Book Review of 1984 Essay

He was a member of outer party, who has better life than the proles according to the government. Winston did not believe in the party, the Big Brother. He remained the memory before the Revolution, some fragmented memory about a better life than he was experiencing. He held a belief in abiding faith, contrary to the faked fact that he produced for the sake of work. Through the process that how the party reintegrated Winston, we saw the party controlled the society, using what they learned from the history to improve the method of doing a brainwashing. Julia is the second main character. She is Winston’s love, a beautiful young woman. Julia was born after the Revolution. She knew a little about the past through her grandfather, who disappeared when she was eight. She was zealous in the activities that government promotes, like Junior Anti-Sex League, Two Minutes’ Hate and community center. However, she is a girl who does not care about what the life will be tomorrow. She used her body to exchange for inner party’s good. Everything she did for the government was a mask, to distract attentions from sexually promiscuous rebel. She was sex criminal. After she fell in love with Winston, she believed that ‘It’s the one thing they can’t do. They can make you say anything — ANYTHING— but they can’t make you believe it. They can’t get inside you. ’ However, she was also tortured to be perfect and even suffered more than Winston. ‘Her face was sallower, and there was a long scar, partly hidden by the hair, across her forehead and temple’. The third main character is O’Brien, a member of Brotherhood, which is leaded by Goldstein, the target of Two Minutes’ Hate. But O’Brien was actually a member of inner party, a zealous supporter of the Party, a thought police, a spy. He made Winston believed in him that he opposed that Party and pretended to be a member of Brotherhood. With the help of Mr. Charrington, Winston was caught by Thought Police, as well as Julia. O’Brien engaged in most part of reintegration of Winston. He was the first one who inspires Winston to oppose the Party, by a sentence, ‘We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness,’ O’Brien had said to him. And then he leaded him to believe in the existence of Brotherhood, finally to the love of Big Brother, the death. The story started from Winston Smith, a member of outer party. Winston lived in a dark age, though others may deny it. There are three biggest powers in the world: the Eurasian, Oceania and Eastasia. Winston was in Oceania, under the control of the new party—INGSOC, English Socialism. The official language is New Speak, contrary to the Old Speak. It is used to limit and finally eliminate all modes of thought, therefore nobody would rebel, even just a second’s thought. There are three classes: the Inner Party, the Outer Party and the Proles. Telescreens and microphones are everywhere, monitoring every act of the citizens. There are four ministries, the Ministry of Love, the Ministry of Plenty, the Ministry of Peace and the Ministry of Truth. Each of the ministries is working on the things that are contrary to its name. Winston worked in the Ministry of Truth, where all the documents should be rewritten in order to support the eternal positive of the Party. It is a department that holds the output of Medias, books, news and podcast, falsification was made to the history and facts, which promote the Party doctrine. Winston never believed in the Party. He lived with a mask, controlling every movement, every word that he gave out. However, accidentally he fell in love with a young woman, Julia. They had sex, enjoying the food that Julia brought from the Inner Party, and talked about their doubts on the Party, sharing pieces of memory before the Revolution. They decided to join the Brotherhood, to fight against the Party. They could do everything, except stop loving each other. O’Brien, as a member of Brotherhood, received them and gave them the book, The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, written by Emmanuel Goldstein. However, when Winston and Julia were still reading the book in Mr. Charrington’s shop, they were caught by though police. The Brotherhood was a trap. O’Brien was actually an Inner Party member. Winston suffered for a long period of reintegration, and finally built up his loyal love to Big Brother, before his death. The mainline is easy to summarize, however the idea that the story wants to tell is difficult. In the book, the politics have been gone to the worst part. Those covers, like â€Å"to help the poor†, â€Å"for the sake of freedom and equality†, or â€Å"to release the proles and reform the society†, are abandoned. The aim of the Party is so direct, that is even adverse, to attain the pure power, nothing else but only the power. The method they used was successful. Language is the access to mind. It is clever to not only limit people to express their opinion but also change their tools, the language itself, by reducing the amount of words and meanings it can represent. It can stop the rebel from the beginning point. â€Å"A thought diverging from the principles of Ingsoc — should be literally unthinkable. † This aim is attainable as long as the Party could replace the Old Speak entirely. The new generation would know nothing about the Old Speak and have no ways to understand the past since those past were record in the Old Speak and possibly had been rewritten totally by Ministry of True. They are as ignorance as animals, who have no past and even no inherit genes. In order to let people have no spare time to think about the meaning of their lives, to explore the things that the Party does not tell, they have war continuously. This could help to avoid rebellion. â€Å"War is peace. † It also keeps the life standard just right above the poverty line. People have to work hard, though the government has always claimed that they have made progress on production, they still do not have enough to eat or enough fuels to make them warm. The life was terrible that everyone works like animal, do what orders, and no more think. But it was a blast of strong power, to have so much unconscious workforce. â€Å"Ignorance is strength. † To explain the last part of the Party’s practice, â€Å"Slavery is freedom. † it relates to the concept of individual and group. As an individual, you are slaved, but groups of slaved have the strength to achieve power and freedom. One should escape from its own identity, and to be slaved, to be remixed into a group, which finally reaches the ultimate freedom. The story has been making a big background in the Chapter 1. After Winston met Julia, the plot has been speeded up. I think the most special point of this book is that he put the climax as the end. â€Å"He loved Big Brother. † The final turning point, and then everything become silent. Actually it just looks like George Orwell him self’s life, ended at the climax. The book reveals several methods of safeguarding the pure power. They came from George Orwell’s real life. George Orwell had been policing in Burma, and then experienced bottom level life in Paris and London. Then he and his family experience the civil war in Spanish and after that was World War Two. These experiences gave George Orwell the elements needed for this book. The poor life standard, the deep hate to those powerful and rich people, the cruelty of war and all of them made up the main background of 1984. George Orwell was a really sensitive writer, who made words to represents more than it should be. His novel was not long and you seldom see some extremely difficult sentence, but you still cannot get its idea only after one-time read. It takes time to catch the main part. Meticulous as him, the principle of New Speak was also provided at the end, to illustrate how this power weapon works. I would definitely recommend my friends to read this book, since it shows how bad the politics, the government might be, and what they would do to maintain their position. I have heard about a comment, which said that you can find many books to help you know the true face of the politics, say that is 5percent, however 1984 could provide you 100percent of that. Reference: http://ebooks. adelaide. edu. au/o/orwell/george/o79n/contents. html

