $1 per day. Poverty affects a persons ability to cater and provide the daily basic needs. Children borne out of poor families are characterized with low self esteem. This is because the parents are not in a position to provide for them the daily basic needs as the other children from the well off families. When at school, these children are teased on their social-economic welfare lowering further their sense of self-esteem. When such children grow up with such low self esteem, they do not compete well because they were poorly prepared for the future due poor background. This research paper investigates the effect of poverty on the self esteem of the children. 2.0 Background Poverty is the lack of well-being by the people. It is the inability of people to purchase basic necessities of life. This includes food, shelter, education and clothing. Absolute poverty is a type of poverty associated with the lack of financial capability to afford basic necessities of life. It usually occurs when a person spends less than $1 in a day. This type is also known as financial poverty. This kind of poverty can be alleviated by encouraging the people to develop small, medium or large businesses. The4 businesses should make use of natural resources for them to be effective. The other type of poverty is the poverty that is not associated with income. Also called the non- income poverty. This is where the people may have some money but in general, their life standards are below the societys expectations i.e. they may not be in a position to afford basic education, health care etc. this type of poverty can be alleviated through increased access to affordable social services. The social services should also be qualitative in addition typo to being affordable. In general, poor people often live below the standards of the society. Poverty is most prevalent in the unemployed, the youth, children, mothers, and the aged. Children borne out of poverty must struggle to reach the level of their counterparts from well off families. They struggle through their adulthood trying to make ends meet. Poverty is a social problem because the children borne in poor families are not given a fair opportunity to compete with the rest. There have been various measures of poverty that have been and are still in use although new measures of poverty are being advocated. The UNDP developed the human development index in 1990 to measure the level of poverty. This measures poverty based on the income. Globally, a measure that is used to measure poverty is the one developed and regularly updated by the World Bank; the $1per day. This measure is widely used although it doesnt show the real human wellbeing. That is why better methods that can capture the well being of humans are being advocated. Self-esteem: self esteem can be either high medium or low. According to Baumeister, smart Boden 1996), extremely high self esteem indicate destructiveness and narcissism. Some people may have false sense of high esteem whereby the feel they have high self esteem yet they have very low self esteem. A person with low self esteem lacks self awareness and may be defensive. (Hoyle, Kernis, Leary Baldwin 1991). Low self esteem is associated with depression. There is a strong relationship between suicide and low sense of self esteem. According to Guindon H. (2010), a person with a high sense of self esteem is more likely to be self directed and independent than low esteem individuals. Problem statement the way children perceive things is very important. This is because it is a vital component in developing their self esteem. In addition to that, self esteem is a key aspect in the learning process of a child. Through it, a child can view things either positively or negatively. On the other hand, low self esteem in children can be blamed on poverty. As children grow up, they may face low self esteem problems especially during their puberty. Self esteem varies with from one child top another (Williams, 2007). According to sociological researchers, there are two types of poverty namely: situational poverty where a family can plunge into poverty due to some negative aspects of change like loss of a job or problems of a disease and generational poverty which when it strike a family it is difficult to deal with and a child may suffer even up to old age. Children are affected differently by the two type of poverty (Dana, 2003).A child born in a family that has generational poverty grows in the knowledge that the situation the family is in is determined by fate and the situation is beyond control. A child born in a family with generational poverty always feel inferior compared to his/her peers and usually suffer from low self esteem. However, low self esteem disappears and the child grows confidence if the situation disappears. 3.0 Research questions This research seeks to investigate the relationship between poverty and the self esteem of children; whether the relationship is direct on inverse. It undertakes to answer the following research questions: Does poverty have and impact on the self esteem of children? Is the relationship between poverty and self esteem a direct or an inverse relationship? Does low self-esteem progress in to adult life in a poverty stricken family? 4.0 Significance of the study literature on the effects of poverty on psychological development of a child triggered the research into this topic on the effects of poverty on a childs self esteem. The former studies were not clear and specific on the effects of poverty on the self esteem of a child (Sandra and Josefina, 2002). This later became reality and a challenge. The observation of children across different family backgrounds drew the interests of different researchers. They started working on it and in the preliminary observations, the self esteem in children decreased as the level of poverty increased among children but not absolutely. This means that some children had high self esteem though they were from poor backgrounds and vice versa. No observations were made on whether the low self esteem disappeared as the children grew albeit still being in poverty. This unanswered questions triggered the topic and these forms the main objective of this research. Through this study, we shall find out the relation ship between poverty and self esteem in children. From the findings, researchers can come out with a better methodology of dealing with low self esteem in children from poverty stricken families. 5.0 Literature review 5.1 Theoretical literature review This research will make use of different library material and electronic databases such as J-STOR and inform global database in compiling of the research. In addition the research will make use of books and peer reviewed journals to compile and complete the task. The use of government publication will be very instrumental to get the statistics and figures that are relevant to the topic. According to Sandra, W. (2007), children can be affected by the family issues like lack of funds, peer pressure, stigma and family stresses. Children from poverty stricken families often do suffer from stresses from the family unlike their peers from other well off families. It is more humiliating to them when they are not in a position to pay the full amount required for school activities. Also affecting childrens self esteem are factors like stigma attached to poverty stricken families, class divisions, humiliation from peers pointing out what they lack, low quality clothing compared to their peers etc. in addition to this, there are other factors like lack of access to some facilities like swimming pools, certain games like golf etc. all these factors can have a negative impact on the self esteem of the child which in turn negatively influences the childs education. Children always want to feel confident in their abilities. Contrary to this, their schoolwork and future life prospe cts will be highly affected negatively. Sandra, W. (2007), adds that for children to do well, they need role models that are positive, positive friend, families together wit h communities. This will make a difference on their self esteem. Parents also have a role to play as far as self esteem is concerned. As much as they should praise the children for a job well done, they should watch out not to overdo it because it will backfire. Very high expectations to children pressure them so much that they make mistakes avoiding challenges. Too much criticism also damages self esteem. Therefore, parents must strike a balance. A child can overcome financial as well as emotional if all the players, teachers, aunts, parents and peer can be of positive influence to them (Sandra, W. 2007). Rani, (2006) studies the impact of single poor mothers on their children in India and He notes that the impacts are wide, varied and complex. Many single women in India, though they do not have any formal employment, they head their households providing everything that is needed. When the husband dies, these women assume every responsibility of the home. They work outside leaving the children alone at home. Since they are poor, they can not afford to hire a care taker to take care of the children. Their financial indigence can not allow them to provide mentorship for their children. They thus feel anxious about their childrens future. The conditions are hard for both the mothers and the children. The mothers are hands tied to care for the childrens basic needs. With the soaring economic conditions, they strain and cut down expenses. This leads to provision of poor quality services to these children.   