Monday, September 30, 2019

Baria Planning Solutions Essay

The company Baria Planning Solutions is a specialty provider of spend analysis and management services to its customers. BPS was an early entrant into the market but rapid market growth in the past few years has attracted larger software companies to the market. In order to remain competitive against larger companies BPS has expanded beyond the energy sector to acquire other industry-niche providers. Once additional industry sector firms were acquired BPS was tasked with integrating parts of their operations across sectors to ensure operating efficiency. Each industry firm provided services to address the same general type of customer needs but they all differed in technology requirements and service delivery. These differences made it difficult to integrate operations between industry sectors. At the most recent year end the company realized a drop in new client sales and client renewal rates. The sales support team had faced challenges meeting the deadlines promised to clients and as a result they could not capture new sales or retain existing clients. Initial Assessment: Sales opportunities varied between quarters and across industries. BPS has not yet effectively designed the sales support process to meet varying demand levels throughout the year, therefore causing delays in the process. Variation in demand throughout the year caused the industry groups in the proposal support division to have inconsistent productivity levels. Capacity was being inefficiently utilized in the proposal process. As a result the sales support division had trouble meeting proposed deadlines. This then resulted in customer dissatisfaction as well as delays in assisting the salespeople. BPS believed an industry centered approach would be beneficial and provide a competitive advantage but they did not adequately structure their operations to support such a centric process. The sales support process is fragmented and there is no evidence of shared responsibility or employee empowerment. Because the process is fragmented adequate resources  should be provided at each stage in the process and utilized at an efficient level to meet demand. The acquisitions made by BPS are the precedent reason why the sales team is divided by industry sector and the sales leaders believe it is important to maintain an industry specific orientation. The sales team is divided by industry sector while the sales support team only has one of its divisions divided by industry sector. The salespeople have not been able to receive sales support assistance in a timely manner. Directors have suggested the sales support team organize into divisions by industry sector to provide more focused and dedicated support assistance to the sales division. The sales operations group leader disagreed with the proposal to separate sales support by industry division based on the belief that such a structural change would require hiring additional staff. The director of the sales operations group and the previous director of sales support played an influential role in the implementation of the current hybrid structure of the sales support group. In an effort to streamline the sales support group after the acquisition, all functions within sales support were integrated into teams that could serve all industry sectors acquired except for the proposal support group. The reasoning behind the proposal group separation was to allow BPS to continue offering and industry centered, consultative sales process. The hybrid structure was unique to the market, as most similar companies were organized into geographic divisions. BPS believed they could differentiate themselves from competitors with an industry centered niche. However, the industry specific focus could quite possibly be the reason why the sales support team hasn’t been able to meet deadlines and has been missing out on new sales and renewal opportunities. The entrance of competitors in the market has increased customer buying power and their evaluation of alternatives when buying business solutions. Quality assurance of the proposed value BPS offered was an emerging requirement for customers. BPS adopted a solution selling process to meet customer quality expectations and expected the additional performance would create demand which in turn would increase new sales and renewal rates. Because solution selling was a consultative sales process, a considerable amount of additional effort was required in the pre-contractual stage of the sales process to demonstrate value to customers in the proposal. It is important to have the proposal ready in time for the customer. Any delay  will discredit the quality and service promised in the initial selling process resulting in lower customer retention rates. Alternatives Assessment: *Hire additional resources to handle the large workload place on the proposal support staff. Sales support is a service process that requires human capital rather than physical capital. If additional resources are acquired they should be additional staff. Additional capacity should first be added at the bottleneck before it can effectively be added to other divisions. *Integrate all areas of sales support and get rid of the industry centered structure of proposal support. BPS has relied on the unique industry-centric organization of their sales support and salespeople for competitive advantage. Customer surveys to gauge how much they actually value the industry niche approach could be useful in determining what effect any deviation from industry focus would have on demand for BPS services. *Organize all sales support divisions into industry centered processes. This would likely require a significant amount of time and resources dedicated to training and salary expenses. This would be a mid range solution. For now the focus should be on immediate solutions. *Continue or discontinue with the solution selling process. The current trends of consumer choice in the industry, BPS should continue using the solution selling process. In such a service sector, customer satisfaction is vital to stimulate future demand especially if there are other available alternatives. *Cross-train or hire new employees to meet demand and improve utilization. It is relatively inexpensive to cross-train employees [($105,000/52)*3=$6,058] but additional hires might be necessary to meet the demand that cross training cannot. Analyzing utilization rates would help to make this decision. Final Recommendation: In the service sector, demand management involves scheduling customers while capacity management involves scheduling the workforce. Often in the service sector managing demand is not feasible, so companies must focus time and resources on managing capacity. The Theory of Constraints provides a useful framework to address the issues faced by BPS. There is obviously a constraint in the sales support process that must be identified. Exhibit 4  in the case shows the maximum sales support hourly times spent on each function fall outside of 3 standard deviations from the mean amount of time spent on each function. Once the sales support has been redistributed to the highest demand industry sector each quarter, the process should be able to handle the capacity required to fulfill the requests in a more efficient timely manner. Thus, the seasonal variations in demand can be met and assignable variation can be eliminated. The process time variation is expected to be reduced and more reliabl e utilization estimates can be determined. The utilization rates shown in Exhibit 7 of the case should be calculated for each quarter to identify how much pressure there is on a division each quarter and how feasible it is for the division to handle their workload without delay during each quarter. By doing so, it becomes apparent that the seasonal variations in the workload are the reason in proposal delays because the current staffing levels make it impossible to complete such variable demands. The utilization rates by division by quarter are displayed in Appendix 1. Cross training workers and/or hiring additional workers would enhance the capacity to meet the demand. The industry sector proposal divisions are the constraint in the system and can be fixed by offloading the work or increasing the capacity. Adding human resources and distributing them throughout the division will decrease the effect they have on the proposal delays. To improve utilization of resources the following scheduling and staffing requirements are recommended and the subsequent utilization rates are shown in Appendix 2. Hire two part time workers and cross train two full time workers. For a total equivalent of 14 workers on the Proposal support team. In Q1 move 2 full time people from government to retail. Place one part time worker in energy and one part time worker in government. In Q2 no full time workers will change but one part time worker will go to retail and the other will go to energy. In Q3 move 1 full time person from retail to government. Place one part time worker in government and the other in retail. In Q4 move 1 full time person from government and 1 full time person from retail to manufacturing. Place one part time worker in retail and the other in manufacturing. For now, only the proposal support staff will be redistributed. Ongoing quality management will indicate the need for additional staffing changes. By redistributing the proposal staff each quarter, utilization becomes more efficient and capacity is more  consistent with expected demand. Variation due to seasonality should be eliminated. Continuous quality improvement through monitoring the sales support process will provide additional information as to how capacity can be further managed. Process cycle time will provide evidence of the proposed utilization improvements. Customer service is an important aspect of quality than BPS will need to access often if they want to continue with a solution selling process. The solution selling process is essential to the value proposition and will enable BPS to remain competitive in the spend analysis service sector. Utilization improvementswill result in improved cycle times by eliminating variation in the process. Minimizing delays will create value to the customer as well as to BPS and improve customer satisfaction which will almost guarantee increased win and renewal rates.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Data Collection Essay

Data collection is the primary procedure that will let the researcher conduct his analysis over a specified population study. In this case, it is necessary to first define the goals and then implement the correct data gathering procedure (Waddick, 2000). This step can minimize possible errors and capture the correct illustration of the whole subject domain. There are several ways for a researcher to collect data according to the intention for analysis principles. These techniques are well defined in order to help the study owner maintain a credible output in terms of data interpretation. The following are some of the major procedures widely used by researchers: †¢ Activity Logging Scripts-These are the written versions of the subjects’ presence in the study (attendance), accomplishments or skill acquisition. †¢ Focus Grouping-A moderated conversation about a specific issue or topic. †¢ Document Analysis Review-The review of available documents such as performance levels, performance tallies, logs and other available indicators. †¢ Interviewing-This is a type of data collection using oral interactions and conversations. †¢ Questionnaires (Surveys)-Written and recorded responses using clearly formulated questions and inquiries. †¢ Observation-The process of watching directly the behavior of respondents and recording the results. The presented data collection techniques are suitable only for specific intention and parameters of data analysis. All of them are being used regularly by many researchers in the goal of getting hidden inferences from seemingly regular events. However, even though they are considered to be reliable forms of data collection, some issues and concerns may still be experienced. For one, data collection may not be as reliable as it should be if the parameters of the study are not available (e.g. absent respondents, missing files, undefined categories) (EIA, 1999); Second, it can sometimes become too costly especially if data are to be retrieved from institutions requiring resource expenses; Third, the data retrieved especially those in documented form, may no longer represent the true population if the info is no longer updated; Lastly, data collection such as interviews may require an enormous amount of time and effort which may compromise the true behavior of the data in a specific time frame. In order to minimize the error in collecting data, there are also some specific rules in using the presented data collection techniques. Some tools are only appropriate for certain types of data collection because each technique provides the significant level of reliability if it is to be used with the correct principle of data collection. Even though some tools seem much easier than others, the main agenda is to come up with a set of data which are reliable enough to be used for analysis and acquire the best possible result for inference. In such a case, it is always necessary to use only the appropriate tool of data collection for specified goals. For the aspect of getting answers on the â€Å"what are-† and â€Å"how† questions, the Activity Log Scripts and Document Analysis Review are used; In getting an answer for the â€Å"why†, Focus Grouping and Interviews are used while Observations and Questionnaires intend to answer the â€Å"how many-â€Å" questions (PERC). References EIA. 1999. Data Collection Problems. EIA DOE. Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs/tech_errors_data.html. PERC. N.D. Data Collection Tools and Methods and Collecting Data. Planning and Evaluation resource Center. Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http://www.evaluationtools.org/plan_data_collect.asp. Waddick, P. 2000. Building a Data Collection Plan. Six Sigma. Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http://www.isixsigma.com/library/content/c010422a.asp.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Bubble Popping

