Human Perceptions

As Human beings we are blessed to have five senses. These senses are sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. These senses make â€Å"normal† life manageable for us. All five are equally as important as the next. However it is not impossible to live without one or two of them. Sometimes losing one our senses can enhance the rest. Human beings thrive on their ability to detect what is happening around them and make sense of the changes. Essentially, a human being cannot be able to do without the ability to sense and get the meaning behind the senses.Sensory properties are perceived when our sensory organism interacts with stimuli in the world around us. There are several senses which are fundamental in the human well being. These senses include vision, gestation, olfaction, touch, audition and multimodal perception. For humans, experience, of the world is generally stable, and the ability to perceive it is easily taken for granted. Objects have positions, shapes and colors that seem to be perceived instantly, and we can reach for them or move to where they are, without any apparent effort. It is worth oting that sensory perceptions inform the thinking process. Essentially, thinking is a process which entails and interplays of many facets. Furthermore, what is thought about proceeds from what has been acquired through the senses. Hence, faulty perceptions influence the quality of the thinking process. There are three reasons to believe that our senses are fallible. Seeing should not always be believing. Once we realize that our senses can be fooled, then we can begin to adjust to surface appearance and personal distortions. Sometimes our senses can be deceived.Our senses do not always deliver accurate data to our brain. Our senses do not operate effectively when we are sick, drowsy, or tired. Our sensual perceptions, such as sight, can deceive our brain in three major ways. It can be limited biologically, we see the superficial; corralled by custom, we see the habitual; and blinded by language, we see the general. Our five senses are generally part of nature and as we get older, wiser, and mature we tend to nurture our senses to perceive things better. We are born with vision, smelling, hearing, taste, and touch.These are innate sensory perceptions. A child does not know the smell of smoke or certain food items being cooked. As they get more mature, their senses become stronger and by nurturing these senses they can distinguish the different smells. In conclusion, our five senses are innate and part of nature. As a child, our senses are immature and as we get older our senses improve. We continually return to our senses to refresh the data, to seek new data, and to use specific instruments to justify and sharpen our senses so that we don’t perceive fallible information.Citations: Kirby, G. R. , & Goodpaster, J. R. (2007). Thinking. Prentice Hall. Chapter 3 Advances in Consumer Research – North American Conference Procee dings; 2009, Vol. 36, p127-130, 4p Kirby, G. R. , & Goodpaster, J. R. (2007). Thinking. Prentice Hall. Patterson, J. , Owen, C. , Frank, D. , Smith, R. , & Cadusch, P. (2004, May). Flavour sensory qualities and consumer perceptions – a comparison of sensory and brain activity responses to flavour components in different populations. International Journal of Food Science & Technology, 39(5), 481-490.

Company Profile Essay

Introduction BAYO is example of a specialty store that now competing to other leading specialty store. We aim to meet the following objectives upon conducting this study: To Identify the retail format of BAYO and its competitors, To study and understand the company’s retail format, To identify the advantages and disadvantages of BAYO with its competitors, To identify the strength and the weaknesses of BAYO and aTo help improve the service provided by BAYO to its customers. Brief history of the company BAYO started out as a made-to-measure dress shop in Makati. The need to expand grew bigger when BAYO launched its ready-to-wear line. In 1992, the growing demand triggered the establishment of Lyncor, Inc., then a manufacturing firm, to support BAYO. â€Å"BAYO,† an ilonggo term which means, â€Å"dress† in English was chosen by the owners of the company since they are from Bacolod. BAYO reflects a clean, classic image. BAYO caters to women who embody the laid-back, casual lifestyle who have preference for stylish yet classic apparel. BAYO is a testament of what the Filipino can do in today’s competitive environment. BAYO is proud of what it has achieved as a Filipino retailer and it expresses its full pride in being Filipino. This is what set the brand apart, its devotion to staying true to its roots as a Filipino brand. It has no pretensions on what the brand image is all about and rather keeps in tune with the brand’s origin, which is still Filipino. BAYO revolves around who the Filipina truly is in all her different facets and how she evolves with time but still maintaining her distinct cultural attributes. Company profile People behind the company: Lyn Agustin and Corcor Bitong, the owner of BAYO. What the company does: BAYO, a ready-to-wear clothing company that now has a total of 53 branches – 18 franchised and 40 company-owned – within Metro Manila and Bacolod City. When the company started: Agustin and Bitong started their business in 1992 and started franchising in 2001. How the company grew: Agustin and Bitong started out a simple made-to-measure dress shop in Makati City. But when their demand and clientele grew, the sisters, together with their husbands, established Lyncor Inc., a manufacturing firm and began market their women’s clothing designs in earnest. BAYO philosophy BAYO has always taken pride in our continuous effort to provide the Filipino people with the following: †¢ Quality Merchandise. †¢ Quality Service. †¢ Reasonable Prices. †¢ Comfortable and world class shopping experience. †¢ Fair labor BAYO started out as a made-to-measure dress shop in Makati. The need to expand grew bigger when BAYO launched its ready-to-wear line. In 1992, the growing demand triggered the establishment of Lyncor, Inc., then a manufacturing firm, to support BAYO. â€Å"BAYO,† an ilonggo term which means, â€Å"dress† in English was chosen by the owners of the company since they are from Bacolod. BAYO reflects a clean, classic image. BAYO caters to women who embody the laid-back, casual lifestyle who have preference for stylish yet classic apparel. BAYO is a testament of what the Filipino can do in today’s competitive environment. BAYO is proud of what it has achieved as a Filipino retailer and it expresses its full pride in being Filipino. This is what set the brand apart, its devotion to staying true to its roots as a Filipino brand. It has no pretensions on what the brand image is all about and rather keeps in tune with the brand’s origin, which is still Filipino. BAYO revolves around who the Filipina truly is in all her different facets and how she evolves with time but still maintaining her distinct cultural attributes. BAYO’s strength lies in its ability and skill to create classic and stylish apparel and keeping in tune with what its market demands. Its focus is centered on its products, making them of good quality at very affordable prices. BAYO offers classic pieces of ready-to-wear apparel from blouses, tees, pants, jeans, skirts, accessories such as footwear, bags, jewelry and other merchandise, which can be easily be mixed and matched. BAYO aims to create a lifestyle for women by providing them with diverse range of products. BAYO’s corporate structure has a very casual environment as well as a friendly atmosphere between management and employees. People treat each other like family, which makes it easy to communicate and deal with each other. This contributes greatly to the success of BAYO because it paves the way for a better working environment, which in turn promotes teamwork. BAYO’s national commitment is to be able to provide employment and to be able to raise the local industry to higher levels. Its goal is to be able to penetrate the global market and promote it as a Filipino brand. Statement of the problem: 1. What is their merchandise? BAYO is focused on providing wide variety of merchandise assortment and other accessories. They did not only focus on clothing but also offer complementary accessories to have overall makeover. 2. What is their Store Design? BAYO arranged and designed their products according to color. This is one way to attract customer’s attention. The store’s wall is made of glass so that customers can see the products through the glass. They also have chairs for customers to sit on while waiting. They also have a separate rack for accessories and every week they have a new set of design of their product. 3. What is their Market Segment? Geographic City and Municipality: Makati City and Taguig City Population Density: Urban and Suburban Demographic segmentation Age: 17-22 and 23 up Gender: female Family life cycle: Single, young, married, in a relationship, married with children, separated and others. Occupation: Young urban professionals, students, housewife, white collar jobs. Psychographic Segmentation Females usually go to mall to seek for a need or to window shop realizing that females are innately sophisticated. Because of this reason probably they are the possible target audience. As clothing stores the focuses on women’s apparel, we are targeting females that are willing to submit or adopt the latest fashion. Instead of targeting females in the upper class, we focused on the market segment in the middle class realizing that upper class would prefer to visit stores having more expensive products. Behavioral Segmentation Females generally provide sufficient time in visiting malls to look for products that will make them feel more beautiful. They give more effort in choosing, scrutinizing and deciding on which product they want to purchase from the factors of price, design, fashion and quality. Usually, females buy a product to have self-esteem and be in. Primarily, females who seek for job, already workers and students probably have the intention to go to BAYO store as well as using it for applying for a job and hang-outs. Need Segmentation †¢ Females that are looking for classical but casual wear †¢ Accessories that will complement in the casual wear that will fully satisfy the taste, preference, occasion, professions and social activities for the customers †¢ Apparel with good and high quality materials that can be used in applying in profession and occasionally purpose. 4. Why did they situate on that Location? BAYO’s location in MARKET-MARKET TAGUIG is advantageous because it’s located near at activity center which you can find a customer, and their location of the store is easy to be seen because it is near at entrance and it is good for competition. BAYO location in Market-Market has a 96.50 square meter and they are one of the branches of BAYO. 5. What is their marketing approach and their market positioning? sss Based on observation, BAYO intensified their advertisement by having lots of billboards. Also, BAYO strategically use well-known artists to promote their products so that it will be attractive and convincing. These appeal made the products easy to remember. They also have a company sale which is held every whole month of July and the other sales promotion of their store is depending on the mall sale. BAYO Company have a color campaign, those are Yellow for Happiness, Pink for Sweetness, Orange for Creativity and Purple for Sophistication. 6. Who are their competitors? Their competitors are penshoppe, folded and hung, forever 21, kamiseta, tribal. 7. Who are their target markets? Their target markets are the teenagers or middle ages. 8. What is their customer service? BAYO is giving a high customer service by means of providing free iron and fold for purchased apparels. There is also a salesperson assisting the customers in the dressing area. 9. How do you handle your customer’s complaints? BAYO should know first their complaint about their product and give them possible solution to satisfy their customers. 10. Do you have your regular customers? BAYO have their regular customers like teens and middle ages.