They drop out of school. In pursuit for the basic needs, they end up assisting th e mother in provision of basic necessities. The familys role as a socialization agent is weakened. The whole scenario is a total mess (Rani, I. 2006). Mclahahan Booth, (1989) argue that the socialization process is different in single parent families. That the attachment of children to parents, the expectations and values of parents and the ability of parents to influence their childrens behavior are some of the factors that are vital in enhancing socialization within families. In addition to that, structural factors of whether a family is single parent or not matters. Single mothers are less influential regarding childrens decisions than when they are two. Peer pressure is more intense in children from single mother families then others. Though some researchers say that school performance of children fro the two types of families differ, Rani, (2006) says that studies carried out show that children from two parent families out performed their counterparts form single parent mothers. This is explained by the low socio economic standards of the children from single mother families. In this connection, the children from poor familie s educational performance are affected by the poor economic standards of their mothers (Mclanahan, 1985). More so, the school drop out rate was high for children from single mothers that those from two parents. Single mothers rarely monitor the social activities of their adolescents. This leads them to be susceptible to peer-pressure more than their counterparts resulting to other chain of bad social behavior. These children according to studies spend more time doing chores at home as compared to their counterparts from two parents. According to wisegeek, (2010), poverty starts affecting children even before they are borne. This experienced when the mother s are poor and can not insured. Therefore they always dont get prenatal care early enough making them suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure and other complications. This leads to developmental delays in their children growth, lagging behind their peers. As if hat is not enough, children from poverty stricken families usually experience many health complications like asthma (due to living in poorly ventilated house structures) and obesity (due to the inability of parents to afford a diet rich in proteins). Another problem of growing up in poverty is mental problems. This occurs to due to stresses that accompany poverty stricken families. These problems include; unemployment, divorce, death, drug abuse etc. Anxiety and depression feelings are the outcomes of such situations and they can last to adult hood. In addition to lack of quality time from working par ents who strive to make ends meet, children from poor families spent much of their time in poor quality daycare centers. This could impact negatively on their emotional health (wisegeek, 2010). Children form poor background often receive low quality education once in elementary school because they are involved in a lot of movements or they are forced to attend cheap schools that provide poor services. This will set up long term repercussions to the child. If he cant learn properly in elementary school he will be affected even in high school and college. The lack of a university degree will ruin the rest of the lifetime of the child as he will struggle a lot. Teenagers form poor families are most likely to indulge in drug abuse, risky promiscuous behavior and alcohol. The indulgence in this will most likely spur chains of other unlawful activities all this happen at the expense of learning and preparation for future life which their counterparts from affluent families will be doing. This complicates their lives even further. Solving generational poverty is a problem because it can affect two to three generations. A family suffering from generation poverty will be so frustrated; they even create myths surrounding their poverty situation thus forming a culture of poverty that limits their chances of breaking through and coming out successful. This may include indulging in unlawful acts like burglary. Due to poverty, children from families suffering from generational poverty grow up knowing that their present circumstances are fate determined in addition to factors that are beyond their control while those children fro m the middle and upper class are taught how to focus on the future and the potential to their lives (wisegeek, 2010). 5.2 Empirical literature review Rosenburg Owens (2001) provides an example of low esteem persons drawn from the examples and the surveys. They find that persons with low esteem are more sensitive to any experiences that threaten to damage their esteem. Criticism troubles them most causing them to react more emotionally to failure. In addition to that, they easily magnify events as negative and make non critical events as critical. These people experience low interpersonal success due to inadequate interpersonal confidence. High self esteem people look for growth while their counterparts, the low esteem people usually protect the esteem not wanting to make mistakes. Low self esteemed people are more pessimistic, distressed emotionally, less happy and anxious. Low esteemed people are rigid, indecisive and inflexible. Self esteem and happiness are interrelated. High self esteem fosters better physical health, good feelings, low depression, etc. Abernathy T. Webster, and Vermeulen, M. (2010), using the Evans-Stoddart model, they examined the data on 1759 adolescents of age 12-19. They found out from the study that there is a relation ship between the income of families and the health and that the relationship is based on the social environment including the differences in lifestyles, access to healthcare and low sense of self esteem. The analysis entailed bivariate and multivariate which displayed the positive relationship between self esteem and mastery and physical exercises levels. Interpreting the findings, they found out that low physical activity experienced by children from poor families have impact negatively on their self esteem hence their health. To reduce the impact, policies and programs that reduce poverty and increase the physical activity o f such children should be established. These policies would not only boost the health of the children but will also increases the level of esteem that the child has. This will translate into improved academic performance fro the children and thus a brighter future (Abernathy, T. 2010). In another survey carried out by Trzcinski, E. (2004), he studied school children in Middle Ages and assessed the effects of welfare on their daily activities and life. He undertook thirty interviews with children from metropolitan and large areas. He gathered the views of children as regarding the impact of multiple jobs on the child-parent relationship.   His outcome of the research was that the multiple jobs done by their parents during the night or in evening interfered with the child- parent relationship. He also found out that children who affected by these jobs went to school late and that the children while at school were always teased about their poverty and welfare issues. Trzcinski, E. (2004), noted that this affected the performance of the children at school because children from urban and poor families were poor and therefore their welfare was low. They could not afford many of the things that those children from the well-off families could.   He points out that this also affected the childs psychological well being (Trzcinski, E. 2004). 6.0 Methodology This research paper makes use of secondary data obtained from secondary sources like the books, journal articles, and the internet. 7.0 Main findings and discussion This research paper finds a major relation ship between the impacts of poverty on childs self-esteem. Poverty has significant effects to the children coming from poor backgrounds. According to Rani, (2006), many families that were single parents in India, they were poor. This was attributed to the inability of the mothers to posses various useful skill that would assist them get good employment. These mothers stayed out late fending for their children. The children on the other hand were lest on their on. This makes the families poor since the mother income in is not enough to cater for the food, shelter and the clothing. The low social economic situation of the family affects the children psychologically. This is because; their parents can not afford the better education, better health, social services recreation among many other things. These children miss a lot. Their sense of self esteem is tampered with. They start seeing themselves in a different angle as less achievers. They c ant think properly like their counterparts from well-off families. Socialization is hard because they are teased. As Trzcinski, E. 2004 found out, these children from poor back grounds are teased at school of their socio- economic welfare. This just serves to increase the pressure they have on their self esteem. They end up suffering from stress and depression. In, fact this explains the high school drop out rates among children from poor families. The poor family conditions affect the childrens performance at school. Their counterparts out perform them shining in every aspect. There many reasons to explain this. Just as Rani, (2006) pointed out, those children from single mother families are at double risks. They have no one to supervise their academic work as the mother is too busy. She leaves early and reports I back ate. They are on their own doing every chore at home and thus they have less time to study. They also walk to school. Due to the strained economic condition of the family, their parents can only afford a cheap school that offers low quality education. With no family socialization, these children grow into adulthood equipped with very little education and skills. Thus they will still lead poor lives just because they are less prepared to compete with the rest of the children who are well prepared for the future. In addition to the above, poverty starts having its effects on the child prom a poor family from his birth. As Guindon H. (2010) points out, the parents of these children are poor therefore they cant afford health care insurance. They keep waiting for pre-natal care from cheap hospitals. Due to the low quality of the services, they give birth to children in poor environment growing up with many complications like asthma diabetes etc. these poor conditions affect them as they grow up because the parents are poor and can   not afford good nutritional diet to their children. The poor conditions that the child grows in affects his self esteem and instead of the child growing up fighting poverty, he accepts it, and starts to think that everything and every situation they undergo is fate driven this low self esteem if not fought hard, results in vicious cycle of poverty for an individual. He will be poor since borne to his death. And the poverty can surpass to the next generation. 