â€Å"Aren’t you hot?† â€Å"Were you forced to put that on your head?† â€Å"How many scarves do you have?† These were all questions I had received upon making my decision to wear the hijab, or Muslim headdress. However, there was one question that had not been asked. The answer had been lounging in the back of my mind since July, dangling on the edge of my tongue and waiting to exercise. And finally, â€Å"Why do you wear that?† accompanied with a circular motion around the head. I looked up and found a boy staring back at me, wearing a genuine expression on his face, one of solemn curiosity. I had been preparing for this question for months, yet I did not want to launch into a 20-minute speech preaching about my religion, so I opted for a relatively simple answer. â€Å"I wear this,† pointing to my scarf, â€Å"because it’s a really important part of my religion. It represents modesty, so people won’t judge me by my body shape or appearance, but they’ll like me for my personality and character.† An uncomfortable silence followed. â€Å"Does that make sense?† I prodded. He smiled thoughtfully. â€Å"Yeah, it actually does.† I breathed a sigh of relief and a wave of satisfaction washed over me as I realized I had taken a huge step toward reaching my goal. More experiences similar to this one arose, yet one in particular seemed to clear away the uncertainty of my dreams and aspirations. Every Wednesday the Global Relief club would drive down to El Cajon, California and tutor Iraqi refugees at Emerald Middle School. It became my favorite day of the week—the eager children waiting for us outside the classroom, the Arabic circulating around the room in rapid breaths, and the feeling of contentment I received when I knew I had helped someone. That Wednesday was different though. As we approached the regular classroom, I noticed a small girl standing alone against the wall, staring down at her sneakers. I walked over to her, smiled, and said hello. She replied back in a small voice, and from her accent, I deduced that she had recently immigrated. I knew I could never imagine what she had been through, but I immediately felt a connection to her. In that scared, self-conscious girl, I saw my previous self. Her name was Rana, and she had the quiet, nervous voice I had adapted when I started wearing the hijab. She avoided direct eye contact and almost all conversations that were not in Arabic. My constant attempts to engage her in conversation were dismissed. Communication with her was difficult. While I tutored her, we struggled to understand each other, but after experimenting a few Arabic words in a horrible accent, I managed to make her smile. I learned to say, â€Å"Is this right or wrong?† and â€Å"friend.† In retrospect, I learned many new Arabic words, but those held no hope with my terrible language skills. Instead, Rana taught me other things. By the end of the year, Rana was speaking English at a fast pace, and, laughing, I had to tell her to slow down so I could understand her. She bickered with young boys who were bothering her, and giggled with other girls her age. The same girl who was standing alone against the wall was now chattering away in the large group of kids that waited for us outside the classroom. I watched her grow, and in a way, Rana showed me how much I had grown in the past year as well. Coming from a Muslim background and wearing the hijab has had a lasting impact on who I am, and my dreams of who I wish to be. An ordinary engagement with a peer, a learning experience with a young girl, and the feelings that followed pushed me in the direction of helping others, breaking down barriers, and overcoming communication obstacles. I have learned to communicate with and relate to people who may not be in my immediate religious circle, yet have faced similar experiences of discovering identity and trying to fit in. After a long year of struggling to blend in with 2,500 students, I have not succeeded, yet this â€Å"failure† has benefited me in the long run. I am now not afraid of what people think of me, I can speak my opinions without stuttering, and I do not hesitate to make silly faces at friends across the classroom, just to earn a smile. At some point in each of our lives, we have stared up at the tall, intimidating walls of difference, contemplating the best way to jump, climb, or dig under them to make it to the other side. Some may walk away from these walls, ignoring wonderful opportunities to meet someone who may be different from them, but someone who, nonetheless, they may be able to form a connection with. Our ability to tear down these walls, break out of our molds, and communicate with and relate to others is what truly makes us unique, social beings, and I believe that, with the help of many, including Rana, I have succeeded.

Friday, September 27, 2019

The Social Process of Joining an Organization Essay

The Social Process of Joining an Organization - Essay Example Organizations and the people within organizations confront a number of difficulties and situations that are entirely complex. It therefore follows that as social systems, both organizations and the people within them have to constantly adapt to complexity. Whether or not members of an organization learn to adapt to complexities is usually determined by how well members are integrated into the organization when they initially join it. The social process of joining an organization also known as â€Å"organizational socialisation† is important because it is a process in which the newcomer â€Å"acquires the attitudes, behaviour, and knowledge† necessary for participating as an â€Å"organization member†. Among the main socialization processes are: assimilation, civilisation, marginalisation, and professionalization. How an organization applies and deals with each of these processes in the socialising of newcomers depends on the mission and policies of the organization. This essay examines some of the applicable theories directing organizational choices in the complex socialisation process for newcomers. Two useful theories for guiding the socialisation process are psychological and socialisation theories. These theories are important for helping organizations learn the appropriate recruitment and retention skills in the socialization process (Allen, 2006, p. 237). Psychological theory focuses on perceptions of organizational expectations and how those expectations are altered upon entry and with respect to the newcomer’s experiences within the organization and the newcomer makes sense of those experiences (De Vos, Buyens, & Schalk, 2003, p. 537). Psychological theory also narr ows down the perceptions and how experiences alter perceptions by focusing on the experiences of gender groups (Robbins & Judge 2009, p. 45). Sociological theories such as social exchange theory argue that within an organization there is an: ..on-going, dynamic relationship between people as a series of interactions in which actors exchange resources guided by rules of exchange, such as social norms (Korte, 2009, p. 289). In other words, sociological theories inform of the processes in which a newcomer learns the social ordering of the organization via experiences and interactions after entering an organization. According to Allen (2006) employee turnover for organizations occurs more frequently among newcomers (p. 237). Unfortunately, this is problematic because, organizations typically invest a great deal of resources in the recruitment, and training of new employees and with the high turnover among newcomers, organizations have very little opportunities to realize a return on tho se investments (Allen, 2006, p. 237). Together sociological and psychological theories of organizational socialization inform that the socialization process commences before the newcomer enters the organization and that the socialization experience can have an impact on the newcomers decision to remain within the organization (Taormina, 1997, p. 29). It therefore follows that how an organization chooses to influence the socialization of a newcomer is very important and might even be relevant at the recruitment stage. For instance, perceptions of gender inequality in the work place such as in Wal-Mart where women are under-represented in its workforce might influence organizational change in attempting to increase the organization’s appeal to the female workforce (Boxall & Pucell, 2011, p. 14). In this regard, it would be necessary to change practices and policies within an organization that will facilitate the professionalization of women and thereby alter preconceived notion s of gender inequality by practices and policies that significantly alter the newcomer’s â€Å"anticipatory socialisation process† (Ongiti, 2011, p. 78). For example, a new recruit who believes that an

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Organizational Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organizational Theory - Essay Example These standards have arisen without sound testing of whether these standards are, in fact, objective measures of quality (Eichler 1988). Wilson's views are in part countered by Stephen Linstead who while acknowledging the quality of Wilson's work argues that it does a disservice to the main thinkers who laid the theoretical groundwork of the modern O.T. This paper will raise the arguments of these two views and attempt to evaluate them on their respective merits . Wilson's review goes over a great deal of research in the field of O.T and consistently finds evidence of gender blindness in O.T. In covering the research and challenging the assumptions of the studies from the perspective of her thesis of gender blindness she raises many questions for further research. Sometimes the questions raised contradict one another such as the indexing of absolute standards to male attributes and not to the consideration of the objective value of such indices's and whether sometimes so called female attributes may in some cases be the true standard(Eichler 1988); then she later calls into question the whole debate of the study of differences as a pursuit without rationale in light of changing workforce patterns, but to draw this out as a structural flaw in her argument is really not fair since she is challenging individual research conclusions on their original assumptions and not trying to make overarching conclusions about gender differences but rather asking researchers to at least adopt paradigms that allow for new questions(Wilson 1996). This spirit of valuable inquisition runs through her article. In an important highlight of this work She brings many strongly held notions to task such as the idea of assertiveness in itself being a virtue and asks why the relational aspect of O.T has rested on the male idea of hierarchy structures being based on power and authority rather than the attribute va luation emphasized in the female style of management( Rosener 1990) . This is in essence summed up as the difference between a hierarchal schema and a web based organization where relational values are emphasized(Crawford and Maracek 1989). Later she makes the strong argument that the traditionally thought of distinctions of male assertiveness is based more in power relations than in the notion of gender(Snodgrass 1992). To dismiss her review as a reflexive call to focus solely on the gender inequities is do her an injustice as she herself denigrates the notion of analysis based on that approach. Rather she calls for an actual consideration of gender in Organizational Theory especially in light of the increasing role of women in the workforce. This is especially important since the researchers such as Richard Brown (1976) and Janet Wolff (1977) have noted the inequities that Wilson argues for some time without much change. Stephen Linstead acknowledges the quality of Wilson's review and agreeingthat the modern technical studies of OT are guilty of the gender blindness that Wilson claims but he disagrees with Wilson about the early theorists such as Laslow and Weber , Taylor and Mayo. These men he argues were not gender blind but rather suppressed gender as they did other variables to arrive at a theoretical framework that was applicable in a

Perspectives on Globalisation and Economic Crisis Essay

Perspectives on Globalisation and Economic Crisis - Essay Example Scholars like Chinn and Ito (2008) have supported this perception in the sense that they often present entirely novel plans to steer the process of globalisation. However, Feenstra and Taylor (2013) state that monetary unions aimed at economic integration were a reality even during the 19th century. According to the authors: â€Å"In monetary affairs the launch of the Latin Monetary Union in 1866 by France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland (later joined by 7 other countries) could be seen as, if not an early precursor to the Eurozone, at least an attempt to coordinate monetary policy at a transnational level, even if the project was soon undermined by the contradictions of the bimetallic system it sought to defend, and the bloc ended up as a de facto member of the soon ubiquitous gold standard area which began to dominate world monetary affairs after the 1870s.† (Feenstra and Taylor 2013, p. 5) Feenstra and Taylor (2013) further state that the gold standard (as set during the m id 19th century) has served as a platform for ensuring multilateral economic cooperation. Even during the days of colonial rivalries and frequent warfare, leaderships in different countries essentially understood that economic cooperation and intergovernmental dialogue were better avenues for achieving peace and prosperity. European countries were at the foremost in comprehending the importance of such mature financial behaviour although they could not effectively establish peace in their continent unlike today’s European Union. Present day econometric mechanisms of globalisation are also based on mainly economic integration and commercial cooperation. Moreover, geographical situations of different regions as well as geopolitical dynamics play a key role in globalisation simply because it...This paper tries to to elucidate the process of globalization with an objective to explore its economic dynamics with particular reference to the financial markets. It is argued in the paper, that if there is a global economic crisis, then the process of globalization can be affected in various ways. Conversely, regional or country specific economic crises too may obtain a worldwide dimension because of the fiscal dynamics of financial globalization. The gold standard (as set during the mid 19th century) has served as a platform for ensuring multilateral economic cooperation. Even during the days of colonial rivalries and frequent warfare, leaderships in different countries essentially understood that economic cooperation and dialogue were better avenues for achieving peace and prosperity. European countries were at the foremost in comprehending the importance of such financial behaviour although they could not effectively establish peace in their continent unlike today’s EU. As far as the financial world is concerned, it cannot be assumed as synonymous with commerce and industry. Therefore, globalisation with regard to global commerce and industries has its own dimensions with respect to the financial world, or more precisely, the financial or capital markets. A much better comprehension of today’s economic activities is still necessary that can help the international policymakers in finding out that how deficiencies in contemporary financial regulations might set the scene of yet another global economic crisis.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Collective Bargaining and Pay Inequity in the Public Sector Essay

