The impact of non-production departments on effective logistics and Essay

The impact of non-production departments on effective logistics and operations performance - Essay Example The non-production departments would be identified and their impact on effective logistics would be discussed; that would assist in not only identifying the problem, but also finding a solution for it. The process by which acquisition movements and other functions such as storage of parts, materials, and finished inventory are strategically managed through the utilization of proper marketing channel, which is the future objective of generating revenue and profit, is called effective logistics (Blecken 134-137). It also includes the objective of effectively fulfilling the orders by minimizing the cost. In case of effective logistics, the focus is on efficient system and attention is paid towards movement, which is the backbone of the system. Instead of distribution, finance, production, and purchase, logistics deals with a flow of information and materials. According to the concept of logistics, every segment in an organization should work together, and the marketing manager should be prepared to consider lower performance or lower level of service while preparing activity framework, so that the lag times are also considered. This would give the project manager a proper estimate of time, which is most important in logistics (Burg â€Å"5 Logistics and Shipping Mistakes Small Businesses Make"). Operations Management Performance and Effective Logistics Effective logistics is a part of operations management and the performance of the enterprise depends on logistics and other aspects of operations management. Operations management involves management of design and productive systems, along with control, and planning of daily operations within the transcorporate networks and company. Supply chain network is an integral part of operations management. In small enterprises, the operational management, such as daily productions, etc is usually handled by the human beings. Operations management and logistics are considered an area of concern by the stakeholders of the co mpany. In order to measure the performance of operational management process and logistics system, appropriate performance indicators should be selected in such a way that it stands in line with the objectives of the business. The performance measures would assist in evaluating the objectives and degree to which those are attained (Charantimath 440-443). The operational management performance of the company can be accessed by examining certain areas such as cost, flexibility of process, delivery, and quality of products. Logistics system of any organization influences the objectives of the company through the above mentioned areas. This also indicates that logistics affect the performance of any organization significantly. Considering the four areas of logistics which are considered in operations management, the quality of process, and product should meet the high demand standards. The cost of the inventory and the work process should be lower. The objective would be to have high ca pacity, and low cost of administration. Delivery rate should be high and accurate, and lead time has to be short. Finally flexibility in terms of achievement of customer benefit, maintenance of relationship with partners should be of high degree (Deepen 14-16). Non-Production Departments In order to identify the impact of non-production department on logistics and operations management performance of organizations, first the non-production overheads have to be identified, and discussed why they are considered such. The non-production

EU Membership Criteria Evaluation Dissertation

EU Membership Criteria Evaluation Dissertation Abstract The purpose of this thesis is establishing a new membership mechanism for the European Union (EU). As the EU struggles with different kind of issues those showed up lately due to its membership mechanism, the demand for a new membership system arises. The thesis follows five steps to come up with a new solution. First step covers information of the current membership system. Second step refers particular problems closely related with membership system. In third phase the framework of the recommended system is built up considering the problems. Within the fourth step, the new system applied on mentioned problems to see how it effects current situation in theory. Finally, the self-criticism on the recommended system and the comparison between recommended and current membership mechanism is done in the fifth part. To understand the necessity of a new membership system at least the existent structure with its historical background shall be known. As much as knowing well the source of problems, analyzing problems separately is also required to create a solution. In the same way to come up with a solution, the establishment of the system shall be based on arguments those pointed out during the examination of the current membership system. While settling the new system, required elements were inspired from different disciplines of the social science. To check the functionality of the new system, it is applied to related problems. More specific explanations about the system are held during this checking process. Even if it sounds well functioning in theory, there might be some points to criticize in the new system since the perfection of a system is hard to achieve in social topics. The last thing to decide about whether choosing the recommended system or not is comparing the system with the curren t one according to their advantages and disadvantages. All in all, the thesis claims that the European Union is going to have a dynamic membership mechanism which provides more efficiency in membership activities. As a result, the EU can solve its problems and increase its structural solidity. In other words, the unification of member states may process faster than before. INTRODUCTION The Assumption â€Å"The European Union is NOT a religiously formed structure; unlike it is suspected and conspired as a Christianity Union by some political scientists.† 1.2 The EU and necessity of a new membership system Europe has achieved a very stunning progress in unification so far. However the mind bending question â€Å"Does the unification make anything better for all of the EU countries?