Automated Services Essay Example for Free

Automated Services Essay Guidance and Counseling System is the most critical discipline office in many institutions such as the education sectors. Schools, Colleges, and Universities are depending on the Guidance Office to guide students to secure their welfare mentally and academically. Students that are carefully guided by the office until they graduated are most likely to be successful in their professional careers. Guidance and Counseling System is composed of many services that help the student cope in their school life particularly in College life which is the transition of puberty and adolescence. Students find it hard during college to express themselves and make important decisions regarding their career. So the Guidance and Counseling Office will enable them to make wise decision by offering them Guidance Services essential functions. In UPH-DJGTMU, the Guidance and Counseling Office is using manual system, that’s why their services is not that efficient. The Automated Services of Guidance and Counseling Office will enable their services be more available to students. Project Context UPH-DJGTMU Guidance and Counseling Office has a hard time attending to their offered services because it doesn’t have an automated Guidance System. And because of that, student is not serve completely, its services is not implemented well because of manual system of doing task such as updating particular records, inventory of student records, scheduling student counseling, updating career information, proposing seminars and orientations, handling student complaints, issuing a parents meeting with the counselor, making contact with outside companies for the student tracing program after they graduate and other important services. Those tasks are sometimes not well handled because the office has limited personnel. Since the Guidance and Counseling Office is lacking of manpower, it is understood that all services and task of the Office cannot carry out smoothly. That’s why our group decided to propose an Automated Guidance System which we called Automated Services of UPH-DJGTMU Guidance and Counseling Office. Purpose and Description This system will enable the Guidance personnel’s to keep their student service systematic. The Inventory Service will keep records of the student basic information. The Information Service will orient the students particularly the freshmen’s on how to choose their career by showing the possible job opportunities of their offered courses. The Counseling Service will keep track of the students counseling record and to help them win mental and academic problems in college life. The Follow-up Service shall assist the students in situating themselves on finding the most appropriate job after they graduate. The Placement Service includes a Virtual Tour that shows the Dean’s Office of the Medical University and other important offices. Referral Service shall recommend students into a more specialized person regarding their mental case problem. The Seminar Inquiry will keep track of the seminars and orientations of the Guidance Office that has been executed on Medical University. It allows seminar evaluation to recognize the importance of a seminar. The Letter Information stores all the letters made to stored records and review for future use. The Student – Teacher Welfare Section will help the both party to express their complains and do further actions regarding the issue. All references and records are kept confidential because the system is password protected and can the password can be modified from time to time. Objectives a. General Objective: To develop a system for the automation of the Guidance Services that can help them serve students with the highest quality. b. Specific Objectives: * To automate Student Profile Records for faster indexing. * To update orientation and seminars simultaneously by the help of surveys. * To orient the students particularly the freshmen’s on how to choose their career by showing the possible job opportunities of their offered courses. * To keep track of the students counseling record. * To recommend students into a more specialized person regarding their mental case problem. * To record and evaluate seminars * To enable Virtual Tour on the Medical Building Dean’s Offices and other important Office. * To record student-teacher complains and make actions to solve conflicts between student and professors. * To allow the Graduate Students to register into the Graduate Tracer Study which will enable them to find suitable job according to their respective course. Scope and limitations The proposed system was designed and developed to provide UPH-DJGTMU the most effective tool to innovate their current Guidance System. This system is composing of the following features: * Inventory Service * Information Service * Counseling Service * Placement Service * Follow-up Service * Referral Service * Seminar Inquiry * Letter Information * Student-Teacher Welfare Section It limits the user only to Guidance Personnel’s and not made to be used by students. Benefits and Impacts The system was made to serve the students of UPH-DJGTMU by helping them thru the Guidance Services what will make huge change on the services done on manual system. To produce academically and mentally molded students is the goal of the automation. In this study, the target beneficiaries are students. The system will offer them systematic guidance services which will guide them throughout college life, they will be given the opportunity to enhance their abilities and talents by seminars, the system will also guide the student to the right path of choosing career the right course when they enroll. The system will also enhance the student-teacher relations in school, this will lessen the conflict issues between other faculties and students. The automated system will also refer students to outside institutions regarding mental issues to help them cope up with mental problems. The system also has company affiliation so when they graduate, the Guidance Office will also help them find a suitable job fit in their talents and capabilities. Definition of Terms Technical Terms 1. System – it is any collection of components elements that work together to perform a task and it is used in a variety of context. 2. Evaluation – act of considering or examining something on order to judge its condition 3. Hard disk – A permanently installed, continuously spinning magnetic storage medium made up of one or more rigid disk platters. 4. Memory – The memory area in which all programs and data must reside before programs can be executed or data manipulated. Non-Technical Terms 1. Field – The smallest logical unit of data. Ex: are employee number, first name and price. 2. Record – A collection of related fields (such as an employee record) describing an event or an item. 3. Password – A word or phrase known only to the end user. When entered, it permits the end user to gain access to the system. 4. Record – A collection of related fields (such as an employee record) describing an event or an item. Acronyms 1. RAD – Rapid Access Development 2. JAD – Joint Application Development Chapter II REVIEW OF RELATED CONCEPTUAL LITERATURE / SYSTEMS The concept of developmental guidance was born early in the 20th century. From its inception through the 1950s, the focal point of guidance in a school setting was vocational education and training. Heavily influenced by the industrial revolution and world war, the concern of counselors and teachers alike was to prepare students for life after high school. From a guidance perspective specifically, that meant steering students to careers that best fit their abilities and goals. By the 1950s, developmental guidance had grown to incorporate the molding of student attitudes and behaviors. More emphasis was placed on the mental health and emotional well being of children. (Muro Kottman, 1995) By the late 1960s, the role of the school counselor began to take its current shape. In its contemporary state, guidance has grown to include counseling, planning, placement, referral, and consultation Schmidt, 1993). At the same time, guidance at the elementary school was being developed and implemented. Along with the development of elementary guidance came the emphasis on prevention, intervention, and coordination (Muro Kottman, 1995). As the field of developmental guidance has grown, so have the emphasis educators have placed on coordination and cooperation. In a well functioning school environment, cooperation exists between all school staff members. For a comprehensive guidance program to flourish, cooperation between school counselors and teachers is paramount. According to Nugent (1990), next to counselors, teachers are the most important component in implementing a successful comprehensive guidance program. By and large, teachers are the key adult figure in the average pupil’s school day. They are the most influential figures, be it positive or negative, to the average student. This is particularly true at the elementary level, where children spend the majority of their day in one classroom. School counselors and teachers have co-existed in the school setting for quite some time. One would assume that over that period of time both professions would come to understand and accept one another. Some research suggests otherwise. According to Myrick (2003), some teachers hold misconceptions about the role and function of counselors. Counselors are sometimes reviewed as administrative assistants who have little time to counsel students. Fueling the misconception is the fact that some teachers distrust counselors, due to their apparent alignment with administration. These teachers are wary of counselors observing students in their classrooms. They worry that their teaching methods are being evaluated as if counselors work as the eyes and ears of the administration. Teachers who are uncooperative and unsupportive have criticized developmental guidance in general. These teachers believe that counselors have little, if any, impact on student behaviors or student performance. They do not like students from their classrooms working with counselors. They may even refuse to send their students to the guidance office. The refusal is based on the belief that counselors really do not help, and sending students to the guidance office during class time is a waste of time that only penalizes the student. Still other teachers will send their students to see the counselor, but only during student recess (Muro Kottman, 1995).