8.0 Recommendations to take care low self esteemed individuals The following are the recommendations made to lower the effect of poverty on the self esteem children from poor backgrounds: Social support: the state should increase programs that provide social support to the individuals with low self esteem. According to Guindon H. (2010), people with strong social ties have high sense of self esteem. Therefore, to raise a persons self esteem, one needs to increase a sense of belonging. Cognitive behavioral strategies: this helps reduce stress and depression as it increases the level of self esteem among schizophrenic patients. Tests carried out showed that techniques like relaxation, study skill and guided imagery help reduce anxiety and increase the level of self esteem in college students. Individual, family or group strategies: one-on-one individual counseling increases self esteem thou, it should not be used on critical cases of low self esteem. Family therapy should address issues like ineffective parenting styles and poor family functioning. This may be useful in treating issues related to family dynamics (e.g. eating disorder).   Physical fitness strategy: Exercises especially sports help increase self esteem. The effect of exercises is most felt in adolescents. Other strategies like reality strategies, solution focused therapy, narrative therapy, play therapy and creative arts have also been used to increase self esteem. In school going children especially, child centered lay therapy is highly recommended to alleviate the problems of low self esteem. However, the therapist should first understand the source of the low self esteem. Through this strategy, parents and teachers are taught ways of dealing with such cases and how to improve the childs autonomy, responsibility and setting therapeutic limits. The state should come up with programs to help reduce the long term effects of poverty on the development children. Nutrition programs like the women, infants and children (WIC) should be encouraged to because they help feed pregnant women and young children below the age of five with nutritious food. This includes offering of free pre-school to children from poor back grounds. 9.0 Conclusion Poverty should be taken seriously. It is affecting many children from poor backgrounds. Such children have low self esteem which ends up messing up their entire future life. Poor children from poor backgrounds do not do well in school due to low self esteem. They also experience frequent cases of stress and depression. Majority of single mother families are poor. Frequencies of school dropouts are high in such poor families. Due to frustration, they succumb to peer-pressure hence indulging in drug abuse and promiscuity. If the low esteem goes on in the lives of these children as they grow up, they may end up being poor and frustrated. The state should move fast to save and secure the future of these children through social programs that are helpful to them. Other non-governmental organizations should work hand in hand with the government in alleviating poverty and helping the poor families. Some of the programs that they should involve themselves with are nutrition programs, individual family strategies, physical fitness strategies, social support and cognitive behavioral strategies among many others. These will save the future generation. References Abernathy, T., Webster, G. and Vermeulen, M. (2010). Relationship Between Poverty and Health Among Adolescents. Retrieved on February 23, 2010 from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12003291 Boden, J., Ferguson,D. and Horwood, M. (2008). Does adolescent self esteem predict later life outcomes? A test of the causal role of self esteem. Development and psychology.20, 319-339. Dana, H. (2003). What are the Long Term Effects of Poverty? Retrieved on January 21, 2010from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-long-term-effects-of-poverty.htm Guindon, H. (2009). Self esteem across lifespans: issues and interventions. Brunner-Routlegde USA Kernis, M., Grannemann,B and Mathis, C (1991). Stability of Self Esteem as a Moderator of The Relation Between Level of Self-Esteem and Depression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 61, 80-84 Mclanahan, S. and Bumpass, L. (1988). Intergenerational consequences of family disruption, American journal of sociology 94 (1):130-152 Owens, T and Stryker S (2001). The future of self esteem. Extending self esteem theory and research. New York Cambrige University Press. Rani, I. (2006). Child Care by Poor Single Mothers: Study of Mother Headed Families in India. Journal of Comparative Family studies 01. Sandra, A., Josefina, F. (2002). Gender and poverty: Self-esteem among elementary schoolchildren. Journal of children and poverty, 2(1), 5-22.Williams, S. (2007). Child poverty and Self Esteem. Retrieved on January 21, 2010 fromhttp://poverty.suite101.com/article.cfm/child_poverty_and_self_esteem Sandra,W. (2007). Child Poverty and Self Esteem: How Poverty can Contribute to Childrens Negative Emotional State.retrievd on February 23, 2010 from: http://poverty.suite101.com/article.cfm/child_poverty_and_self_esteem Trzcinski, E. (2002). Middle School Childrens Perceptions on Welfare and Poverty: An Exploratory, Qualitative Study. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Vol. 23, 4. Wisegeek, (2010). What are the long term effects of poverty? Retrieved on February 22, 2010 from: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-long-term-effects-of-poverty.htm

Friendship in Knowles A Separate Peace :: A Separate Peace Essays

A Separate Peace - Friendship    We have all experienced friendship in our lives; some of these bonds were lasting and others were not.   A Separate Peace is a book that deals with the friendship of high school boys. These boys attend an all-boy’s school called Devon School.   It is said that: "Devon is sometimes considered the most beautiful school in New England."   "Devon was both scholarly and very athletic."   Devon is where Gene Forrester, Phineas (Finny) and Elwin (Leper) Lepellier attend school.   Author John Knowles sets the story during World War II.   This time period makes the boys have to think about which branch of the military they want to enlist in. The main focuses of this book are war, conformity or agreement, and friendship. War is a theme because throughout the book WWII encroaches on Finny and Gene’s separate peace. Conformity is a theme because Finny puts constant pressure on all the boys especially Gene to do rebellious things. They give into peer pressure and do things like jumping from trees even though that broke the rules. They wanted to go along with the crowd, and Finny represents the crowd.   Friendship is the most visible theme in the book and since friendship is based on mutual need, Finny and Gene are best friends.   Finny has things that Gene needs and Gene has things Finny needs.   I am going to explain the meaning of a separate peace to Leper Lepellier, Phineas, and Gene Forrester.   When we first meet Leper, he is one of the boys standing at the base of the jumping tree.   He is refusing to jump from the tree into the river.   He is bidding, "Bidding for an ally."   Leper would like to fit in by jumping from the tree, but Leper has his own separate peace so he doesn’t need to jump from the tree.   He   says he will make the initiation jump to join the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session but he never does.   When the other boys are shoveling snow off train tracks to help a train with soldiers get to the Army Base this "really brings the war home."  Ã‚   Instead of helping the other boys with the war effort, Leper goes cross country skiing to Beaver Dam.   Leper does this to get a separate peace from the reality of war.   Although Leper is the first to enlist in the army, he receives a section eight discharge.

Teaching Philosophy Statement :: Philosophy of Education Teachers Essays

Teaching Philosophy Statement I believe that the best way to gain knowledge is through experiences that we encounter in everyday life. It is for this reason that I know what I know today. This is why I feel that progressivism is an excellent teaching philosophy, and why I will be instructing my classroom with its’ principles. I will not however, rule out book work and studying from the text book. I just believe that students learn best through interaction with each other, books, and other non-traditional sources. I chose to become an educator because I want to inspire the students to get the most life has to offer and to be the one that my students can turn to with their problems. Whether it be with the curriculum, family, bullies, or any other troubles that they may find themselves in. Since I am studying to teach general sciences, I feel there is no better way for the students to learn than through the application of pragmatism. Let the students ask questions and solve them in their own way, because I feel that not everyone learns the same way. This is a simple idea, if I want to know if something will work in a particular way, or find out why it works the way it does I should justly simply test it. Through this method I feel the students will spark an interest with what is being instructed to them in the classroom and look forward to coming into a positive and lively environment, where they know that what they are doing is fun and the only one that is benefitting from this experience are themselves. I want to scaffold my students from what they’ve already learned and apply it to new ideas to further their knowledge. The world is not moving backwards, and the children need to have a good grasp on what is happening in the world around them and how they can get into the shuffle. As a teacher I plan for my students to learn through fun and interesting methods that will push them to question, why or how is this the way it is?