† still doesn`t have a clear answer. From 1952 Paris Treaty until 2007 the last enlargement, the European Union (EU) enlarged fifth times and each enlargement separately came with some pros and cons. It has been arguing that how come a positive and beneficial action could create drawbacks and be harmful rather than helpful. Even though the ideology behind the establishment of the European Union is basically covers mutual beneficial agreement, somehow enlargements make some members` current social and economic situation worse. Besides, there are also some debates on whether enlargements should continue or not. After considering long-term cost-benefit analysis of enlargement attempts some doubts justifiably aroused about necessity of enlargement. The answer of these kinds of questions and results of thes e arguments will be also provided if the dilemma of enlargement is solved. It is easy to point out the problems and backwards of enlargement observing the social and economic fluctuation in the EU countries. However, marking the first cause and fundamental reason of these problems and to find exact solutions, as much as the source of problems are different and varied and cannot be solved without major regulations, the enlargement structure should be examined per se. Thus, to see the main stream of enlargement problems, essentially focusing on the enlargement progress is necessary. As the question aroused about the enlargement progress, the membership process that the skeleton of enlargement is so important to analyze and observe the basic reason of problems in the EU with cost-benefit perspective. It can be said that the membership process may actually the origin of the problems which can be monitored in the EU. To see how membership process affects the Union badly, a comparison of social and economic indicators between current and previous situations is truly required. In other words, analyzing from â€Å"the big bang† of the EU till current situation by looking at enlargement results gives some clues to understand how problematic the membership process is. Additionally, the current social and economic situation of the EU members and the EU`s relations with other states are also helpful indicators to recognize the problem in membership process. Furthermore, during the analysis it can be observed that in some cases the legal and written rules of the EU come short to cover the legal loophole at the current membership process. After reaching the conclusion of analysis about the membership process, the system can be regulated and may be renewed according to the results those show us whether the system should be changed. Although if the results objectively refer the moderate performance of membership process, a new prospectively designed system will still be suggested to optimize the system and increase efficiency. Because by having a flashback to the establishment of the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) it can be seen that the main scheme of the EU was created to improve and support efficiency among countries. Thus if there is a more efficient and beneficial system which helps the EU to get rid of its problems particularly, it should be preferred to current membership process due to ideological background of the EU, even though the current system works with difficulties. Besides, the recommended system will compromise with the current system by adapting most of its features. Mostly, membership systems are thought so strictly binding with members and rules of membership are not dynamic to adopt with a new unknown situation. But the recommended membership system which will be designed and tested can bring dynamism into the EU structure. The structure of membership process is bases on the framework of dynamic systems. As the ideology and motto of the new system, it can be said the whole world changes and differs every second to form adaptation with each items in it, systems also should be so dynamic that adopt with every sort of situation. In other words, the life is dynamic by itself. Therefore, a dynamic system for the EU membership mechanism is more realistic than a static membership model. Even in social sciences such as economics a dynamic analysis of economy is more explanatory than a static analysis and it also has more correct results. This thesis follows on five steps those will give us an understanding of change and the difference of new membership system. First of all, the current membership system and enlargement activities will be mentioned to observe the current situation. Secondly, the international, social and economical problems caused by current membership system will be mentioned particularly. The current problems and the lack of solution method against them will be shown in this part. Thirdly, the difference and requirements of new recommended membership system will be introduced. Furthermore, the application of the new membership system will be tried out with problems which would have been mentioned on the second step. Lastly, the conclusion to make an overall analysis and self-criticism of nominated membership system emphasizing advantages and disadvantages of both membership systems will be pointed out. At the beginning of the thesis, the assumption is placed in the middle of the first page without a ny additional script to emphasize it very strongly. Because the whole thesis is bases on the assumption that the European Union is just a union tries to increase common benefits of all countries in Europe without any discrimination. Otherwise, if it was not said so and the European Union was a religiously established union, there would be no need to improve efficiency of the membership process because the only one membership criterion that would have been looked for would be the Christianity of the applicant countries. Hence, the thesis would be meaningless, the current application of non-Christian countries as well. The assumption also helps to set the border of this thesis. During the thesis, the focus will just be on objective materials without referring any speculative comments. The dynamic system will be recommended for the EU can also be used as a conflict resolution method on the other unions` problem. With beliefs of the EU wants to have a more efficient and beneficial system, and also the EU defends that the unification of economic system and the harmonization of social structures shall be carried forward, a dynamic system will solve most of the problems in the union without getting in any other political debates such as religion. As an introduction for drawbacks of the current system, slowdown in economic indicators, rising of nationalist ideology and parties, rejection of the EU constitution, domestic moral problems in member states such as in Italy, Budget deficit problems in member states like Greece and Spain, lack of common foreign and security policy, and loosing beliefs of candidate states on the EU can be referred among dozens of problems. Nowadays, the EU is not in a comparable position with its former strength but the comparison of situations after and before enlargement activities will show that how the current system affects the strength of the union negatively. Thus, it will also explain how a membership system can diminish the power of a union. As simple as in the metaphor about flywheels of a machine, if there is any flywheel that works reversely, it should be gotten out from the mechanism before it blocks the working system. Even if a member state doesn`t work simultaneously with the union, the Union may be