Advantages and disadvantages of the oligopoly market system

Advantages and disadvantages of the oligopoly market system This essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the oligopoly market system. Supermarket has brought into the service for man for long. The roots of supermarkets are the Co-operative of the nineteenth century. At the beginning of the early 20th century the people come up to an idea for selling goods. After that there become the first Supermarket which was set up in January 12th, 1948 in UK. (Brainy History, 2010) As soon as the first supermarket has been set up, a large number of supermarkets came out such as Tesco and Sainsburys. The supermarket industry is now developing in a very high speed. As the supermarket is one of the great improvements in peoples daily life, it becomes one of the most important places for all the people. Today, the supermarket industry in UK has already been changed into oligopoly market. This essay will discuss the characteristics of oligopoly market, and then discuss the kinked demand curve, non-price competition and the marketing mix in the o ligopoly market. First of all, an oligopoly market means that several relatively interdependent companies which concentrate the supply and compete with each other. Therefore, this become highly competitive and the oligopoly companies sell the homogeneous products which are branded. (Tutor2u, 2010) If the company sells the homogeneous products, the consumers will not get the new and better product in a very short time because of the competitive between the firms. They all sell the same product so that there wont be pressure for them to be survived in the UK Supermarket market. Another characteristic of oligopoly market is that the market has been controlled by a few big firms. As a result, these companies will control the market as they like. That may let another characteristic happened which is called price maker. (Tutor2u, 2010) Price maker is a kind of people or firm who set up the price for the product in the market. These people could easily control the market in a way the oligopoly firms want, s o that the consumers will not get some preferences in this kind of market, such as discount, promotion and so on. Therefore, from the characteristics above, it easily shows that the oligopoly market does huge harmful for the normal consumers. If the UK supermarket keep on being like this, the consumers will not get preferences anymore. The next point which is going to talk about is the kinked demand curve. The blank area is where price stability happens (from figure 1). These oligopoly firms always use the non-price competition to increase their output quantity. According to these two figure, in this case, there are no rising in price so that the consequence is what consumers want to see. Non-price competitions, is a kind of competition which is not focus on the price. That shows there are many other competitions in this market. From the Tesco.com and Asda.co.uk, it shows that the Big Fours official websites are some promotional activities, for example discount and cash back. Although, there are some different methods for non-price competition. Figure 1: Figure 2: Reported by TIMESONLINE 2007, Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and the former Safeway, and the dairy companies Wiseman, Dairy Crest and Cheese Company are doubt for the dairy product price in 2007. As a result, Tesco possibly get a number of number for about 80 million bill. After that, Tesco is going to get back the money by law. So that the case shows that there are some mistakes in this market system. This may also damage the market system too and the consumer confidence can be lost at the same time. The last and which is the most important that can not be ignored is the marketing mix for the oligopoly market system. First of all, in an oligopoly market, the place for which the consumers can go to buy the products are mainly the Big Four. The consumers can not have many different choices for choosing the place to buy things so that Big Four has already control the market as they want. Then, the price can just set up by the price maker. In an oligopoly market, the price maker is the oligopoly firm which shows that the firms can set up the price as they want. For the product, every oligopoly company produces homogeneous product and service. The Big Four use their selves advantages to build high barrier to entry which is to protect their market share. These will make the consumers own less choices for buying the product. Promotion also doesnt always happened in the oligopoly market. All in all, the oligopoly market do harmful for the consumers. In conclusion, from the discussion above, we know that the characteristics of ver, the maximum competition in the oligopoly market can be advantageous to the improvement in providing various products to meet the needs of consumers. It will be meaningful in their oligopoly market and the marketing mix and kinked demand curve shows that the oligopoly is beneficial to the consumers. And oligopoly is also beneficial for sellers too. What is more, our consumers are able to enjoy a well-developed purchasing environment.