Experimental Hypnosis

Hypnosis is defined as â€Å"A trancelike state resembling sleep, usually induced by a therapist by focusing a subject's attention, that heightens the subject's receptivity to suggestion. The uses of hypnosis in medicine and psychology include recovering repressed memories, modifying or eliminating undesirable behavior (such as smoking), and treating certain chronic disorders, such as anxiety† (American Heritage, 2012). Its name comes from the Greek language â€Å"hypnos† meaning sleep. Hypnosis is a natural state of mind.This state of mind is known as hyper- suggestibility where a subject is more prone to change if guided by the hypnotherapist in the direction of his desire. While in this hyper- suggestible state, the mind has the power to change an association, get rid of old pains or accept new behaviors. The first to start studying the use of hypnosis was Franz Anton Mesmner in 1700, a Swiss medical doctor that noticed that patients with pains responded very well to inductions of sleep, which allowed them to lower their pains. A revision of Mesmer’s theories was made by the English Doctor James Braid.He coined the name hypnosis, and that is why he is regarded as the father of hypnosis. Dr. Braid used hypnosis extensively in his medical practice. Sigmund Freud also used hypnosis and was impressed by the therapeutic potential of hypnosis for neurotic disorders, but his focus on the mysterious element of sexual nature made him abandon it for psychoanalysis, and with the beginning of psychoanalysis the focus on hypnosis started to decline. In 1958 the American Medical Association recognized hypnosis as a legitimate cure in medicine.In May 2001, at the Australian Medical Association, Dr.  K Phelps stated, â€Å"as evidence emerges that some complementary medicines are effective, then it becomes ethically impossible for the medical profession to ignore them† (Cowen, 2004). In this statement she is referring to some alternative medici ne practices including hypnosis. The mind is the power behind it all, and hypnosis guides this power to heal mind, body and soul; thus hypnosis is a useful tool to cure mental disorders. Hypnosis should be used more often in psychological treatment because it is an effective, safe and proven tool.Hypnosis was proved to be effective by several Doctors and therapists in the field. It all started with Mesmer and his animal magnetism. He noticed that by passing his hands close to the body to allow the â€Å"magnetic fluid† to flow from his fingertips into the client’s body, he could restore balance and health, and it only took three sessions for a diseased person to heal. People were amazed by how clients would be cured from incurable conditions, but Mesmer clashed with the medical field when a client cured of blindness relapsed. Then he moved to Paris where he practiced magnetism.James Braid was an English surgeon and writer on hypnotism. He is the one that coined the nam e hypnosis and demonstrated that it was not animal magnetism, but it was just achieved by suggestion. His writings are what led to future research and development of hypnosis and the investigation of what was later called the unconscious mind (E. Hilgard, 1984). Milton Erickson, the founder of Hypnocounseling, was a major influence in practices of counseling and psychotherapy, and his methods are without doubt the fasted growing in the western world in the field of psychotherapy.He was also one of the most prominent founders of neurolinguistic programming (NLP). He was also very influential in the in family and brief systemic therapy model of the Mental Health Research Institute. His work has been so original and creative that he was nicknamed â€Å"Mr. Hypnosis† (Gunnison, H. , 1990). He also was the founder and first president of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, as well as the first editor of its journal. Erickson goal was to give back to their clients their pers onal power and control over their lives with the use of â€Å"implied directive language.†Instead of saying, â€Å"Sit back in the chair, relax, and listen to my voice†, he would say: â€Å"You can sit back in the chair and you might even relax and listen to my voice. † â€Å"The word can suggests that you have the ability to sit back in your chair and also sets up an implied choice, that ‘you can choose to sit back in the chair, if you want to-or not’† (Gunnison, H. , 1990). â€Å"The use of words such as can, might, could, and possibly makes for communication that remains tentative, open, highly respectful of the client’s world and wishes, and implying client choice and power.IDL exists at the heart of hypnocounseling. † (Gunnison, H. , 1990). His hypnotic language was focused on enabling the clients to believe that they could change, since the root of all people’s problem is that they do not know how to change and they do not think they can change. But Erickson knew that changing is easy; the way to make it happen is for the person to believe they can change and to make a â€Å"choice,† to make the â€Å"decision† to change. Without that permission the mind will always keep the old program because the subconscious mind follows orders and past decisions like a slave.It will not change because one hopes to change or because one wants to change. It only changes when one tells it to change, when one makes that important decision like: I decided to quit smoking; I am doing it today; I decided to let go of all past hurts and to be happy now; I choose to be a success regardless of what others think of me, and so on. In order to enable the client Erickson would use suggestions such as: â€Å"You can begin to change when you choose implies that you have the ability to change and the presupposition denotes, of course, that you will when you choose to.This is an effective strategy for changin g perceptions† (Gunnison, H. , 1990). Another of his powerful suggestions is: â€Å"You can now curiously take this time to wonder about different ways to change. Isn’t it exciting to realize that you have the power to choose different ways of being? † (Gunnison, H. , 1990) (The italicized words will be said with a higher or lower tone of voice to emphasize them. Another successful technique is called Reframing. â€Å"Reframing represents the idea that individuals can â€Å"break out of limiting misconceptions to a broader understanding of human possibilities† (Gunnison, H., 1990).A picture will look totally different in a pink frame or in a black frame. In order to accomplish this, Erickson would use techniques like: â€Å"You know I can hear your sadness and loss and at the same time I sense a very deep courage inside of you that you can draw upon. Isn’t it interesting that we can discover strengths we didn’t realize we had during times o f travail and pain? † (Gunnison, H. , 1990). Hypnosis is safe. The general belief about hypnosis is that the hypnotist will be in control of the client’s mind while under hypnosis.The truth is that every form of hypnosis is a form of self-hypnosis where the hypnotist just guides the client to let go of the old associations and accept new ones. The heightened concentration created by hypnosis makes resource retrieval and association easier for the client's Adult and Child. Hypnosis allows the client to effortlessly shift attention to supportive ego states and build strong associations between each of them and offers the resources the Child needs to maintain the re-decision†(Singer, W. B. , 1952).Change is a much easier process under hypnosis, where the mind is more suggestible and open to change than during the wakening state where the mind is protecting itself from change. The way the session works is that the hypnotist tests responsiveness to find out the level o f susceptibility with suggestibility techniques. The session starts with the induction technique that allows the client to enter the hypnotic state; deepening techniques are then used to facilitate a deeper state of hypnosis and therefore of susceptibility.While the client is in this deeper state, the hypnotist will use hypnotic suggestions to attempt to create new associations in the client’s mind while allowing old unwanted associations to be removed. There are many things the hypnotist can do while the client is in this state. A very successful technique is the abreaction extinction technique. This technique is very useful for people that had small or big traumas that created a mental or psychosomatic scar. This metaphorical â€Å"scar† is the one responsible, most of the time, for client’s disorders like depression, anxiety, guilt and sabotaging behavior, addictions, and so on.The abreaction happens when the hypnotist asks the subconscious mind to bring up a significant emotional event that hurt and caused the particular issue that the client wants fixed. The subconscious will bring up an image of an event or a memory that created the problem in the first place. The hypnotist can then extinguish the cause and create new associations to replace it. I had a personal experience with this last one where for nine years I suffered from debilitating, atrocious pain cramps from periods. While I was under hypnosis and I was asked for the memory to come up, a memory actually did come up.It was an event that was not that big a deal for me, but as soon as I saw that memory in my mind I thought: I must have done something wrong to deserve this. This was a phrase that continuously I would never even think