able to ban the state or hold its membership for a while. Otherwise the whole legal structure doesn`t help the system to work properly, this illustrates that the membership mechanism needs to be restored with an efficient one. PART I THE CURRENT MEMBERSHIP SYSTEM AND ENLARGEMENT ACTIVITIES 2.1 The current membership System The current membership system bases on three different documents which are The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht (Article 49),The declaration of the June 1993 European Council in Copenhagen, i.e. Copenhagen criteria, and a document is decided after negotiations about adaptation to acquis communautaire between European Union and candidate state. Lately, all of the membership requirements and its legal structure were combined into the Treaty of Lisbon. This means that all of those three documents are included into the treaty of Lisbon with a couple of updates. Especially, the Copenhagen Criteria are the rules that decide whether a country is eligible to join the European Union and they are also known as the main detailed source for the membership prerequisites. Firstly, the idea of preparing a legal content for membership carried out with the 1992 Treaty of Maastricht (Article O). In Article 49 (formerly Article O), the geographical criteria and slightly general policy criteria were settled do wn. Then, with the 1993 Copenhagen Criteria, the general policy criteria of membership were described in more details considering three aspects; Political, Economic and Legislative. After all those criteria, as a homestretch, measures and regulations decided by negotiations between the European Union and candidate states fulfill the scheme of membership requirement for the EU. Most of these criteria have been confirmed over the last decade by legislation of the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament, as well as by the case law of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. The mentioned documents provide all requisites to become a member state of the EU. Thus, criteria can be sorted with sub-categories to understand what the EU demands from candidates particularly regarding to the general policy, geographic, political, economic, and legislative criteria. As a main frame the general policy criteria can be summarized as in the Article O (Maastricht Treaty): â€Å"Any European State may apply to become a Member of the Union. It shall address its application to the Council, which shall act unanimously after consulting the Commission and after receiving the assent of the European Parliament, which shall act by an absolute majority of its component members. The conditions of admission and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the Union is founded which such admission entails shall be the subject of an agreement between the 16 Member States and the applicant state. This agreement shall be submitted for ratification by all the contracting States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.† (European Commission, 1992a) In addition to the article it can be extensively illustrated by an excerpt from the Copenhagen Presidency conclusions: â€Å"Membership requires that candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities, the existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. Membership presupposes the candidates ability to take on the obligations of membership including adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union. †(Copenhagen European Council, 1993: 1) Regarding its acquis and actions, the EU doesn`t have certain steady geographic criteria for candidates. The EU refused Morocco`s applications a couple of decades ago, in 1987 due to territorial and geographical difference. Besides, even though Turkey has small part of its territory on the European continent and Turkey is on â€Å"negotiation† phase of membership process now, the membership of Turkey is still a huge debate. On the other hand, the speculations about the membership of Israel is considerably spread because of close economic and politic relations between Israel and the EU (Europa, 2007) and recently some Prime Ministers of member states individually declared that they would be happy to see Israel as a member state of the EU soon (Rettman, 2010). Hence, in the legal documents, the geographic criteria briefly demands that the candidate country shall have territory on the European continent and economical, cultural, historical and political ties with other European s tates as well. On the other hand, in practice, it can be seen so questionable. There is no clear answer for this dilemma. It can be easily illustrated by the fact that, before the rejection of Morocco, the EU accepted French Guiana to join the union despite the reality that it is in South Africa. Both countries mentioned in this case have similar background within France. The only difference is unlike French Guiana, Morocco is independent right now. However, instead of both countries, only French Guiana is in the EU. As a result, it can be claimed that the geographical criteria are not necessarily applicable within the current membership mechanism. Until 1993 the decision-making process of membership doesn`t have clear references. The clear expression of prerequisites is declared with the Copenhagen Criteria. However, when member states agreed on criteria in 1993, there was no mechanism for ensuring that any member state was in compliance with these criteria. Nevertheless some legal arrangements and sanctions have been imposed to monitor compliance with these criteria. The first victim of this action was the Austrian government of Wolfgang Schà ¼ssel in early 2000. They have been come across with sanctions of the other 14 Member States governments because of not compensating the membership requisites. These legal arrangements came into effect under the provisions of the Treaty of Nice on the first of February 2003. With Copenhagen Criteria three more aspects were added into membership mechanism; Political, Legislative and Economic criteria. These criteria are going to be explained particularly as follows; As a crucial part of political criteria the EU ask for a consolidated democracy from candidate states. According to most political science scholars, the definition of consolidated democracy contains these three steps; Competitive elections, Liberties such as freedom of expression, freedom of press and freedom of association, and Consolidation of democracy in society. Consolidated democratic governance requires that all citizens of the country shall be able to participate equally in the political decision making process at every single governing level. Consolidated democracy also means free and fair elections with a secret ballot, freedom of press, the right to establish political parties without any obstacle from the state rulers, freedom of association, freedom of expression, rule of laws and freedom of standing trial through unbiased free judges. The second political criteria for candidate states is the rule of law which expresses government authority may only be exercised in accor dance with documented and written laws. They should be adopted through an established procedure. In case of arbitrary rulings towards individuals, the principle is supposed to be a safeguard. The third political criterion to join the European Union is respecting the Human rights in every kind of situation. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is considered the most authoritative formulation of human rights and the EU is also admitted its legitimacy. According to the declaration human rights which every person holds because of their quality as a human being should be protected against all threats. Besides, those rights are inalienable and belonging to all humans. Briefly, if a right is inalienable, that means it cannot be limited, granted, bestowed, bartered away, or sold away. These include the right to life, the right to be prosecuted only according to the rule of laws, the right to be free from slavery, and the right to be free from torture.(Wikipedia, 2010a) T he last but not the least political criteria for EU membership are respect for minorities and protecting their rights. At the beginning there was no clarity in definition of minorities in member states. But in 1995 with the Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (COE) the EU declared minorities in member states and defined their rights with consensus. However, minorities in member states are defined by a consensus commission which was formed by member states therefore not all minorities could be regarded and defined within the concept. The consensus commission (the Venice Commission) reached the conclusion of the Convention for the Protection of National Minorities which protects minorities by defining them as â€Å"a group which is smaller in number than the rest of the population of a State, whose members, who are nationals of that State, have ethnical, religious or linguistic features different from those of the rest of the population, and are guided by the will to safeguard their culture, traditions, religion or language† (Venice Commision, 2004: 1). According to the definition of national minorities, unlike others, recent minorities such as immigrant populations have not been listed by signatory countries in the convention. This can be seen by checking the list of national minorities published by Council of Europe (Council of Europe, 2007). Another issue of the EU membership mechanism which can also be considered as a membership requirement is the economic criteria. As it is obviously known that the free market economy is the main characteristic of the EU. Speaking generally about free market economy, candidate countries shall have a functioning free market economy and the system should not be interfered by government as little as it is possible. Besides, their producers shall have the capability to deal with competitive pressure of free market and market forces within the Union. Nowadays, all economic requirements for membership are carried out with The European Exchange Rate Mechanism to take candidates into the Eurozone. While debating economic criteria for EU membership, one of the most popular misbelieves is the acceptance of economic criteria which were defined by the Maastricht Treaty as prerequisites for membership. Because the way it is interpreted in the Maastricht Treaty concerns about member states. They men tion about neither the necessity of abiding by the treaty for candidates nor obligations on candidate states. However, in practice, fulfilling those criteria is also expected from candidate states. The economic criteria defined by the Maastricht Treaty became more concrete with the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure and the Protocol on the Convergence Criteria Referred to in Article 109j annexed to this Treaty. In the Protocols the desired ratios and rate were announced to member states, regarding to the practical aspect of the Treaty, it is binding for candidate states as well. The economic requisites for membership are sorted with articles in the protocol as follows; â€Å"The reference values referred to in Article 104c(2) of this Treaty are: 3% for the ratio of the planned or actual government deficit to gross domestic product at market prices; 60% for the ratio of government debt to gross domestic product at market prices.†(European Commission, 1992c) â€Å"The criterion on price stability referred to in the first indent of Article 109j (l) of this Treaty shall mean that a Member State has a price performance that is sustainable and an average rate of inflation, observed over a period of one year before the examination, that does not exceed by more than 1 ½ percentage points that of, at most, the three best performing Member States in terms of price stability. Inflation shall be measured by 30 means of the consumer price index on a comparable basis, taking into account differences in national definitions.†(European Commission, 1992b) Lastly, all candidates should regulate and enact their constitutions and judicial systems to consolidate them according to European law which built up over the history of the Union and also known as the acquis communautaire. After all criteria, the negotiations phase is the last step towards membership. During the negotiations with each candidate country, progress towards meeting the Copenhagen criteria is regularly monitored. On the basis of this, decisions are made as to whether and when a particular country should join, or what actions need to be taken before its access become possible. However, even though a country successfully fulfilled the whole bunch of criteria, it is declared that the new member cannot take its place in the Union until it is considered that the EU per se shall have enough absorption capacity for this enlargement. This situation were announced with the excepts in Presidency Conclusions (Copenhagen European Council, 1993) as follows; â€Å"The Unions capacity to absorb new members, while maintaining the momentum of European integration, is also an important consideration in the general interest of both the Union and the candidate countries.†(Copenhagen European Council, 1993: 1) To see the officially declared requirements and explanations it can be better to quote some excerpts from official web-sites of the European Union, thus the criteria can be compared and understood with and without interpretation; Accession criteria In 1993, at the Copenhagen European Council, the Union took a decisive step towards the fifth enlargement, agreeing that â€Å"the associated countries in Central and Eastern Europe that so desire shall become members of the European Union.† Thus, enlargement was no longer a question of ‘if, but ‘when. Concerning the timing, the European Council states: â€Å"Accession will take place as soon as an associated country is able to assume the obligations of membership by satisfying the economic and political conditions required.