Portfolio 04232 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Portfolio 04232 - Essay Example When I was 6 years old, I experienced difficulty in attending primary school. My classmate used to speak fluent local language; I understood what they said but could not speak, which was a bit embarrassing for me. However, with the passage of time as I was admitted to high school, the students were from different parts of the country. They also spoke their local language, which I came to understand after a while. Slowly I could also speak the local language. There are many differences between city and country side education. I always lived in the city, where the educational standard is higher than that of country side. There is no particular rule in the countryside, whereas, in city the rules related to communication with other students are strict; local language cannot be used. Hence, I had to learn English, when I was in primary school. I was not interested to learn English but I had to because of the English class. Among the five incidents, I chose the second incident to provide my views regarding the critical incident. Culture plays a pivotal role in everyone’s life as it directs their behaviour and beliefs regarding any particular issue. We are guided by culture since childhood. Since birth our parents teach us what to do and what not to; this is culture. Hence, our parents are our first teacher, who makes us aware of our culture and also share their views regarding other cultures. Since our childhood, we are taught to follow few guidelines, which are directed to us. In few societies, male and female are not treated equally. In fact in many societies the male are dominating and they feel that females cannot achieve a higher position in the society by receiving higher educational degrees. In the second incident, I have observed that the female member of the organisation was not respected at all by the male colleague, who was surprised to hear that she is a professor. This thought has c rippled the

Business plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business plan - Term Paper Example It will be located inside the Park Meadows Shopping Center, South Denver. This will provide an exciting experience to consume high-quality food while window shopping and walking inside the shopping mall. 303 Deliche Steak will offer a tantalizing experience of hand cut (daily) and 21 days aged steak to maximize the flavour. Its menu encompasses the best steak, several chicken dishes as well burgers in the saloon. It will also serve desserts and distinctive salad.For special occasions, it will also offer private dining areas with a decor that beckons music and laughter to make it more relaxing and memorable. The grill will be in open air to cook to the proper degree as per the guest’s requirement. There will be no waiting for the steak since the grill will be stocked already to the degree of doneness. This business plan will launch the initial concept to create more concrete goals and obtain financing. Financing is required to start the business activities such as kitchen desig ning, architectural plan of the restaurant, menu and receipt books, purchases equipment and other related expenses of the first year. The capital contributions of the owners along with the finances will contribute in successful opening of the restaurant. This is essential to create a value-driven atmosphere that will entice people from all ages to bring their friends and family to enjoy the creativity of the founders with excellent food. The dazzling 303 Deliche Steak will be embraced by people who love dining out with fantastic meal and benchmark customer service at a convenient location. Business Description: 303 Deliche Steak is an ultimate steakhouse destination with great food, lively atmosphere and extraordinary value. While the original variation of American favourites is supreme, an array of flavourful dishes such as seasoned steaks, chops, prime rib, roasted caramel chicken, generous salads and side orders will also be offered. This outlet will provide the upscale ambience of an energetic lifestyle with the ongoing celebration of exceptional food. Fresh and entertaining surroundings: The restaurant will feature display cooking of our featured steak from cutting to cooking to ensure that they are very tender. The hearty salads and hot food stations will also visible to enable our guests to choose their favourite dish/salad from a variety of items. We will also offer theme nights to add a twist to the customer’s experience. Fresh flowers, great music and amazing artwork will appeal the customers. Quality Food: At 303 Deliche Steak, the passion of grilling will be reflected in the legendary steaks. It will serve nothing but fresh and tender steaks, crispy salads, all white meat chicken and scrumptious desserts. Variety: We are committed to offer a little extra by adding value in terms of everyday menu to spice up the things and add more twist. The menu will change after every 5 to 6 months but the specialty will be there. For instance, during summ er months we will offer special menu such as exotic drinks to refresh our customers in a hot sunny day. Prices will be varying according to the competitive upscale restaurants. Hours of Operation: The restaurant will be open seven days a week. The timings will be 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Industry and Market Analysis: Denver is a pioneer in the restaurant industry with many popular chains based in the region. It has a population of more than 3 million and the growth rate of the food industry is increasing with the establishment of

Legal Case Study Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Legal Case Study - Research Paper Example The prosecution stated regarding one year statute of limitation and requirement of affirmative proof argument of the defense that sec.939.74 shall apply for criminal proceedings and that enough corroborative evidence was established by the testimony of the defrauded women. The argument that the brief failed to allege the elements of the crime and that the trial court did not have subject matter was also refuted by the prosecution on the basis of the argument that failure to provide information about the crime does not make the information void as per Schleiss v. State. As regards the restriction on cross examination, the prosecution proved that the exclusion of the witness from being cross-examined was absolutely correct. As regards to sufficiency of evidence the prosecution stated in its answer to the argument of the defense that Lambert’s promises could not have been fraudulent as the women to whom he promised to marry were already married that the question in a criminal fra ud action is whether the victim relied on the offender, which in this case the victim did and as such Lambert is liable. 3. What is the element of crime? The element of the crime in the present case is theft by fraud contrary to sec. 943.20 (1)(d),(3)(b), and (3)(c), Stats. 1 by the plaintiff on record of the present case. The offence of theft by fraud arises from a relationship of Lambert and a different woman, during which Lambert obtained money from each woman on the basis of a promise to marry her. The same offence was committed with six different women and an additional woman serially during the period of August 1971 to May 1974. What is the issue inference, actus reus, mens rea, presumptuous? The issue inference was whether the action was barred by ch.248, whether the trial court had subject-matter jurisdiction, whether proper offences were properly joined, whether restricting cross-examination of complaining witnesses was an abuse of the trial court, whether evidence was suff icient to support the verdict guilty and whether the sentencing of 24 was an abuse of power (Lambert v. State). The mens rea or wrongful intention in the present case was to have a wrongful gain through a promise to marry. The actus reus or the wrongful act itself in the present case was to take the money by creating deception, which amounted to fraud, and never giving it back to the women he took it from. 4. What is the previous law? The previous law on the same issue was that if there was breach of contract through refusal to marry, a cause of action to file a suit for the same arises. But the same was abolished by secs. 248.01, 248.02, Stats. 3. 5. What is the current law? The present law on the same issue is that civil suits for the recovery of the property which is taken on the strength of a fraudulent promise to marry can be initiated under sec. 248.06,4. The relief in the form of suit for damages for emotional harm caused by the breach of promise to marry isn’t availab le. But this doesn’t take away the remedy to file a suit for criminal fraud or civil fraud, when property was taken away from the victim. 6. What is your opinion? The Supreme Court of Wisconsin was correct in its decision. Lambert did commit the crime of theft by fraud, when he promised to marry them and used this promise to have unlawful gain in terms of money from the innocent women. This makes him liable to be punished according to law. Moreover, he committed the same crime consequently

Strategic Human Resouce Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Human Resouce Management - Essay Example The paper tells that a key component of any working and successful company is a fully established human resource department. This department has the sole responsibility to ensure the provision of the essential component of entrepreneurship, which is labor. The human resource department has the concern to establish organizational activity of bettering the overall performance of the personnel working in the organization. Management in its broad terms entails a critical review of the developments in the company or firm to establish the sections that affect the company growth Thus, with respect to the current developments in Cop Motor Vehicle manufacturers the observable decline in sales, in addition to other internal factors reflecting in Cop Motor Vehicle manufacturers need agent redress from the management. The firm deals with the production of vehicle brands and spare parts. The responsibility to make the key decisions regarding this firm rests on the position of CEO. However, the de cisions that affect the human resources in the firm requires essential evaluation from the human resource department, to establish the measures to address the cause of the decline in sales and losses the firm is facing. Notably, the developments are forcing the CEO of Cop Motor Vehicle manufacturers to take drastic measures on the programs established by the human resource management department to develop the workforce for better performance of the firm. However, before taking such a measure, it is essential to evaluate the consequential impact of this decision on the firm and its eventual performance. This entails evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of the decision to cut on the expenditures of the company on employee training and development, as well as, the other elements associated with the decision. Cop Motor Vehicle manufacturers have over 40 hands-on employees, 4 supervisors, and heads of the various departments, in addition to Chief Executive Officer. The stakes in t he training program entail the various sponsors for the training, the development managers and the clients who are the employees. In this case, Cop Motor Vehicle manufacturers rely significantly on the role and input of the employees in the production process. Therefore, it is notable that sales decline are a result, which most likely emanates from the employees directly.

Audit and assurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Audit and assurance - Essay Example Linked in to this is the growing belief that many firms of auditors are unable to make objective judgments because they are either too close to the clients that they are auditing or they get close to them during recurring audits of the same clients. This is the main area where an auditor’s independence is brought under question. The basic idea of audit is to bring in an independent assessor of the financial statements; the assessor i.e. the auditor should be honest while giving out his conclusion on the financial statements. The auditor issues a report explaining the audit process and gives his opinion as to the truth and fairness of the financial statements i.e. whether they are prepared in accordance with the relevant legal and accounting standards. There are many different types of assurance engagements: An auditor usually gives out two types of assurances, Reasonable or Limited Assurance. A reasonable assurance is of high level while a limited assurance is a moderate level assurance. When giving out a reasonable assurance, the auditor gives out a positive report (means the statement given out would be a positive one as opposed to a normative statement given out in limited assurance). Many companies get their financial statements audited by different audit firms, along with these external audits, companies also assign other assurance services to the existing auditor, this issue has caused a bit of concern over the recent years. The independence of the auditor is questioned when he takes up such assignments along with the external audit assignment. To avoid such situation, the auditor can perform certain strict procedures while performing the external audit along with other assurance services: The treasury selection committee in May 2009 published a report to address the issue of increasing investor’s confidence in a firm, in this report, the main aim of