about having, but my subconscious did. The skilled hypnotist removed that association and two days later I was shopping with no period cramps, something that never happened in the previous nine years. Another technique that is quite a success is th e switching technique. In this technique the clients are asked to remember an event where they felt how they would like to feel today.For a person that was happy and then got depressed, or for a person that was successful and then got broke, this is a very useful technique. The reason why is that many people are happy as they grow up; as kids they play, and their parents take care of the bills and protect them from harm, and everything is wonderful. One day, as grown ups, they get a bad experience. The husband dies, they lose their business or their home, somebody steals from them, and the clients start developing mental distortions or disorders or even start suffering from psychosomatic diseases.With this technique the hypnotist can easily re-create the old association in the client’s mind by simply switching the bad association with the old new one. The clients will then be back to the old happy people they wanted to continue to be. At the end the clients are slowly awakene d. One of the best and most powerful hypnotic techniques is the post-hypnotic suggestion technique. This was greatly used in the Veterans Administration Hospital, Vancouver, Washington, where there were very few beds available and many requests for them.Therefore the hospital adopted the use of hypnotherapy to speed up the improvement of their patients in order to free beds quickly. Patients were given post-hypnotic suggestions that when they were coming to group meetings they were going to discuss their problems and have a high level of motivational participation allowing their patients to improve faster. (Singer, W. B. , 1952). One of the most amazing post-hypnotic suggestion is the one used to change neuron pathways. For example, people that have addictions have automatic responses to triggers. They smoke after dinner, in the car, after class and so on.They have created a habit. In this case the hypnotist gives a post-hypnotic suggestion to reverse the habit. A good suggestion wo uld be: Every time you finish eating, you just enjoy the flavors in your mouth and even if you think about smoking a cigarette, you can’t, so go back to the things you need to be doing. In this post-hypnotic suggestion the clients will be amazed to see that after dinner they will try to go for the cigarette, but they will refuse it. In some hard cases the suggestion would be: Every time you put a cigarette to your mouth you experience that bad taste in your mouth as if it were puke.Of course the client needs to give permission to this suggestion, but it is very successful and many clients, as soon as they put their cigarette in their mouth, they literally will puke: That is how powerful the suggestion is. Another example of post-hypnotic suggestion is people will experience a bad event which will trigger them to become depressed, and days later they forget about the event, but still feel depressed not knowing why. In these cases the hypnotist gives a post-hypnotic suggestion that every time there is a bad event, they can still feel good and move on.Therefore, clients that are in hard life situations and still are able to handle them with a smile on their face, because the suggestion has been programmed and the mind no longer accepts being sad from outside forces. Another very useful post-hypnotic suggestion is for people that focus on problems. The mind can focus on either negative or positive, either problems or solutions. It can only think one thing at the time; therefore if people think about the problem, the mind would not give them a solution.At the same time, if the person focuses on the negative, the mind would not be able to think of the positive; hence, the person focusing on the negative will start to become depressed because the mind only sees negative. This could be represented in John Milton’s quote, â€Å"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven†. In this case the post-hypnotic sugg estion would create an auto response that every time the person starts to think negative or problems, the mind will quickly just focus on solutions, focus on the positive while fixing the problem.The amazing fact is that this is all it takes to cure depression in a few sessions. This is confirmed by many therapists. One of them, Elke Kellis, wrote that the use of hypnosis has been well documented and is highly effective for depression. â€Å"Hypnosis can be useful in deepening and enhancing particular cognitive interventions such as cognitive restructuring, increasing confidence, coping better with life’s challenges, shifting focus from failure to successes, enhancing a sense of control, improving relaxation, and increasing frustration tolerance† (Kellis, E., 2011).Also, Assen Alladin from the University of Calgary Medical School, Alberta, Canada â€Å"advanced six clinical reasons for using hypnosis in treating depression: hypnosis a) amplifies subjective experience; b) serves as a powerful method for interrupting symptomatic patterns; c) facilitates experiential learning; d) helps to bridge and contextualize responses; e) provides different and more flexible models of inner reality and f) helps to establish focus of attention†. (Alladin, A. , 2010).Hypnosis could cure most people’s problems if the medical field would turn to what really works, rather than synthetic chemicals. In order to do that there needs to be a clear goal in the medical field: find the solution for each patient. This requires too much time and money and doctors need to care a great lot about their patients to switch to something more time and money consuming when they can resort to the lazy, cheap, money building â€Å"magic pill†. Therefore hypnosis is still not as widespread as other therapies.It has been disappearing for the same reason home cooking and exercise have been disappearing. Less work is what people will choose first. As Roberto A. Ingram M. D. states: â€Å"If hypnosis was as respected as morphine, it would become a tremendous weapon in the physician’s armamentarium. † (P. G. O'C. , 1998) â€Å"Hypnosis has been receiving increased attention in the medical literature. It has been considered for use in acute pain management along with a variety of disease states† (P. G. O'C. , 1998).The article â€Å"Hypnotic Analgesia Affects the Processing of Painful Stimuli,† published by the Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, describes some interesting findings: â€Å"Different brain mechanisms are involved in the processing of painful stimuli under hypnotic analgesia and attentional distraction instructions and support previous research findings that the differentiation of behavioral, subjective and electrophysiological responses may be a result of a dissociation between the processing of sensory information and the cognitive evaluation of that information† (Williams, J.D . , Croft, R. J. , Ferdinand, J. J. , & Gruzelier, J. H. , 2011).Hypnosis is a powerful tool in medicine. According to Hammond (2008) hypnosis is so powerful that in the 1800s James Esdaile, an English surgeon stationed in India, did open heart surgery with the sole use of hypnosis as an anesthesia. â€Å"This historic example †¦ provides powerful documentation of the ability of the mind to influence the body†. (Hammond, D. , 2008)Hypnosis is also very effective in the cure of psychosomatic diseases. Many empirical facts prove this, as in the Canadian article â€Å"Treatment of psychosomatic disorders†: â€Å"Many years ago ‘I made wide use of hypnosis for the removal of psychosomatic symptoms ‘by direct suggestion as well as for abreactive purposes. The results obtained in cases of monosymptomatic hysteria were encouraging. In patients with organ neuroses and in those with psychosomatic structural diseases†. (Wittkower, E. , 1964).Hypnotherapy is very successful in curing many diseases, and most of the diseases are psychosomatic (American Medical Association stated that 90% of diseases are indeed psychosomatic). Physicians should do more of it instead of using drugs that have high price tags and terrible side effects. However, it is more profitable and less time consuming to just give a pill that gives the effect the person wants, rather then using time and money to find the source of the problem and eradicate it.In conclusion, hypnosis is the power the heals mind, body and soul. It is a tool that has been researched for years, starting from Messner, a medical doctor in Austria, continuing with with James Braid a surgeon that gave it its name and with Erickson which created many methodologies and suggestions that were highly effective in the cure of mental and physical disorders.Hypnosis gives the therapist the ability to guide the client to remove old negative patterns with the use of abre action extinction techniques an d to replace it with positive association that will in the long run allow the client to be who he/she wants to be and also to lower stress which will improve overall health. Hypnosis is a proven tool to let go of addictions and to cure many mental and physical disorders and the world needs to be informed of its powers in order to get back in charge of its health. There is no â€Å"magic pill†; people need to cure themselves with the possible alternative tools that are out there.