Collective Bargaining and Pay Inequity in the Public Sector - Essay Example In the United States at the moment majority of the states have passed legislations that permit workers to organise themselves and bargain collectively. This is because collective bargaining is a very important way through which employees can push for their rights considering the historical discrimination that has been witnessed in America’s public sector. The laws vary from state to state, for instance, only 12 states of all who have legalized collective recognise strikes are being legal. Those states not allowing strikes have outlined various processes for resolving issues in the workforce such as mediation and fact-finding. A good number of states use interest arbitration where neutral arbitrators listen to grievances raised, evaluate facts, and follow statutory criteria to come up with decisions as to the terms of collective bargaining agreements. Nonetheless, collective bargaining through unionisation has become a very popular practice in America and the world over. Unions represent members in many different ways which include and not limited to lobbying for favourable labor laws such as protection of employees from arbitrary discharge, educating and training members on their rights and most importantly negotiating compensation directly with employers on behalf of the membership. Collective bargaining agreements also address issues of discrimination in the work place based on gender, race and even class hence attempt to force employers apply the same standards to every individual. AFSCME for instance, which is mostly concerned with women has for the past few decades managed to lobby against pay inequity that is based on gender. One negative concern about trade unionism and collective bargaining agreements has been that they tend to indirectly further the inequality gap. In particularly comes about when covered employees are

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

TEMPERAMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

TEMPERAMENT - Essay Example In this period, children develop a sense of freedom and exploration (Feldman p. 187, 2010). Children have been observed to have many different types of temperaments, which have been broadly classified as easy babies, difficult babies and slow-to-warm babies. Easy babies have a consistent behavior, which can be adapted easily to patterns of eating, sleeping and other routines. Difficult babies are very irregular and irritable in their patterns making it harder for them to adapt to changes. Slow-to-warm babies tend not to be very irritable, though their behavior is negative and they recede from public (Feldman p. 188, 2010). Common sense dictates that temperament should effect the development of a baby into a good or bad individual, or a healthy or unhealthy individual. But researches have shown that this is not the case, although temperament does have an indirect effect. The overall effect combines temperament and the societal nature and the general atmosphere around a person also. Temperament directly affects the attachment of babies with their parents. A recent research has shown that the parental attachment can also govern the development of a child’s temperament. Easy to handle babies are generally highly attached to parents (Smith, 2009). Behavior of a mother post-partum is a very important factor in determining a child’s temperament. Women with a higher level of maternal education are able to cope with babies better, having a lesser negative post-partum impact on their children (Smith, 2009). It has been observed that the mode of delivery has a very direct impact on the mother’s emotional stability. Natural and planned cesarean births fare far better than emergency cesareans and epidurals. These can also affect the temperament of children indirectly (Smith, 2009). Scientists are still unsure whether temperament is a completely psychological aspect of a human, or is there some biological effect too as

Monday, September 23, 2019

Physician Assistant Profession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Physician Assistant Profession - Essay Example Specialties such as cardiovascular, neonatology, and emergency medicine may fall outside the scope of the core training program. Typically, responsibility for training a PA to work in these areas falls on Masters levels programs or the physician that was practicing with the PA. While the system has relied on the talent and dedication of the members of the profession to assure an adequate level of training, there has been no formal certification process for working in these areas. The rapidly changing and evolving profession has reached a point where certification makes good sense. It is good for the physicians, the career PAs, and most importantly it is a benefit to the public and the health care patients that seek care from a PA in a specialty environment. PAs are trained and work under the close supervision of a physician and in this arrangement the physician is dependent upon a qualified assistant. Currently, the National Commission on Certification of Physicians Assistants (NCCPA) is the governing board that is responsible for the quality certification of PAs. In a speech of May 2006 Randy D. Danielsen, the Chairman of the NCCPA said, "Changes in the larger health care delivery system may be adversely affecting the teaching and mentoring that should be taking place between PAs and their supervising physicians...". The NCCPA Chairman called for specialty certification at that time. When training suffers the working arrangement between the physician and the PA is negatively affected. With specialty standards and a certification process, the physician could be more confident that the PA will have the background necessary to work in tomorrow's health care system. The PA may have the most to gain from a specialty certification process. A certificate of compliance can be readily recognized as an assurance that the PA is qualified to work in a given specialty. Indeed, many larger organizations have indicated the need for certification other that the NCCPA certification to demonstrate the PAs competence in a specialty or subspecialty. The current certification process may be limiting the career advancement of qualified PAs simply because of a lack of a certification process. According to the American Academy of Physicians Assistants (AAPA) this could lead to more opportunities for employment, greater chance of advancement, higher pay, and a more secure position within the specialty ("Flexibility as a Hallmark"). Specialty certification will enhance the career path of the PA within the framework of modern health care. Critics will point out that the certification requirements may limit the flexibility of PAs in the delivery of care. The AAPA has cited as an example that, "...a PA working in adult cardiology might not be able to moonlight in urgent care..." ("Flexibility as a Hallmark"). The Academy is further concerned that the added cost of formal specialty and subspecialty training and certification may be impractical as well as being time consuming and possibly unavailable. These are valid concerns and it is incumbent upon the NCCPA to address these important issues when structuring a specialty certification program. The ultimate goal of health care is to benefit the patient. Indeed, PAs have been instrumental in bringing quality treatment to the public at an affordable cost. In a study by Hooker, Potts, and Ray it

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Schools of Thought Essay Example for Free

Schools of Thought Essay THERE WERE THREE MAJOR PHILOSOPHIES THAT EXISTED IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES; LEGALISM, DAOISM, AND CONFUCIANISM. EACH PHILOSOPHY HAD DIFFERENT WAYS OF THINKING/BELIEFS THAT INFLUENCED THEIR FOLLOWERS’ WAYS OF LIFE. ALTHOUGH THESE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT MAY HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES, WOULD THEY SUCCEED IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN TODAY’S SOCIETY? ONE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT THAT WOULD NOT FLOURISH IN TODAY’S WORLD IS LEGALISM, FOUNDED BY HAN FEIZI. LEGALIST IDEAS WERE BUILT AROUND THE BELIEF THAT ONLY STRICT LAWS ENFORCED BY A POWERFUL RULER WOULD ENSURE ORDER IN SOCIETY, AND THAT â€Å"THE  RULER ALONE POSSESSES POWER†. IT IS EVIDENT AS TO WHY THESE PRINCIPLES WOULD NOT WORK IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT BECAUSE A DEMOCRACY IS A GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE, AND NO SINGLE BEING HAS TOTAL CONTROL. HAN FEIZI ALSO BELIEVED THAT PEOPLE ACT OUT OF THEIR OWN SELF-INTEREST (ONE FOR ALL) AND NOT TO GOOD EXAMPLES (ALL FOR ONE). ALTHOUGH IN TODAY’S SOCIETY WE LIKE TO STICK TO THE MORALS THAT YOU PUT THE GROUP OVER THE INDIVIDUAL, MANY PEOPLE WILL STILL ACT OUT OF GREED AND PUT THEMSELVES FIRST. BUT OUR COUNTRY WOULD NEVER PROSPER IF EVERYONE ALWAYS ACTED OUT OF JUST PURELY SELF-INTEREST AND BE GREEDY ALL THE TIME. THE LEGALIST IDEOLOGIES CONCERNING SELF-INTEREST COMPLETELY CONTRADICTS THE CONFUCIANS’, WHICH IS THE ONE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT THAT COULD SUCCEED IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN TODAY’S SOCIETY. CONFUCIUS, THE FOUNDER OF THE CONFUCIAN SCHOOL OF THOUGHT, BASED MOST OF HIS IDEAS ON HOW TO REINSTATE PEACE AND â€Å"ENSURE HARMONY† IN A TIME FILLED WITH WAR AND FIGHTING. THE PRINCIPLES HE CONSTRUCTED IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES COULD ALSO SUCCEED IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT TODAY. CONFUCIUS HAD THE IDEA THAT A SUPERIOR PERSON IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WELL BEING OF THE INFERIOR PERSON. THIS WOULD SUCCEED IN TODAY’S SOCIETY IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT BECAUSE IT’S JUST LIKE HAVING A PRESIDENT. THEY DON’T HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE, BUT GUARANTEES US WELFARE AS CITIZENS. CONFUCIUS ALSO HAD MANY THOUGHTS ON RELATIONSHIPS  AND MAINLY THAT THE SUPERIOR PERSON SUCH AS A FATHER SHOULD SET AN EXAMPLE FOR THE INFERIOR ONE SUCH AS A SON. THIS IDEA WOULD ALSO SUCCEED TODAY. OUR COUNTRY WILL ONLY BENEFIT IF PROPER ETIQUETTES AND WAYS WERE INTRODUCED TO OTHERS FOR THEM TO FOLLOW AS WELL. LASTLY, CONFUCIUS PLACED A HEAVY EMPHASIS ON LEARNING WHICH WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL IN ANY  SOCIETY DURING ANY TIME. THE LAST SCHOOL OF THOUGH IS DAOISM, AND IT WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO THRIVE IN TODAY’S SOCIETY IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. DAOISM IS SIMILAR TO CONFUCIANISM BECAUSE IT TOO SEARCHED FOR WAYS TO ENSURE PEACE IN SOCIETY, BUT THIS PHILOSOPHY TOOK A DIFFERENT ROUTE IN DOING SO. THE FOUNDER OF DAOISM, LAO ZI PUT MUCH EMPHASIS ON THE LINK BETWEEN PEOPLE AND NATURE, AND BELIEVED THE BEST WAY TO LIVE WAS THE NATURAL WAY. JUST BASED OFF THE BACKBONE PRINCIPLES OF THIS PHILOSOPHY, IT IS APPARENT THAT IT WOULD NOT BE SUCCESSFUL TODAY. IN OUR WORLD TODAY, EVERYTHING IS BASED ON USING OUR NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO THE FULLEST, AND USING THEM TO MODERNIZE OUR STANDARDS OF LIVING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. ALTHOUGH DAOISTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR INVENTIONS SUCH AS THE MAGNETIC COMPASS ADVANCES IN  SCIENCE AND ASTRONOMY, THEY STILL USED THEM IN HARMONY WITH NATURE, WHICH IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE DO TODAY. OUR SOCIETY IS ALL ABOUT MAKING ADVANCES IN OUR TECHNOLOGIES, WITHOUT GIVING A THOUGH TO HOW MUCH IT IS HURTING OUR ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE WE PUT SUCH LITTLE EMPHASIS ON NATURE. THE MAIN REASON THAT DAOISM WOULD NOT BLEND WITH A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IS BECAUSE DAOISM WAS ALSO A GROUNDED BY THE IDEA THAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE RUN BY FEW  LAWS AND LITTLE TO NO RULE. IF OUR GOVERNMENT WERE LIKE THAT, SO MANY CRIMES AND WRONG DOINGS WOULD TAKE PLACE THAT THE COUNTRY WOULD FALL APART IN A MATTER OF DAYS. OVERALL, THE THREE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT ARE NOT BEST SUITED TO SUCCEED IN TODAY’S SOCIETY IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT MAINLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT THEY THEIR PRINCIPLES WERE SHAPED IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES. THE ONLY REASON CONFUCIANISM IS THE ONLY SCHOOL OF THOUGH THAT COULD PROSPER TODAY IS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY ONE WHO’S IDEOLOGIES SOMEWHAT RESEMBLE SOME OF OUR MORALITIES AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES WE ABIDE BY TODAY.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Relationship Between Divorce and Family Models | Proposal