Introduction to modern Chinese History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Introduction to modern Chinese History - Essay Example Way back in the history of the world’s civilization, china had consolidated the global power and superiority compared to the rest countries (Chaurasia, 2004). It was the major source of the world’s steel that enabled her to gain more wealth and invest in other productive economic activities. It is considered to be the earliest world’s leading in innovations that gave the whole world its backbone in industrial development, an example is the textile manufacturing industries that were seven centuries older than those that were invented in Britain. With the floating capital, china was the leading nation in trade that earned it more wealth. It engaged in the long distance trade with other countries in the various continents such as Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Southern Asia (Kane, 2006). With the interaction to the rest of the world nations, China borrowed more ideas that were utilized effectively thereby making her agricultural and industrial revolution move m uch steps ahead; it engaged in the production of writing materials that ensured proper records were kept for more production activities (Goldman & Lee,2002). This further earned her the opportunity to be the world superpower that exported her goods across all nations by the use of her commercial ships. However, China’s prosperity set a blaze to other nations more especially the British and the Europeans that had sleepless nights in the bid to interact with her, so that they can be able to borrow more from their technological advancement. The British imperialism therefore challenged the china’s superiority and the dominant global position in the world market (Schoppa, 2011). Therefore, the British and the Western engaged on an imperial conquest of the East that was instigated by the material gain in order to prosper in their economies and to ensure they do not allow china to dominate any longer as a superpower. This was not an easy task for them; as a result they were unable to

Business Plan Issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Plan Issue - Essay Example A few years ago I did some consulting work for a family member that was starting a new company. The firm needed help creating an implementation plan on how to reach the commercialization phase for a new product the firm had developed. The company had already submitted a pre-patent application and the lawyers believed that that the chances of getting the patent approved was very high. Legal protection was one of the variables that were holding back the full launch. Another problem the company faced was a lack of capital. The company had been incorporated for over a year and half doing research and development without generating any revenues. A lack of operating cash led to the failure of the business. This company in its early stages needed a better implementation plan with a better timeframe and action plan. DQ3 The reason most risk management fall short of expectation is because they lack sufficient scope. A lot of managers do not have a clear understanding of all the business risks that can affect a company. For instances variables such as foreign exchange rate are not considered by many when in fact this variable can influence businesses that make many recurrent purchases of materials from foreign distributors. The risk profile of an industry changes and many managers do not keep up with current events sufficiently to realize the new risk variables may affect an industry. For instance the arrival of a wave of new green cars will adversely affect the production of pickup trucks and SUV automobiles. 4. The learning curve has many practical implications for the labor force of a business. Companies that establish themselves in an infant industry are not able to benefit from the virtues of the learning curve. On the other hand firms such as Coca-Cola have gained dominance in the market through years of experience that has enabled the firm to become an expert in the beverage industry. When a company is the first to enter a marketplace they can use that strategy as a tactical advantage to achieve higher market share. Resistance to change can slow down the employee adaption process to a new working environment. 5. I agree with you that planning on many occasions is a weak area on many firms. Not only do companies do not dedicate enough time and money into planning, they also fail to recognize that planning is not limited to the short term. Companies must develop strategic plans five to ten years into the future. I believe that Microsoft when it releases a new product already has the p lans ready for the next generation product that will replace the product that is being introduced. I also agree with you that high moral and ethical standards must be implemented into plans. Back in the late 1990’s a lack of ethics led to the Nike sweatshop fiasco. 6. The use of guidance should be followed to spread the use of strategic thinking within a corporation. Your statement about many firms formulating unrealistic vision statements is also true. Sometimes mission and vision statements are used as publicity acts. I would imagine that Enron had a positive mission statement that was obviously not followed by the corrupt executives of the company. Teamwork is a critical success factor in the business environment of the 21st century. Multi-national corporations must be run efficiently in order to maximize

Ecosystem and Major Agricultural Land Essay Example for Free

Ecosystem and Major Agricultural Land Essay Today, biodiversity is exposed to a lot of fatal threats: destruction of habitat, pollution, over-exploitation and climate change. According to Ray Harris (2002), building cities on farmland leads the ruin of territory, for example those in California. He pointed out that nearly half of key major agricultural land in California is filled with buildings. Pearce and Williams (2008) also argued that the large areas of Brazilian rainforest have been wiped out, and this clearing forest for timber is one of the factors of the destruction of habitat. Biodiversity is also exposed to pollution. Pearce and Williams further stated that oil spilled in the sea kills animals and plants (2008). For instance, in France, Amoco Cadiz leaked about 0.25 million tons of crude oil in 1978, and it was the key damage to environment. Moreover, Chen et al conducted the research and discovered that the vulture population in India decreased due to over consuming insect killers from grass (2009). It showed using pesticides on farmland is harmful to ecosystem. Over-exploitation and climate change are also considered as hazards to biodiversity. In relation to over-exploitation, it can eliminate species, a position supported by Chen et al. They examined the research and observed that Cod died out Newfoundland in Canada in 20th century due to over-fishing (2009). Regarding climate change, higher temperatures can kill animal and plant species (Alvin, 2010). Hibernating animals may wake early due to the warm weather, and they are usually suffering from no food available.

Case Study The Millennium Development Goals Education Essay

Case Study The Millennium Development Goals Education Essay The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals that were established after the 2000 Millennium Summit in which United Nations Member States and International Organisations consented to achieve by the year 2015 (United Nations Millennium Development Goals, 2010). The MDGs set time bound targets in improving social and economic conditions in the worlds poorest countries, which progress towards reducing income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter and exclusion, while promoting gender equality, health, education and environmental sustainability. They also embody basic human rights so that each person on the planet has the right to health, education, shelter and security (Ki-Moon, 2010). Three major areas of Humanity are focused in the MDGs: Firstly, reinforcing human capital by improving infrastructure, and increasing social, economic and political rights, specifically focusing on increasing the basic standards of living (United Nations, 2006); Secondly, altering infrastructure by gaining safe drinking water, energy and modern information communications technology, intensifying farm productions through sustainable practices, bettering transportation infrastructure, and uphold the environment; and finally the social, economic and political rights, with regard to empowering women, reducing violence, increasing political voice, ensuring equal access to public services, and increasing security of property rights. The goals are intended to increase an individuals human capabilities and advance the means to a productive life (United Nations, 2006). As individuals acting together we have the power to take action and influence the process of reaching the MDGs by 2015 (End Poverty Millennium Campaign, 2010). Education is important in achieving these goals. A basic education of a good quality is necessary for developing an understanding of the world and the possibilities it provides, and for being able to function effectively within it. Without the knowledge and various skills developed through schooling and basic education programs, the opportunities for individuals and the ability to act independently are greatly reduced (UNESCO, 2010). Intensifying the movement towards education MDGs will lead directly to an acceleration of many of the other MDGs (2010 MDG SUMMIT, 2010). In this essay I will explain why education is important in order to achieve each of the eight millennium development goals. The first goal of the millennium development goals is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Poverty forces children out of school displacing their education driving them into the low paid work force because parents cannot afford to educate them. Haines Cassels (2004) explain that one year of schooling can increase a persons earnings by 10% with each additional year of schooling lifting the average annual GDP by 0.37%. Accessible education can help feed an impeccable cycle of enhanced growth and an elevated reduction in poverty, aiding the poor and benefiting society as a whole. Education provides people with the skills and knowledge they require in order to increase income and develop employment opportunities. By educating the poor, women and vulnerable groups it opens doors to jobs and credit and has the potential for economic growth. With strict laws on compulsory education the millennium development goal to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger should be achievable in the future. The second MDG is to achieve universal primary education. Every child regardless of where they live deserve the right to an education. The Development Education online Depository (2010) state that universal primary education involves entering school at an appropriate age, progressing through the system and completing a full cycle of primary education. By eradicating primary school fees millions of children worldwide have the chance to gain literacy and numeracy skills increasing the percentage of educated people in the world, increases the opportunities for employment and a stable future for many children which in hand will help in achieving the MDG of achieving universal primary education. The third MDG focuses on promoting gender equality and empowering women. Attaran (2005) state that there are 759 million people in the world that cannot read or write, and of those people two-thirds are female. Females face many barriers to education in several countries around the world, ranging from negative attitudes to the burden of household work and distance to school. In order to redress the balance education needs to be made a priority, special efforts such as employing female teachers, supporting poor families and making the education system girl-friendly could help in promoting gender equality and in empowering women. Severine Shahani (2009) claim that there is a strong correlation between educating females and an increase in womens earnings, improved child and family health and nutrition, an increase in school enrolment, protection against HIV infection, higher maternal and child life expectancy, reduced fertility rates and delayed marriage. Equal schooling for both boys and girls is the foundation for development in achieving the MDG of promoting gender equality and empowering women. The fourth MDG aims to reduce child mortality. Providing education to girls provides a great chance of survival to her children in the future. Severine Shahani (2009) claim that a mother with secondary or higher education more than halves the risk of child mortality compared to a mother with little or no education. As mentioned above there is a strong connection between educating females and higher maternal and child life expectancy as well as improvements in child and family health and nutrition, they are also more probable to immunize their children. Educating women, with at least primary education, the MDG of reducing child mortality is more likely to be achieved. The fifth goal aims to improve maternal health. Maternal education is one of the strongest antidotes to childbearing-related risks (United Nations, 2010). By educating females it enables them to make improved health associated decisions, fewer mothers would die and the MDG of improving maternal health would have a greater chance of being achieved. The sixth MDG intends to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Education is the key to combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and many other diseases. Education institutions take a central role in the prevention of HIV and other communicable diseases as they can reach out to a large number of people, encouraging positive attitudes and behaviours providing them with the knowledge and skills to reduce their chance of contracting HIV. School health programs are also ideal in providing awareness and hygiene practices to help fight malaria and other diseases. Haines Cassels (2004) state that women with an education higher than primary level are five times more likely than literate women to be aware of and know about HIV/AIDS. Education offers an important measure of protection against HIV and other diseases. The MDG for universal primary education is estimated to prevent 700, 000 new HIV infections each year (MDG Monitor, 2007). It is claimed that education reduces the vulnerability of girls, and each year of schooling offers greater protective benefits. Education is the best vaccine against HIV and Aids and other diseases it is also the most cost effective way to achieve the MDG of combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. The seventh MDG is directed at ensuring environmental sustainability. Education for sustainable development (ESD) can help us to live sustainably. ESD is defined by UNESCO as the aims to help people to develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge to make informed decisions for the benefit of themselves and others, now and in the future, and to act upon these decisions. By providing education for environmental sustainability it also educates students on key issues including poverty reduction, sustainable livelihoods, global warming and climate change, gender equality, corporate social responsibility and the protection of indigenous cultures (TeachMDGs, 2010) ESD will allow individuals to make decisions that meet the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations. Education is essential for ensuring environmental sustainability. The eighth and final millennium development goal is directed at developing global partnerships for development. Developing countries financially cannot provide universal primary education for free to their people. Therefore a global partnership is needed to fill the financial gap for education so that globally the education-related development goals can be achieved. And if developing countries make education a priority they can then in turn boost their economy, which can help to achieve all of the millennium development goals. Teaching and learning in schools should aim to enhance skills, knowledge and behaviour related to the millennium development goals. Schools should plan their curriculum so that content covered increases the impact that education has on the MDGs. Such as, in order to combat child mortality and to alter female empowerment, curricula on cleanliness, sanitation, and measures to minimize contagious diseases. In the case of environmental sustainability the school should include programs such as the need to conserve water and trees. To improve the nutritional status of the students the school can introduce meal programs to ensure the students have atleast one nutritional meal each day. Schools can also promote gender equality by the different roles that school leaders take. Positive behaviours aimed at achieving the MDGs can be learned and reinforced throughout education. By introducing adult education and literacy programs for both men and women can provide opportunities for employment, improving labour productivity and introducing programs such as water and sanitation. The impact of adult education for women can result in lower child mortality rates and higher levels of maternal health. With the completion of secondary education women are more likely to seek out antenatal care and better medical treatment, are more likely to send their children to school, and have greater economic opportunities that will alleviate poverty and hunger. All in all adult education in occupational and life skills will positively impact the millennium development goals. 2010 should not be the beginning of the new and uncertain journey towards the millennium development goals, rather it should be the refueling point on this voyage that has been going on for the past ten years. The next five years complete the journey in achieving the MDGs by 2015. With the implementation of the millennium development goals in school curriculums globally the plan to reach the destination should be achievable.