International joint venture

International joint venture Joint venture is one of the preferred international market entry modes by many firms but it suffers high failure rate. Construct a review of literature on how to manage international joint venture successfully. International joint venture is one of the preferred international market entry mode. â€Å"An international joint venture is a separate legal Organizational entity in which at least two partners that are economically, Geographically and legally independent of each other participate† (Frà ©dà ©ric and Pierre 2006). Many multinational corporations use the joint venture as the market entry mode to enter in to developing countries (young,1994: Mickiewicz , 1986). International joint ventures are popular institutional forms chosen by less developed countries to attract foreign direct investment and knowledge . Through the partnership with the foreign venture it will help in knowledge transfer in terms of technology, it also will create employment opportunities in the local country and grow the flow of foreign currencies (Udo ,Sugata and Arijit 2003). In an individualistic grown economy joint venture is used as strategic option. An foreign company can not came a open its branch straight away in the local market, so to overcome this barrier the foreign company merge with the local company to form a joint venture.. The main thing about the joint ventures are the foreign companies jointly decide with the local company to create a legal entity to share the ownership, profit or loss and other benefits of the business. Despite a strong understanding between the companies and with huge amount of resources also, the joint venture achieve a high failure rate. This is because of the differences in culture ,strategy planning and organizing , it initially start with differences an result in problem (Bruce ,1988). One of the preferred international market entry is joint venture, the other entry modes are Licensing , Direct Foreign Investment , Internationalization , Franchising and exports. Joint ventures involve two or more legally formed distinct organizations , each of which shares in the decision making activities of the jointly owned entity (Geringer and Hebert 1991 ; Geringer 1988 ). â€Å"It is deemed to be an international joint venture when at least one partners head quartered outside the ventur e country of activities, or if the Joint Venture has a greater level of operations in more than one country† (Geringer and Hebert 1991 ; Geringer and Hebert 1989). In the rapidly changing international environment the intense technology and timely competition there are major changes around the world that are political and economical . It is closely examined that joint venture or any other forms of business relates with ownership , performance and control (Hans, Stephen ,. 1997) The joint venture suffer a high failure rate because its got more than two parent organization. It is reported that 47% of the firms have more than 3 parent firms. A study in the article states that if a joint venture consist of more number of parent company means it will attain failure. (YAPING , ODED , YADONG and MEE-KAU ,. 2007). The experience of the parent company will influence the joint venture with the company in the developing countries. Essential resources and mutual understanding between the parent companies is important for the joint ventures success. The needed resources and acheived experience of joint ventures parent partner are important to cope the relationship , which leads to trust and ultimate understanding . â€Å"Companies should look for a potential partners with joint venture experiences and should have adequate knowledge to provide complementary resources† (Sim and Yunus. 1998).. For example, Bangladeshi firms should expect foreign companies such with appropriate technology, joint venture experience ,overseas marketing knowledge, managerial expertises and networks. So as the foreign company will look in the Bangladeshi firm is local market knowledge, cost effectiveness in inputs and past joint venture experience. Market strength and technology and export orientation where other im portant successful factors for joint ventures . Unlike the developed countries the developing countries need local parental control and good technology were needed to create its venture to success(Sim and Yunus. 1998). Kathryn 1988 argues that â€Å"Customer Attributes will influence firms abilities to differentiate their product offerings from those of competitors and they will also(1) determine whether sponsoring firms can standardize their respective product configurations across markets (2) grant their ventures much operating autonomyâ€Å" . The change in particular partners strategy , choosing of strategy for the joint venture and the action of the competitors must focus during the changes in the venture. And the dynamics of ventures owner and the partners collaboration must be adjusted to hypothetical changes in the respective strategically need , c apability and success of other owners in the international venture(Kathryn 1988) . The important and most surprising question is , why do joint ventures fail?. The example is This research is based on a systemetic analysis of a joint venture associating a Brazilian company (local partner), Algar, formerly ABC, with a French company Bull (foreign partner). The joint venture was founded in 1983, initially it was called as ABC-BULL but later it changed it name as ALGAR BULL, the change in the balance of power took place in 1989.then the partners separated due to situation of subsidiary. Both the companies attain huge profits but the conditions turned to be unfavorable . In the end Bull took over the entire company from to form Bull South America, right form the beginning Bulls have major rights on the company and more power on decision making process also. The main differences through the joint venture in to dissolution is the cultural factor. It has affected almost everything in that joint venture. Despite its dissolution it is considered to be a successful Joint ve nture(Frà ©dà ©ric and Pierre 2006 ). In the previous empirical studies using the meta-analysis it examines the relation between the culture and decision making strategies. The result declares that individualistic cultures prefers a f orcing strategy more over a collective cultures, wherein more likely collective cultures use withdrawing, compromising and problem solving strategies than that of the capitalistic culture (Lung-Tu 2007). Key factors for managing International Joint venture success are Performance, Human Resource development , Practices based on host cultural characteristics, Quality performance, Training competence, Flexibility and Adaptation , Technological sophistication, Knowledge acquisition from foreign partners, Cooperation between parents, Recourses sharing, Equity sharing, Governance, Political risk in host country these are some of the important key success factors that influence the International Joint venture into success. If there is any misunderstanding or conflict in these issues means it will develop a crack in the joint venture (Michael , Schon and Andreas ,. 