Religion Through Spiritual Explorations in Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre

Religion Through Spiritual Explorations in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre In Jane Eyre, religion is embraced through a series of spiritual explorations. Bronte portrays Jane's character and zest for religion by revealing Jane's transitions from Gateshead to Lowood, Lowood to Thornfield, and Thornfield to Moor House. Jane ultimately rejects everyone of these organized styles of worship. However, that does not mean that she rejects all their beliefs. She is forever changed by each experience and they have helped mold her view on religion and her relationship with God. Each location plays a significant role in the development of Jane's perspective on religion. Jane struggles to acquire true faith in God, which will help her overcome the obstacles of her nomadic life. Within Jane Eyre, Bronte shows a feeling of anti-Catholicism through the character of Jane?s cousin, Eliza Reed. The novel portrays Eliza as a picture of rigidity: Two young ladies appeared before me; one very tall, almost as tall as Miss Ingram,--very thin too, with a sallow face and severe mien. There was something ascetic in her look, which was augmented by the extreme plainness of a straight-skirted, black, stuff dress, a starched linen collar, hair combed away from the temples, and the nun-like ornament of a string of ebony beads and a crucifix. (Bronte 228) Eliza had certainly taken on the ritualistic side of Catholicism. (Rife) She is described as a busy person, but "it was difficult to say what she did: or rather, to discover any result of her diligence" (Bronte 234). Bronte had the same feelings toward the Catholic faith. Charlotte and many other English Protestants viewed Catholics as people who worshipped idols diligently, yet d... ...r himself. (Cashwell) As we can see, Jane is obviously affected by her experiences at each of these different stages in her life. At Lowood she learned the strict adherence to the religious and moral values that were taught there. Even though she may not have agreed with all of them, they molded her views on morality, shown in her experiences with Rochester. She also learned of sacrifice through St. John, who sacrificed true love for the greater good of his religious calling. Bronte deals with quite a few religious topics and pretty much finds something wrong with each form of Christianity. Jane finally finds a personal relationship with God, and even though she may not agree with one of the forms of organized Christianity, she finally fells a spiritual inner peace. Works Cited: Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1996.

Mia philippines Essay

The Philippines was first put on the map by Portuguese adventurer Magellan working for the Spanish throne on March 16, 1521. The Philippines had become a Spanish colony and was the first country to be named after a sovereign, Phillip II of Spain.1 Spanish rule had continued until 1898 when the Philippines had become an American colony following the Spanish-American War for the stately sum of $20 million. In 1942 during WWII, the Philippines had fallen under Japanese occupation and was liberated by American and Filipino forces under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur in a fiercely contested battle that raged on between 1944 and 1945. The Philippines had attained its independence on July 4, 1946, and had a functioning democratic system.2 The Philippines Archipelago consisted of 7,100 islands, covering an area of 299,735 square kilometers and was slightly larger than Arizona. The capital city of Manila was situated on the largest Philippine island of Luzon (see Exhibit 1). The Philippines had a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of $3,400.3 The percentage of the population of the Philippines living below US$2 a day was 45.2 per PHILIPPINE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Research conducted in 2009 showed that the Philippines was ranked 140th for ease of doing business and 155th for starting a business, out of a total of 178 countries. It took on average 15 procedures and a total of 52 days to complete business startup procedures in the Philippines compared to six procedures and 44.2 days and 5.8 procedures and 13.4 days for the same process in Asia and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, respectively.5 The Philippines had the second lowest savings and investment as share of GDP ratio in Asia6 (see Exhibit 2). PHILIPPINE FISHING INDUSTRY The Philippines has total territorial waters of 2.2 million square kilometers, of which coastal waters comprise 266,000 square kilometers and coastal reef area (10 to 20 fathoms deep, where reef fishing takes place) comprise 27,000 square kilometers.7 In 2003, the Philippines ranked eighth among the top fish-producing countries in the world with its total production of 3.62 million metric tons of fish, crustaceans, mollusks and aquatic plants (including seaweed). The production constituted 2.5 per cent of the total world production of 146.27 million metric tons.8 The fishing industry’s contribution to the country’s GDP was 2.3 per cent and 4.2 per cent, at current and constant prices, respectively. The industry employed a total of 1,614,368 fishing operators nationwide,9 of which the artisanal fisheries sector accounted for 1,371,676.10 Artisanal fishing operations were typically family-based and used smaller craft. There were a total of 469,807 fishing boats in the Philippines, of which 292,180 were non-motorized and 177,627 were motorized.11 Fish was not only an important source of nutrition, but as fishing did not require landownership or special permits it was an employment of last resort for people who had no other means of subsistence. MIA, DENMARK MIA was established in Denmark in 1975 by wealthy businessman Hagen Nordstrom, who dedicated the NGO to his wife Mia and made fighting poverty his life’s work. (MIA stood for â€Å"beloved† in Danish.) MIA had initially focused solely on poverty-alleviating projects in Africa and had expanded its operations to Latin America and the Caribbean only in the early 1990s. The grandson of Nordstrom, Gillis Nordstrom, had taken over as MIA chairman in 2004 on the eve of the Bander Aceh Tsunami of December 26, 2004, which devastated Southeast Asia and killed as many as 5 www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/?economyid=153, accessed November 15, 2008. www.adb.org/Documents/Books/ADO/2002/Update/ado2002update.pdf, accessed December 18, 2008. 7 www.scribd.com/doc/354869/2005-Fisheries-Profile#, accessed December 5, 2008. 8 www.scribd.com/doc/354869/2005-Fisheries-Profile, accessed November 15, 2008. 9 NSO 2002 Census for Fisheries. 10 www.scribd.com/doc/354869/2005-Fisheries-Profile, accessed November 15, 2008. 11 www.scribd.com/doc/354869/2005-Fisheries-Profile#, accessed December 5, 2008. 6 Page 3 9B09M016 130,000 people.12 Nordstrom had taken initiative and redirected MIA to focus on disaster recovery and poverty alleviation projects in Southeast Asia. MIA had established an office in Manila in January 2006, and the young Danish development economist Borje Petersen was hired to manage the MIA Philippines office. Petersen was paid a starting salary of $75,000 a year plus housing,  slightly below average for a comparable development economist position. Petersen knew that MIA’s attention was focused on Indonesia and Malaysia, which had been the hardest hit by the tsunami, and was anxious to carve out a position for MIA Philippines by designing an exceptional project. As the expansion into Asia was the pet project of MIA’s chairman, Petersen felt assured that funding would be easily appropriated and even expedited. Petersen knew that the average overseas posting for a development economist for MIA was two years and had quickly established contact with local and international stakeholders and set up numerous meetings with large development project counterparts such as the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the German development aid organization GFZ to get an expedited understanding of the Philippines and its unique needs. Based on the initial research, Petersen had decided that, whereas an agricultural project would be feasible, it would take a long time to realize and the outcome could be complicated given the Philippines’ proneness to be hit by typhoons. Petersen’s research had revealed that small-scale aquaculture projects had been successfully implemented in the Philippines in the past. However, there were hardly any projects to speak of directed at artisanal fishing and picking up on the vested opportunity and his desire to deliver fast results and prove himself worthy of the task that MIA and its chairman demanded, he had chosen to design a project helping artisanal fishermen. Petersen had researched the possibility of helping a fishing village close to Manila and the search for the ideal village had come to a successful ending when MIA’s driver, Vicente Tubo, had mentioned how some of his distant cousins fished for a living in a fishing village seven to nine hours by car from Manila. A factfinding mission to the village Barangay San Hagon was undertaken and the village was thus chosen as the beneficiary of MIA’s pilot project in the Philippines. BARANGAY SAN HAGON Barangay San Hagon boasted 125 households and had a resident population of 625. San Hagon lay on the south coast of Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines. The Barangay was the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and stemmed from the Spanish â€Å"Barrio.