A Writers Style Essay -- Writing Style Momaday Essays Papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Pulitzer Prize winning writer N. Scott Momaday has become known as a very distinctive writer who depicts the stories of the Native American life in almost poetic ways. He does an excellent job of transporting the reader from the black and white pages of a book, to a world where every detail is pointed out and every emotion felt when reading one of Momaday’s books or other writings. This style of writing that Momaday uses is very evident in his work â€Å"The Way to Rainy Mountain,† and made even more apparent by reading a review of the book House Made of Dawn found on a web site run by HarperCollins Publishers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the essay â€Å"The Way to Rainy Mountain†, Momaday uses very descriptive words, which brings the places he is describing to life in the minds eye. The essay begins with his description of the homelands of his Kiowa people, which has been given the name of Rainy Mountain. The picture painted in the readers mind by these beautiful descriptions makes it easily understandable why the Kiowa people came to settle upon this land as their home. For example, part of the description Momaday gives of the land within the first paragraph is, â€Å"There are green belts along the rivers and creeks, linear groves of hickory and pecan, willow and witch hazel. At a distance in July or August the streaming foliage seems almost to writhe in fire.† (Momaday, 95) I can not help but imagine the trees wavering in a gentle early fall breeze as the yellows and reds seem as if the whole land is burning beneath the fading summer sun. Halfway through the essay he de scribes the Black Hills by saying â€Å"A dark mist lay over the Black Hills and the land was like iron.† (97) He then describes Devil’s Tower in the next sentence by writing â€Å"†¦I caught sight of Devil’s Tower upthrust against the gray sky as if in the birth of time the core of the earth had broken through its crust and the motion of the world was begun.† (97) The way that Momaday describes these breathtaking scenes allows the reader to both see and feel the emotion that these great views evoke. This style of writing is backed up through HarperCollins Publishers online review of Momaday’s book, House Made of Dawn, when it states that â€Å"The world of his grandfather, Francisco—and of Francisco’s fathers before him—is a world of seasonal rhythms, a harsh and beautiful place†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This shows that inside the book House ... ...aw the reader in.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, upon looking further into N. Scott Momaday’s style of writing, I have found it to be true that he has developed one of the most sound and beautifully descriptive styles of writing. The way he describes each scene with so much feeling brings the reader in through a very emotional avenue. Also, his style is very strong where he covers the changes of the world and how the Native American people adjust to the many new and different challenges they face. Even though there are a few times when Momaday’s writing can seem sidetracking and misleading, he is still able to bring it all together in the end. This makes for very beautifully well written works with some of the most descriptive scenes I have ever read. I would highly recommend any of Momaday’s writings based off of the knowledge I have gained by examining a few short pieces by him. The stories are great, and the descriptions are powerful enough to leave you breathless. Works Cited Momaday, N. Scott. â€Å"The Way to Rainy Mountain.† Fields of Reading. Ed. Nancy Comley, et al. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998. 577-580. Perennial Classics. Ed. HarperCollins Publisher. 26 February 2002 A Writers Style Essay -- Writing Style Momaday Essays Papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Pulitzer Prize winning writer N. Scott Momaday has become known as a very distinctive writer who depicts the stories of the Native American life in almost poetic ways. He does an excellent job of transporting the reader from the black and white pages of a book, to a world where every detail is pointed out and every emotion felt when reading one of Momaday’s books or other writings. This style of writing that Momaday uses is very evident in his work â€Å"The Way to Rainy Mountain,† and made even more apparent by reading a review of the book House Made of Dawn found on a web site run by HarperCollins Publishers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the essay â€Å"The Way to Rainy Mountain†, Momaday uses very descriptive words, which brings the places he is describing to life in the minds eye. The essay begins with his description of the homelands of his Kiowa people, which has been given the name of Rainy Mountain. The picture painted in the readers mind by these beautiful descriptions makes it easily understandable why the Kiowa people came to settle upon this land as their home. For example, part of the description Momaday gives of the land within the first paragraph is, â€Å"There are green belts along the rivers and creeks, linear groves of hickory and pecan, willow and witch hazel. At a distance in July or August the streaming foliage seems almost to writhe in fire.† (Momaday, 95) I can not help but imagine the trees wavering in a gentle early fall breeze as the yellows and reds seem as if the whole land is burning beneath the fading summer sun. Halfway through the essay he de scribes the Black Hills by saying â€Å"A dark mist lay over the Black Hills and the land was like iron.† (97) He then describes Devil’s Tower in the next sentence by writing â€Å"†¦I caught sight of Devil’s Tower upthrust against the gray sky as if in the birth of time the core of the earth had broken through its crust and the motion of the world was begun.† (97) The way that Momaday describes these breathtaking scenes allows the reader to both see and feel the emotion that these great views evoke. This style of writing is backed up through HarperCollins Publishers online review of Momaday’s book, House Made of Dawn, when it states that â€Å"The world of his grandfather, Francisco—and of Francisco’s fathers before him—is a world of seasonal rhythms, a harsh and beautiful place†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This shows that inside the book House ... ...aw the reader in.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, upon looking further into N. Scott Momaday’s style of writing, I have found it to be true that he has developed one of the most sound and beautifully descriptive styles of writing. The way he describes each scene with so much feeling brings the reader in through a very emotional avenue. Also, his style is very strong where he covers the changes of the world and how the Native American people adjust to the many new and different challenges they face. Even though there are a few times when Momaday’s writing can seem sidetracking and misleading, he is still able to bring it all together in the end. This makes for very beautifully well written works with some of the most descriptive scenes I have ever read. I would highly recommend any of Momaday’s writings based off of the knowledge I have gained by examining a few short pieces by him. The stories are great, and the descriptions are powerful enough to leave you breathless. Works Cited Momaday, N. Scott. â€Å"The Way to Rainy Mountain.† Fields of Reading. Ed. Nancy Comley, et al. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998. 577-580. Perennial Classics. Ed. HarperCollins Publisher. 26 February 2002

Inventions: The Steam Engine and the Internet Essay -- Innovation

Despite originating more than two centuries and half a world apart, the steam engine and the Internet followed similar paths throughout their conception, development, and execution. In 1712, the first successful steam engine was built; it was bulky, inefficient, and partially hand operated. Two hundred fifty-three years later, the first major network connection was made, using slow, dedicated phone lines to carry information across the country from expensive, complicated computers in Massachusetts to their counterparts in California. Although these innovations were advanced for their time, their usefulness was limited by the scope of their execution. Fast forwarding to 1820, steam engines now used superheated, high pressure steam in order to yield more power in a smaller space, resulting in their widespread use in trains, boats, and cars. The engines operated under 13 times more pressure, using new technology to avoid explosions (CITE 3). Similarly by 1973, networking and networks ha d advanced at a frenzied pace. People now sent emails to people across the country and then heard the voices of those same people from terminals from universities and companies (CITE 2). The rapid pace of these improvements, coupled with their accessibility, resulted in two designs that profoundly changed the world view of people and businesses. These two designs are not only similar in their origins and historical progressions; they are also akin in the effect of their widespread use. Since their inceptions, they have both had extensive impacts on the world around them. Following the inventions of the steam engine and the Internet, the world was thrust into periods that are characterized as having â€Å"a succession of breakthrough inventions" and â€Å"a commo... ...of steam engines in factories freed the factories to go anywhere. Previously, machines had been powered by the swift flowing water of rivers. Once freed from that constraint, factories were built in more convenient locations, nearer to consumers. Works Cited http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=25442 http://history-world.org/Industrial%20Intro.htm http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3405300236.html http://www.cottontimes.co.uk/trevithicko.htm http://www.lk.cs.ucla.edu/data/files/Kleinrock/Information%20Flow%20in%20Large%20Communication%20Nets.pdf http://www.linfo.org/packet_switching.html http://library.thinkquest.org/17658/nuc/nuchistoryht.html http://www.worldbookonline.com/advanced/article?id=ar531140&st=history+of+steam+engine http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline http://www.inventionreaction.com/famous-inventions/Steam-Engine Inventions: The Steam Engine and the Internet Essay -- Innovation Despite originating more than two centuries and half a world apart, the steam engine and the Internet followed similar paths throughout their conception, development, and execution. In 1712, the first successful steam engine was built; it was bulky, inefficient, and partially hand operated. Two hundred fifty-three years later, the first major network connection was made, using slow, dedicated phone lines to carry information across the country from expensive, complicated computers in Massachusetts to their counterparts in California. Although these innovations were advanced for their time, their usefulness was limited by the scope of their execution. Fast forwarding to 1820, steam engines now used superheated, high pressure steam in order to yield more power in a smaller space, resulting in their widespread use in trains, boats, and cars. The engines operated under 13 times more pressure, using new technology to avoid explosions (CITE 3). Similarly by 1973, networking and networks ha d advanced at a frenzied pace. People now sent emails to people across the country and then heard the voices of those same people from terminals from universities and companies (CITE 2). The rapid pace of these improvements, coupled with their accessibility, resulted in two designs that profoundly changed the world view of people and businesses. These two designs are not only similar in their origins and historical progressions; they are also akin in the effect of their widespread use. Since their inceptions, they have both had extensive impacts on the world around them. Following the inventions of the steam engine and the Internet, the world was thrust into periods that are characterized as having â€Å"a succession of breakthrough inventions" and â€Å"a commo... ...of steam engines in factories freed the factories to go anywhere. Previously, machines had been powered by the swift flowing water of rivers. Once freed from that constraint, factories were built in more convenient locations, nearer to consumers. Works Cited http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=25442 http://history-world.org/Industrial%20Intro.htm http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3405300236.html http://www.cottontimes.co.uk/trevithicko.htm http://www.lk.cs.ucla.edu/data/files/Kleinrock/Information%20Flow%20in%20Large%20Communication%20Nets.pdf http://www.linfo.org/packet_switching.html http://library.thinkquest.org/17658/nuc/nuchistoryht.html http://www.worldbookonline.com/advanced/article?id=ar531140&st=history+of+steam+engine http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline http://www.inventionreaction.com/famous-inventions/Steam-Engine