2007 ). The individual bargaining power of the partners should determine which of them should bring the particular resources , to cut down the cost (Kathryn 1986 : Beamish , Peter 1997 ). In another example its HERO HONDA , it is the merge of HERO group of India and Honda of Japan to produce bikes, it is one of the biggest and most profit earning company in the world in terms of motorcycle sales . It is selling more than 1 million bikes per year. And it is ranked 108th in The Forbes 200 most reputed companies list 2006. Another popular example for the successful international joint venture is Sony Ericsson. The joint venture of this company was establishes on October 2001, it is the joint venture between Japanese Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecom communications company Ericsson to make mobile phones and smart phones. In the insurance industries there are also some emerging international ventures they are in following examples , such as Aviva Life Insurance Company India Ltd. It is joint venture between the Aviva life insurance in united kingdom and India based Dabur company, its Dabur that holds 74%of the stake in the company and it used the brand name of Aviva. In another example Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co., Ltd. , it is the joint venture between the Indian Motorcycle company Bajaj and German Insurance Giant Allianz Insurance. The important thing to be noted in this is that global players in the business world are elaborating there channels through the mode of joint ventures, and they a re also using there experience in to the business they are involved . Which will result in a success rate . Another awaiting joint venture in India is between Indias Bharti group and the worlds largest retailer Wal-Mart . To conclude this essay on International Joint venture, it is that the success of any joint venture is within that organization .in the very beginning itself the counterparts should target a goal and should work towards that. The partners of the joint ventures not only should share profit and losses and resources , but they also should be open to share there operational , strategies , technology ,trust , knowledge acquisition from foreign partners , selection of experienced partner and performances. And they should overcome the barriers such as cultural differences , managerial inequalities ,lack of knowledge, selection of inexperienced partner, lack in communication, and political . These barriers should be carefully tackled otherwise the joint venture will end up in failure. Despite the failures in the international joint venture rate is high companies prefer to go for it , because they enter a new market . Thus the international joint venture should overcome the above mentioned odd s and barriers to become successful joint venture in the international market . References : Udo Broll, Sugata Marjit, and Arijit Mukherjee 2003, ‘FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, CREDIBLE POLICY: The Role of Risk Sharing‘, THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE JOURNAL, Volume XVII, No. 2 : Pg 165-176 Geringer, J. Michael., and Louis.Hebert, 1989, ‘Control and Performance Of International Joint Venture . Journal Of International Business Studies, 20: Pg 235-254. Geringer, J. Michael., and Louis.Hebert. 1991, ‘MEASURING PERFORMANCE OF INTERNATIONAL JOINT VENTURES , Journal of International Business Studies; 1991, Vol. 22 Issue 2, p249-264, Geringer, J. Michael. 1988. Joint venture partner selection Strategies for developed countries. West-port Conn.: Quorum Books. Killing, J. Peter. 1983. Strategies for joint venture success. New York: Praeger. Bruce Kogut ,.1988.‘Joint Ventures: Theoretical and Emperical Perspectives , Strategic Management Journal ,Vol. 9, Pg319-332 . Hans Mjoen . Stephen Tallman,. 1997. ‘Control and Performance in international Joint venture. ORGANIZATION SCIENCE ,. VOI. 8, No, 3. Richard N. Osborn ,. and John Hagedoorn , 1997. ‘THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION AND EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS OF INTERORGANIZATIONAL ALLIANCES AND NETWORKS . Academy of management journal. Vol.40,No. 2 , 261-278. Frà ©dà ©ric Prevot, and Pierre-Xavier Meschi. 2006 . ‘Evolution of an International Joint Venture: The Case of a French Brazilian Joint Venture. Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 48(3) Pg 297-319 YAPING GONG, ODED SHENKAR, YADONG LUO and MEE-KAU NYAW ,. 2007 . ‘DO MULTIPLE PARENTS HELP OR HINDER INTERNATIONA JOINT VENTURE PERFORMANCE? THE MEDIATING ROLES OF CONTRACT COMPLETENESS AND PARTNER COOPERATION , Strategic Management Journal,. 28: Pg 1021 -1034. Michael Nippa , Schon Beechler and Andreas Klossek ,. 2007. ‘Success Factors for Managing International Joint Ventures: A Review and an Integrative Framework , Management and Organization Review.3:2 2007 A. B . Sim and Yunus Ali ,. 1998.‘Performance of international joint venture from developing and developed countries : An Emperical Study in a Developing Country context . Journal Of world Business / 33(4). Lung-Tu Lu,. 2007. ‘The Effect Of Cultural Similarity On International Joint Ventures: An Emperical Study . International Journal of Management. Vol.24 No.2 : Pg 230-241 . Kathryn Rudie Harrigan,. 1988. ‘Joint Venture And Competitive Strategy. Strategic Management Journal. issue 9: Pg 141-158 (1988). W. Beamish, J. Peter Killing,. 1997. Cooperative Strategies : Asian Pacific Perspectives. Craig C. Julian,. 2005. International joint venture performance in South East Asia. Kathryn Rudie Harrigan,. 1986. ‘ San Francisco: new Lexington Press .

Caribbean Society Essay -- Plantations Caribbean History Essays

Caribbean Society An Essay on the Culture of Incarceration A suggestion was made, in the context of the classroom setting that an interesting assignment would be to question shoppers at a suburban mall about slavery in the Caribbean and to capture the responses on videotape. An initial thought in response to this suggestion was to wonder just how one would go about eliciting any sort of meaningful response from a likely ill-informed and possibly disinterested group of consumers in central Connecticut on this subject. Obviously, to ask questions in survey fashion regarding which Caribbean Island the respondent might prefer to vacation at during these cold weather months would produce some informed opinions. That being the case, it seems only fair, even logical, that one should have some understanding of the nature of slavery that once existed there, from which its present population has emerged. Given the desirability and popularity of such vacation destinations, it would be of paramount insensitivity to not understand its history of slavery, the foundation of its society. A Society Imposed from Europe and Africa The arrival of Columbus and the Spanish at the end of the 15th century represented an economic ‘consolation prize’ of sorts for failure to make the East India connection. The discovery of precious metals soon helped them forget the spices of the Orient, however, and the indigenous Arawak people were rapidly pressed into service in the mining of them. In subsequent decades, greater quantities of gold and especially silver were found further west, in Mexico and Peru, and the imperial attentions shifted there. Left behind were the now Spanish controlled islands of the Caribbean to function primarily as provisions... ...ation arrangement was its capacity to regimentally control the activity of the overwhelming majority of the population in the service of monocrop production for export. The implications are that the degrading and dehumanizing nature of slavery was subinfeudated into the dependency of an entire island’s population on the success of the plantation enterprise. Since nearly all suitable land was devoted to the plantation, usually sugar, importation of food was often required. This then translates into the dismal reality that, while life as a slave on the plantation was an unbearable existence that portended a short life-expectancy, life outside of it may have an even less certain survival, particularly on the smaller, plantation-saturated islands such as Barbados. It is this entrapment that defined the masses of humanity residing in the Caribbean for several centuries.