Relationship Between Divorce and Family Models | Proposal Aim and Hypothesis â€Å"The conventional nuclear family is already a thing of the past,† writes Madeleine Bunting, author of ‘Willing Slaves: How the Overwork Culture is Ruling Our Lives[1]’. Current statistics do indeed paint a worrying picture; in the past 30 years the rate of divorce has doubled[2], Britain now having the highest divorce rate in Europe. Concurrently, the proportion of women in full-time employment has trebled, with maternal employment having increased by 8% to 65%[3]. As a firm believer in the Nuclear Family model, these findings and predictions are of particular personal concern. For this reason I have chosen this area as the focus for my sociological research. I have chosen to concentrate my study on the relationship between the ever-changing female sex stereotype, and the heightened rates of divorce. My test hypothesis is therefore as follows: â€Å"Divorce is more prevalent amongst families where the mother does not willingly accept the traditional female sex employment stereotype.’ Contexts and Concepts: The context of this hypothesis is best understood in light of two research studies which have been conducted previously in this area. The first was an exploratory research study conducted by Geoff Dench of Middlesex University into men’s family roles, entitled â€Å"The Place of Men in Changing Family Cultures.[4]† In this study, Dench identified two main family types; the ‘conventional family’ and the ‘deregulated family.’ The conventional family model represents a traditional family formulation in which each member has interpersonal rights and obligations arising from their marriage [or birth, if children]. The reciprocal support structure inherent in this model results in individual free choice being limited; purely personal interests may therefore need to be compromised. Dench identified that members of this group would be more inclined to see a distinction between what may be good for them as an individual, and what may be good for the family as a whole. The deregulated family model represents an individualist family formulation in which each member is responsible for upholding their own rights and negotiations of those rights. To this extent, individual choice is prevalent within this group; autonomy being the over-arching ideal. Respondents in this group expressed a view that traditional gender roles were a source of social injustice, and rejected the notion of the ‘conventional family’ as ideal on this ground. Dench identified that supporters of this model tended to be young, childless couples. Whilst this study yielded several very interesting findings, it is one conclusion in particular which is most relevant to the study of this paper: Dench discovered that the ‘highest levels of personal and marital satisfaction were among people who lived in traditional families. The highest levels were connected to families in which the man worked and the woman was at home. The lowest levels occurred when the woman worked and the man stayed at home.’ This is the very conclusion which I am attempting to prove within this research study, via my hypothesis that â€Å"Divorce is more prevalent amongst families where the mother does not willingly accept the traditional female sex employment stereotype.† The concept of ‘traditional female sex employment stereotype’ describing the situation where the role of the husband is as breadwinner of the family [i.e. provides the primary family income], and where the role of the wife is as ‘housewife’ [i.e. the primary domestic labourer]. The second research study is entitled â€Å"The growth of Lone Parenthood: Diversity and Dynamics[5]†, and was conducted by Karen Rowlingson, Stephen McKay and Richard Berthoud on behalf of the University of Derby’s Economic and Social Research Council. Their findings, whilst not specifically concerned with the issue of the female sex employment stereotype, suggested that divorce occurs more frequently in families where the woman leaves her full-time employment to look after a newly arrived child. Prima facie, this finding would suggest that my conclusion is flawed; after all, surely a woman who leaves work to look after her newly born child is adhering to the traditional employment stereotype, and should therefore be less likely to engage in divorce or separation from her partner. This finding however does not contradict my hypothesis, rather helps to contextualise it; this finding from the study concerned women who had previously been non-traditional employment stereotype conformists, but had been forced to give up their work and look after their child through circumstance. A woman who does not willingly accept her traditional role is of course more unlikely to be unhappy, as her ‘individual autonomy’, which as discussed by Dench is held as the over-arching ideal by a subscriber of the non-traditionalist model, is not being allowed to predominate. This helps to explain why my hypothesis is limited to/focussed upon women who do not ‘willingly accept’ the traditional gender employment stereotype. Main Research Method and Reasons: In light of the obvious difficulties with actually asking random adults about their marital status and employment, I have decided that the best way to glean this information is by asking my fellow students at school to complete a survey questionnaire [a method usually associated with the positivist school of sociology]. It is of course necessary that a significant proportion of my sample population have parents who are divorced, and visa versa. The problem with this requirement is that a random sample of students may not throw up sufficient of the former category. What I therefore propose is a one day trip to Somerset House in London, and armed with a complete list of all students at my college, I will cross reference their surnames against the Divorce Register[6]. Once I have identified all the students whose parents are now divorced, I will randomly select a proportion of these students to take part in my survey by assigning each student with a number and using a random-number gene rator program on my computer to decide which students will be selected. By the same random-sampling technique, I will select an identical number of students whose parents are not divorced. The benefit of conducting this prior research to identify students whose parents are divorced is that it means that the questionnaire itself does not need to ask these people whether or not their parents are separated. To ask this question may prove to upset the students; after all the divorce of their parents is not something which most students would wish to discuss or even recall during a sociological study such as mine. For the student’s whose parents are apparently still together, married, it is important to confirm that the student still lives with both parents; after all just because the parents of these student’s do not appear on the Divorce registry doesn’t mean they are still living together- they could be separated without divorce, or in the process of applying for a decree nisi/absolute. The questionnaire itself will ask questions designed to glean the following information: From those students whose parents are now divorced: If the student’s mother, for the majority of the student’s life, was engaged in full-time employment prior to separation. If the students mother, for the majority of the student’s life, was engaged in part-time employment prior to separation. If the students mother, for the majority of the student’s life, was a ‘housewife’ prior to separation. The reasons for the above answers, if known. [e.g. my mother always though that it was important to look after the family while the man went out to work etc.] From those students whose parents are still married, and living together: If the students mother has been employed on a full-time basis for the majority of the student’s life. If the students mother has been employed on a full-time basis for the majority of the student’s life. If the student’s mother has been a ‘housewife’ for the majority of the student’s life. The reasons for the above answers, if known. [e.g. my mother always though that it was important to look after the family while the man went out to work etc.] In light of the fact that I will need to compare all the data if I am going to test my hypothesis, I plan to use the above information to calculate a total ‘employment score index’ for each student sample. One simple way to achieve this is by structuring the questions of the survey as score lines, i.e. On a scale of 1-9 was your mother, for the majority of your childhood, 1= fully employed 2= fully employed but took some time of work to look after me in my early years 3= was fully employed for some of the time, but also spent a good proportion of those years at home as housewife†¦ 9= has always been a housewife since I was born. In this way the indexes of each student sample whose parents are not separated can be compared with the indexes of each student sample whose parents are divorced, a comparison from which a trend may or may not be identified, and may or may not be in line with my hypothesis. 2 pre-tests will need to be conducted by a sample of 25 students in order to tweak the questionnaire[7], so that we can be assured that the final questionnaire is appropriately constructed. This survey will create qualitative results; the limited size of the sample study precludes there being any reliable quantitative conclusions, and besides, there are clearly other factors which cause couples to separate, and therefore from such a study, we can only sensibly be interested in identifying a qualitative trend. Potential Problems: One problem associated with proposed study is the fact that due to the time restraints in which I would be operating, the limited size of my sample frame would perhaps not yield sufficient results from which a reliable trend/conclusion could be drawn. This problem could of course be rectified without changing the method, but rather by increasing the sample frame, and as such is not what could be described as an inherent problem. Another problem is the fact that we are questioning students about their mothers employment history throughout their childhood. Whilst some students may remember these details with great clarity, it may well be the case that certain students are unable to recall this information with sufficient accuracy. One solution to this problem, and a way of avoiding erroneous results through sample guesswork, would be to ask each student on a scale of 1-5 how accurate they believe their assessment to be. Finally, it may also be the case that there are simply not enough students from divorced families in my school to provide sufficient and therefore reliable data for this side of the comparison. If this is the case, it may be essential to extend the survey across several additional local colleges, although the time-frame available would not make the necessary research for this sample frame extension feasible. When asking the students to confirm that their parents are still married and living together, students may not be willing to admit that their parents are currently in the process of divorce or separated, as this is often perceived to be shameful by the children of such parents. This will mean that data from students whose parents are in fact separated [but not divorced] will be erroneously attributed to the data for students whose parents are still married and living together, thus causing inaccuracies to any trend which is identified. One solution to this problem would be to allow each sample student to conduct the survey in the privacy of their own home etc., in this way there is no reason to lie as no-one will ever discover their identity. Footnotes [1] June 21st, 2004. Harper Colins Publishing. ISBN: 0007163711 [2] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=4140 [3] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/article.asp?ID=355Pos=ColRank=1Rank=224 [4] The Place of Men in Changing Family Cultures (London York: ICS/Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 1996); [5] Rowlingson, K and McKay, S (1998) The Growth of Lone Parenthood: Diversity and Dynamics, London: PSI [6] Principal Register, Divorce Registry, Room G45, Somerset House, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL. [7] Converse and Presser (1986: 65) argue cogently that a minimum of two pre-tests are necessary, with pretest sizes of 25 – 75.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Butcher and His Fiend Like Queen in William Shakespeares Macbeth Essay

Butcher and His Fiend Like Queen in William Shakespeare's Macbeth I do agree with this judgement of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, but only in some aspects of the play by William Shakespeare. There are many arguments for this judgement; these will be discussed in this essay. In act one scene two Macbeth is portrayed as a heartless, merciless and brutal warrior. We get this impression of Macbeth from the report that is given to King Duncan by the captain; "For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name) Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, which smok'd with bloody execution" this quote explains how Macbeth is a brave warrior in the face of battle and is not scared of any man. Throughout this play Macbeth has a wild ambition for power. Macbeth craves the power so much he will kill for the title of the king. Killing the king in the time of William Shakespeare is regarded as the worst crime possible. Macbeths craving for power is surfaced after he meets three evil witches in Act one scene three; who prophesise he is to be Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and to be king there after. "All hail Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Glamis. All hail Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Cawdor. All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter." After hearing this Macbeth is shocked to hear this news as being Thane of Cawdor is a huge title to his ears, let alone being King. As the witches quickly move away Macbeth is curious to know more and what these creatures are speaking of: "Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more" Macbeth wants their statements to be true and therefore tries to find out more information about what he could be in the future.... ... greedy temperaments cost them their lives, they both are never happy again because they committed the worst possible crime in Scotland, just to be king and queen for a short period of time. Therefore the description of Macbeth as a butcher is false. Butchers are heartless mean men who kill with no regret. Macbeth regrets his actions and therefore he suffers for the rest of his life. Lady Macbeth is even weaker than Macbeth in the final acts; she commits suicide whereas Macbeth faces his fate. Lady Macbeth makes out she is a strong figure and makes Macbeth look up to her with her harsh words and persuasive techniques, she is "fiend like" as she manages slyly to persuade Macbeth to commit the murder. Although Lady Macbeth does not kill Duncan she cannot handle the pressure like Macbeth and they are never happy again.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Essay on Control in Song of Solomon -- Song Solomon essays