† At the same time, it defined the membership criteria, which are often referred to as the ‘Copenhagen criteria. Copenhagen European Council Membership criteria require that the candidate country must have achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities; the existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union; the ability to take on the obligations of membership including adherence to the aims of political, economic monetary union. Madrid European Council Membership criteria also require that the candidate country must have created the conditions for its integration through the adjustment of its administrative structures, as underlined by the Madrid European Council in December 1995. While it is important that European Community legislation is transposed into national legislation, it is even more important that the legislation is implemented effectively through appropriate administrative and judicial structures. This is a prerequisite of the mutual trust required by EU membership.† (European Commision, 2010) As opposed to the membership criteria and the EU`s Acquis Communautaire, general criticisms are the lack of certainty and elaboration in membership criteria, not mentioning in Acquis Communautaire about cancelling membership in the case of refusing to carry out sanctions and penalties opted by the EU and the slightly existence of flexibility towards extreme case such as a desire of a member state to quit from the Union. In other words, there are sometimes conflicting interpretations in current member states about membership criteria and cancelling membership of an idle member state. On the other hand, the right of quitting form the union is recently added to the EU acquis with the Treaty of Lisbon. â€Å"Before the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009 no provision in the treaties or law of the European Union outlined the ability of a state to voluntary withdraw from EU. The European Constitution did propose such a provision and, after the failure to ratify the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, that provision was then included in the Lisbon Treaty. The treaty introduces an exit clause for members who wish to withdraw from the Union. This formalizes the procedure by stating that a member state may notify the European Council that it wishes to withdraw, upon which withdrawal negotiations begin; if no other agreement is reached the treaty ceases to apply to the withdrawing state two years after such notification.†(Wikipedia, 2010b) â€Å"Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.†(European Comission, 2007: Article 50) 2.2 Enlargement Activities The European Union enlarged fifth times so far and enlargements with greater amount of candidates mostly occurred through eastern European countries after the definition of the criteria mentioned above. This enlargement process started in 1952 when the European Union was still called as the European Coal and Steel Community. Since then, the EU has achieved to have twenty-seven member states with the most recent expansion to Bulgaria and Romania in 2007. Table 1. The EU`s enlargements and its approved members Accession Applicant Issued Enlargements 23 July 1952 France N/A Founding Members 23 July 1952 (West) Germany N/A 23 July 1952 Belgium N/A 23 July 1952 Italy N/A 23 July 1952 Netherlands N/A 23 July 1952 Luxembourg N/A 1 January 1973 United Kingdom 10 August 1961 First Enlargement 10 May 1967 1 January 1973 Denmark 10 August 1961 11 May 1967 1 January 1973 Ireland 10 August 1961 11 May 1967 1 January 1981 Greece 12 June 1975 Second Enlargement 1 January 1986 Spain 28 June 1977 Third Enlargement 1 January 1986 Portugal 28 March 1977 1 January 1995 Austria 17 July 1989 Fourth Enlargement 1 January 1995 Sweden 1 July 1991 1 January 1995 Finland 18 March 1992 1 May 2004 Cyprus 3 July 1990 Fifth Enlargement 1 May 2004 Malta 3 July 1990 1 May 2004 Hungary 31 March 1994 1 May 2004 Poland 5 April 1994 1 May 2004 Slovakia 27 June 1995 1 May 2004 Latvia 13 September 1995 1 May 2004 Estonia 24 November 1995 1 May 2004 Lithuania 8 December 1995 1 May 2004 Czech Republic 17 January 1996 1 May 2004 Slovenia 10 June 1996 1 January 2007 Romania 22 June 1995 1 January 2007 Bulgaria 14 December 1995 Within the table above the enlargements and candidate countries are sorted according to historical antecedence. On the other side, there are also countries which could not join the EU because of particular reasons. The United Kingdom is vetoed by the French Government in 1961 and Denmark and Ireland

Monopolies In A Capitalist Economy :: essays research papers fc

In a capitalist economy there are both wanted and unwanted monopolies. However, in a capitalist economy certain monopolies are needed. Monopolies have a big impact on the economy and the consumers because of the amount of control that the monopolies have on the economy. There are certain times when it is best to have monopolies then others, it really depends on the status of the economy. There is no doubt that monopolies do indeed play a critical role in a capitalist economy, but sometimes there are negative effects. It is indeed true to say that not all monopolies are unwanted in a capitalist society. An example of a monopoly that is not unwanted is that of a public utility, like SDG&E (San Diego Gas & Electric). These produce goods and services that are vital to the public's well being as far as functioning goes. Public utilities are an example of a pure or natural monopoly. A pure or natural monopoly is a single firm in an industry. This is the most effective way to provide very important goods and services. An example of a public utility monopoly that affects our everyday life is that of SDG&E. They are the only power company in San Diego County and thus they have a monopoly on San Diego. This, however is the kind of monopoly that the government likes to keep running and in operation because they know that we cannot do without for very long. If SDG&E decided to go out of business there would be no power supplier for all of San Diego County. In addition, because of the fact tha t SDG&E is the only gas and electric provider they can name almost any price and we have no choice but to comply with their demands unless they can find a dependable alternative, like solar power. The impact of monopolies is felt very heavily on the consumer. The biggest effect of a monopoly in a market is that it drives up the prices of the product in that market (South West, pg. 179). This happens because there is no competition and no other producer to drive prices down. The government has often tried to break up monopolies when they are presented because it will put a negative impact on the economy. There has even been legislation passed against monopolies. An example of a piece of legislation is the Sherman Anti-Trust Act which stated "any combination or conspiracy in constraint of trade" (www.