James Baldwin’s Critique of the Social Condition Essay -- James Baldwi

James Baldwin’s Critique of the Social Condition James Baldwin was an African American writer who, through his own personal experiences and life, addressed issues such as race, sexuality, and the American identity. â€Å"Notes of a Native Son† is one of many essays that Baldwin wrote during his lifetime. Within this essay, Baldwin talks about when his father died and the events that revolved around it. His father’s death occurs in the early 1940s, where oppression and racism were still fairly prevalent in many cities across the nation. So amidst the events that revolve around Baldwin’s father’s death, there are many riots and beatings taking place. This essay is simply not a recollection of what Baldwin experienced in the past, but it challenges, critiques, and tries to understand the current social condition of the time. He does this by recalling his personal experiences to draw the reader in and as a result of that, can begin to construct an analysis of the social condition. Baldwin weaves in and out of his personal experiences and private reasons to give the reader both a small and large perspective of what is going on at the time. It’s important for the reader to have a small, personal perspective so they can connect with the emotions Baldwin expresses. At the same time a large general perspective is needed because it shows the reader that Baldwin’s experiences, although unique, is connected to a larger group of people, that in one way or another, his plight is the plight of many. Baldwin effectively implements this method when he says â€Å"All of Harlem, indeed, seemed to be infected by waiting† (73). This sentence is placed in between two moments. Prior to this sentence, Baldw... ...bat the poison with it, â€Å"†¦perhaps poison should be fought with poison† (78). Through his own experiences, Baldwin is able to highlight the social condition that he was surrounded with during that period. Through skillful use of words and transition, Baldwin was able to indirectly question and analyze the social condition without losing the interest of the reader. By moving back and forth from a personal experience to a public condition, Baldwin makes the essay very powerful and very effective in getting his points across. What is also successful about Baldwin’s method is that it captures the readers attention and forces them to look deeper and understand what it is he truly is talking about. Works Cited Baldwin, James. â€Å"Notes of a Native Son.† 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.

Corporate Governance Benchmarking

Running head: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE BENCHMARKING Corporate Governance Benchmarking University of Phoenix Corporate Governance MMPBL 570 November 30, 2009 Corporate Governance Benchmarking McBride Financial Services Inc. is a low cost mortgage provider located in Boise, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, as well as North and South Dakota. Recently, Beltway Investments became the majority investor in McBride Financial Services, Inc. As a result, McBride’s CEO needs the board of directors’ collaboration while setting up internal governance controls and ensuring proper auditing. To secure that corporate governance benefits the company and investors, McBride’s CEO needs to consider benchmarking. Thus, the authors of this paper examine the benchmarking of Adelphia Communications, Tyco, Calpine Corporation, and Tyson Foods to help develop best practices for McBride Financial Services, Inc. Accordingly, Chew and Gillan (2005) state, â€Å"The role of top management is no longer just control and coordination; it is anticipating, leading, and managing change and articulating the rationale for such change to employees† (p. ). Hence, the lack of corporate governance could not be demonstrated better than the rise and fall of Adelphia Communications. Adelphia Communications was at one time the fifth largest cable provider in the United States. The company was controlled by John Rigas, the founder of Adelphia, and his family; they controlled 60 percent of the total voting shares. The family considered Adelphia funds their own personal funds and spent them lavishly on everything from airplanes to professional sports teams. When all was finally revealed, the Rigas family received $3. 4 billion in loans from Adelphia. The company eventually filed for bankruptcy and was split up in a buyout by Time Warner Cable and Comcast (Comcast, 2006). McBride Financial Services, Inc. (MFSI) is a small company controlled by McBride, the CEO. He is looking to move to the next level, like Adelphia. MFSI has recently formed a partnership with Beltway Investments to allow growth into a regional financial services provider and form a board of directors. It is not a partnership. It is a corporation and owned by Hugh and Beltway. They are not partners which is a different legal form of business. The company needs to embrace the board of directors as an independent oversight committee and not as rubber stamp committee, yet this is the initial direction the CEO wants the board to take (University of Phoenix, 2009). Adelphia Communications failed because the board was part of the corruption and independent from the daily operations of the company. The CEO needs to also allow an external accounting firm to conduct regular audits, regardless of the results, of the company to ensure the corruption of Adelphia is not duplicated because â€Å"The way boards are structured, meeting every other month, they have to rely on outside advisers† (Patsuris, 2002). Another situation to consider is the decline of the stock prices for Tyco, turning out to be quite detrimental because of the same actions of Kozlowski, the former CEO; he failed to lead the company affectively. Kozlowski was found guilty of using company funds for his personal expenses (Cummins, 2006). Even though he was found guilty, the company’s image is still flawed and questioned, the same as the value of company stock prices. Nevertheless, Eric Pillmore is in the process of reclaiming the company’s image by reconstructing and communicating a well built ethical atmosphere. Pillmore may be strict and enforce control to help the company; perhaps if the control had been maintained through corporate governance in the past, and if employees had been at ease in bringing issues to the fore front, Kozlowski would not have been able to send the company into the tailspin it has experienced (Cummins, 2006). MFSI can learn valuable lessons from Tyco; in conjunction with legal action and a marred company because of inadequate corporate governance, Tyco has made strides in changing its business environment. Tyco has managed to make improvements, from restructuring the company ethics statement, to meeting each employee personally, supplying them with a company ethics statement, and publishing a quarterly report on any problems employees brought to the company’s attention, and compiling the findings and disciplinary actions (Cummins, 2006, para. 3). Pillmore may be strict and controlling but he has turned Tyco