Fight for Control in Song of Solomon       The idea of complete independence and indifference to the surrounding world, symbolized by flying, stands as a prominent concept throughout Toni Morrison's novel Song of Solomon. However, the main character Milkman feels that this freedom lies beyond his reach; he cannot escape the demands of his family and feel fulfilled at the same time. As Milkman's best friend Guitar says through the novel, "Everybody wants a black man's life," a statement Milkman easily relates to while seeking escape from his sheltered life at home. Although none of the characters in the story successfully take control of Milkman's life and future, many make aggressive attempts to do so including his best friend Guitar who, ironically, sympathizes with Milkman's situation, his frustrated cousin Hagar, and most markedly his father, Macon Dead.    Guitar Bains, Milkman's best friend since childhood, serves as Milkman's only outlet to life outside his secluded and reserved family. Guitar introduces Milkman to Pilate, Reba, and Hagar, as well as to normal townspeople such as those that meet in the barber shop, and the weekend party-goers Milkman and Guitar fraternize with regularly. However, despite their close friendship, the opportunity to gain a large amount of gold severs all their friendly ties. Guitar, suspecting Milkman took all the gold for himself, allows his greed and anger to dictate his actions and sets out on a manhunt, ready to take Milkman down wherever and whenever he could in order to retrieve the hoarded riches. Guitar's first few sniper attempts to execute Milkman did fail; however, the ending of the novel leaves the reader with the imminent death of either Milkman or Guitar. Ironic that t... ... lives of the Dead family members; Milkman, unable to live any longer in an environment composed of animosity, drives him to leave his home and search for "his people." Serendipitously, although no single individual gains control of either Milkman's living or dead life, Milkman's need to escape from his collective family and surroundings unwittingly captures him and the life he so fervently aims to keep from the control of others.    Works Cited: Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: Penguin Books, 1987. Schultz, Elizabeth. "African and Afro-American Roots in Contemporary Afro-American Literature: The Difficult Search for Family Origins." Studies in American Fiction 8.2 (1980): 126-145. Story, Ralph. "An Excursion into the Black World: The 'Seven Days' in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon." Black American Literature Forum 23.1 (1989): 149-158.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

A Destructive Tornado Essay examples -- Descriptive Essay Examples

A Destructive Tornado Tornadoes are one of the deadliest and most unpredictable villains mankind will ever face. There is no rhyme or reason, no rhythm to it’s madness. Tornados are one of the most terrifying natural events that occur, destroying homes and ending lives every year. April 29th, 1995, a calm, muggy, spring night I may never forget. Jason, a buddy I grew up with, just agreed to travel across state with me so we could visit a friend in Lubbock. Jason and I were admiring the beautiful blue bonnets, which traveled for miles like little blue birds flying close to the ground. The warm breeze brushed across the tips of the blue bonnets and allowed them to dance under the perfectly clear blue sky. In the distance, however, we could see darkness. A rumbling sky was quickly approaching. We continued down the infinitely long interstate towards our destination. Thunder clouds continued to rumble in, like an ocean tide rolling closer and closer to the beach front. Within minutes the entire landscape was calm and dark. It looked like a total eclipse of the sun, and the once ... A Destructive Tornado Essay examples -- Descriptive Essay Examples A Destructive Tornado Tornadoes are one of the deadliest and most unpredictable villains mankind will ever face. There is no rhyme or reason, no rhythm to it’s madness. Tornados are one of the most terrifying natural events that occur, destroying homes and ending lives every year. April 29th, 1995, a calm, muggy, spring night I may never forget. Jason, a buddy I grew up with, just agreed to travel across state with me so we could visit a friend in Lubbock. Jason and I were admiring the beautiful blue bonnets, which traveled for miles like little blue birds flying close to the ground. The warm breeze brushed across the tips of the blue bonnets and allowed them to dance under the perfectly clear blue sky. In the distance, however, we could see darkness. A rumbling sky was quickly approaching. We continued down the infinitely long interstate towards our destination. Thunder clouds continued to rumble in, like an ocean tide rolling closer and closer to the beach front. Within minutes the entire landscape was calm and dark. It looked like a total eclipse of the sun, and the once ...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

There is nothing like “Diminishing returns” in the real world

The Law of Diminishing Returns states that increasing one variable input, while keeping the rest of the variables constant, will eventually yield a result opposite the intended purpose of the variable change. The change will rise at first, reach peak and will eventually skew downwards sooner or later (Tutor2u Website). In economics, when marginal physical product (MPP) starts to decline, diminishing returns to labor occurs. This means that total output will increase at a decreasing rate when more workers are employed. Eventually a decline in marginal product leads to a fall in average product. What accounts for this decline in MPP?The answer lies in the ratio of labor to other factors of production. For instance, a third worker begins to crowd the facilities available. We still have only the one sewing machine. Two people cannot sew at the same time. As a result, some time is wasted, as the operators wait for their turns at the machine. Even if they split up the various jobs, there w ill still be some downtime, since measuring and cutting are not as time-consuming as sewing. In this sense, we cannot make full use of a third worker. The relative scarcity of other inputs (capital and land) constrains the marginal physical product of labor (Schiller 2005, 90-91).Eventually, if we add more workers, this will cause so much congestion that marginal product would become negative and total product would decline. At the extreme, the addition of more and more labor would exhaust all the standing room available and total product would fall to zero. Another example of this is when applying higher amounts of fertilizer in a tract of land, a farmer expects higher yields during harvest time. But, there is just one point that even though you will apply more fertilizer in your soil, the total number of yield will just be the same, if not decreasing slowly.In the real world, the concept of diminishing returns is practically applicable in all aspects of life, not only in economics , where resources are available. For example, if you like pizza, I’ll give you two slices of pizza. That would taste great at first. However, when I require you to eat three whole boxes of pizza, there is this nth number of slice where you would give up eating pizza because you already have enough. If you do not stop eating, chances are: you are going to throw up.Diminishing returns, is supposedly the economic equivalent of negative feedback, which argue that market demand decreases at a point where the need becomes saturated. The initial sales of a new car model stir up considerable market interest; subsequent sales generate increasingly less interest. At some point, the market for that car stabilizes. A glass of lemonade after a round of tennis on a hot day would be quite important to you, and you would probably be glad to pay a child at a lemonade stand, say, a dollar for it. However, the next glass is of less value to you and the third glass, even lesser.The Law of Dimini shing Returns favor no time, person, or place as they allow no particular advantage except the advantage that assure the â€Å"free market† principle. Diminishing returns impede unnatural growth and prevent any given system from monopolizing environmental resources. Thus, there is plenty of opportunity to go around. This means there are chance for everybody: with hard work and intelligence, any child who is born a citizen of the United States can become president; any mom and dad could do business to own huge corporation, and any town can become a Silicon Valley.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Fayol’s Principles Of Management In Mcdonalds Essay

How Far Henri Fayols Principle Of Management Is Relevant With Contemporary Public Administration stepped down as director, he published his â€Å"14 Principles of Management† in the book â€Å"Administration Industrielle et Generale.† Fayol also created a list of the six†¦ Premium Principles Of Management aspects of Egyptian life were highly organized. There were much inefficiency, Principles of Management MGT503 VU  © Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 2†¦ Premium Principles Of Management of corporate governance, many of whom are now very actual and applicable. FAYOLS PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT First authority and responsibility are linked†¦ Premium Principles Of Management  new ideas, imagination and visions to the managers and the organisation. . Guide to research. Fayol’s principles of Management. . Division of work . Authority†¦ Premium Principles Of Management for any job, he should also have the concerned authority. Fayol’s principle  of management in this regard is that an efficient manager makes best possible use of his†¦ Premium Principles Of Management course presents the principles of management, emphasizing managerial functions and behavioural concepts and its practical applications in the organsation. Goals†¦ Premium Principles Of Management for any job, he should also have the concerned authority. Fayol’s principle of management in this regard is that an efficient manager makes best possible use of his†¦