Nature and Nurture on the human development Essay

Nature and Nurture on the human development Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the history of human beings, there have existed a lot of theories discussing how nurture or nature influences the development of humans. Not only did this debate happen in the past, but also even today many individuals and nations are debating on this issue to decide which factor impacts more to the humans. To put it in the layman’s language, nature is the natural processes which are mostly inherited and hence cannot be changed. Nurture is the processes that are caused by the environment and these characteristics could be changed by the outer surrounding. So in this paper I will present the argument on the nurture impact on human behaviors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The factors that affect the people’s perception and change their behaviors include: their own perception, the people’s perception about them, the societal or cultural believes and even what they view the surrounding. For instance the cloths have been seen to influence behaviors of people. For instance, a person wearing a doctor’s white coat has been proofed to be more attentive than when wearing a painter’s coat. According to the experimental social psychology journal, there is a finding that shows that people think not only with their brain but also their bodies. According to Dr. Galinsky, our thinking processes are based on the physical experiences that are seen to set off the associated abstract concepts and these experiences also include the cloths that people’s wear. It has been known for long now that people are perceived by others by the way that they dress. A person dressing in some manners can be perceived to be what a direct opposite of what they exactly are is. Many experiments that have been previously carried shows that ladies who dress in masculine cloths at the time of interview are more likely to be absorbed and also a person who wears the official cloths are mostly seen as more intelligent in a teaching assistant job and they are most likely to be hired than a person who dresses casually.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Also the way people perceive themselves is another nurture factor that affects mostly the people’s behavior. According to an article on â€Å"why men don’t last: self destruction as a way of life†, it is revealed that men commit more suicide than women. This could be explained by the way men have trained themselves and the way they feel that they are capable of handling their own problems without seeking any help from outside. This is owing to the fact that people who are more open to discuss their problems are mostly likely able to evade the suicide trap. It has  been proofed that women are more open in discussing their problems and hence their suicidal cases are very minimal. Men always conceal their problems and this leads to them committing suicide. In the face of changing circumstances, men feel helpless and trapped but a woman takes risk of discussing the circumstance and hence they are novelty seekers and grea t risk takers. This is a behavior that is passed to all generations and hence changes the people’s perception.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the article, â€Å"HERS; Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls†, by Pollitt Nkatha, it is evident that for many years boys have been seen to incline on the trucks and guns but on the other hand girls mostly incline on wearing party dresses and holding Dolls. This could be explained through inborn hormonal influences along with the genetic configuration and the brain chemistry. Even though these factors hold, the surroundings shape the perception of these children to act in this trend for a long period of time. The behaviors which are perceived to be girlish are passed from generation to generation and this becomes a habit that is artificially inherited through nurture.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To conclude, nurture and nature both have great impact on the development of humans. The nature will decide the depositions of human being which can be changed by nurture. Nature will give the in born abilities but nurture will help to develop them. Nature gives the inborn attributes but nurture changes these innate attributes accordingly and this result to people having different lives hence nurture is the one that highly impacts on the behaviors of human beings and their development. References KATHA POLLITT. â€Å"HERS;Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls†, October 8, 1995 â€Å"Why Men Don’t Last: Self-Destruction as a Way of Life†, February 17, 1999 SANDRA BLAKESLEE. â€Å"Mind Games: Sometimes a White Coat Isn’t Just a White Coat†, April 2, 2012 Source document

To what extent does restructuring transform corporate market and Essay

To what extent does restructuring transform corporate market and financial performance Discuss using an extended example - Essay Example It plays a vital role in decreasing the stress between debt holders and equity holders due to which they can come up with instant solutions of different problems. And on the other hand it also reduces financial crisis and losses. Financial performance and corporate markets have been transformed through restructuring to some extent, but the degree of transformation is the main question. This question is answered in the following example of a worldwide food processing company â€Å"THE HEINZ COMPANY†. According to Gordon Donaldson, â€Å"We have become so familiar with the phrase financial restructuring in the past decade that we often fail to ask why financial structure became such a battleground for contending agents of change.† (Donaldson 1994, 6) â€Å"H.J Heinz Company† was originated in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania in 1869. The company was founded by German Henry John Heinz. At that time Heinz was only 25 years old and initially he used to distribute condiments to limited grocers by Horse-drawn wagon. Initially the company’s original name was â€Å"Anchor Pickle and Vinegar Works†. The first product line of the company had only horseradish but later tomato ketchup and pickles were also introduced. In 1874 L.C Noble became the partner of Heinz Company. After their partnership the company’s name changed from â€Å"Anchor Pickle and Vinegar Works† to â€Å"Heinz, Noble & Company† and they moved to a larger headquarter located near Pittsburgh. Their assets increased to 30 acres of Horseradish, 24 horses, 12 wagons, 100 acres of garden and a vinegar factory in St. Louis. In 1875, banking panic and economic chaos forced Heinz into bankruptcy and their business failed. But soon after in 1876, Heinz restructured its company with an aim to repay all his creditors and introduced a new product in its product line â€Å"Tomato Ketchup†. Heinz formed a partnership with its cousin Frederick and brother John. In 1877, their product line further extended

Widgets and Gadgets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Widgets and Gadgets - Essay Example Licensing and registration, shareholder agreement, privacy policies, and confidentiality agreement are the specific areas of high importance when incorporating an IT based company. The business of widgets and gadgets in the form of company requires certain general legislations as well as industry specific rules and regulations. In the beginning, the major legal points related to incorporation of a business of widgets and gadgets are discussed and then followed by industry specific legislations. In United States, the formation and incorporation of a company is held under the law of local state. Mostly companies get themselves incorporated under the law of Delaware (Division of Corporations, 2011). The core reasons behind the selection of Delaware state law are very well nationally recognized statute available for corporations, well developed and organized case laws facilities and the presence of more than 50% of US corporations in the state of Delaware. Acquiring a registered agent is a requirement under the law of Delaware as this agent is supposed to act on behalf of the organization and to represent the company in various legal encounters (How to form a Business Entity, 2011). The next step is the formation of a name of the company. By paying around $75.00, name of the company can be reserved for at least a period of 120 days in the record of Delaware Division of Corporations. Legal papers such as Certificate of Incorporation/Formation and Certificate of Status/Good Standing are required to be obtained under Delaware Division of Corporations. Fees related to incorporation, filing of names and legal papers must be submitted. All companies formed in the State of Delaware are required to submit an Annual Report along with $50. The franchise tax has different tax rates with different amounts of profits the company earns in a given financial year. The payment period also varies in the similar manner. Electronic filing of