around by improving employee behavior, creating a trustful environment and communicating with Tyco employees. MFSI’s CEO needs to consider such changes as Tyco has implemented, to be in compliance with federal guidelines, build trusting relationships with his employees and change the tone of MFSI’s corporate culture by adhering to a new corporate governance plan. Basically, in critiquing and analyzing the roles of the key leaders of corporate governance to assess the function of ethics in compliance, key concepts and the best practices of Calpine Corporation have also been considered to help MFSI. According to Chew and Gillan (2005), â€Å"During the past decade many CEOs of large companies have become highly visible public figures,† and while MFSI is still evolving, pressure to act appropriately exists (p. 1). This visibility increases accountability for leaders’ corporate governance. In the case of MFSI, the CEO is faced with critical decision making. MFSI’s CEO’s corporate governance has the potential of creating undesirable outcomes. However, to help MFSI, the best practices of Calpine demonstrate how decision making can be executed through the code of conduct guidelines. Calpine is a successful company that despite its business strategies, it was challenged with uncontrollable environmental forces. In 1998, Calpine experienced the effects of deregulation; yet leadership followed the company’s good corporate governance to address the issue. Hence, in comparing MFSI with Calpine, it is noted that Calpine’s leadership is committed to act with integrity and transparency while MFSI’s CEO is behaving unethically by disregarding the board of directors’ and shareholders’ input. Chew and Gillan (2005) declare, â€Å"The performance of companies, good or bad, is often attributed—not only by the press, but by the directors and shareholders of the companies—to the CEO’s personal business savvy and leadership† (p. 2). Therefore, in providing MFSI with good corporate governance best practices, Tyson Foods is also considered. Tyson is a company from which MFSI can learn. MFSI’s CEO wants to control the board of directors. He tells them not to worry about doing any work or meeting more than a few times a year; â€Å"I will handle the real work,† exclaims the CEO (University of Phoenix, 2009). Tyson entered into a settlement agreement that not only cost them a considerable amount of money but also required them to practice proper corporate governance. By trying to control the board of directors, and by not offering incentive compensation and stock options, MFSI’s CEO may soon find that investors do not appreciate his self serving financial gain at the cost of their right to a good return n investment. MFSI’s CEO must take seriously, as Tyson now takes seriously, the need to allow the board of directors to be active in the business of the company and to carry out their duty to protect shareholders’ interests (Friedlander, 2008). Also, MFSI’s CEO must set up proper audit procedures, using an impartial outside aud itor while setting up internal controls. MFSI’s CEO needs to understand that corporate governance procedures are not only for his benefit but also for every investor’s welfare. The CEO needs to include others in the decision making, helping to enhance every stakeholder’s benefits. By creating transparency in their procedures and corporate governance, MFSI can help encourage the board of directors to work collaboratively to provide a good return to investors while creating long term gains that will keep the company running strong. If MFSI’s CEO continues to try to circumvent the company’s processes and make the board of directors a powerless figurehead, his investors might soon become disgruntled and take their investments elsewhere. Conclusion Maintaining state and federal guidelines and staying within the company’s code of conduct can be challenging. Thus, top leaders need to delineate the roles of each person in charge of decision making and correct any incompatible behaviors contrary to good corporate governance. In the case of McBride Financial Services, Inc. , for instance, corporate governance was identified as incongruent with the overall ethical code of conduct and responsibility of top leadership. While the best practices of the companies mentioned in this paper offer fundamental principles to executing decision making in managing the interests of stakeholders, it is also critical to adhere to all Federal ethical guidelines to help mitigate any potential undesired outcomes. Synopsis of Adelphia Communication by Michael Gillespie Issue in the Scenario that is facing the company Adelphia Communications was a publicly held company owned mostly by the founder John Rigas and his family. Adelphia had a board of directors the consisted of nine people, five of them appointed by the Rigas. Over a five year period of time the Rigas family â€Å"loaned† $3. 1 billion dollars from Adelphia. This was $800 million more than what was initially reported during an SEC investigation (Patsuris, 2002). These â€Å"loans† financed everything rom real estate ventures, airplanes, country club memberships, and operating the Buffalo Sabres hockey team. The Board of Directors fired the auditor of the company, Deloitte & Touche, when they began to question some inconsistencies found during an audit (Farrell, 2002). Ironically, Adelphia sued Deloitte & Touche for incompetence. If Adelphia’s board of directors had been independent, the board would have had to r ely on reports from management, external auditors and consultants, in order to determine the company’s status. Unfortunately, Adelphia’s board was so packed with insiders it was hardly in this position. Company response to the issue Soon after the termination of Deloitte, PriceWaterhouseCoopers was selected as the new auditor for Adelphia. The first step for PWC was to re-audit previous year’s financial statements. Two weeks after the hiring of PWC, Adelphia filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection and was able to secure $1. 5 billion in debt to continue operating. The company hired a new board of directors. To fill these positions the firm went outside the Adelphia umbrella and searched for ethical industry veterans to become board members. John Rigas was sentenced to 12 years in prison and his sons were sentenced to 17 years. Outcomes from the company’s response Adelphia Communications was never able to recover from the lack of corporate governance and the corrupt management of the company. In 2006, Time Warner Cable and Comcast Cable purchased Adelphia for $12. 