Sunday, September 15, 2019

7 Correctional Models

[pic] SUBJECT SYLLABUS Prepared by: Bonifacio A. de Lara, Jr. SUBJECT CODE:Computer 1/10 COLLEGE OF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY Diploma in Midwifery COLLEGE OF ARTS SCIENCES AND SOCIAL WORKS Bachelor of Arts and BSSW COLLEGE TEACHER EDUCATION BSE and BEEd COLLEGE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION BSTHRT, ATHRT, BSBA, 2 Year Certificate in Computer Secretarial and BSOA COLLEGE OF THEOLOGY ABTheo, BPTheo and BRE-ECE SUBJECT TITLE:Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Concepts UNITS:3 Units PRE-REQUISITE:None TYPE OF SUBJECT:Minor FACULTY:Bonifacio A. de Lara, Jr. TERMS:First Semester / Second SemesterROOMS:EZE 201/ST 104 SUBJECT DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to teach the students the basics of computer education. It was designed in a manner that will allow the students to acquire a ladder-type education in information technology. SUBJECT PURPOSE OVERVIEW: Computer 10 is a course that enables students to familiarize themselves with the use of basic operations of a computer such as opera ting system, windows applications such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint with version 2003, respectively. STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: 1. Class Standing (CS) 2/3 of the TERM GRADE Attendance – students should not incur absences of more than 20% of the required attendance. Each absence would mean reduction of attendance rate by one step. †¢ Quizzes – there must be at least two quizzes per term period. Each quiz should contain ten to fifteen questions. †¢ Unit Test – there must be at least one unit test per term period. Each unit test should contain 20 to 30 points / question. †¢ Assignments – assignments should be given to students to further broaden their horizon on the subject matter. This must be given equivalent rating for purpose s of computing the term grade. Graded Recitation – this should be given once every term grade. †¢ Other Factors – other factors which should be determin ed at the start of classes may be included depending upon the nature of the course, like projects, term papers, research works, workbooks, etc. For the above purpose, each factor or item should be assigned a corresponding percentage. The total weight of the Class Standing is equal to 2/3 of the total term grade. 2. Term Test (1/3) †¢ Prelim Test (PT) †¢ Midterm Test (MT) †¢ Final Test (FT) In determining the term grade, the Term Test is equal to 1/3 of the Class Standing in each term period. 3.Formula in Computing the Term Grade †¢ PG = [(CS X 2) + PT] / 3 †¢ MG = {[(CS X 2) + MT] / 3} 2 + PG 3 †¢ FG = {[CS X 2) + FT] / 3}2 + MG 3 NCC THEME The Administration, Faculty, Staff and Students of Northern Christian College N – Nurtured in Christ C – Centered in Christ C – Committed in Christ NCC CREDO Northern Christian College seeks a life of faith, learning and action that will develop the person into becoming intellectually competent a nd honest, morally and ethically sensitive, and creatively aware and responsive to the needs, aspirations and realization of Just, Free and Responsible Christian social order. NCC MISSIONThe Mission of Northern Christian College is the training of the spiritual, intellectual, social and physical faculties of the youth of the Philippines with special emphasis upon the development of Christian character as exemplified by the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. NCC VISION A just free and responsible community made up of people who are intellectually competent and honest and morally and ethically sensitive to the needs and aspiration of the society I. SOFTWARE – set of instructions written in a code / programs Computers do something you probably wish people did: they do exactly what you tell them to do.They follow instructions. In fact, the only thing they do is follow instructions. Without instructions, they just sit there, as useless as that proverbial bump on a log. A list of i nstructions that tells a computer what to do is called PROGRAM or SOFTWARE. TYPES OF SOFTWARE I. SYSTEM SOFTWARE – designed to allow the computer to manage its own resources and run basic operations. A. OPERATING SYSTEM -is a collection of programs that oversees all computer operations. Examples: 1. DOS 5. 0/DOS 6. 0 [pic] 2. Linux [pic] 3. Unix [pic] 4. Windows 3. 00, 3. , 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8 [pic] B. PRORAGRAMMING LANGUAGES Levels of Languages: a. Machine Lang – represents data 1’s & 0’s (Binary Nos. ) b. Assembly Lang. – low – level (Uses Mnemonic Codes) [pic] c. High – Level Lang. – Procedural [pic] d. Very High – Level Lang. – OOP or 4GL’s [pic] e. Natural Lang. [pic] II. APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE – designed and written to perform a particular kind of work/task; allows to increase productivity and creativity A. WORD PROCESSING – is an application program designed for manipulatin g text; used for writing, editing and rewriting.Examples: 1. Wordstar 2. MS-Word 3. Pagemaker 4. WordPerfect [pic][pic][pic] B. SPREADSHEET – Is a microcomputer program that provides increased calculation accuracy, easy updating, and the ability to recalculate column and row totals quickly under different sets of assumption. Examples: 1. Lotus 123 2. MS-Excel 3. Quattro Pro [pic][pic][pic] C. DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM – A software used to organize, analyze, search for update, and retrieve data. Purpose: Is to organize collections of data. Examples: 1. Dbase Plus 2. Foxbase 3. Access 4. Visual BasicAny collection of data can be made easier to maintain and much more accessible: membership files, checking accounts, restaurant reservations mailing lists, employee records. [pic][pic][pic][pic] D. GRAPHICS PROGRAMS – software that lets you create pictures 1. Paint Programs- used to create bit-mapped images. Examples: Paint, Adobe Photoshop 2. Draw Programs – c reate object-oriented images. Tools to draw lines, rectangles, circles and ovals. 3. Presentation Programs is designed to further assist the user in creating and generating professional looking such as slides, visuals effects and sounds. the most meaningful of this program is its multimedia Presentations can be supplied movies, music and animation. Examples: CorelDraw Presentation, PowerPoint, 4. Computer-Assisted Design (CAD) – used to produce three-dimensional images composed of circles, arcs, and straight lines. – it create any object, whether it’s a house, ship engine, bottle, or sneaker. Examples: AutoCAD E. DESKTOP PUBLISHING – Is designed to create publishing programs such as newsletters, brochures, cards, forms and business memos. Examples: Print Artist, Publisher, CorelDraw, Newsmaster, Photoshop, F.EDUCATION AND TRAINING – Is designed primarily for academic and training. TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE: 1. Tutorials – programs use st ep-by-step instructions to teach facts, skills, and concepts. Tutorials are rather like textbooks, except that they are interactive. Example: How to operate a piece of equipment, use punctuation, read music, play the guitar and program computer. 2. Drill and practice – programs are used to reinforce skills in subjects such as arithmetic, spelling, speed reading, foreign languages, and typing. 3. Simulations – programs imitate real events. It reinforce facts and concepts. How do you pilot a plane? -What decisions need to be made to improve your candidate's chances of election? -What challenges would you as head, and how would you handle those challenges? G. GENERAL BUSINESS PROGRAMS – Software that help people run their businesses. Example: 1. If you’re thinking of launching a new product or business, there are programs designed to help you develop and implement a business plan. 2. If you don’t have an employee manual, there are programs that contai n dozens of company policy statements, which you can use verbatim or edit to meet your specific needs. Examples of GBPs 1.Accounting software – record financial transactions, prepares invoices, calculates each employee’s taxes and other deductions. 2. Project Management Software – helps managers plan and keep track of the tasks resources, time schedules, and cost of project. 3. Statistical Packages – are powerful tools that use a variety of calculations to analyze large sets of data. 4. Decision Support Tools – designed to help define the important criteria involved in making a particular decision. -Assigning a numerical value, or weight, to each criterion. Then you score each of your options to see which ranks highest. H.SELF-IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM – These are computer programs for almost personal interest or activity. This small sampling gives you a sense of the scope of what’s available: 1. Garden planners – help you choose pla ns best suited for your geographical area, lay out your garden, and determine optimal planting and harvesting dates. 2. Geneology program – help you organize information about your ancestors and create family trees. 3. Home inventory programs – for people who have everything, or at least want to protect everything they have against financial loss in case of fire, theft, or natural disaster. . Wedding planners – help people prepare guest lists, schedule events, choose honeymoon destinations, and keep tract of estimated and actual expenses. HEALTH AND FITNESS 1. Medical programs – provide information on diseases, injuries, medical tests, immunizations, nutrition, dieting, and fitness, and make diagnoses based on an analysis of your symptoms. 2. Biofeedback programs – designed to teach you how to handle stress, how to relax, even how to control blood pressure and heart rate. MONEY MATTERS 1.Money managers– organized your bills, write checks, re concile accounts, track insurance policies, set up stock and bond portfolio rate. 2. Tax programs– guide you through tax preparation, from compiling the necessary data to printing out tax forms for federal and state income taxes.. I. ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM – Designed for enjoyment. GAME SOFTWARE 1. Arcades – Games that let you shoot at aliens or some other targets and try to pile up ever-higher scores. 2. Fantasy role-playing games – Text-based stories in which you constantly have to make decisions: Which path should I follow?Are these people to be trusted? What’s the meaning of riddle? Is this safe drink? 3. Games of chance and skill – Electronic versions of card games such as bridge and poker, board games such as Monopoly and Scrabble, and TV shows such as Jeopardy, and Wheel of Fortune. 4. Simulations – games that use graphics and sound effects to imitate real-life situations, giving you the chance to live vicariously as you pilot a jet fighter, drive a Formula One car, play pool. J. UTILITY PROGRAMS – Designed to perform certain housekeeping and maintenance tasks.They improve your efficiency of your computer system, protect the system against various disasters. *Most utilities are memory-resident program. They remain in the computer’s memory at all times. You can access them instantly, even when you’re in the middle of an application. *Many utilities are packaged with operating systems and application programs. Example: -utilities include with MS-DOS can display a list of files stored on a disk, copy files. -Erase unwanted files on a disk. -Spell checkers and thesauruses included in the word processing packages also can be a thought of as utilities.ADDITIONAL UTILITIES THAT ARE SOLD SEPARATELY, useful utilities include: 1. File recovery program – used to recover files that are mistakenly erased from a floppy or hard disk. 2. Compressors –used to compress data, giving extra s pace to fit more files into a hard or floppy disk. 3. Macro makers –performing the same sequence of commands over and over is time-consuming. 4. Printer utilities –programs enhance printer operations by allowing to schedule print times, drive multiple printers simultaneously, print spreadsheets sideways. 5. Screen Savers–designed to unburned images into the screen. 6.Anti-virus – protect computers and computer networks against programs called Virus. K. MULTIMEDIA – Designed to perform editing, recording/ rewriting, designing movies and other media related. You can listen music and watch movies. Text and graphics can be enhanced to with audio, video, and animation by using the techniques of multimedia production. VISUAL DATA †¢ Data used in presentation or free-drawing graphics package is already digitized for storage and processing by a computer. A toolbox in multimedia software allows a developer at the video firm to examine and edit, frame b y frame, a video.L. COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE – allow a PC equipped w/ a modem to connect w/ other PC through phone lines to exchange information. IX. MICROSOFT OFFICE EXCEL [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] A. WHAT IS A M. S. EXCEL-Experimenting in a Cell ? Developed by Microsoft Corporation ? An electronic spreadsheet used to manipulate numerical data with formulas and built-in functions ? Consist of 65,536 rows 256 columns ? An Excel file is a workbook B. FEATURES 1. The keyboard is used for data entry. 2. Performs various mathematical operation. 3. Worksheets can be saved and retrieved for further editing. . Automatic calculations. 5. Supports database, graphics, embedding objects and presentations. 6. Cross-referencing of multiple sheets. 7. Creating multiple charts. 