An Account of the Retail Manager's Duties Essay

An Account of the Retail Manager's Duties - Essay Example Some businesses find it very hard to register high number of sales. This usually results in losses to the business or profits that are not exactly up to the levels that had been set previously. Such sales are recorded as very low returns by the businesses and thus this may result in the business closing down. When a business is recording such low returns in the sales that it is making, it is said to be under-achieving (Cox & Britain, 2004). The Retail Manager’s Account in Context Under-achieving businesses are usually in a gradual process towards witnessing a major downfall. It something is not done about these businesses, the levels of the losses that are incurred are set to continue affecting the running of the business. For a small chain store such the one I am managing, the under-achieving sales are very dangerous. This might actually result in the eventual closure of the business as a result of poor sales (Taleo.net, 2012). These poor sales are usually witnessed because o f the poor marketing that is being done by the store. In order to increase the sales of a business, it is important that the consumers are made aware of the products that the business is selling or the services that it is offering. This way, the consumers will be more knowledgeable about these products and thus their purchases will increase the sales of the business. For my store, there are a number of factors that have played a role in causing it to become an underachieving store. This position of the store is not just as a result of a single factor. The store has got a number of issues that it is facing. These issues are very crucial and affect the sales recorded at the store. One of the major factors affecting the store is the number of staff and their payroll costs. Much as the store is a small chain, the number of employees at this store is not up to the required figures. It is important that these members of staff be in the required number in order for them to work efficiently (Cox & Britain, 2004). The current number of members if staff in the stories less than the required number. Thus, the business activities in the store have been slowed down. Clients and customers are not getting the necessary services on time and this puts most of them off. Another issue that needs to be dealt with in my store is the sales plan. Looking at the reports indicating the achieved sales, it is clear that the store needs to improve on the sales plan. The strategies put in place are not giving the required feedback to the store. The sales plan is a very important and key factor in improving the sales witnessed by a business. It is this strategies that lay down the ways through which businesses can actually attract new clients and also be able to retain the previous ones. The sales plan also gives the management of the business an idea of how it should control its marketing and the areas where it needs to pay a lot of attention in. this is important for any business in orde r to give it a sense of direction. For the store under my management, the sales plan needs to be improvised if at all an increase in profits is going to be witnessed. This is one area that I have to put a lot of concentration in (Stanley, 1999). Key Performance Indicators for Improving the Business In order to improve the sales of an underachieving business, it is very important to

Critically analyse how the government debt problems initially faced by Essay - 3

Critically analyse how the government debt problems initially faced by a few relatively small economies could trigger such a wide impact in financial markets - Essay Example for what are all the more strictly trades, associations that encourage the exchange monetary securities, for instance, a stock trade, or merchandise trade. Much exchanging of stocks happens to a trade; still, corporate activities are outside a trade, while any two organizations or individuals, for whatever reason, may consent to offer stock from the one to the next without utilizing a trade. Exchanging of monetary forms and bonds is generally on a reciprocal premise, albeit a few bonds exchange on a stock trade, and individuals are building electronic frameworks for these like stock trades. The European debt emergency began as a little neighbourhood arrangement stun in Greece; however, it now undermines the survival of the euro with possibly broad results for the world economy. Since December 2011, budgetary markets have balanced out sort of, however principal issues stay unsolved. These emergencies are because of crucial monetary improvements, for example, development and aggressiveness, and mostly to uncooperative conduct between the principles arrangement creators in Europe. One of the conundrums of this emergency is that, notwithstanding all its issues, the euro has remained moderately firm in its inward (swelling) and outer quality (conversion scale). Money related markets might be concerned with a few parts of the euro region, essentially in the south, however, in any case they see the euro as significant cash on the planet (Arezki, Candelon, & Sy 2011). Then again, the euro will just keep up this part if European governments can get the sovereign debt emergency under control. The experience has demonstrated that Europe needs a much tighter type of monetary legislation if it needs to satisfy the aspiration of giving the worlds option hold cash. While an arrangement of occasions has continuously developed the European debt emergency, it is critical to recognize sudden stuns and basic essential issues in Europes financial legislation. Their collaboration has

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Case Study Example As a manager you should clearly identify your target clientele. This can range from student to members of the public that frequently visit this enterprise. You should also have a good market for hardcore pool players who like to play the game on a frequent basis. This is one of the most important questions that you should consider when you want to have a competitive edge over the other competitors who offer the same kind of service. The pool hall needs a relatively large space. You will have to acquire space that will contain all the pool tables and space for other services that will be offered within the premises. This may include service station for offering foods and drinks, seat where spectators can sit and watch other people playing. This can increase on the revenues that will be obtained in addition to the sales from the pool table games. If Todd wants to increase his revenue at the pool bar, he must have a viable business plan which is able maximize on the sales at any particular time. He should be able to project the number of people who come to lounge at his pool bar and see this as an opportunity for making more sales. He should be able to make more sales when the students are in school than when they have closed. However, you can also make sales when the general public also visits the pool hall. You can be able to use the lower pool table rental to attract the general public. The lower pool table rental will bring a larger number of people which in turn, increases sales in drinks and food that is sold within the premises (Needham 49). Nonetheless, the prices should not be too low as this may reduce the amount of revenue that will be generated. The overall design of the service counter, furniture where student can sit, the arrangement of the pool table is very important. It is important for the layout of the pool hall to be arranged in a systematic manner so that the the pool players and other people to have free

Is Going Green an Empty Fad or a Powerful Tool for Competitive Essay

Is Going Green an Empty Fad or a Powerful Tool for Competitive Advantage for Modern Organization - Essay Example Several techniques like utilizing the energy of sun and wind, saving water, using laptops, fluorescent bulbs, conserve power cost, planting trees, taking ayurveda medicines etc,. Pharmaceutical medicines should be replaced by natural remedies and medications so that home remedies like using of natural herbs can cure the ailments in a healthier method. Green living is a easy method which everyone can adopt in their daily life. One can plant trees to defuse carbon dioxide, recycle the mobile battery, use biogas as a fuel, use solar cooker, solar fan and build eco-friendly houses. (Martin, 2010) Benefits of going green Going green will soon be identified as a cost of business. Turning to Eco-friendly can reduce the cost because it is noted that companies reduce what they use .Thus the development generates increased revenues from better products and can also make new business. Business going green is not just an empty fad because fad always has followers and can change within a short term. But green living will sustain in the lifestyles of people. With various awareness programs people today are enough conscious about the green living and they not only preserve the environment but also contribute towards it. Living green does not suggest to build eco-friendly houses which can be expensive but it suggest to utilize the natural energy like installing skylight roofs or using low watt bulbs, gardening, saving bills by investing solar panels or using of smoke free vehicles. (GGI, 2010; ANERN, 2010).For industries to acquire a leadership role in the world fight the requirement of greener tomorrow has increased drastically. Industries are nowadays being recognized and awarded foe taking actions to go green. Subsequently India’s top companies and industries are adopting ecological sustainability in the business practice. Various industries like automobiles, IT, Thermal power stations, and banking sectors are adopting green technologies in their business for healthier improvement in their business. Under are few examples of the industry which have adopted green technology:- Energy sector: Energy sector played the major role in focusing on green technology .For instance. Suzlon Energy, one of the greenest companies with world’s third largest producer of wind-turbine having a factory in Pondicherry, which works with wind energy.  It focuses on the best practices to fuel stable growth  and expansion in markets. (Thambi, 2010) Another company, Origin Oil, a Los Angels based company with emerging leader in growing biomass and pollution absorbent.  Ã‚  It is aiming at transforming algae through growth and extraction process. Algae are a source of renewable oil which is one of the competitors of petroleum and it can use as diesel, plastics fuel and gasoline. It is believed that the changing technology will lead to much modernizat ion in the future. (OriginOil, 2010).ONGC’ a India based company has also launched green projects among the local society .The project regarding the Mokshada Green Cremation saved 70% of wood and the burning time per resources. (India Syndicate, 2009) FMCG Sectors Lately FMCG sectors also were not left aside in