Mandatory Minimum Sentences Are Not Effective Essay -- Mandatory Minim

Mandatory minimum prison sentences are punishments that are set through legislation for specific offenses. They have been used throughout history for different crimes. The four traditional goals of punishment are: deterrence, incapacitation (incarceration), retribution, and rehabilitation. With the state of our national economy, cutting prison and corrections costs would be a huge savings. On the surface, it may seem that mandatory minimum sentences would serve the traditional goals of punishment. They would discourage potential criminals, keep society safe for longer periods of time, they would punish the offender and they would rehabilitate the offender. What they did not do, however, is take into account the individual circumstances of each case and each defendant. Mandatory minimum sentences are not effective and they should be repealed. The United States enacted mandatory minimum sentences for drug convictions beginning in 1951 with the Boggs Act. The Boggs Act provided both mandatory minimum sentences for first-time drug convictions and it increased the length of sentences for subsequent convictions. In 1956, the Narcotics Control Act increased the minimum sentences spelled out in the Boggs Act. It also forbade judges from suspending sentences or imposing probation in cases where they felt a prison sentence was inappropriate. In 1970, the Nixon Administration and Congress negotiated a bill that sought to address drug addiction through rehabilitation; provide better tools for law enforcement in the fight against drug trafficking and manufacturing; and provide a more balanced scheme of penalties for drug crimes. The final product, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, repealed man... ...tp://www.newyorkcriminalattorneyblog.com/2009/01/a_brief_history_of_federal_man.html History of Mandatory Minimums. (2005, August 31). [Brochure]. Retrieved from http://www.famm.org/Repository/Files/Updates%20short%20HISTORY.pdf Mandatory Minimum Sentences [Briefing]. (n.d.). Retrieved August 2, 2010, from Connecticut General Assembly website: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2005/pridata/Studies/Mandatory_Minimum_Sentences_Briefing.htm McVay, D., Schuraldi, V., & Ziedenberg, J. (n.d.). Treatment or Incarceration? Retrieved from Justice Policy Institute website: http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/04-01_REP_MDTreatmentorIncarceration_AC-DP.pdf Sabol, W. J., PhD., & Couture, H. (2008, June). Prison Inmates at Midyear 2007 (NCJ No. 3221994). Retrieved from US Department of Justice website: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/pim07.pdf

The Challenges of Fair Trade

Historically, coffee cultivation had brought a positive influence in developing countries to alleviate rural poverty. Paige (1997) and Williams (1994) also claimed that coffee cultivation had enabled households to develop their land holdings in sustainable, high return activity, and gainfully employ their family labor (as cited in Barham, Gitter, Lewis & Weber, 2011, p. 116). However, the global coffee market has fallen into crisis in recent years. A research conducted by Murray, Raynold and Taylor (2003), with a large decline in the coffee employment, many rural households have been forced to abandon traditional farming and adopt new livelihoods. Meanwhile, small scale but growing number of coffee farmers have participated in Fair Trade to try to survive such crisis. But, according to the research published recently, Fair Trade coffee may not only fail to bring the rural poor better life, it may impoverish them. This claim is supported by unbalanced price premium, limited Fair Trade coffee market and lack of Fair Trade knowledge by households. The higher sale price in Fair Trade coffee comparing to the conventional coffee is claimed to be the most direct benefit to individual rural farmers who participate in Fair Trade. As indicated by Barham et al. (2010), Fair Trade coffee growers receive an average US $344 in net cash income per hectare compared with US $192 for conventional growers (p. 120). Yet such premium price provided by the Fair Trade does not cover the cost to produce certified coffee for rural farmers. Weber (2011) states that if the coffee growers want to sell their products through Fair Trade, first they have to be certified (p. 109). Fair Trade Foundation requires coffee growers to pay high certification fees which the majority of Third World farmers are too poor to afford. In such cases, these growers are likely try to receive Fair Trade certification through cooperatives, but are required to share their net profit with cooperatives. For example, from the article What Price for Good Coffee? by Fieser and Padgett (2009) , Antonio, a coffee producer in Guatemala, receives 1. 55 dollars per pound of organic coffee sold through Fair Trade, approximately 10 percent more than the conventional market price. However, Antonio only receives less than 50 cents per pound after he pays Fair Trade cooperative fees, government taxes, farming expenses, and other costs (Fieser and Padgett, 2009, p. 98). This shows Fair Trade farmers often lose out on the premium price that can be fetched by certified coffee. Fair Trade is filled with contradictions. Even if the cooperatives and organizations are willing to lower the certification fees, the net cash income for growers participating in Fair Trade market is still not enough to cover the cost to produce certified coffee, by the fact that not all the high cost Fair Trade-organic certified coffee are sold at Fair Trade-organic certified coffee price. While Fair Trade coffee being organic is not a requisite for selling in Fair Trade market, most farmers that participate in cooperatives are expected to transit into organic coffee products and pass the organic certification (Weber, 2011, p. 110). However becoming organic certified requires a transition period. Weber (2011) claims it takes 3 years for growers to complete the transition into organic certification where they have to follow organic norms but unable to sell their coffee as organic (p. 111). This implies a significant delay between the time of the cost and when coffee starts yield a return. Such scenario above affects the net cash income received from Fair Trade households. Though some Fair Trade households do not transit themselves into organic certified coffee, the fact that most coffee grown by Fair Trade membership households is sold in the conventional markets is still true due to the lack of Fair Trade markets. Even though coffee is the second highest traded commodity, the market of Fair Trade coffee is relatively small with average 2. 5 % of the global coffee trade (Fieser and Padgett, 2009, p. 99). Barham et al. 2010) state that Fair Trade has limited the supply of coffee that labeled with certificated to keep the Fair Trade-organic coffee price up in the market. Therefore, even though the growers produce their coffee in a high cost Fair Trade-organic certification standards, they may have to sell their certified coffee to the markets that do not give the value of certification once Fair Trade refused their products (p. 122). Going through the effort to produce Fair Trade standards coffee, the farmers are not reaping the rewards they should have obtained. Also, with the lack of a consumer market but continually growing coffee producing households populations, Weber (2010) claims that it leads the cooperatives to increase their membership without expanding the market which results in lower premium for each household member (p. 113). The benefit to Fair Trade sales including price premiums, social premiums, long-term contracts, and low-interest credit are significantly reduced as less coffee is sold in Fair Trade markets (Murrary, 2003, p. 16). As a result, the limited and slow growth in the Fair Trade market has become one of the major concerns confronting Fair Trade production. Unconstrained market is the key to maximum returns; knowledge is the key ingredient to develop a more democratic institution. Yet households of coffee growers are facing the lack of clear knowledge for Fair Trade. Fair Trade is an indistinct concept to coffee growers comparing to coffee growing which appears in their daily farming livelihoods. Murrary et al. (2003) claim that coffee growers have not received regular and detailed training about information on Fair Trade, and have no contact with Fair Trade representatives but the cooperatives and the technical advisers (p. 6). Even more, majority of coffee growers identify Fair Trade with the cooperative. Such misinterpretation, leads some cooperatives to not tout the benefits coffee growers should gain as Fair Trade certification benefits (pp. 16 – 17). Since cooperatives and the technical advisers deal directly with the Fair Trade certification, buyers, and others; coffee growers simply have no control over their products com pare to other coffee investment patterns. For example, the Thrive's system mentioned by LaPorte (2013) in his article. Mr. Lander, an entrepreneur based in Atlanta, created the company named Thrive Farmers Coffee assisted coffee growers to increase their ownership and profit margins by splitting half of proceeds with farmers and by establishing relationships between farmers and local coffee co-ops. Mr. Lander also states that organizations like Thrive are trying to teach these growers the basic knowledge of risk and quality because now they see their products selling to their ultimate consumers (p. 106). If coffee growers can understand the way to prevent risk and way to improve coffee quality, these growers will most likely sell more coffee overall. In conclusion, Fair Trade is not the answer to solve poverty. The system offers limited price improvement to very few primary households, while neglecting the poorest of poor in the sector. With farmers lack of understanding of the structure and operation, Fair Trade can easily prevent the poor from liberating themselves, keep them in their land and restrain their future. And lastly, by raising Fair Trade coffee price for the consumer, it slows down the growth of global Fair Trade economy and limits the market from certain group. Overall, there are benefits to the small-scale farmers from Fair Trade movement, but the benefits are much insufficient compared with other investment patterns. It is nothing but a short-term diversion. If the Fair Trade is unable to put forward a plan for improving their current rate of returns, coffee growers are unlikely to lift themselves out of their poverty through Fair Trade. And, perhaps the only fair choice is to support free trade. References Abad-Vergara, Diane. (Director, Produce). (2009). Living with coffee [Documentary]. New Zealand. Barham, B. L., Callenes, M., Gitter, S., Lewis, J., ; Weber, J. (2011). Fair trade/organic coffee, rural livelihoods, and the â€Å"Agrarian Question†: Southern Mexican coffee families in transition. World Development, 39(1), 134-145. Fieser, E., ; Padgett, T. (2009). What price good coffee? Time International, 171(13) 90-91. La porte, N. (2013, March 16). Coffee’s economics, rewritten by farmers. New York Times. Retrieved 5/20/13 from  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/business/coffees-economics-rewritten-by-farmers.html Murray, D. L., Raynolds, L. T., ; Taylor, P.L. (2003). One cup at a time: poverty alleviation and fair trade coffee in Latin America. Fair Trade Research Group, Colorado State University. Weber, J. G. (2011). How much more do growers receive for Fair Trade-organic coffee? Food Policy, 36(5), 678-685