8. Multiple levels of Undo C. WHY DO WE USE EXCEL 1. It helps the data to be manipulated repeatedly 2. Facilitates changes made to the figures 3. Auto computation of correction 4. Data are enhanced by its various graphic al presentation 5. It is a user friendly program 6. Avoid repetition of work 7. Saves storage space [pic][pic][pic][pic] D. USES OF EXCEL 1. Preparation of Financial Reports . Sales and Costs Analysis 3. Stock and Inventory Control 4. Effective in Sales Forecasting 5. for Budgeting E. PERFORMING CALCULATION Formulas – procedures used to solve a specific mathematical problem Arithmetic operators – mathematical symbols used in formulas; identify the process or action to be taken in order to solve the problem Operand ExampleOperatorsSymbols Constant value 2Addition + Cell reference A1Subtraction – Range reference A1:B2Multiplication * Label Jan SalesDivision / Range name RevenuePercent % Function Sum(A1:B4)Exponential ^Syntax – format understood by a program in order to properly execute and implement a process * Microsoft Excel syntax, includes an equal sign (=) followed by the operands and the operators like Examples:= 2 + 3 = A1 – B6 =3 * A5 =Sales / Months =5 ^ 4 [pic][pic][pic][pic] Operator precedence Operator Description : (colon) (single space)Reference Operators , (comma) – Negation (as in –1) % Percent ^ Exponentiation * and / Multiplication and division + and – Addition and subtraction & Connects two strings of text (concatenation) = ; ; = Comparison Relative References when a formula is created, references to cells or ranges are usually based on their position relative to the cell that contains the formula; when you copy the formula, Excel will automatically paste the adjusted references in the destination cells relative to the position of the formula Absolute References †¢ used when you do not want to adjust the references in formula when copying Functions †¢ predefined formulas that perform calculations by using specific values called arguments, in a particular order or structure †¢ arguments can be constants, formulas or functions Other commonly used functions are shown in the fo llowing table. Function Name Description Result MAX()Find the largest number from the arguments =MAX(20,25,15)Result: 25 MIN() Find the smallest number from the arguments=MIN(20,25,15) Result: 15 AVERAGE() Find the average for the arguments =AVERAGE(20,25,15) Result: 20 COUNT() Counts number of cells that contains=COUNT(1,4,B,3,20) number from the argumentsResult: 4 COUNTA() Counts number of cells that are not=COUNTA(1,4,B,3,20) empty from the argumentsResult: 5 *Some functions do not need an argument in the parenthesis.Function NameDescription Result Today() Returns current date =Today()Result: 9/4/03 Now() Returns current date and time =Now()Result: 9/4/03 12:20 ADVANCED FORMULAS Using Logical Functions †¢ help you compare the values or expression hat Excel can evaluate as TRUE or FALSE. Excel then uses the results to perform actions or return the answers you are looking for. A. IF Function Syntax:=IF(logical_test,value_if_true,value_if_false) Logical Test – used to co mpare the values/expressions that can be evaluated as TRUE or FALSE; â€Å" † – used for text returnsValue_if_true = value that is returned if the logical test is true; return the word TRUE if leave blank Value_if_false = value that is returned if the logical test is false; return the word FALSE if leave blank B. NESTED IF Function – used if there are few conditions and few return values C. OR Function †¢ to evaluate if ANY of the arguments (logical test) is TRUE †¢ up to 30 arguments can be used; as long as one of the †¢ as long as one of the arguments is true, it will return a TRUE Syntax:=OR(logical_test1,logical_test2,†¦.. ) Example ReturnOR(TRUE,TRUE,TRUE) TRUE OR(TRUE,TRUE,FALSE) TRUE OR(FALSE,TRUE,FALSE) TRUE OR(FALSE,FALSE,FALSE) FALSE D. AND Function †¢ to evaluate if ALL of the arguments (logical test) is TRUE †¢ up to 30 arguments can be used; as long as one of the †¢ as long as one of the arguments is false, it will return a FALSE Syntax:=AND(logical_test1,logical_test2,†¦.. ) Example Return AND(TRUE,TRUE,TRUE) TRUE AND(TRUE,TRUE,FALSE) FALSE AND(FALSE,TRUE,FALSE) FALSE AND(FALSE,FALSE,FALSE) FALSE E. COUNT IF Function †¢ Counts the number of cells within the range that meets the riteria †¢ Range – cells that you want to compare with criteria †¢ Criteria – condition in a form of text, number or expression that defines which cells will be counted Syntax: =COUNT IF(range, criteria) G. PARTS OF MS EXCEL [pic] 1. Title Bar – Displays the program name and the workbook name you are working on. 2. Menu Bar – Displays and access the drop-down menus that contain the Excel command options. 3. Standard Toolbar – Contains a number of buttons, which you click using the mouse, to carry out some of the more commonly used command options. 4.Formatting Toolbar – Contains a number of buttons that help you change the format or appearance of text, such as bold and underlined. 5. Name Box – Shows the selected cell, drawing object or chart item. You can also name a selected cell / range or move to the selected cell / range. 6. Formula Bar – Displays the content (value or formula) of the active cell. You can also edit the formula using the formula bar. 7. Active Cell – The selected cell in which data is entered when you begin typing. Only one cell is active at a time. The active cell is bounded by a heavy border. 8.Column Heading – Shows the column reference letter. 9. Row Heading – Shows the row reference number. 10. Sheet Tab – Shows the sheet name. 11. Horizontal Scroll Bar or Vertical Scroll Bar –Help you to scroll through your worksheet using the mouse. 12. Status Bar – Displays information about a selected command or an operation in progress. The right side of the status bar shows whether the keys (CAPS LOCK, SCROLL LOCK, or NUM LOCK) are turned on. 13. Task Pane – Display useful common tasks such as creating and opening a workbook. There are task panes with different contents that help you do your work.The contents of the task pane is context-sensitive, depending on what task you are performing. H. KEYBOARD PRESS Press Move to: > One cell to the right One cell to the left v One cell to the down ^ One cell to the up + > Last cell to the right of the current region + First cell to the left of the current region + v Last cell to the bottom of the current region + ^ First cell to the top of the current region First cell in the row + First cell in the worksheet + Last cell in the worksheet which contains data Page Down One screen down Page Up One screen up + Page Down One screen right Page Up One screen up I. CREATING VARIOUS CHART TYPES Chart ? graphic representation of worksheet data that interprets information, analyzes and compares data clearly ? can be formatted by adding a legend, chart title, adding pictures, markers or make an embedded ch art ? visually appealing and make it easy for users to see comparisons, patterns, and trends in data Chart Wizard ? a series of dialog boxes that lead you through all the steps necessary to create an effective chart 1. How to Create a Chart ? Using Chart Wizard ? Using Chart toolbar 2.Create a Chart Using the ChartWizard ? Choose the data range you want to chart. ? Be sure to include the data you want to chart, the column and row labels in the range. ? Click the ChartWizard form the Toolbar. ? Select Chart Type. ? Choose the Chart sub-type. ? Click Press and Hold the view sample button to preview the selection. ? Choose Next. Make sure the correct data range is selected. ? Select the appropriate Chart option button to plot data series in row or in columns. ? Choose Next. ? Select the Chart Location you want to place the chart on a new sheet or on an existing sheet. If you choose to place the chart on existing sheet rather than on a new sheet, the chart is called Embedded Objects. ? Click Finish. 3. Enhancing a Chart ? You may choose the Format menu and click Select e. g. Select Chart Title or double-click a particular object. ? Chart Toolbar Icons: †¢ Chart Object – Indicates the name of the selected object †¢ Format – The properties of the object †¢ Legend – To turn ON/OFF the legend †¢ Data Table – To turn ON/Off the display of the data †¢ By row – Selects data series in a row †¢ By Column – Selects data series in a column †¢ Angle Text – Text Alignment . Adding a Title ? Choose a chart to which you want to add a title to. ? Click the Chart menu, and then click Chart options. ? Choose Titles. ? Type the text you want for the title of chart. ? To add a title to the x-axis press Tab and Text. ? If you want a second line for the x or y-axis, press Tab to move to the second category or Value box, and then type the title text. ? Preview the Title(s) you add. 5. Adding or Deleting a Legend ? Choose the chart you want to add or delete a legend. ? Click the Legend from the Chart toolbar, and drag the legend to move it to its new location. . Adding a Text Box ? Click the Arrow icon. ? Move the mouse to the location where you want the arrow to be placed. ? Click and drag to the new position, then release the mouse. 7. Adding a Pattern and Border to the Text ? Double-click the text you want to format, or select the text, then choose the Format menu, and select the Patterns. ? Choose the Border style you want from the options on the left side of the dialog box. ? Press Enter. 8. Select a Different Chart Type ? For most 2-D charts, you can change the chart type of either a data series or entire charts. For the bubble charts, you can only change the type of the entire chart. ? For 3-D charts, changing the chart type affects the entire chart. ? For 3-D bar and column charts, you can change a data series to the cone, cylinder, or pyramid type. 9. Changing the Chart Typ e ? To change the chart type, perform any of the following: †¢ For the entire chart, click Chart. †¢ For the data series, click the Data Series. ? On the Chart menu, click Chart Type. ? On the Standard Types tab, click the Chart type you want. If you are hanging the chart type for one-data series and not the entire chart, be sure the Apply to Selection check box is selected. †¢ To apply the cone, cylinder, or pyramid chart type to a 3-D bar or column data series, click Cylinder, Cone or Pyramid in the Chart Type box on the Standard types tab, and then select the Apply to Selection check box. 10. Rotate Chart Title Text or Axis Text ? Click the title or the axis you want to format. ? If you clicked a chart title, click Selected Chart Title on the Format menu. †¢ If you clicked an axis title, click Selected Axis or Selected Axis Title ion the Format menu. Check the Alignment tab. †¢ If you don’t see the Alignment tab, click Cancel, click Outside of the text you want to format and then repeat the procedure. ? To rotate text, under Orientation, click a degree point, or drag the indication to the position you want. ? Note: When you have more than on level or category axis labels, only the first level can be rotated. 11. Select Chart Items ? Click the Chart item you want. †¢ The data series, data labels, and the legend have individual elements that can be selected after you select the group. 12. Changing the View of a 3-D Chart ? Click the 3-D chart you want to change. Select the options you want. When the Right Angle Axis check box is cleared, you can set the Perspective and Height options. †¢ When the Right Angle Axis check box is selected, you can either set the Height option or turn the Auto Scaling option on. 13. Changing the Rotation and Elevation in a 3-D Chart ? Using the menus: †¢ Click the 3- Chart you want to change. †¢ On the Chart menu, click 3-D View. †¢ Select the options you want. ? Using the m ouse: †¢ Click the intersection of any two axes to select the corners of the chart. †¢ Drag a corner to adjust the elevation and rotation in the chart. 14.Changing Number Formats in Charts ? If you change the number formatting in a chart, the number formatting is no longer linked to the worksheet cells. †¢ To format labels along an axis, double-click the appropriate axis. To format the data labels or a trend line label, double-click the item. †¢ On the number tab, select the options you want. 15. Printing a Chart ? Select the File menu, and choose the Page Setup command. ? Click the Page Setup button if you made some changes in the settings. ? Click the File menu, and choose the Page Setup command. ? Select the chart size button for the option you want. Press Enter. ? Choose the File Print Preview command if you want to view the chart in the Preview mode before it is printed. ? Click the File menu, and click the Print command. The Print Dialog Box appears on the screen. ? Click Enter. 16. Printing an Embedded Chart Embedded Chart ? chart that is placed on a worksheet rather than on a separate chart sheet; useful when you want to view or print a chart on a PivotChart Report with its source data or information in a worksheet; you can adjust where the chart will print on the page by sizing and moving the chart with the mouse in page Break View ?Click the worksheet outside the Chart area. ? Click Page Break Preview in the View menu. 17. Printing a Chart Sheet ? Click the tab from the Chart Sheet. ? Click Page Setup on the File menu. ? Select the options you want on the Chart tab. J. SAVING AN EXCEL 1. From the menu, click File ;; Save As. The Save As dialog box appears. [pic] 2. In the File name box, type Excel Training. Excel has already entered a placeholder name in the File name box before you type your own file name. Since the name is highlighted. You just need to type in the new file name to overwrite it without having to click in the box. pic] 3. Click the Save button. The file is saved in the default folder My Documents folder. K. Formatting Cell Using Menu Options You can format the cell using Format Cells dialog box from the menu. From the menu, click Format ;; Cells, the Format Cells dialog box appears as shown below. [pic] Tab Description Number Specify the format style of the context in a cell. Alignment Specify text alignment, text control and text orientation. Font Specify font, font style, font size, font color, font effect and underline. Border Specify border color and line style.Patterns Specify the cell pattern and color. Protection Protect the cell to be locked to avoid changes and formula to be hidden from viewer. L. TOOLBARS 1. The Standard toolbar [pic] This entire toolbar could become a floating window by double-clicking on the control bar at the far left end of this toolbar. That gives the following window, which can be placed anywhere on the screen: [pic] This toolbar can be restored to its origin al position by clicking in the gray bar at the top and dragging it back to the top of the screen. Push the top of the window up to the bottom of the menu bar. Function of commonly used buttons | |[pic] |Creates a new blank document based on the default template |[pic] |Opens or finds a file | |[pic] |Saves the active file with its current file name, location and file format |[pic] |Prints the active file – for more print options go to the File menu and select Print| |[pic] |Print preview – Shows how the document will look when you print it. [pic] |Spelling, grammar and writing style checker | |[pic] |Cut – Removes the selection from the document and places it on the clipboard |[pic] |Copy – Copies the selected item(s) to the clipboard | |[pic] |Paste – Places the content of the clipboard at the insertion point |[pic] |Format painter – Copies the format from a selected object or text and applies to | | | | |other objects or text | |[pic] | Undo – Reverses the last command, use pull-down menu to undo several steps |[pic] |Redo – Reverses the action of the Undo button, use the pull-down menu to redo | | | | |several steps | |[pic] |Auto Sum – Adds numbers automatically, and suggests the range of numbers to be added|[pic] |Sort Ascending – Sorts selected items from the beginning of the alphabet, the lowest| | | |number or the earliest date | |[pic] |Sort Descending – Sorts selected items from the end of the alphabet, the highest |[pic] |Chart Wizard – Guides you through the steps for creating an embedded chart (graph) | | |number or the latest date | | | |[pic] |Displays or hides the Drawing toolbar |[pic] |Zoom – Enlarge or reduce the display of the active document | 2. The Formatting toolbar [pic] This entire toolbar could become a floating window by double-clicking on the control bar at the far left end of this toolbar. That gives the following window, which can be pla ced anywhere on the screen: [pic] This toolbar can be restored to its original position by clicking in the gray bar at the top and dragging it back to the top of the screen. Push the top of the window up to the bottom of the menu bar. Function of commonly used buttons | |[pic] |Changes the font of the selected text |[pic] |Changes the size of selected text and numbers | |[pic] |Makes selected text and numbers bold |[pic] |Makes selected text and numbers italic | |[pic] |Underlines selected text and numbers |[pic] |Aligns to the left with a ragged right margin | |[pic] |Centers the selected text [pic] |Aligns to the right with a ragged left margin | |[pic] |Merge and Center – Merges two or more selected cells and centers the entry |[pic] |Currency Style – Formats selected text to display currency style | |[pic] |Percent Style – Formats selected cells to display percent |[pic] |Comma Style – Formats selected cells to display commas in large numbers | |[pic ] |Increase Decimal – Increases the number of decimals displayed after the decimal point|[pic] |Decrease Decimal – Decreases the number of decimals displayed after the | | | | |decimal point | |[pic] |Decreases the indent to the previous tab stop |[pic] |Indents the selected paragraph to the next tab stop | |[pic] |Adds or removes a border around selected text or objects |[pic] |Marks text so that it is highlighted and stands out | |[pic] |Formats the selected text with the color you click | | | 3. The Drawing toolbar [pic] This entire toolbar could become a floating window by double-clicking on the control bar at the far left end of this toolbar. That gives the following window, which can be placed anywhere on the screen: [pic] This toolbar can be restored to its original position by clicking in the gray bar at the top and dragging it back to the top of the screen. Push the top of the window up to the bottom of the menu bar. |Function of commonly used buttons | |[p ic] |A pull own menu with several |[pic] |Changes the pointer to a selection arrow | | |drawing options | | | |[pic] |Rotates the selected object to any degree |[pic] |A pull down menu with several libraries of shapes | |[pic] |Draws a line where you click and drag. Hold the Shift key down to make the|[pic] |Inserts a line with an arrowhead where you click and drag | | |line straight | | | |[pic] |Draws a rectangle where you click and drag. Hold down Shift to draw a |[pic] |Draws an oval where you click and drag.Hold down Shift to draw a circle | | |square | | | |[pic] |Draws a text box where you click and drag |[pic] |Create text effects with Word Art | |[pic] |Add, modify, or remove fill color from a selected object |[pic] |Add, modify, or remove line color | |[pic] |Formats the selected text with the color you click |[pic] |Changes the thickness of lines | |[pic] |Selects dash style for dashed lines |[pic] |Select arrow style; placement and shape of arrowhead | |[pic] |A pul l down menu offers shadow choices |[pic] |Add 3-d effects to rectangles or ovals | M. MENU 1. File menu |[pic] |New – Opens a new document. If you use the keyboard combination indicated on the right a blank document opens immediately. Selecting the New menu | | |item with your cursor gives the opportunity to open a large number of types of documents. | |Open – Opens a previously saved document. | | |Close – Closes the active document but does not quit the application. | | |Save – Saves the active document with its current file name, location and format. | | |Save As – Saves by opening a window which gives the opportunity to change the file name, location or format. | | |Page Setup – Sets margins, paper size, orientation and other layout options. Grid lines don't show up when you print?Go to the sheet tab in this | | |window | | |Print Preview – Shows how the file will look when you print it. | | |Print – Prints the active file , also gives the opportunity to change print options | | |Exit – Closes Microsoft Excel | 2. Edit menu |Undo – The actual entry of this item will depend on what you did last. In my example I had typed, so that was displayed.This selection can be |[pic] | |repeated several times. | | |Redo – After an action has been undone, it can be reinstated in the document. | | |Cut – Removes the selection from the active document and places it on the clipboard. | | |Copy – Copies the selection to the clipboard, the cell from which information is copied remains highlighted | | |Paste – Inserts the contents of the clipboard at the insertion point (cursor) or whatever is selected. | |Paste Special – Ten choices are available when making this selection; examples include pasting formulas, values, and comments. | | |Fill – Fill contents of a selected cell Up, Down, Left or Right | | |Clear – Deletes the selected object or text, but does not place it on the clipboard. Four choices are available; All, Format, Contents or Comments | | |Delete – This menu entry can be used to delete entire rows or columns. | |Find – Searches for specified text in the active document | | |Replace – Searches for and replaces specified text and formatting. | | 3. View menu |[pic] |Normal – The default document view for most word processing tasks. | | |Page Break Preview – Before printing, make sure the page breaks appear where you want them | | |Toolbars – Displays or hides toolbars. The right pointing arrow indicates a list of toolbars. To add one slide down to the name of the toolbar and | | |click to select. | |Formula Bar – Remove or display the bar which displays cell address and data entered into the active cell | | |Header and Footer – Adds or changes the text that is displayed at the top or bottom of every page of the document | | |Comments – Hidden comment give furt her information about cell contents. Comments are displayed when you move the cursor into the cell, however this | | |command causes all comments on a page to be displayed. | | |Full Screen – Hides most screen elements so you can see more of your document | | |Zoom – Controls how large, or small, the current document appears on the screen. | 4. Insert menu [pic] |Cells – Use this command to insert a cell. A pop-up window allows you to move existing data down or to the right. You can also insert rows or columns with | | |this window. | | |Rows – Inserts a new row in the spreadsheet, above the row that contains the active cell. | | |Columns – Inserts a new column in the spreadsheet, to the left of the column that contains the active cell. | | |Worksheet – By default, an Excel workbook is made up of three worksheets. You may insert as many additional sheets as you require.Sheets are inserted in | | |front of the current worksheet. | | |Chart â €“ This adds a chart of the selected data, or of the entire worksheet if you have no data selected. | | |Page Break – Inserts page breaks above and to the left of the active cell. To avoid adding a page break to the left, make sure a cell in Column A is | | |selected before inserting the break. | | |Function – Opens the Paste Function window allowing the selection of a specific equation to go in the active cell. | |Comment- Have something to say about the contents of a cell? Add a small note with the appearance of a Post-It note. | | |Picture – Insert pictures from clip art or a file. You can also insert auto shapes, word art, or a chart. | | |Object – Insert an object such as clip art, word art, an equation or much more. | | |Hyperlink – An interesting use of hyperlinks is to place a link to any document stored on your computer. You can later open that document by clicking on | | |the link.If you want to see an example of an Excel worksheet us ing hyperlinks to Internet sites, download a copy and open it with Excel. | 1. Format menu 2. |Cells – Format the way a number is displayed, alignment of data in the cell(s), font (size, color, style, etc. ), borders and colors for the |[pic] | |selected cells, and you may also lock the contents of a cell here. | | |Row – Specify a row height, choose auto-fit, and hide or un-hide the selected row. | | |Column – Specify a column width, choose auto-fit, hide or un-hide the selected column, or choose the standard width for a column. | |Sheet – Here you can rename the sheet if sheet 1 is not descriptive enough (and it's not), you can hide or un-hide a sheet, or you can tile an | | |image in the background of the entire sheet. | | |Auto Format- There are sixteen pre-designed formats to change the look of your spreadsheet. You may apply the format to the entire sheet or only | | |to selected cells. | | |Style – Opens a Style window which will lead to the Format Cells window if you wish to Modify the format. | | 6. Tools menu [pic] |Spelling†¦ – Check spelling in your document | | |AutoCorrect†¦ – Define, or turn off automatic corrections. If you tend to make a particular keystroke error often, and it is not in the | | |dictionary, you can add it here. | | |Share Workbook†¦ – Choose this option if you want several users to work on the data in the same workbook simultaneously.Make it | | |available on your network and anyone with access can make changes. | | |Protection – You can password protect a single sheet of a workbook, or the entire workbook. One obvious application would be to protect a| | |worksheet which you are using as your grade book. | | |Customize†¦ – Select/Deselect toolbars to be displayed with your workbook, or add buttons to existing toolbars. | | |Options†¦ If you do not like something Excel does automatically, or if you know it should be doing s omething automatically and it is | | |not, this is where you turn those features on or off. One thing I use a lot here is removing gridlines from a worksheet so I can draw a | | |graphic organizer. | N. PRINTING 1. Select the range A2:B6. You want to set this range as the print area. Whenever you print your worksheet, only the contents in the print area will be printed. [pic] 2. From the menu, click File ;; Print Area ;; Set Print Area.A dashed outline appears around the Print Area, as shown below. [pic] Click the print preview button to preview the printout. Only the cells in the print area would be printed. [pic] 3. From the menu, click File ;; Print Area ;; Clear Print Area. If you do not set a print area, the entire worksheet will be printed. O. PAGE SET-UP A. Orientation 1. From the menu, click File ;; Page Setup. Click the Page tab. The Page Setup dialog box appears, as shown below. 2. Under Orientation, click the Landscape option. The default orientation is portrait. [pic] 3. Click the OK button. The orientation of the page is set to landscape (horizontal).B. Scaling 1. From the menu, click File ;; Page Setup. Click the Page tab. Page Setup dialog box appears, as shown below. 2. Under Scaling, in the Adjust to box, type 150. You can click the up arrow in the box to increase the number. [pic] 3. Click the OK button. The size of the printout on the worksheet increases. C. Paper Size 1. From the menu, click File ;; Page Setup. Click the Page tab. Page Setup dialog box appears, as shown below. 2. Click the Paper size drop-down arrow. Click the paper size you want from the list. The number of paper size appears in the list depends on the printer you are using. [pic] 3. Click the OK button.The paper size changes. D. Page Margin 1. From the menu, click File ;; Page Setup. Click the Margins tab. Page Setup dialog box appears, as shown below. 2. In the Top, Left, Right and Bottom boxes, type the margin you want to change. The margin is in inch in this example. [ pic] 3. Click the OK button. The margin is set. P. PRINT PREVIEW 1. From the menu, click File ;; Print Preview. Print Preview window appears. Use the command buttons in the Print Preview window to carry out more actions. [pic] Use the command buttons in the Print Preview window to carry out more actions. Button Action Next Display the next page Previous Displays the previous pageZoom Enlarge / reduce the content in the preview screen Print Print the current selection with printing options Setup Setup the page Margins Display or hides margin handles Page Break PreviewDisplay page break preview for you to adjust the page break Normal View Display in normal view Close Close the print preview window 2. Click the Close button. The preview window closes and returns to the worksheet. [pic][pic] ———————– LECTURE NOTES | COMP1/10 | INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE & CONCEPTS B. A. DE LARA, JR. | CBE – FACULTY | NORTHERN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE | LAOAG CITY |  ©2012 NORTHERN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE â€Å"The Institution for Better Life† Laoag City [pic]