Government impact on the Cherokee nation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Government impact on the Cherokee nation - Essay Example The federal government of the United States has always followed policies towards the Cherokee that were in the government’s best interest, occasionally supporting the group but more often oppressing them, whereas local governments were almost universally fought against the Cherokee Nation and allowed their slaughter. John Ehle in his Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation describes the contact between the Cherokee, other native tribes, the United States government and other European groups from the middle of the eighteenth century through the nineteenth century. He uses a narrative approach, attempting to connect the reader to the text by bringing out the character of historical people. In this way it reads half way between a historical fiction and a work of non-fiction, with elements of detail that would be possible to glean from historical documents such as a particular person having â€Å"soft hair, instead of the Idian’s more coarse, straight hair †1 followed immediately by factual and historical information about the languages and dialects spoken by the Cherokee people.2 It tries to take a balanced approach, spending as much time as possible focusing on both the Cherokee and American points of view, but occasionally indulges in elements of stereotyping, depicting all Cherokee men as tall, proud warriors or mystical shamans, for instance, removing a lot of the humanity that would connect the reader to the subjects of the book. This book makes excellent use of primary sources, providing long in text quotations for important documents and events, ranging from presidential proclamations to journal entries of people involved in those events. It also does an excellent job weaving historical information and information about Cherokee culture and practice throughout its narrative structure, both entertaining and informing in equal measure. Ehle also uses endnotes to add further historical explanation and outline sources of inf ormation; a full bibliography provides excellent material for further reading as well as understanding which elements of Ehle’s work are complete historical facts and which have been elaborated upon by the author. The relationship between the United States Federal government and the Cherokee nations shifted drastically between the 1776 and the middle of the nineteenth century, usually depending on the way the Cherokee could be useful or exploited by the government. As Ehle points out, members of the early federal government â€Å"fully intended to honor† both Cherokee land claims and any treaties that the Cherokees made with the government.3 In cases where white Americans violated the rights of Cherokee people, the federal government responded forcefully; in one case in 1792, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson signed a presidential proclamation offering a reward of â€Å"five hundred dollars† for the apprehension of a group of white Americans who â€Å"inva ded, burned and destroyed a town belonging to the Cherokee Nation.†4 When these measures proved less than completely successful, military officers were eventually used to apprehend people who had attacked a Cherokee group at a peace conference (along with the Federal government staff staying with them).5 Clearly, the US federal government once had the role of defending the Cherokee’s against the government’s own people and settlers, interacted with the Cherokee natio

Greenwich Peninsula Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Greenwich Peninsula - Essay Example It is important to understand the aspect of cultural heritage in the landscape. At the core of this discussion is the question of how landscapes may be characterized, especially the non-visual features of the landscape. Interpretations of the landscape may be different from the perspective of different assessors, depending on their knowledge and experience. Therefore, the question of restoration becomes even more difficult to resolve especially when the authentic landscape - against which to measure success and the very legitimacy of the restoration - itself are in a hiatus. Humanities and the natural sciences appear to be in conflict in the interpretation of landscapes. Cosgrove (2003) compares landscape concepts and points to an approach that could harmonize the two perspectives, ecological and semiotic, closer. Another way is to increase interdisciplinary approaches in landscape studies. The concept of the landscape already implies an interdisciplinary appreciation; its study rarely achieves levels of theoretical integration (Tress et al. 2003). A group exercise was undertaken to examine Greenwich peninsula regeneration project with this inter-disciplinary approach and to critique the work carried out on this development. The findings of the group have been condensed into a 'group presentation' which is enclosed for reference. This essay represents an individual assessment of the Greenwich project as viewed by this writer. Choice of the Regeneration Project The group considered a number of regeneration projects currently under implementation in the UK, including the Glasshouses project, Kent coalfields, Spitalfields Market, Limestone House Education, and heritage center. Greenwich Peninsula regeneration project was selected for study, for a host of reasons, the prominent among them being: The reconstruction and regeneration of an area in the urban milieu was of special attraction to the members, especially because of the large variety and (voice) presence of the resident communities; The art and cultural background of the area; The challenge of regeneration in an area that has existed for centuries and has its own and special 'landscape'; and The proximity of the area. Description of the Development work In 1997, English Partnerships purchased a 300-acre site on the Greenwich peninsula and has invested 225 million to develop the site as a 'first-millennium' community promising homes to 28,000 people and deliver over 25,000 jobs. In all a quality of life that meets the expectations and challenges of the 21st century. The Greenwich Peninsula is being developed by Lend Lease and Quintain Estates and Development PLC in the joint venture under the name and style of Meridian Delta Limited, chosen by English Partnerships and the UK government to lead London's single largest regeneration scheme. The area has a rich history and has many listed buildings, monuments and places of historical interest.  

Dead Stars Essay Example for Free

Dead Stars Essay 1. Is the title â€Å"Dead Stars† appropriate for the story? Justify. Yes, the title Dead Star is very appropriate for the story. In the story, dead stars symbolize a dream for something that is nonexistent. Alfredo loved Julia. She was his dream, his star. He thought there was love there. But like a dead star which is far away, and whose shine could actually be the leftover traveling light from it, he was a long way from getting the girl. And when the time came that they parted from each other, Alfredo kept on wishing to be with Julia but when finally they met again, he realized that the love he thought was possible was in fact, never was. The spark that he saw in his star was gone a long time ago even before he realized it. When he was with Julia after many years of separation, it was then that he learned that all along, he was dreaming for a love that was only an illusion, he was dreaming for a dead star. 2. What Filipino practices are evident in the story â€Å"How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife†? Perhaps one of the most evident Filipino practices shown in the story is the formal introduction of the wife-to-be to the parents of the man before the actual wedding. This is done as part of giving respect to the parents and also to get their blessings. This is a very important Filipino trait and it still done until now although there are instances that it is neglected. Another is the prevailing rule of the father in the family which is the common arrangement of the family system here in the Philippines. It was also shown in the story the tendency of the Filipinos to test the girl or boy so as tofind out his/her real personality and intentions. This was greatly depicted in the character of Leons father through Leons brother. 3. Does Filipino custom explains that love is absent when you dont see the person? Filipinos are best known for being loyal people especially when it comes to love. This is mainly because our culture dictates that loving should be in this way, with all honesty and loyalty and being stick-to-one no matter what the hindrances there may be. These hindrances may include the long  distance between two lovers but still the relationship grows stronger because of the distance and this is one proof that even when we Filipinos dont see our love ones, we still continue to love them deeply. In the case of Alfredo and Julia in the story Dead Stars, Alfredo had only thought that it was love that he had for Julia but in fact it was only a misconception and misinterpretation. So, the question could not be applied to them because at the first place, it wasnt love that Alfredo felt for Julia before they were separated. However, there are really instances when love fades away due to the long absence of our love ones. This is only a case to case basis and it does not generalized the Filipinos. To answer the question, I would say no for love is not grounded in physical presence only. Personally, I would say that love for another continues to live even when the person is not present as long as it is being acknowledged and appreciated, otherwise, it will fade away.