†13 Barangay San Hagon was administered by a local government unit (LGU) and consisted of seven Barangay council members and a chairman. The chairman of Barangay San Hagon was Rafael Buenaventura, age 59, who had held office for more than a decade. Fishing villages in the Philippines were very vulnerable to external risk, especially natural calamities such as typhoons, flooding and fish kills, which severely affected their financial situation. www.cityu.edu.hk/searc/tsunami/index.html, accessed November 18, 2008. www.i-site.ph/Factfinder/barangay.html, accessed December 23, 2008. BARANGAY SAN HAGON’S ECONOMY Fishing was the main occupation of the village. Secondary occupations included rice farming, fruit and vegetable growing and livestock raising. The service sector consisted of boat builders, mechanics, barbers, tailors, drivers and Sari-Sari store operators (mom and pop-type convenience stores). Fishing was undertaken exclusively by men, whereas most of the other occupations and post-fishing activities were undertaken by the women of the village. The village boasted 12 overseas workers employed as unqualified laborers in different parts of the Arabian Peninsula who sent back remittance payments. It was believed that more than 10 million Filipinos worked overseas and supported their families with remittance payments. The daily income for the San Hagon fisherman was approximately $1 per day. The fishermen of San Hagon used â€Å"banka boats,† the traditional outrigger type of boat used in Southeast Asia. Whereas some fishermen had utilized traditional means of fishing with hook and line, gill nets and bamboo fish traps, the majority chose to use blast and cyanide fishing. Blast fishing consisted of throwing an explosive charge or a stick of dynamite into the sea. The explosion instantly killed every living organism within its range including coral reef. A number of the fish would float and the fishermen would scoop them up. Quite a large number of the dead fish, however, would stay submerged. Homemade explosives from readily available materials such as powdered potassium nitrate or an ammonium nitrate and kerosene mixture packed in glass bottles were often used. These mixtures were often unstable and exploded prematurely, maiming or killing fishermen. Each village had a number of limbless fishermen and a story of how an explosive device had killed a fellow fisherman.14 Cyanide fishing consisted of squirting cyanide into the caves/dwellings of the fish in the coral reef. Fishermen used makeshift pumps, which pumped oxygen down a plastic tube, to dive into the sea. The method was dangerous and most fishermen had experienced some form of bend while diving. The cyanide killed up to 75 per cent of the fish on contact. Cyanide also killed the coral reef.15 Once the coral reef died, fish were displaced as a result of the break in the food chain and lack of protection. Blast and cyanide fishing did not need any real skill and fishing knowledge and even though both methods were illegal and there were numerous laws in place, it was impossible to effectively enforce these laws. SAN HAGON’S CAPITAL ASSETS The village of San Hagon had basic capital assets on which it based its competitive position. Most fishing villages in the region had similar capital resources. Human Capital Education: Most of the villagers had some high school education. Skills: Fishing and farming skills were learnt from an informal network of fellow villagers, friends, etc. 14 www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/marine/problems/problems_fishing/destructive_fishing, accessed December 24, 2008. 15 www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/species/news/stories/index.cfm?uNewsID=5563, accessed December 23, 2008. Page 5 9B09M016 Employment: Most villagers had multiple occupations in order to generate enough income to make a living. Social Capital Access to governmental and non-governmental information sources: The village had limited access to governmental and non-governmental organizations for the dissemination of knowledge. Information was disseminated from an informal network of fellow fishermen, friends and relatives. Role of women: The women of the village were active in the work force as a source of free labor but had little decision-making power. Natural Capital Access to natural resources: The villagers had free access to the ocean, land and water. Resource ownership: Nearly all villagers owned their small plots of land where they farmed or raised livestock. Financial Capital Access to financing: The village had limited access to public or private financing. Savings potential: The villagers had limited savings potential due to their limited income. Income generation: The subsistence fishing, farming and livestock raising activities of the village coupled with services provided by the villagers allowed for subsistence living conditions. Remittances: The village had 12 overseas workers who regularly sent remittances to support their families. Physical Capital Access to electricity: The village owned an old diesel generator that provided electricity. The generator required frequent maintenance work and was out of commission frequently when there was no money to purchase diesel fuel. This occurred due to lack of income as a result of poor fishing results, increased expenditures during the months when school-aged children needed supplies and in times when collecting past dues owed by households became a problem. Access to modes of communication: Due to its remote location and small population, the village did not have access to phone lines or wireless phone service. The nearest phone line was located in San Jose, a larger settlement that was three hours away by car. Access to transportation: San Hagon only had internal dirt roads and road access was a problem, especially in the rainy season. Roads connecting San Hagon to the outer world were mostly unpaved and it was difficult to navigate the roads at night or during the rainy season, which was five to six months of the year. Manila, the capital of the Philippines, was located seven to nine hours away by car. Page 6 9B09M016 Whereas most people in the village walked, the bicycle/tricycle was the preferred mode of transport. The better-off households boasted small motorcycles, of which there were more than a dozen. Transport to and from the village was provided by a Jeepney (an extended U.S. military jeep left  over from WWII), the traditional form of public transport in the Philippines operated by one of the villagers that usually left for San Jose early in the morning and returned in the afternoon. Jeepneys transported people, fruits and vegetables, livestock, etc. 16 Access to safe water supply: The village did not have running water and depended on numerous deep fresh water wells for its fresh water supply.  Home ownership: More than 95 per cent of households owned their own dwellings. The better-off households had cement walls and galvanized iron sheet roofing. Boat ownership: Banka boat ownership was close to 100 per cent. Approximately one third of these bankas were motorized. Other: Most households owned modest household appliances and facilities, such as televisions, radios and electric fans. EXISTING MODUS OPERANDI Under the prevailing conditions, fishermen would put aside enough to feed their families and sell the rest of the catch at the village square or exchange it against fruits, vegetables, rice and other staple goods. The price of fish was not fixed and would fluctuate when there was an oversupply and the barter equivalent of other products would go up in price. Prices of fish and other goods were also affected by delays in the arrival of supply jeepneys, which supplied the village’s three Sari-Sari stores. Commerce with other villages was limited, as these villages had a similar economic setup. Few buyers ever came to San Hagon due to the remoteness of the village and the poor road conditions. The few that came were treated suspiciously, as there had been numerous occasions when smaller buyers had taken the fish on consignment but had not paid for them. The larger traders avoided San Hagon completely and opted to do business with