Child Psychology Services (Part 1) Essay

Explain the importance of safeguarding children and young people Safeguarding children and young people is a key for all professionals who work in all settings where they have contact with children, more so children who could be more vulnerable than others i.e. a child who struggles with a physical or mental disability. All children need to feel safe and secure and are being taught or mentored by adults they can trust. It is of the upmost importance that the correct people, whether they are full time employees or volunteers are given CRB checks. All agencies involved with children (more so, vulnerable children and young people) must take practical measures to make certain that the risk of harm to children/young people’s wellbeing is minimised. If there are concerns about a child/young person’s welfare then all agencies must take appropriate action to deal with these concerns, i.e. working to the agreed local policies and procedures for safeguarding children, keeping records of all reports made about the child is essential as a source to safeguarding children. Explain the importance of a child or young person centred approach Essential to safeguarding and encouraging the welfare of a child or young person is having a child’s centred approach. This could include seeing and keeping a child focused through difficulties they could be experiencing. Listening and ascertaining a child’s wishes and feelings will be important for the child, especially if they have formed a strong bond with the professional they are opening up to. It will also be imperative to a child if that professional close to them understands their daily lives and what they might be experiencing, no matter how hard it could be for the adult to hear. Crucially the child or young person will know there are people out there to help and support them when they need advice or guidance. It is important for a child centred approach because every child is different and a unique individual. A child’s wishes should always be taken into account. The national framework for Every Child Matters (Children’s Act 2004) was set up to support children or young people to ensure the joining up of services to ensure that each individual achieves the five Every child Matters Outcomes which offer support to children to enable them to be; †¢ Healthy. †¢ Stay safe. †¢ Enjoy and achieve. †¢ Make a positive contribution. †¢ Achieve economic well-being. Explain what is meant by partnership working in the context of safeguarding. When it comes to safeguarding, children are best protected when professionals know what is required of them and how they work together. This means that everyone who works with children has a responsibility for keeping them safe which involves identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action. To carry this out effectively professionals need to work in partnership with each other. Unfortunately, the importance of doing this has come about from professionals failing to protect Victoria Climbie who died in 2000. Her death was preventable as doctors, police and social workers all came into contact with her and had concerns. However, the doctors who treated her discharged her to her abusers care and admitted they assumed the social services would investigate. The social workers were described as incompetent and Victoria’s social worker felt unsupported by her supervisor and described her colleagues as conflicted and chaotic. The police too failed to fully investiga te Victoria’s home (for fear of catching scabies) although close family members and Victoria’s child-minder raised their concerns. Following this case lessons were learnt and recommendations put into place to try and prevent another tragedy where successful partnership working for safeguarding should have stepped in earlier to avoid this abuse. To provide adequate safeguarding measures it helps to have a complete ‘picture’ of the child. Partnership working means each professional, (whether it’s the police, NHS, educations departments, NSPCC or social workers), if they have concerns to do with safeguarding, welfare child protection, they should work with the other agencies in contact with that child. Each of these professionals may have one snapshot and a concern that  may, on its own, not necessary need intervention. By working in partnership and sharing information the bigger picture evolves and, if each profession has a different concern, together the dots can be joined and a clearer decision can be made on any intervention measures. To help co-ordinate partnership working professionals use the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) to assess a child’s needs and use the outcomes to provide access to services to provide necessary support. CAF is a voluntary process which is used with informed consent so families do not have to engage and if they do they choose what information that they want to share. The CAF process is aimed to be used when a teacher, the child concerned or their parent raises concerns about that child’s health, development, welfare, behaviour or progress in learning/wellbeing. The information gathered enables an assessment to be made of what help is required and how it will be delivered and by whom. A Team around the Child (TAC) is then created to implement the requirements. The professionals that make a TAC vary from child to child depending on their needs and within the TAC a lead professional will have the responsibility to coordinate the work. Describe the roles and responsibilities of the different organisations that may be involved when a child or young person has been abused or harmed. When a child has been abused or harmed the first line response will be at the point of the allegation or discovery. This could happen in any number of settings, for example at school, in a medical setting or by a child calling child line. All of the agencies or organisations will need to work together but have their own roles in helping the child. – Social Services have statutory responsibilities to provide support to vulnerable children and families in need. This may be after a death or when families are finding day to day life difficult. Most social workers are employed by social services. – Health Visitors have a responsibility for the health of babies and young children under the age of five. They provide support and guidance to the parents of young children and carry out assessments of the child’s development. – General Practitioners (GPs) work in the community, usually from health centres, and are the gateway to other health services. GPs are often the first people to identify possible abuse when a child attends the surgery. – Probation Services support people convicted of some offences to be rehabilitated into the community. They have a key role in monitoring people convicted of offences against children and should ensure that those people do not pose a threat to any local children. – Police are involved in the criminal proceedings that may result from safeguarding issues. – Schools and Training Organisations are key to identifying and supporting children between the ages of 5 – 18 years when they are in need of help. All staff working with children and young people should be trained in safeguarding and protection. – Child Psychology Services will often be needed to support children who have experienced harm or abuse.