The Life Cycle Of Physarum Polycephalum

The Life Cycle Of Physarum Polycephalum In this practical, the life cycle of Physarum polycephalum is being studied. Slime Moulds refers to a wide range of several groups of different and controversial classifications. They have certain characteristics similar to those of animals, plants and fungi. Slimed moulds live in dark, moist habitats where there is abundance of food. They eat bacteria, protozoans, yeasts, fungi, decaying organic materials, and other microorganisms. They are mostly found in forests and lawns, under rotting logs and leaves. Cellular slime moulds live in moist soil or manure. Both types of the slime moulds move across their habitats using amoeboid movement, ingesting food by the process of phagocytosis, a form of endocytosis. Slime moulds may also use chemotaxis, following the chemical gradient given off by their food sources, to find food. Chemotaxis is used by cellular slime moulds when they aggregate. The cellular and plasmodial slime moulds have a motile phase when growth and ingestion of food occurs and an immotile reproductive phase, and they differ mainly in the motile phase. Plasmodial slime moulds begin as gamete cells that are either flagellated or amoeboid that fuses together and forms a zygote. The zygotes nucleus divides, but no cell walls form, resulting in a single celled multinucleate plasmodium that grows as the organism feeds and the nuclei continues to divide. The plasmodium moves in amoeboid fashion using cytoplasmic streaming in order to find favourable conditions and food, and may move several feet in a single day. The plasmodium continues to feed along as conditions are good, but when food runs short or its habitat becomes to dry, the plasmodium changes into a fruiting body, the next phrase in its life cycle it hardens and produces stalked sporangia that contain spores, often after moving to a drier or better lit location. The spores are released and will devel op into gametes to begin the life cycle again. There are four main stages in slime moulds which are vegative, aggregation, migration and culmination. In the vegetative stage, a slime mould is single and is known as amoeba and this will eat bacteria. In this case of this practical, the bacterium fed to the slime mould is the Physarum polycephalum. After the food preferences of the single cell are partially completed or most of the food preferences are completed, the slime mould will moved to its next stage of the life cycle which is known as the aggregation cycle. In this stage, a slime mould will reproduce and secrete cyclic AMP. Cyclic AMP will attract neighbouring cells together. As single celled slime moulds come into contact they will stick together through glycoprotein adhesion molecules. Once enough slime moulds have been attached to each other, they will move onto the next stage of the life cycle which is known as the migration stage. The multitude of slime moulds will form what is known as slugs. The slug is able to move towards heat and light. However, the cell in the slug will differentiate into two types of cell and they are both known as the prestalk and prespore cells. The prestalk cells will move towards the anterior end of the slug and the prespore cells will move towards the posterior end of the slug. The slug will then start to produce a fruiting body out of prestalk cells on the anterior end of the slug. However, it also starts to form spores out of prespore cells at the posterior end of the slug. This is when the posterior end of the slug will start to spread out as the anterior end of the slug starts to rise up into the air. This is when the last stage of the slime moulds cell cycle begins known as the culmination stage. The prestalk cells will form the base the form of the fruiting body. The pretalk cells form the cellulose stalk tube. The cellulose stalk tube pushes prespore cells to the top towards the fruiting body. This process will take around 8-10 hours and ends with a good fruiting body releasing mature spores that will become the single celled slime mould. The purpose of this practical is to examine the life cycle of the slime mould using the different food preferences. Each stage should be observed and recorded. This practical will force the slime moulds through each stage of the slime mould life cycle and a mature spores will be observed at the end of this practical. Method This practical started by preparing the petri dishes. This proportion of this procedure was done by the demonstrators. During this practical, I was provided with some phyrasum a genus of mycetozan slime moulds, and this was to investigate the different food preferences on chemotaxic behaviour. First of all I was provided with two agar plates one with water with no nutrient levels and the other second agar plate with corn meal agar with low nutrient levels. After the petri dishes were prepared, the next procedure was to inoculate the plates. The materials that I used for this procedure was an inoculated loop, and this was done by sterilising the loop over an open flame until the loop was red. Using the loop I removed a small piece of the slime mould with agar from the advancing margin (edge of the growth) and placed into the middle of the plate onto the two agar plates one with the water and one with the corn meal agar and streaked it onto the petri dishes. The water agar plate was the experimental where I had to put some food preferences; the corn meal agar plate was to be inoculated without any food to observe the cytoplasmic streaming for the following day. In the water agar plate, there was combination of food preferences including apple, chocolate, raising and jelly babies. I added one of each of the food and which was already cut and placed them in each of the corner near to the slime mould, and then both of the agar plates were incubated at 20oC for 12 hours, and they were observed using a dissecting microscope using the x40 magnification. Results Which food had the most growth and which type of food was most visible Different food choices Amount of growth chocolate Growth was quite visible was spreading Apple No growth at all not visible at all Raisin Big growth was spreading Jelly babies Big growth was spreading around the plate However there were not many results for this practical. Once the slime mould had food preferences containing a type of food source the cell together aggregated together to form a growth in the slime mould. In the plate with food sources there was a mixture of stalks with spores. However, in relation to this result Chocolate, Raisin, and jelly babies had the most growth and this was quite visible and was spreading around the plate and the growth was very visible and was being seen clearly. However, the majority of the agar plate with the food preferences in was covered in fruiting body as food preferences was placed all-round the plates and they were all spread out. This suggests that the food that had a high percentage of sugars the more growth it had, this has shown in my practical, however apple had the least growth as it mainly because it was sweeter than sugar and mainly its a fruit and dries up quickly and changes it colour so maybe thats the reason why it didnt show any growth at all. Discussion As both of the agar plates were incubated for 12 hours, and was at the temperature 20oC, the slime mould didnt develop through its life cycle as it was expected, which means it didnt achieve the purpose of my practical, as there were only growth near the food choices of chocolate and raisins, and only achieved the first stage of the life cycle, which was the vegetative stage. The vegetative stage was observed and recorded. The spores were quite visible on the petri dishes and they started to grow and eat the bacteria where the food preferences were placed. However, the observations shows us that the agar plate the corn plate without the food preferences added, the slime mould will aggregate together and move to the nearest food preferences that are available, so it can form a fruiting body, and create spores to hard and different environments. If unfavourable conditions had been a factor, the amoeba may have formed cysts rather than producing a fruiting body. However, the introduction of other factors on different plates of slime moulds may have possibly altered the differentiation of the growth of the slime mould. However, it is quite hard to tell since the slime mould was only kept for 12 hours and kept under room temperature and also kept on optimum conditions at all times.