villages that were more accessible. Fish was an easily perishable commodity and transporting fish for more than a couple of hours without refrigeration or cold storage was not possible due to the prevailing heat. There was no access to ice in the region and the cost of a refrigerated vehicle was beyond the village’s means. Some  fishermen chose to dry excess fish and sell it locally, even though dried fish made less profit than fresh fish, or consume it themselves when fresh fish supplies were low. Even though the villagers complained at times, they had accepted the lifestyle they led, as they did not have the financial means or knowledge to alter their situation. The only other alternative was to leave the village, migrate to larger cities and look for jobs, of which there were only low-paying, menial ones. The mantra, â€Å"Give a man a fish; you have fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime,† had become a reality when MIA had chosen to help the village of San Hagon. The village inhabitants had seen the effects of NGO assistance and how it had transformed the livelihood of other fishing villages. The appearance of a European NGO was a blessing and meant an influx of muchneeded money. DIVING VILLAGES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION A number of fishing villages in the region had made the transition from fishing village to diving village with the help of foreign NGOs. Diving villages were villages that catered to the scuba diving expat community and wealthy Filipinos who could afford the sport. Fishermen in these villages had been transformed into tour guides and diving instructors. The transformed villages earned up to 10 times more income and helped to protect the environment. PROJECT SAN HAGON: â€Å"HITTING MANY BIRDS WITH ONE STONE† After initial assessment and consideration of its own capabilities, MIA had considered converting San Hagon into a diving village. Petersen, however, had later shied away from a tourism-related project for three reasons: 1. Competition: There were already two villages in the region that had already achieved name recognition and were much easier to access than San Hagon.  2. Damaged product: A significant portion of San Hagon’s coral reef had been damaged. 3. Time factor: It would take a long time to transform San Hagon to a diving village. Instead, MIA had designed a project that would entail the livelihood improvement of the village, empower women and encourage environmental protectionism. Petersen had remembered the old Danish saying â€Å"hit many birds with one stone† as he designed the project. PROJECT IDENTIFICATION MIA had proposed that in return for stopping blast and cyanide fishing and reverting back to traditional means of fishing, the village would receive a grant to establish a fishing cooperative, construct a fish processing/cooperative building with all office furnishings and receive a new diesel generator, fish processing equipment, packaging equipment and training on how to process and package fish. In addition, MIA would copyright a brand name for the village, have all marketing communication materials prepared and arrange shelf space as the exclusive supplier of malls and supermarkets in Metro Manila. It was foreseen that reverting back to traditional methods of fishing would decrease the amount of fish that were caught, but establishing San Hagon as a direct supplier to large buyers would garner top prices and substantially increase income and offset any losses. MIA’s project intended to emphasize the importance of fish as a healthy food, and highlight fishing as a generator of employment and income and as a means to protect the environment (see Exhibit 3). PROJECT IMPACT ASSESSMENT Economic Impact: The business model would allow households to increase their income from $1 to $4 per day. Fish that was not in demand by the cooperative could be used for household consumption or sold/bartered/dried. Social Impact: Women would become a part of the workforce and earn salaries for the first time in their lives and have disposable income. The extra income would also help women become more independent. Environmental Impact: The destructive blast and cyanide fishing methods would cease. This would halt the destruction of the coral reef and help increase fish stocks. Fishermen would become environmental conservationists and promote the concept of sustainability. PROJECT PREPARATION A knowledgeable and experienced team was assembled to manage project San Hagon. Ricardo Perez, age 65, was hired to head the local team, help with local authorities and overcome language barriers. Perez had worked as a marketing director for the San Miguel Company, a large Philippine conglomerate with a focus on the food and beverage industry, who were the makers of the famous â€Å"San Mig† beer. Perez had been consulting with small- to mid-sized Filipino companies ever since he retired at age 60. MIA also planned to rely on its extensive database and intranet to share knowledge and achieve maximum participation in the project. Any MIA employee, regardless of rank, experience and location, could comment on projects online. Petersen posted a Gantt chart and encouraged questions and guidance from his peers (see Exhibit 4). The only restriction placed on the project by MIA was that MIA could not engage in direct or indirect payments according to its by-laws. Three-year financial projections for the San Hagon Fishing Cooperative (SHFC) had shown that the project would make a small profit in year one and then realize its full potential in year two and year three once the learning curve constraints had been overcome (see Exhibit 5). PROJECT APPROVAL MIA Philippines had completed project preparations and gotten project approval and funding from MIA headquarters. The project was a first for MIA, as the NGO usually focused more on gender and education projects. Perez and his team had prepared the application for local approval and had submitted the application to the local Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (FARMC) in San Jose for approval. The FARMC was the policymaking body for the fisheries and aquatic resources of the Philippines. The vetting process by the local FARMC had been completed after two months, after numerous on-site meetings and presentations. Petersen had been frustrated at the speed of the approval process and had directed Perez to intercede frequently. Petersen had thought to himself, â€Å"We are extending a grant and transferring knowledge and still there is all this slow-moving bureaucracy to deal with.† Concurrently with the project permit applications, MIA had conducted one month of catch research in San Hagon to determine the quantity of fish caught by the fishermen. The survey had revealed that it would be possible to catch on average 1,250 kilograms per day (2,750 pounds per day) of prime quality fish for processing. PROJECT SAN HAGON VALUE CHAIN MIA had undertaken a value chain analysis of the project process and assessed how the analysis could be used to improve the project performance (see Exhibit 6). Breaking down the cost structure had further revealed that the cost structure was typically top-loaded by ingoing logistics and that the major expenditure was fuel (see Exhibit 7). PROJECT START-UP Petersen had felt that the slow application process had cost MIA too much time and he had decided to do things the â€Å"Danish way† at the project implementation phase, instilling tight controls, frequent meetings and time management to speed up the project. MIA had concluded that the key success factors were to: Provide grants to acquire new assets. Transfer knowledge and train stakeholders in acquiring and maintaining new capabilities. Increase the value chain contribution of San Hagon villagers. Package and transport a differentiated product to urban centers where there would be demand for the product. Two teams were formed and the work was divided up as follows: Team One: Product development and packaging Team Two: Transportation, distribution, and advertising and promotion Product Development and Packaging Tuna, prawns, lobsters, groupers and crabs were chosen as the product types that would be most in demand in Manila. Focus was to be placed on tuna and grouper fish, the two favorite types of fish in the Philippines. Research had determined that the demand in Manila for chilled, packaged fish fillets was similar to demand in American/European urban centers. The product appealed to the â€Å"A† income level: upwardly mobile, health-conscious customers that had time constraints. Concurrently the team had researched basic packaging machinery that could be operated and maintained under adverse climatic conditions with ease by the fishermen. The packaging machinery, along with stainless steel fish processing work stations and other equipment, was purchased by MIA, transported and set up in San Hagon. Page 10 9B09M016 