My Identity/My School

I am a unique individual who enjoys the beauty of nature. I appreciate the things around me. Living life to the fullest is what I am up to; thus giving inspiration to others by treating them fairly regardless of their race and traditions make me fulfilled. Like other individuals, I am a sociable person who enjoys meeting new set of people. Meeting and knowing others’ personality is a great privilege and I find them helpful in making myself a better individual. As the saying goes â€Å"no one is an island†, so meeting another people gives me more ideas and views of what life is. There are times when I encounter difficulties in life, I immediately think that life is not worth living for but when I meet people whose problems are so complicated, that is the time I compare my situation to them and realize that I am blessed and I should not give up and quit immediately because there is always a solution in every problem. In addition, since humans compose of body, soul and spirit, I make sure that I do not only feed my body with supplements to make it strong but as well as my spirit. I strongly believe that my soul needs something in order to grow and live. I make sure to attend the Sunday church and not only that, I also read the word of God because that is the food of our soul. Going to church and have fellowship with my brothers and sisters in the Lord makes my week complete. I know I can face another week because I am strengthened not just physically but spiritually. On the other hand, in order to make myself active, I too indulge into different kinds of sports that can help me strong physically. I find sports very interesting because it does not only energize my body but it quickens my mind in how to play the game. The more I play; the good techniques and strategies creep in my mind especially if I play the sports with my family. I just like being with them. It is a good feeling to be with your love ones. No amount of money can measure or compare if your family is intact and having a good time all together as one. Playing sports is one of the ways we can bond each other as family. Further more, since I am an administrator (assistant principal) it is my philosophy to educate every student regardless of their backgrounds; thus, each one of them can learn more and be the most equip student if just given by the government the proper tools of technology, has a place conducive for learning, and safe environment. Feature Article  Country School  Allen Curnow Ethnic Identity: Aside from being an educator, I am an African American with strong beliefs about helping my fellow African American brothers and sisters as well as other ethnic groups that I encounter. Helping others by educating them is such a noble work. I would like to have them good education as I have. Giving them good education can make them competitive in every endeavor they are in. It does not mean that I am an African American I cannot already do the things which others do. In fact, my ethnicity is not a hindrance to be a successful educator. My ethnicity is not an issue in making me successful in life. I want other people realize especially those who look themselves as inferior to stand firm of what they believe in. I would like to inspire them that through education, they can make their lives fruitful and success is just on their hands if they will continue in educating themselves. Moreover, I would like to inculcate to the young learners that good education is the only wealth our parents leave that nobody can snatch or steal it away from us. Moreover, I would inspire them by telling them that our status and ethnicity in life cannot hinder our dreams to have good education and to be educated. School Community: The school I hope to create is a place that is safe and conducive for all learners. I want that school to be well-equip with materials related to the learning areas of the students. Since school activities are social activities, we must look into the routine found in adult society as a guide in laying the basis for routine in classroom organization and control. Much of the details of providing a good work space can be routinized. There should be a place where to put things out of the way, and everyone in the room should know where each thing goes. Routine should merely aid, in setting before the pupils, opportunities for educational experience. The ability to set up routine and to conform properly to it is in itself a worthwhile and necessary outcome of education. The complexity of the modern school, system calls for more routinization of our classroom procedure. It is, therefore, exceedingly important for the teacher to determine what classroom activities should be routinized and made into habits. The teacher will find the task much easier if the pupils are brought to see and understand fully the value of routine. Likewise, he should make it a point he wishes to develop. Certain classroom activities should be conducted in the most effective way to allow more time for essential learning activities. It is therefore necessary that daily activities can be turned into habits to facilitate speed and avoid waste of time. This is time-and-nerve-saving, and it is also good education Routinizing certain activities has a further value in that it prevents confusion and saves time. Confusion reduces the effectiveness of learning activities. Routinizing also aids in keeping the attention of the pupils upon their work. The following should make up routine activity. If considering discipline the teacher must remember that he is constantly faced with two behavior problems—one is the problem of what to do to take care of the immediate situation. This is the one tow which the teacher typically gives relative overemphasis. The other problem is the one of visualizing the long-time behavior patterns that the teacher is trying to develop in the learner. The learner must also be helped to organize long-time needs and goals and also visualize the behaviors that are likely to help him achieve these goals. In not only to plan present behavior to meet day by day situations, but must also have a vision of the goals of his behavior in the future that will be most satisfying. Teachers must help learners practice using both immediate and remote consequences, particularly the latter since these are more difficult to see.                                 