7 billion in cash and stock options (Comcast, 2006). This deal took over 40 months to complete due to fraud and security investigations and the fact that Adelphia was operating under bankruptcy protection. Synopsis of Tyco by Colleen Holdahl Issue in the Scenario that is facing the company Tyco faced major legal issues in 2002 and was responsible to pay a â€Å"$50 million fine to settle claims that it inflated profits from 1996 through 2002† (Cummins, 2006, para. 3). Dennis Kozlowski, the company’s CEO, was found guilty of embezzling funds to such extravagance as reporting he purchased â€Å"a $6,000 shower curtain† (Cummins, 2006, para. 2) and hosting a â€Å"$2 million birthday party for his wife† (Cummins, 2006, para. 2). With all the turbulence Tyco has gone through, the present leadership is making progress to clean-up the company’s reputation. Eric Pillmore, the current senior vice president of corporate governance, has been the leader of the clean-up. Outcomes from the company’s response Pillmore started ‘cleaning-up’ Tyco by implementing a new corporate governance plan; starting with the replacement of the previous board of directors, developing, and forming a new ethics code. The newly implemented governance plan â€Å"first principle calls for strong leaders who see themselves as stewards of the company and mentors for its future leaders† (Cummins, 2006, para. 9). Pillmore is of the conclusion that some of the former leaders have more concern with their own self significance; seeing themselves as ‘wheeler dealers,’ instead of being responsible and looking out for the best interests of the company. Pillmore also believes one of the most critical functions of his job as chief financial officer is to monitor the finances and act as a mentor to everyone in the company (Cummins, 2006). Among Pillmore’s other philosophies is ‘a web of accountability’ and ‘a robust process to understand why people behave the way they do’. He believes every employee has something to contribute to maintain an ethical business environment and leaders should not be intimidating. Employees should be free to approach their company leaders on ethics and company values issues. Outcomes from the company’s response Eric Pillmore takes the time to meet each employee, supplying them with the company’s ethics statement, and to discuss concerns or issues they may encounter. Tyco â€Å"publishes a quarterly report on any problems employees brought to the company’s attention, then the company’s findings and any disciplinary action- leaving out all employees’ names† (Cummins, 2006, para. 3). After the turbulence and with the help of Pillmore, Tyco has turned around and once again has a positive company image and the stock has recovered most of its value. Tyco received a rating by the Governance Metrics International as â€Å"one of the most improved companies globally; on a scale of one to te n, Tyco rose from a 1. 5 at the end of 2002 to 8. 5† (Cummins, 2006, para. 13). Synopsis of Calpine Corporation by Marisela Jimenez Issue in the Scenario that is facing the company Calpine Corporation is a successful independent power company that has strived to improve its business operations to help it advance its mission, values, and vision. While Calpine has managed to sustain its record high profits, the company, nevertheless, has faced changes in the business environment, particularly in deregulation. In 1998, a national movement, led by state legislation across the country, passed a U. S. Congress bill to accelerate and spread nationwide electric deregulation (FindingUniverse, 2009). This issue affected Calpine’s overall business functioning. Company response to the issue However, Calpine responded to the issue by focusing on the opportunities presented by deregulation. In other words, â€Å"The company’s foundation as a service provider to power plant operators and its subsequent development into a power plant operator itself engendered a vertically integrated enterprise primed for the new competitive era† (FundingUniverse, 2009). Calpine synergized its operations and focused on developing systems to maximize resources by improving conceptual designs, financing, construction, operation, fuel management, and power marketing. Through the synergistic approach to the business of producing electricity, Calpine managed to remain competitive in the market by strategically preserving profits without cutting the highly aggressive rates. The changes in deregulation helped Calpine’s leadership take immediate action by addressing the uncontrollable forces affecting the company. Leadership realized the potential for deregulation and its implications in the company; therefore, when Congress passed the deregulation bill, Calpine’s leadership was competently prepared. Outcomes from the company’s response Calpine’s outcome of the company’s response to the issue helped expedite the acquisition of 46 gas-fired turbines produced by Siemens Westinghouse. This acquisition radically enhanced Calpine’s market presence; leadership identified the opportunity of expansion as a result of deregulation. Basically, â€Å"The combination of Calpine management’s intuitive powers in foreseeing a growing demand for capacity and its willingness to gamble heavily paid handsome dividends,† enabling Calpine to grow into a successful company (FundingUniverse, 2009). Calpine’s leadership, however, ensures that their commitment to good corporate governance adheres to the highest ethical standards; thus, leadership behaves with integrity and transparency while maintaining strong levels of communication with stakeholders, including the board of directors, employees, and the community. Calpine’s leadership decision making is guided by the company’s code of conduct, helping to discourage any illegal and unethical behavior (Calpine, 2009). Synopsis of Tyson Foods by Carole Kindt Issue in the Scenario that is facing the company Over the years Tyson Foods has handled controversial issues concerning their business practices. They have been questioned over their ties to former President Clinton, unsanitary and dangerous conditions in their plants, plants staffed by low-paid workers, and even questionable campaign contributions (Unknown 1, 2009). In 2008, Tyson entered into a settlement with its investors over questionable practices in a case that named Don Tyson, members of his family, and the Board of Directors. The case alleged misconduct in connection with related party transactions and granting stock options to officers and directors of Tyson (Chase, 2008). The settlement agreement approved by the judge in the case ordered Tyson to pay $4. 5 million to their largest shareholders and forced improvements to Tyson’s corporate governance policies (Chase, 2008). As part of the settlement agreement, Tyson agreed not to engage in any new related party transactions without the approval of the Board and also to hire a consultant to evaluate its internal audit and control processes (Chase, 2008). Company response to the issue Tyson’s Board of Directors immediately began fulfilling the terms of the settlement agreement and they have worked to create a strong corporate governance structure. In 2008, the Board appointed a lead independent director and a new chairman of its compensation committee as well as establishing a nominating committee (Unknown 2, 2008). By focusing on their internal controls and corporate governance, Tyson’s board of directors has returned to their fundamental task, to work in good faith to assure they are upholding their fiduciary duties to the stockholders. Outcomes from the company’s response Tyson’s board of directors received a wake-up call that shook them out of their lassitude and encouraged them to make changes that enhance the long term goals of Tyson Foods as well as the return for their investors (Friedlander, 2008). In this way, Tyson will rebuild its reputation and trust with investors as well as fulfill the company’s long-term goals. By creating committees made up of independent, non-biased members, Tyson will create the transparency necessary to rebuild investor trust and build their company for the future. Good choice of companies and relating some of the take-a-ways to McB. Paper easy to read and follow but you could have worked the lesson into McB in more detail. Grade 96 References Calpine. (2009). Corporate Governance. [Online]. Available: http://www. calpine. com/ About/oc_corpgov. asp (2009, November 25). (Chase R 2008 Judge Approves $4. 