Transportation, Distribution, and Advertising and Promotion A small refrigerated truck was leased for a year along with a driver to transport the catch from San Hagon to Metro Manila. It was planned that the cooperative would generate enough cash to purchase the truck in due time and that a San Hagon villager would be employed to replace the hired driver in the near future. The team had come up with the brand name â€Å"ISSAGA,† which in the local Tagalog dialect was short for â€Å"Isda Sakdal Gawad† or most-prized fish. â€Å"ISSAGA† had been registered as a brand name, art work had been designed and packaging materials and labels were printed. Petersen had personally helped with the marketing arrangements, and the venerated HUI malls and supermarkets in Manila had agreed to support the project and provide free shelf space. Petersen had met William Hui, a leading businessman of Chinese decent, at a social function at the Danish embassy. Getting shelf space in a Manila supermarket was in itself a great feat, as acquiring retail space in Philippine supermarkets was difficult, time consuming and expensive. HUI malls had also agreed to promote ISSAGA branded fish products at points of sale. Hui, Perez and countless others had called in favors, and Manila TV stations, newspapers and magazines had agreed to support the project and  showcase their corporate social citizenship by providing free pubic relations. The project would streamline the distribution cycle and increase profit margins for both supplier and buyer (see Exhibit 8). With most of the work at the lower end of the distribution chain completed, the focus had been shifted to the top end and MIA had directed the fishermen of San Hagon to form a fishing cooperative. MIA and other stakeholders needed a formal counterpart they could address and it was hoped that being part of a formal organization would instill a sense of ownership and result in commitment and responsibility on the part of the villagers. SAN HAGON FISHING COOPERATIVE Chairman Buenaventura was chosen as the president of the newly formed SHFC. His two sons-in-law were appointed as manager and as treasurer of the cooperative, respectively. A basic contract was signed between MIA and the SHFC depicting the scope of the project, registration of fixed assets and depreciation scheduling. MIA insisted from the onset that all fishermen join the fishing cooperative. One hundred per cent membership to the fishing cooperative was important because: 1. It was necessary to aggregate the catch of the village to make it feasible for the catch to be sold to the buyer HUI malls. 2. MIA wanted all stakeholders in San Hagon to benefit from the poverty-alleviation project. STAKEHOLDER CONFLICT MIA had initially donated $5,000 to the cooperative, and a basic building large enough to house the fish processing and packaging line, with cement walls and a corrugated steel roof, was quickly constructed. The building work was done by the villagers, who received a wage in return for their labor. The first disagreement had occurred when Buenaventura had insisted that he receive $150 and the other cooperative employees receive monthly salaries of $100 as remuneration for the work that they would provide. MIA had initially balked at the salary demand and had threatened to call off the project. Buenaventura had, however, remained persistent and Petersen, after two weeks of deliberations and absolute inertia on the part of the villagers, had directed Perez to negotiate the demand in an attempt to rescue the project. An agreement for $100 a month for Buenaventura and $65 for his sons-in-law had been thus reached to be paid for the duration of a year. The next conflict had arisen when Buenaventura did not want to fully disclose how much it had cost to build the cooperative building. MIA had later learnt that Buenaventura had thrown a â€Å"fiesta,† a Philippine celebration that included free drinks and â€Å"lechon† pork roast on charcoal, to celebrate the new building. At this stage, Petersen had started to wonder if he had made a serious mistake in choosing San Hagon as the pilot project and Perez as project manager. Afraid of the consequences to his career if he terminated the project, he had decided to push on even if it meant accepting additional demands. Demands for help were frequent. Villages neighboring San Hagon had heard about the project and the MIA office received numerous phone calls daily asking MIA to extend its help to other villages. MIA had been busy turning down the inquiries, citing limited resources. Time was a resource of which Petersen did not have plenty. He was often frustrated at the speed at which things happened in the Philippines. Project manager Perez seemed competent enough and had vast amounts of experience and was technically adapt. He couldn’t decide whether the slow progress was a result of Perez’s speed or the inability or unwillingness of the San Hagon cooperative council to hurry things along. His frustration increased, as with each passing month he was not able to report progress to MIA headquarters. Mindful of his standing at MIA Denmark and in his quest to speed up the project, Petersen had started to adopt a more confrontational approach, especially at the weekly project coordination meetings with Perez and the rest of the team. Perez always reported how much progress they were making. Perez and the rest of the team continuously assured Petersen that this was how business was conducted in the Philippines. Petersen was tired of hearing this. The other nerve-wracking problem was that the word â€Å"no† did not exist in the Philippine language. It was considered rude to say â€Å"no† and hence every question and every inquiry got a positive answer. There were, however, different shades of â€Å"yes,† with some meaning â€Å"no,† some meaning â€Å"maybe† and some which really meant â€Å"yes.† It had taken Petersen more than six months to figure this out. He instructed all his employees not to feel embarrassed to say â€Å"no† to him. But that had only resulted in further embarrassing his employees. He sometimes felt that he was getting nowhere. With only the one active project to show for, Petersen needed to quickly complete this project and start new projects if he was to stand a chance of getting promoted and assuming greater responsibilities in a bigger MIA office. Working at MIA had begun to feel like a tug-of-war between himself and the Filipino staff, with Petersen trying to quicken the pace and the staff slowing him down at every turn. Petersen wished that Perez would take more initiative and use his decision-making power rather than run even the smallest decisions by him first. At times he had begun to suspect that Perez was slowing down the project intentionally to keep receiving his salary longer. Salaries in the Philippines were low compared to those in Europe or America, especially in retirement, and after making $1,000 to $1,500 as a marketing director in San Miguel, Perez was only making $300 in retirement. The $700 salary MIA was paying him was quite a boost to his income. Perez had felt that he urgently needed to complete the project. He had chosen  to continue working well into retirement, as his pension payment was not sufficient enough to maintain his lifestyle and put his youngest daughter through college. Perez had completed his bachelor of arts degree at the University of the Philippines, and had obtained a prestigious certificate for food service management at Cornell University, New York, United States. He had interviewed with MIA and accepted its job offer, because foreign NGOs usually paid better than their Filipino counterparts and, more importantly, on time. Before retirement, Perez had managed more than 175 employees. Even though the San Hagon project was basic compared to what he was accustomed to managing and even though the MIA country manager was young enough to be his son, the pay was generous. Perez had seen himself as advisor and mentor to the young Petersen and had tried to show him the way business was done in the Philippines. He had interceded frequently to expedite the permission process and facilitated MIA’s dealings with the San Hagon fishing cooperative. True to Philippine culture, Perez had always shown the utmost respect for Petersen, especially in public, and portrayed him as the all-powerful leader of MIA. Having young Petersen make all decisions had been a part of his show of respect and deference to Petersen’s authority. Young Petersen had, however, been difficult to deal with. The whole project had taken an unpleasant turn, as Petersen had gotten extremely confrontational at meetings. Perez had heard about the difficulties of working with Americans and Europeans. Filipinos did not like confrontation. â€Å"Pakikisama† (group loyalty) and the importance of maintaining social harmony were a part of his management style and disagreement or interpersonal tension