Free Essays on Generational Differences

In the early 20th century, a married woman’s leisure was almost non-existing. They were very confined to their tenement because of household chores, cooking, cleaning, and child care; sometimes they had boarders or did laundry in their homes also. They spent a lot of time decorating their homes because that’s where they spent most of their time. Many of them might get some time to socialize with other women during their chores, mostly talking about gossip, hardly any real fun. Married women had no resources for leisure. Their husbands spent what they wanted before turning the rest over to the household. The women received no spending money. Of the rare times that the whole family decided to do something together it usually didn’t cost little to nothing. On those rare times it usually wound up just being more work for the mother. On the other hand, working-class girls loved their leisure time and felt that is was a right, especially those born in America. The most common places where working-class girls went for leisure was dancehalls, cheap theaters, amusement parks, picnic grounds and in the streets. Socializing in the street was the easiest form of leisure because it was free and there was little supervision. The apartments were very small and the there was no privacy, so the streets were filled with working class people. Social clubs had a big following also. They seemed to be primarily social and were called ‘pleasure clubs’ to differentiate from serious clubs or benefit aid societies. The women got a chance to gossip and they usually held a dance after their meetings. The working class women were very concerned with the clothes they wore when going out. Sometimes they would go with out food or walk home from work just to save enough money to afford nice clothes so they can go out. The changes in labor were one main reason that the change between generations became so evident. Young women had more ... Free Essays on Generational Differences Free Essays on Generational Differences In the early 20th century, a married woman’s leisure was almost non-existing. They were very confined to their tenement because of household chores, cooking, cleaning, and child care; sometimes they had boarders or did laundry in their homes also. They spent a lot of time decorating their homes because that’s where they spent most of their time. Many of them might get some time to socialize with other women during their chores, mostly talking about gossip, hardly any real fun. Married women had no resources for leisure. Their husbands spent what they wanted before turning the rest over to the household. The women received no spending money. Of the rare times that the whole family decided to do something together it usually didn’t cost little to nothing. On those rare times it usually wound up just being more work for the mother. On the other hand, working-class girls loved their leisure time and felt that is was a right, especially those born in America. The most common places where working-class girls went for leisure was dancehalls, cheap theaters, amusement parks, picnic grounds and in the streets. Socializing in the street was the easiest form of leisure because it was free and there was little supervision. The apartments were very small and the there was no privacy, so the streets were filled with working class people. Social clubs had a big following also. They seemed to be primarily social and were called ‘pleasure clubs’ to differentiate from serious clubs or benefit aid societies. The women got a chance to gossip and they usually held a dance after their meetings. The working class women were very concerned with the clothes they wore when going out. Sometimes they would go with out food or walk home from work just to save enough money to afford nice clothes so they can go out. The changes in labor were one main reason that the change between generations became so evident. Young women had more ...

Definition and Examples of Metadiscourse

Definition and Examples of Metadiscourse Metadiscourse is an umbrella term for words used by a writer or speaker to mark the direction and purpose of a text. Adjective:  metadiscursive. Derived from the Greek words for beyond and discourse, metadiscourse can be  broadly defined as discourse about discourse, or as  those aspects of texts  that affect the relations of authors to readers (Avon Chrismore, Talking With Readers, 1989). In Style:  The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2003), Joseph  M. Williams notes that in academic writing, metadiscourse appears most often in introductions, where we announce intentions: I claim that . . ., I shall show . . ., We begin by . . . and again at the end, when we summarize: I have argued . . ., I have shown . . ., We have claimed . . .. Explanations of Metadiscourse Some of our most common and useful metadiscourse signals are the conjunctive adverbs . . .: however, so, nevertheless, and prepositional phrases such as in other words, in addition, and in fact. Other text connectors youre familiar with, such as first, in the first place, second, next, finally, and in conclusion, clearly add to the ease of reading, the flow of the text.(Martha Kolln, Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects. Pearson, 2007)Metadiscourse reveals the writers awareness of the reader and his or her need for elaboration, clarification, guidance and interaction. In expressing an awareness of the text, the writer also makes the reader aware of it, and this only happens when he or she has a clear, reader-oriented reason for doing so. In other words, drawing attention to the text represents a writers goals relative to an assessment of the readers need for guidance and elaboration.(Ken Hyland, Metadiscourse: Exploring Interaction in Writing. Continuum, 2005) Writers and Readers Metadiscourse refers to the writers thinking and writing: We will explain, show, argue, claim, deny, suggest, contrast, summarize . . .the writers degree of certainty: it seems, perhaps, undoubtedly, I think . . .   (We call these hedges and intensifiers.)the readers actions: consider now, as you might recall, look at the next example ...the writing itself and logical connections among its parts: first, second, third; to begin, finally; therefore, however, consequently...   (Joseph  M. Williams,  Style:  The Basics of Clarity and Grace. Longman, 2003) Metadiscourse as Commentary Every student who has silently suffered a course of lectures, surreptitiously watching the clock, . . . knows what metadiscourse is, although the word may be quite unfamiliar. Metadiscourse is Last week and Now I propose to turn to and What are we to understand by this? and If I may put it metaphorically, all the way through to And so to conclude... followed by Finally... and Next week we shall go on to examine ...[M]etadiscourse is a kind of commentary, made in the course of speaking or writing. The essential feature of this commentary is that it is not appended to the text, like a footnote or a postscript, but is incorporated with it, in the form of words and phrases fitted into the unfolding message...Now many of the words and phrases we characterize, in their context, as metadiscourse quite obviously function as marks of text structure, or taxis, while as many again seem to occur as explanatory or corrective comments on diction and style, that is, lexis.(Walter Nash, An Uncommon Tongue: The Uses and Resources of English. Taylor Francis, 1992) Metadiscourse as a Rhetorical Strategy Definitions of metadiscourse that rely upon a clear-cut distinction between discourse (content) and metadiscourse (non-content) are ... shaky. Especially when analysing naturally-occurring speech, it cannot be assumed that all forms of communication about communication can be adequately separated from communication itself...Instead of defining metadiscourse as a level or plane of language, or a distinct unit separate from primary discourse, metadiscourse can be conceptualised as a rhetorical strategy used by speakers and authors to talk about their own talk (Chrismore 1989: 86). This is essentially a functional/discourse-oriented as opposed to a formally-oriented view.​(Tamsin Sanderson, Corpus, Culture, Discourse. Narr Dr. Gunter, 2008)