5M Settlement Against Tyson Foods Directors. )Chase, R. (2008). Judge Approves $4. 5M Settlement Against Tyson Foods Directors. CNA Insurance Journal. Retrieved from http://www. insurancejournal. com /news/national /2008. thm? print=1 database. Chew, D. H. , Gillan, S. L. (2005). Corporate Governance at the Crossroads: A book of readings. 1 ed. ). New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Comcast Press Release. (2006). Comcast and Time Warner Complete Adelphia Acquisitions. July 31, 2006. Retrieved on November 26, 2009 from http://www. comcast. com/About/PressRelease/PressReleaseDetail. ashx? PRID=55. ComcaCCummins, H. J. (2006). Tyco exec makes the rounds spreading the word on corporate ethics. Star Tribune, p. 1D . Retrieved November 23, 2009, from ProQuest database. Farrell, M. (2002). Deloitte Blasts Adelphia on Audit. Multi Channel News. July 8, 2002. Retrieved on November 25, 2009 from http://www. allbusiness. om/company-activities-management/company-structures-ownership/6355799-1. html. (Friedlander J 2008 Overturn Time-Warner Three Different Ways)Friedlander, J. (2008). Overturn Time-Warner Three Different Ways. Delaware Journal of Corporate Law, 33(3), 631-649. Retrieved November 24, 2009, from Business Source Complete database Web Site: http://support. ebsco. com. FundingUniverse. (2009). Calpine Corporation. [Online]. Available: http://www. fundinguniverse. com/company-histories/Calpine-Corporation-Company- History. html (2009, November 25). Patsuris, Patricia (2009). Adelphia Hypocrisy. Forbes. om. Retrieved on November 25, 2009, from http://www. forbes. com/2002/06/10/0610adelphia. html. (Unknown 2 2008)Unknown 2. (2008). Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www. tyson. com//C orporate/PressRoom/ViewArticle. aspx? id-2879 Web Site: http://www. tyson. com. (Unknown 2009 Tyson Foods, Inc. )Unknown 1. (2009). Tyson Foods, Inc. Retrieved November 24, 2009, from http://www. fundinguniverse. com/company-histories. /Tyson-Foods-Inc-Company-History Web Site: http://www. fundi nguniverse. com. University of Phoenix (2009). McBride Financial Scenario. Retrieved November 16, 2009 from rEsource student website.

Internship Proposal

Topic: Several Suggestions to Develop a Custom Training Plan for Department of Forest Protection of Hanoi Statement of the Problem Organizations are formed with their employees/staffs or their Human Resource. The basic objective of a group is using its HR effectively to reach its target. One of the most important areas of Human Resource Management is training. The way that the enterprise builds and applies the training and developing program would affect not only the current productivity but also the development in the future of the company.Despite the role of training staffs, this work has not been paid much attention. Even though the staff training plans of Hanoi Forest Protection Department have worked effectively, there are some weaknesses that need to be improved. This study targets in defining and suggesting solutions for those. Purpose and Scope of work The purpose of this study is to determine the current problem in training programs in Hanoi Forest Protection Department. The study will evaluate the importance of training plans and their impact to organization’s development.Besides, basing on the collected data and information, some suggestions would be proposed to improve the Group’s current issues. Source and methods of data collection 1. Collecting Data Primary Data: – Send and collect the printed sheets that have about 10 questions around the current training programs of the organization. * Interview a staff of Human Resource Department of the organization Secondary Data: Search and get information from textbooks, Internet, old reports and other channels. . Research Methods: There are numerous ways to get information. In my report, the research methods used are: literature searches, talking with people and personal interviews Literature search  involves reviewing all readily available materials such as internal company information, annual training reports, annual training plan, company literature and any other supplied materia ls. Besides, I also used website searching and library literature search to gather information.Talking with people is another way to get information. I had conversations with graduated students and friends, who have experience in interning in state enterprises or do research about development and training program. They all feel free to share their experience and the important issues. That helps me a lot to finish this report. According to an expert, personal interviews involving one person interviewing another person for personal or detailed information are a way to get in-depth and comprehensive information.That is the reason for why an interview with a Human Resources staff of the organization was arranged. The interviewer was asked questions from a written questionnaire and the answers were recorded verbatim. Research Questions: 1. What is the major Human Resource Training program in Department of Forest Protection of Hanoi and how were they implemented? 2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current training program? 3. How could those programs be improved? ( give suggestions) Preliminary Outline 1.Acknowledge 2. Executive summary 3. Introduction a. Topic: â€Å"Some suggestions to improve the Human Resource Training Program in Hanoi Forest Protection Department† b. Rationales c. Research questions d. Scope e. Methodology 4. Body Chapter 1: Introduction of the Organization * Establishment and Development * Business Areas * Organizational Structure * Current Problem in Human Resources Training Program of the Organization Chapter 2: Theoretical framework 1. Human Resource Management and Human Resource Training 2.The role of Human Resource Training in Organizations 3. Issues in Training Plan * Training demand/ objective/ selection * Building training plan * Training methods * Fee * After training evaluation 4. Factors affect training program and its result 5. Requirement of Group’s Training Improvement Chapter 3: Findings and Analysis * Current situation of Training Program in Hanoi Forest Protection Department * Training Process in Hanoi Forest Protection Department Chapter 4: Recommendation 6. Conclusion 7. Appendixes 8. References