of any sort at the workplace was extremely distasteful for Perez. Petersen had caused him â€Å"hiya† (embarrassment) in front of the rest of the team. His team, while staying silent during meetings, had approached him afterwards and empathized with him. Perez had felt elated when the planning stage was over and the project had entered the implementation stage, which was more in his comfort zone. Perez had designed the new product-to-market process and ensured that he would spend most of his time out of the office and avoiding Petersen. NEW PRODUCT-TO-MARKET PROCESS Deboning, Filleting and Packaging In order to add value to the product and to offset the cost of cleaning and filleting the fish at a higher cost by HUI employees, it was planned that the deboning, filleting and packaging would be done in San Hagon. The cooperative had called upon the women of the village who were experienced in preparing fish to help with processing the catch. It was planned that women in the village interested in the opportunity would be paid in return for the quantity of fish they processed. If demand for the work outweighed supply, there would be a waiting list and all interested women would get their chance to earn extra income when their turn came. Once deboned and filleted, the fish would be individually packaged in sealed cellophane packets and packed in 40 kilogram containers. The SHFC encouraged all fishermen to bring in their catch to the cooperative early in the morning, where the catch was assessed and weighed according to the product needs of HUI malls for the week. Each fisherman had an account at the SHFC and his account was credited according to the daily catch brought  in. The fishermen were free to do whatever they wanted with the catch not purchased by HUI malls. HUI malls were only interested in selling the finest quality fish in two of their exclusive high-end malls. Second- and third-tier fish were delivered to the remaining five mid-market HUI malls in Metro Manila. As a differentiating factor, the project called for the product to be sold chilled. Upscale customers in Manila preferred chilled and filleted fish because they felt it was safer than fresh fish and easier to prepare. Storage and Transport Taking into account the problematic supply of electricity and high cost of establishing a cold chain, which would have required a substantial cold storage facility investment in the village, and in line with providing sustainable low technology solutions, it was planned that the fish would be stored in a refrigerated truck which operated its cooling unit 24 hours per day and would be used as both a transport and storage facility. The refrigerated truck would make daily trips to Manila and distribute the product. Sales and Distribution HUI malls had insisted that the allocated shelves be stocked by the San Hagon cooperative. The driver would make deliveries and stock the shelves of seven different HUI malls in Manila. Fish deliveries would be made on a consignment basis and payments based on real sales were to be made to San Hagon on a weekly basis. The model had some problems, as payment by HUI malls was delayed. HUI MALLS William Hui had been one of the facilitators of the project. By providing free shelf space for San Hagon, he had received free public relations and showcased the corporate social responsibility of his company. HUI malls had financially benefited as well, receiving good-quality filleted fish at bargain prices without having to invest in setting up or managing procurement and processing operations. Hui’s business savvy had become even more apparent when he was approached by a reputable Japanese buyer who had recently purchased ISSAGA fish at one of his malls and had inquired about selling the product in Japan. IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS Under the careful guidance of Perez, the fishermen had conducted the first limited packaging test runs. The process was fraught with problems at first.  Deboning and filleting fish commercially was very different from filleting for self-consumption. At first the SHFC had wanted to package all kinds of fish, regardless of size and quality. HUI malls had rejected at least 25 per cent of the initial shipments before the SHFC had bowed to the quality standards set forth by HUI malls. Spillage and spoilage was another problem. Nearly 15 per cent of produce was lost in this way. This had been due to refrigeration problems and the freshness of the fish. Fish was a sensitive product and had a very short shelf life unless stored properly and it had become clear that not all fishermen brought in their catch in the morning. Sometimes the truck was late in picking up the day’s catch, which led to late deliveries. Aggregating enough supply to make the business run profitably was an issue at first. Even though all fishermen had joined the cooperative, supply problems due to adverse weather conditions and sometimes due to the complacency of the fishermen had resulted in the shipment truck making a loss nearly 50 per cent of the time. Once the product was on the supermarket shelf however, it sold well. â€Å"But the process of getting the product on the shelf is inefficient to such a degree that the cooperative is making a loss,† Petersen had thought when conducting an interim project evaluation. INTERIM PROJECT EVALUATION Perez had put his vast experience to good use and had intervened to iron out the problems. The logistic problem was solved by hiring two new drivers from the village to man the truck. The initial drivers’ contract was terminated. MIA purchased and donated a second-hand refrigerated truck body with a powerful diesel-operated air conditioner, which was used to store the daily catch if the truck was not available to pick up or deliver the product. Perez’s interventions had worked and the profits had started to seep in. PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT After a full year of careful scrutiny to make sure the project did not suffer from continuity problems, Petersen had sent in his project evaluation report to MIA Denmark and had lauded the project as a great success. The results of the project had started to show in San Hagon, as most villagers had upgraded their huts to cement-walled, galvanized, iron sheet roofed buildings. Most homes had upgraded their TVs and purchased karaoke players to supplement their home entertainment. The most visible improvement was the number of banka boats that were now outfitted with engines. FISH DELIVERIES CEASE MIA’s country director, Petersen, was preparing to transfer to MIA Africa when the phone call from HUI malls had come in informing MIA of the abrupt halt in fish deliveries more than a month ago and asking MIA for its help. HUI malls had inferred that they were ready to negotiate with the SHFC to improve business terms if need be. Petersen had unwillingly agreed to send a fact-finding mission to understand what had gone wrong and hired McKenzie to head the fact-finding team, as the initial San Hagon project team had already been disbanded. Page 15 9B09M016 Exhibit 1 MAP OF THE PHILIPPINES Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rp.html, accessed October 28, 2008. Page 16 9B09M016 Exhibit 2 PHILIPPINE SAVINGS AND INVESTMENT AS SHARE OF GDP 1996-2001 AVERAGE (%) Savings/GDP 40.1 33.5 45.2 22.9 26.1 19.7 32.5 18.9 26.9 12.5 China, People’s Republic of Korea Malaysia India Taiwan Bangladesh Thailand Philippines Indonesia Pakistan Investment/GDP 37.8 31.8 33.4 24 23.7 21.5 28 20.4 23.2 17.1 Source: www.adb.org/Documents/Books/ADO/2002/Update/ado2002update.pdf, accessed November 18, 2008. Exhibit 3 PROJECT SAN HAGON FACT SHEET OBJECTIVES 1) Increase $1/day income to $4 2) Integrate more women into the workforce 3) Promote environment conservation PROJECT COST FORECAST Procurement Construction Training Salaries MIA local consultants/month SHFC management salaries/month $ 18,000 5,000 1,500 1,500 230 OPERATIONAL COST Truck rental/month Truck driver salary/month SHFC workers’ salaries/month Fuel/month Packaging material/month 850 375 1,000 3,500 250 ADDITIONAL COSTS Procurement $4,000 Additional driver salary/month Additional fuel/month 4,000 375 1,250 EXECUTION Mr. Petersen, MIA director, The Philippines Mr. Perez, project manager, San Hagon Page 17 9B09M016 Exhibit 4 PROJECT SAN HAGON GANTT CHART Page 18 9B09M016 Exhibit 5 PROJECT SAN HAGON THREE YEAR FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS YEAR 1 255,200 236,880 12,600 249,480 5,720 REVENUE Cost of goods sold Fixed cost TOTAL COST INCOME BEFORE TAXES NOTE: All amounts in US$ at $1=56 Filipino pesos Fiscal year ends December 31 Exhibit 6 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS YEAR 2 382,800 236,880 12,600 249,480 133,320 YEAR 3 382,800 236,880 12,600 249,480 133,320 Page 19 9B09M016 Exhibit 7 $ (000) VALUE CHAIN COST STRUCTURE Page 20 9B09M016 Exhibit 8 DISTRIBUTION CYCLE ANALYSIS