Bag of Bones CHAPTER FOUR

The phone was ringing when I walked in my front door. It was Frank asking me if I'd like to join him for Christmas. Join them, as matter of fact; all of his brothers and their families were coming. I opened my mouth to say no the last thing on earth I needed was a Irish Christmas with everybody drinking whiskey and waxing sentimental about Jo while perhaps two dozen snotcaked rugrats crawled around the floor and heard myself saying I'd come. Frank sounded as surprised as I felt, but honestly delighted. ‘Fantastic!' He cried. ‘When can you get here?' I was in the hall, my galoshes dripping on the tile, and from where I standing I could look through the arch and into the living room. There was no Christmas tree; I hadn't bothered with one since Jo died. The room looked both ghastly and much too big to me . . . a roller rink furnished in Early American. ‘I've been out running errands,' I said. ‘How about I throw some in a bag, get back into the car, and come south while the still blowing warm air?' ‘Tremendous,' Frank said without a moment's hesitation. ‘We can have us a sane bachelor evening before the Sons and Daughters of East Malden start arriving. I'm pouring you a drink as soon as I get off the telephone.' ‘Then I guess I better get rolling,' I said. That was hands down the best holiday since Johanna died. The only good holiday, I guess. For four days I was an honorary Arlen. I drank too much, toasted Johanna's memory too many times . . . and knew, somehow, that she'd be pleased to know I was doing it. Two babies spit up on me, one dog got into bed with me in the middle of the night, and Nicky Arlen's sister-in-law made a bleary pass at me on the night after Christmas, when she caught me alone in the kitchen making a turkey sandwich. I kissed her because she clearly wanted to be kissed, and an adventurous (or perhaps ‘mischievous' is the word I want) hand groped me for a moment in a place where no one other than myself had groped in almost three and a half years. It was a shock, but not an entirely unpleasant one. It went no further in a houseful of Arlens and with Susy Donahue not quite officially divorced yet (like me, she was an honorary Arlen that Christmas), it hardly could have done but I decided it was time to leave . . . unless, that was, I wanted to go driving at high speed down a narrow street that most likely ended in a brick wall. I left on the twenty-seventh, very glad that I had come, and I gave Frank a fierce goodbye hug as we stood by my car. For four days I hadn't thought at all about how there was now only dust in my safe-deposit box at Fidelity Union, and for four nights I had slept straight through until eight in the morning, sometimes waking up with a sour stomach and a hangover headache, but never once in the middle of the night with the thought Manderley, I have dreamt again of Manderley going through my mind. I got back to Derry feeling refreshed and renewed. The first day of 1998 dawned clear and cold and still and beautiful. I got up, showered, then stood at the bedroom window, drinking coffee. It suddenly occurred to me with all the simple, powerful reality of ideas like up is over your head and down is under your feet that I could write now. It was a new year, something had changed, and I could write now if I wanted to. The rock had rolled away. I went into the study, sat down at the computer, and turned it on. My heart was beating normally, there was no sweat on my forehead or the back of my neck, and my hands were warm. I pulled down the main menu, the one you get when you click on the apple, and there was my Word Six. I clicked on it. The pen-and-parchment logo came up, and when it did I suddenly couldn't breathe. It was as if iron bands had clamped around my chest. I pushed back from the desk, gagging and clawing at the round neck of the sweatshirt I was wearing. The wheels of my office chair caught on little throw rug one of Jo's finds in the last year of her life and I tipped right over backward. My head banged the floor and I saw a fountain of bright sparks go whizzing across my field of vision. I suppose I was lucky to black out, but I think my real luck on New Year's Morning of 1998 was that I tipped over the way I did. If I'd only pushed back from the desk so that I was still looking at the logo and at the hideo us blank screen followed it I think I might have choked to death. ‘When I staggered to my feet, I was at least able to breathe. My throat the size of a straw, and each inhale made a weird screaming sound, but I was breathing. I lurched into the bathroom and threw up in the basin with such force that vomit splashed the mirror. I grayed out and my knees buckled. This time it was my brow I struck, thunking it against the lip of the basin, and although the back of my head didn't bleed there was a very respectable lump there by noon, though), my forehead did, a little. This latter bump also left a purple mark, which I of course lied about, telling folks who asked that I'd run into the bathroom door in the middle of the night, silly me, that'll teach a fella to get up at two A.M. without turning on a lamp. ,'When I regained complete consciousness (if there is such a state), I was curled up on the floor. I got up, disinfected the cut on my forehead, and sat on the lip of the tub with my head lowered to my knees until I felt confident enough to stand up. I sat there for fifteen minutes, I guess, and in that space of time I decided that barring some miracle, my career was over. Harold would scream in pain and Debra would moan in disbelief, but what could they do? Send out the Publication Police? me with the Book-of-the-Month-Club Gestapo? Even if they could, what difference would it make? You couldn't get sap out of a brick or blood out of a stone. Barring some miraculous recovery, my life as a writer was over. And if it is? I asked myself. What's on for the back forty, Mike? You can play a lot of Scrabble in forty years, go on a lot of Crossword Cruises, drink a lot of whiskey. But is that enough? What else are you going to put on your back forty? I didn't want to think about that, not then. The next forty years could take care of themselves; I would be happy just to get through New Year's Day of 1998. When I felt I had myself under control, I went back into my study, shuffled to the computer with my eyes resolutely on my feet, felt around for the right button, and turned off the machine. You can damage the program shutting down like that without putting it away, but under the circumstances, I hardly thought it mattered. That night I once again dreamed I was walking at twilight on Lane Forty-two, which leads to Sara Laughs; once more I wished on the evening star as the loons cried on the lake, and once more I sensed something in the woods behind me, edging ever closer. It seemed my Christmas holiday was over. That was a hard, cold winter, lots of snow and in February a flu epidemic that did for an awful lot of Derry's old folks. It took them the way a hard wind will take old trees after an ice storm. It missed me completely. I hadn't so much as a case of the sniffles that winter. In March, I flew to Providence and took part in Will Weng's New England Crossword Challenge. I placed fourth and won fifty bucks. I framed the uncashed check and hung it in the living room. Once upon a time, most of my framed Certificates of Triumph (Jo's phrase; all the good phrases are Jo's phrases, it seems to me) went up on my office walls, but by March of 1998, I wasn't going in there very much. When I wanted to play Scrabble against the computer or do a tourney-level crossword puzzle, I used the Powerbook and sat at the kitchen table. I remember sitting there one day, opening the Powerbook's main menu, going down to the crossword puzzles, then dropping the cursor two or three items further, until it had highlighted my old pal, Word Six. What swept over me then wasn't frustration or impotent, balked fury (I'd experienced a lot of both since finishing All the Way from the Top), but sadness and simple longing. Looking at the Word Six icon was suddenly like looking at the pictures of Jo I kept in my wallet. Studying those, I'd sometimes think that I would sell my immortal soul in order have her back again . . . and on that day in March, I thought I would sell my soul to be able to write a story again. Go on and try it, then, a voice whispered. Maybe things have changed. Except that nothing had changed, and I knew it. So instead of opening Word Six, I moved it across to the trash barrel in the lower righthand corner of the screen, and dropped it in. Goodbye, old pal. Weinstock called a lot that winter, mostly with good news. Early in March she reported that Helen's Promise had been picked as one half of the Literary Guild's main selection for August, the other half a legal thriller by Steve Martini, another veteran of the eight-to-fifteen segment of the Times bestseller list. And my British publisher, Debra, loved Helen, was sure it would be my ‘breakthrough book.' (My British sales had always lagged.) ‘Promise is sort of a new direction for you,' Debra said. ‘Wouldn't you say?' ‘I kind of thought it was,' I confessed, and wondered how Debbie respond if I told her my new-direction book had been written a dozen years ago. ‘It's got . . . I don't know . . . a kind of maturity.' ‘Thanks.' ‘Mike? I think the connection's going. You sound muffled.' Sure I did. I was biting down on the side of my hand to keep from howling with laughter. Now, cautiously, I took it out of my mouth and examined the bite-marks. ‘Better?' ‘Yes, lots. So what's the new one about? Give me a hint.' ‘You know the answer to that one, kiddo.' Debra laughed. †You'll have to read the book to find out, Josephine,† she said. ‘Right?' ‘Yessum.' ‘Well, keep it coming. Your pals at Putnam are crazy about the way you're taking it to the next level.' I said goodbye, I hung up the telephone, and then I laughed wildly for about ten minutes. Laughed until I was crying. That's me, though. Always taking it to the next level. During this period I also agreed to do a phone interview with a Newsweek writer who was putting together a piece on The New American Gothic (whatever that was, other than a phrase which might sell a few magazines), and to sit for a Publishers Weekly interview which would appear just before publication of Helen's Promise. I agreed to these because they both sounded softball, the sort of interviews you could do over the phone while you read your mail. And Debra was delighted because I ordinarily say no to all the publicity. I hate that part of the job and always have, especially the hell of the live TV chat-show, where nobody's ever read your goddam book and the first question is always ‘Where in the world do you get those wacky ideas?' The publicity process is like going to a sushi bar where you're the sushi, and it was great to get past it this time with the feeling that I'd been able to give Debra some good news she could take to her bosses. ‘Yes,' she could say, ‘ he's still being a booger about publicity, but I got him to do a couple of things.' All through this my dreams of Sara Laughs were going on not every night but every second or third night, with me never thinking of them in the daytime. I did my crosswords, I bought myself an acoustic steel guitar and started learning how to play it (I was never going to be invited to tour with Patty Loveless or Alan Jackson, however), I scanned each day's bloated obituaries in the Derry News for names that I knew. I was pretty much dozing on my feet, in other words. What brought all this to an end was a call from Harold Oblowski not more than three days after Debra's book-club call. It was storming out-side a vicious snow-changing-over-to-sleet event that proved to be the last and biggest blast of the winter. By mid-evening the power would be off all over Derry, but when Harold called at five P.M., things were just getting cranked up. ‘I just had a very good conversation with your editor,' Harold said. ‘A very enlightening, very energizing conversation. Just got off the in fact.' ‘Oh?' ‘Oh indeed. There's a feeling at Putnam, Michael, that this latest of yours may have a positive effect on your sales position in the market. It's very strong.' ‘Yes,' I said, ‘I'm taking it to the next level.' ‘Huh?' ‘I'm just blabbing, Harold. Go on.' ‘Well . . . Helen Nearing's a great lead character, and Skate is your best villain ever.' I said nothing. ‘Debra raised the possibility of making Helen's Promise the opener of a three-book contract. A very lucrative three-book contract. All without prompting from me. Three is one more than any publisher has wanted to commit to 'til now. I mentioned nine million dollars, three per book, in other words, expecting her to laugh . . . but an agent has to start somewhere, and I always choose the highest ground I can find. I think I must have Roman military officers somewhere back in my family tree.' Ethiopian rug-merchants, more like it, I thought, but didn't say. I felt the way you do when the dentist has gone a little heavy on the Novocain and flooded your lips and tongue as well as your bad tooth and the patch of gum surrounding it. If I tried to talk, I'd probably only flap and spread spit. Harold was almost purring. A three-book contract for the new mature Michael Noonan. Tall tickets, baby. This time I didn't feel like laughing. This time I felt like screaming. Harold went on, happy and oblivious. Harold didn't know the bookberry-tree had died. Harold didn't know the new Mike Noonan had cataclysmic shortness of breath and projectile-vomiting fits every time he tried to write. ‘You want to hear how she came back to me, Michael?' ‘Lay it on me.' ‘Well, nine's obviously high, but it's as good a place to start as any. We feel this new book is a big step forward for him.' This is extraordinary. Extraordinary. Now, I haven't given anything away, wanted to talk to you first, of course, but I think we're looking at seven-point-five, minimum. In fact ‘ ‘No.' He paused a moment. Long enough for me to realize I was gripping the phone so hard it hurt my hand. I had to make a conscious effort to relax my grip. ‘Mike, if you'll just hear me out ‘ ‘I don't need to hear you out. I don't want to talk about a new contract.' ‘Pardon me for disagreeing, but there'll never be a better time. Think about it, for Christ's sake. We're talking top dollar here. If you wait until after Helen's Promise is published, I can't guarantee that the same offer ‘ ‘I know you can't,' I said. ‘I don't want guarantees, I don't want offers, I don't want to talk contract.' ‘You don't need to shout, Mike, I can hear you.' Had I been shouting? Yes, I suppose I had been. ‘Are you dissatisfied with Putnam's? I think Debra would be very distressed to hear that. I also think Phyllis Grann would do damned near anything to address any concerns you might have.' Are you sleeping with Debra, Harold? I thought, and all at once it seemed like the most logical idea in the world that dumpy, fiftyish, balding little Harold Oblowski was making it with my blonde, aristocratic, Smith-educated editor. Are you sleeping with her, do you talk about my future while you're lying in bed together in a room at the Plaza? Are the pair of you trying to figure how many golden eggs you can get out of this tired old goose before you finally wring its neck and turn it into pat? ¦? Is that what you're up to? ‘Harold, I can't talk about this now, and I won't talk about this now.' ‘What's wrong? Why are you so upset? I thought you'd be pleased. Hell, I thought you'd be over the fucking moon.' ‘There's nothing wrong. It's just a bad time for me to talk long-term contract. You'll have to pardon me, Harold. I have something coming out of the oven.' ‘Can we at least discuss this next w ‘ ‘No,' I said, and hung up. I think it was the first time in my adult life I'd hung up on someone who wasn't a telephone salesman. I had nothing coming out of the oven, of course, and I was too upset to think about putting something in. I went into the living room instead, poured myself a short whiskey, and sat down in front of the TV I sat there for almost four hours, looking at everything and seeing nothing. Outside, the storm continued cranking up. Tomorrow there would be trees down all over Derry and the world would look like an ice sculpture. At quarter past nine the power went out, came back on for thirty seconds or so, then went out and stayed out. I took this as a suggestion to stop thinking about Harold's useless contract and how Jo would have chortled the idea of nine million dollars. I got up, unplugged the blacked-out TV so it wouldn't come blaring on at two in the morning (I needn't have worried; the power was off in Derry for nearly two days), and went upstairs. I dropped my clothes at the foot of the bed, crawled in without even bothering to brush my teeth, and was asleep in less than five minutes. I don't how long after that it was that the nightmare came. It was the last dream I had in what I now think of as my ‘Manderley series,' the culminating dream. It was made even worse, I suppose, by unrelievable blackness to which I awoke. It started like the others. I'm walking up the lane, listening to the crickets and the loons, looking mostly at the darkening slot of sky overhead. I reach the driveway, and here something has changed; someone has put a little sticker on the SARA LAUGHS sign. I lean closer and see it's a radio station sticker. WBLM, it says. 102.9, PORTLAND'S ROCK AND ROLL BLIMP. From the sticker I look back up into the sky, and there is Venus. I wish her as I always do, I wish for Johanna with the dank and vaguely smell of the lake in my nose. Something lumbers in the woods, rattling old leaves and breaking a branch. It sounds big. Better get down there, a voice in my head tells me. Something has taken out a contract on you, Michael. A three-book contract, and that's the worst kind. I can never move, I can only stand here. I've got walker's block. But that's just talk. I can walk. This time I can walk. I am delighted. I have had a major breakthrough. In the dream I think This changes everything! This changes everything! Down the driveway I walk, deeper and deeper into the clean but sour smell of pine, stepping over some of the fallen branches, kicking others out of the way. I raise my hand to brush the damp hair off my forehead and see the little scratch running across the back of it. I stop to look at it, curious. No time for that, the dream-voice says. Get down there. You've got a book to write. I can't write, I reply. That part's over. I'm on the back forty now. No, the voice says. There is something relentless about it that scares me. You had writer's walk, not writer's block, and as you can see, it's gone. Now hurry up and get down there. I'm afraid, I tell the voice. Afraid of what? Well . . . what if Mrs. Danvers is down there? The voice doesn't answer. It knows I'm not afraid of Rebecca de Winter's housekeeper, she's just a character in an old book, nothing but a bag of bones. So I begin walking again. I have no choice, it seems, but at every step my terror increases, and by the time I'm halfway down to the shadowy sprawling bulk of the log house, fear has sunk into my bones like fever. Something is wrong here, something is all twisted up. I'll run away, I think. I'll run back the way I came, like the gingerbread man I'll run, run all the way back to Derry, if that's what it takes, and I'll never come here anymore. Except I can hear slobbering breath behind me in the growing gloom, and padding footsteps. The thing in the woods is now the thing in the driveway. It's right behind me. If I turn around the sight of it will knock the sanity out of my head in a single roundhouse slap. Something with red eyes, something slumped and hungry. The house is my only hope of safety. I walk on. The crowding bushes clutch like hands. In the light of a rising moon (the moon has never risen before in this dream, but I have never stayed in it this long before), the rustling leaves look like sardonic faces. I see winking eyes and smiling mouths. Below me are the black windows of the house and I know that there will be no power when I get inside, the storm has knocked the power out, I will flick the lightswitch up and down, up and down, until something reaches out and takes my wrist and pulls me like a lover deeper into the dark. I am three quarters of the way down the driveway now. I can see the railroad-tie steps leading down to the lake, and I can see the float out there on the water, a black square in a track of moonlight. Bill Dean has put it out. I can also see an oblong something lying at the place where driveway ends at the stoop. There has never been such an object before. What can it be? Another two or three steps, and I know. It's a coffin, the one Frank Arlen dickered for . . . because, he said, the mortician was trying to stick it to me. It's Jo's coffin, and lying on its side with the top partway open, enough for me to see it's empty. I think I want to scream. I think I mean to turn around and run back up the driveway I will take my chances with the thing behind me. But before I can, the back door of Sara Laughs opens, and a terrible figure darting out into the growing darkness. It is human, this figure, and yet it's not. It is a crumpled white thing with baggy arms upraised. There is no face where its face should be, and yet it is shrieking in a glottal, loonlike voice. It must be Johanna. She was able to escape her coffin, her winding shroud. She is all tangled up in it. How hideously speedy this creature is! It doesn't drift as one imagines ghosts drifting, but races across the stoop toward the driveway. It has been waiting down here during all the dreams when I had been frozen, and now that I have finally been able to walk down, it means to have me. I'll scream when it wraps me in its silk arms, and I will scream when I smell its rotting, bug-raddled flesh and see its dark staring eyes through the fine weave of the cloth. I will scream as the sanity leaves my mind forever. I will scream . . . but there is no one out here to hear me. Only the loons will hear me. I have come again to Manderley, and this time I will never leave. The shrieking white thing reached for me and I woke up on the floor of crying out in a cracked, horrified voice and slamming my head repeatedly against something. How long before I finally realized I was no longer asleep, that I wasn't at Sara Laughs? How long before I realized that I had fallen out of bed at some point and had crawled across the room in my sleep, that I was on my hands and knees in a corner, butting my head against the place where the walls came together, doing it over and over again like a lunatic in an asylum? I didn't know, couldn't with the power out and the bedside clock dead. I know that at first I couldn't move out of the corner because it felt safer than the wider room would have done, and I know that for a long time the dream's force held me even after I woke up (mostly, I imagine, because I couldn't turn on a light and dispel its power). I was afraid that if I crawled out of my corner, the white thing would burst out of my bathroom, shrieking its dead shriek, eager to finish what it had started. I know I was shivering all over, and that I was cold and wet from the waist down, because my bladder had let go. I stayed there in the corner, gasping and wet, staring into the darkness, wondering if you could have a nightmare powerful enough in its imagery to drive you insane. I thought then (and think now) that I almost found out on that night in March. Finally I felt able to leave the corner. Halfway across the floor I pulled off my wet pajama pants, and when I did that, I got disoriented. What followed was a miserable and surreal five minutes in which I crawled aimlessly back and forth in my familiar bedroom, bumping into stuff and moaning each time I hit something with a blind, flailing hand. Each thing I touched at first seemed like that awful white thing. Nothing I touched felt like anything I knew. With the reassuring green numerals of the bedside clock gone and my sense of direction temporarily lost, I could have been crawling around a mosque in Addis Ababa. At last I ran shoulder-first into the bed. I stood up, yanked the pillowcase off the extra pillow, and wiped my groin and upper legs with it. Then I crawled back into bed, pulled the blankets up, and lay there shivering, listening to the steady tick of sleet on the windows. There was no sleep for me the rest of that night, and the dream didn't fade as dreams usually do upon waking. I lay on my side, the shivers slowly subsiding, thinking of her coffin there in the driveway, thinking that it made a kind of mad sense Jo had loved Sara, and if she were haunt anyplace, it would be there. But why would she want to hurt me? Why would my Jo ever want to hurt me? I could think of no reason. Somehow the time passed, and there came a moment when I realized the air had turned a dark shade of gray; the shapes of the furniture in it like sentinels in fog. That was a little better. That was more it. I would light the kitchen woodstove, I decided, and make strong coffee. Begin the work of getting this behind me. I swung my legs out of bed and raised my hand to brush my sweat-hair off my forehead. I froze with the hand in front of my eyes. I must have scraped it while I was crawling, disoriented, in the dark and to find my way back to bed. There was a shallow, clotted cut across the back, just below the knuckles.

Gardenia and Pepsi Cola in Laguna

We visited the plant of Gardenia and Pepsi Cola in Laguna. We arrived at Pepsi Cola’s plant first, in which they explain the process of production of their products then had a chance to tour the plant. From Pepsi Cola’s plant, we had a stop over at SM Sta. Rosa for a few hours then to Gardenia’s plant. There, we saw the production of their products by explaining the process first then saw in actual the step-by-step process of manufacturing their bread. In Pepsi Cola’s plant, we only visited the part of the plant in which bottles of their products are located. I found it needless because I expect that we could observe concretely the necessary procedures on how Pepsi products are made or from direct materials to finish goods. But we only saw the bottles and already packed products. I also found their plant unclean for products are unorganized plus lack of ventilation. Similar essay: Gardenia Distribution Strategy I like Gardenia’s plant better. They designed their plant in a way that there is an auditorium to present clearly and comfortably the manufacturing process of their products, which were intended for visitors. Also, there is a place for viewing the actual production procedure. I also like the ambiance and how staffs welcome and entertain visitors at Gardenia’s plant. If I will rank our plant visit as 10 being the highest, it will be 6. Because I didn’t find it much useful in our course except the fact that compared to my previous visit, at least, I was able to relate more with what I saw like some notes posted on their walls. Also, I was able to appreciate the visit more for we already discussed topics relating to manufacturing companies.

Internal Control Essay

The LBJ Company is currently making a decision to go public or not and with that The LBJ Company will also need to become knowledgeable about their internal controls within their systems, specifically in regards to Accounting and also Human Resources and how it will affect them and their employees and of course how they conduct business. There have been some positive and negative issues arise in regards to their internal controls. However, the LBJ Company needs to be acknowledged for what they are doing right, but will also need to address the issues that are negatively affecting them and their business and will continue to negatively affect them if they decide to go public, which will drive down the cost of their shares etc. This case study will review these items as well as make recommendations for what the LBJ Company can do to tighten up their internal controls. Part 1: Internal Controls Requirements Inform the President of any new internal control requirements if the company decides to go public. Internal controls are mechanisms, policies, and procedures used to minimize and monitor operational risks. In order to deter employees from committing a dishonest or fraudulent act the controls must be thorough and comprehensive. However, internal controls by themselves are not enough. They will be effective only if they are reinforced through culture, policies and procedures, information systems, training, and supervision of staff. * The primary objectives of internal controls are to: Internal controls help to provide reliable data by ensuring that information is recorded in a consistent way that will allow for useful financial reports * They also help prevent fraud and loss by safeguarding assets and essential records. * Internal controls promote operational efficiency by reducing unnecessary duplication of effort and guarding against misallocation of resources. * They encourage adherence to management policies and funding source requirements. Internal controls can be broke down into two categories- accounting and administrative controls, which is exactly what the issues are with the LBJ Company. (Internal Controls Checklist) According to the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, all publicly traded U.S. corporations are required to maintain an adequate system of internal control at all times. As LJB Company President, he or she should be aware that a controlled environment must be present at all times, and â€Å"that unethical activity will not be tolerated.† The LBJ Company must identify and analyze the various factors that could create risk for the business and how the team can manage those risks. The overall internal control system needs to show and communicate all appropriate information within the organization, to ensure that the communicated information has reached the organization. According to the textbook, â€Å"It is very important to have testing and auditing of controls to build a long lasting organization. (Kimmel, 2009) Part 2: What the Company is Doing Right? Advise the President of what the company is doing right (they are doing some things well) and also recommend to the President whether or not they should buy the indelible ink machine. When you advise the President, please be sure to reference the applicable internal control principle that applies. The company has been doing well by creating a balanced environment for employees, due to the long-term employees that are currently there is an excellent thing for LBJ Company. From what is being shown, the managers and employees have a great balance, which keeps good control and promotes a team oriented environment within the company. Another good thing is that the accountant is in charge of the checks and also stores them into safe in his office, but the manager should have the only key to the safe to increase the monitoring of the checks and would also create a checks and balance system. Plus if the accountant is not there for whatever reason and an employee needs their check, the manager can handle that and not violate any employment laws by not giving an employee their check in a timely manner. The President of LJB Company, has also done a good thing for wanting the employees to be aware of any new regulations required of the company if they decide to go public. It is incredibly important the President have different individuals serve as an Accountant, Treasurer and Controller which will help streamline many of their processes. This way, the Accountant will not be responsible for all financial dealings and again this will create checks and balances which are required to go public. Part 3: Advise the President of what the company is doing wrong (they are definitely doing some things poorly). Please be sure to include the internal control principle that is being violated along with a recommendation for improvement. (20 points) This situation for LBJ Company has shown that it is in clear violation of the internal control principle and is running significant risks by not including more oversight and checks and balances. First of all, that they have one accountant who plays the role of both Treasurer and Controller is an area of great risk. The Controller and Treasurer are meant to play opposite roles in which they provide oversight and checks and balances to the other. The two positions should be filled by separate employees, and this change should be implemented as soon as possible. In the current setup, the one accountant has too much power over the processes. Another issue is the cash drawer principle also leaves the company vulnerable to fraud and manipulation of funds. For example, even if a company employee were to act independently, an employee could easily remove a substantial amount of unauthorized funds, and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find who did it as any of the company employees could have been culpable. An example of the problems that arise from the anonymity that company employees have within the organization, is clearly exemplified in the case of the worker who was fired for viewing pornography on the company computer. Not only does this introduce risks of damaging corporate reputation, and download viruses, but it also highlights how the lack of individual user accounts and accountability makes it so that one employee can hide their malicious actions with anonymity. Below are some recommendations for the LBJ Company. Recommendat ions: 1) To introduce a culture of corporate responsibility, the CEO should begin to implement individual user accounts for its computers, as well as a formal cash withdrawal system, that requires that company employees register themselves with another person or a computer system. 2) The role of the one accountant who acts as Treasurer and Controller must be separated into two so as not to violate the internal control principle, and in order to minimize the likelihood of fraud. 3) The checks should not just be left at the accountant’s office, but in a safe where only two people have access such as the accountant and the manager. That way more than one person is responsible. 4) The accountant taking checks home over the weekend is a security issue as well as introduces more opportunity for fraud. This practice must be stopped and more safeguards put in place. This also is an issue regarding personal identifying information on the checks of the employees and if the checks become lost or stolen, then that information is available to the public now. 5) The accountant also being involved in the interview process for new employees is disturbing because of the level of control he has over critical aspects in the company’s day to day business. If he were to hire an accomplice, he could easily use that individual and his position in order to manipulate accounts and withdraw significant funds from the company before he is ever caught. 6) The HR Departments should also run more thorough background checks as part of their hiring processes. (Bell, 2010) Conclusion Now that the LBJ Company has received the recommendations to fix the issues with their internal controls, they will no doubt be able to go public and be successful. The LBJ Company should also re-evaluate their processes every so often to make sure that these new systems for their internal controls are successful. They should re-evaluate every so often in case they need to make changes as well.