Development of Sports Psychology Program

Development of Sports Psychology Program In this essay I will formulate and validate a mental skills program. The foundations in which this programme will be created will be on the applied sport psychology of self-talk and imagery. The preferred result of this mental skills programme is to help a footballer improve their confidence in regards to their penalty taking ability, which will be achieved by applying the sport psychology theories of self-talk and imagery. I will also be critically analysing the selected mental skills for the program in this essay. Psychological skills training or PST is the use of organised practice of psychological skills to improve performance, and improve general happiness in their physical activity (Weinberg and Gould, 2011). Gill (2000) provides a straightforward description of PST when he states that psychological skill training is a combination of methods which have been chosen for the purpose of achieving psychological skill needs. An individual may at times face new challenges or barriers in sport which repeatedly test the limits of their psychological skills and may even produce negative effects to their game (Weinberg and Gould, 2011). Psychological skills training was developed to help the athlete or participant to overcome these problems and set them back on the successful path of achieving the goals set for them. There is no individual package for Psychological Skills Training, each stage or element must be sport specific or identifiable to the individual and must be based upon the individual’s psychological state. When attempting to put together a successful (PST) program it is important that you are able to recognize the difference between (PST) methods and (PST) skills. (PST) methods can be usually used as a tool to aid improving the (PST) skill and (PST) skills are the psychological attributes in which development is required e.g. concentration (Calmels et al, 2003). To maximise the effectiveness of your Psychological Skills Training program, Thelwell and Greenlees (2001) argue that a (PST) program will be more effective if there are a few mental skills employed instead of just one but they must be sport specific. Judging from the literature that has been published, it seems that the Soviet Union was the first nation to use mental skills training with their athletes and coaches way back in the 1950’s (Williams Struab, 2006). This proves just how long Psychological skills training has been used in sport, although systematic contents did not emerge until the early 1980’s when it grew to become the major focus for practice and research within North America. A common mistake in which coaches and athletes make is the factors in a sporting situation, with an example being losing concentration when attempting to take a penalty kick in football cannot simply be rectified by practising penalty kicks on a regular basis but more importantly by improving ones psychological skill as it is the individual’s lack of mental skills which usually lead to the penalty miss (Weinberg Gould, 2007). A perfect example of a footballer who is known for their goal scoring ability and dead ball situations is Lionel Messi. The link below shows Messi miss a penalty at a time where he had been a run of two attempts missed attempts in his previous matches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnuI3kYTyfc The psychological skills program in this essay will be centred on a 23 year old male professional footballer plying his trade in championship, who for the purpose of this essay will be referred to as Jerome. In the league in which he plays he is one of the deadliest strikers, who is used to putting the ball in the back of the net both in open play and in set pieces i.e penalties and free kicks which when awarded he is first in line to take. This being said he has not been successful in his last 4 penalty attempt which is very unfamiliar for a player of his track record. The player has confessed that he has lost confidence in his penalty taking abilities due to missing his last 4 attempts and is considering stepping down from his penalty taking responsibilities in the team. After much thought and analysis of the scenario, the psychological methods in which I have chosen for his personal skills training are imagery and self-talk as I believe these methods are most beneficial and effect ive in restoring the young footballer’s confidence in his penalty taking ability. The application of these chosen methods within his psychological skills training program will allow him to visualise himself scoring a penalty using imagery whilst using positive self-talk to assure himself that he can score as he walks up to take the penalty kick. Both self-talk and imagery are skills so to increase the chances of success for Jerome they must be practiced. One way in which Jerome could practise imagery could be a couple hours or match day morning before a game, he could spend a few minutes of his time picturing himself walking unto the football pitch, going through his pre-game warm up routine, in game situations i.e penalty kick, free kicks etc. Vealey and Greenleaf (2006) believe that this imagery method should enable the athlete to identify and understand particular behaviours and thoughts that they can actively engage in to begin to move toward their ideal self-image.’ Weinberg Gould (2003) state that In order to maximise the effectiveness of the exercise an athlete must assimilate all the various senses which are related to their experience. So Therefore it is important that Jerome try to imagine things that make him feel as though he is going through the experience e.g the feel of the grass on his boots, the feel of the ball on his feet, the noise from the crowd and generally anything which is familiar to him when he’s on the field of play. This type of imagery is described as â€Å"event-day† imagery. Vealey Greenleaf (2006) describes imagery as the process in which an individual creates or recreates an experience in the mind. These images will usually be of times of previous experiences or a completely made up scenario where the performer is successful in completing challenges or performing physical skills on the pitch (Weinberg and Gould, 2011). The use and effectiveness of imagery is maximised when the focus is placed on the individual using imagery to control his or her emotions. It is not uncommon to see an athlete freeze up or even at times lose control of their emotions. For the purpose of eliminate this issue, the athlete when using imagery must recreate or imagine a possible or previous negative experience for him or herself, once they have done this they must then remove that particular image from their mind and imagine the same situation but in a positive manner or outcome. By the use of imagery our young footballer Jerome will be able to imagine/ recreate a negative e xperience taking a penalty and then replace that experience with the desired outcome of him scoring the penalty kick, which may help greatly reduce the chances of Jerome ‘choking’ or minimising his performance due to prying emotions. Munroe et al (2000) contends that imagery can also be used to augment one’s sport skills, strategies, confidence and also maximise the chances of achieving set goals. Jerome could use this to rectify any errors or weaknesses within his play, which in turn will help him increase his confidence. Bandura (1986) indicated that experiences originating from one’s own imagination are an excellent source of situation specific self-confidence /self-efficacy. Imagery can be separated into two forms with these two training methods being either internal i.e. creating images in the mind or they can be external i.e. observing visual images (Weinberg and Gould, 2011). Research by Callow and Hardy (19972001) suggests that the use of external imagery could be better suited for the programme due to the athlete’s level of performance. This being said I will be focusing more on the internal training methods. One of the limitations of imagery is that some athlete’s do not have a great deal of imagery to begin with and as a coach it is pretty much impossible measure an athlete’s level of imagery as it is a mental process which cannot be observed. Morris et al (2005) expresses his belief in imagery stating that imagery is one of the most commonly used method of mental training for athletes. Imagery is an integral part of many mental skills programs as it offers vast range applicability with imagery also being applicable in a wide range of sporting experiences. Moritz et al (1996) states how the correct use use of imagery can help improve confidence through rehearsing mental images. Imagery can also be used by a number of different individuals ranging from elites or professionals and novices or amateurs. Imagery also can be built into and around an athlete’s daily routine or workday in order to suit the individual needs of the athlete. This being said it is important that the athlete be in a good state mentally before beginning the process of imagery. Gregg, Hall and Hanton (2004) explains that before an athlete attempts or begins any imagery sessions it is important that he or she be in a good frame of mind and must als o be in the right mood as this better prepares them for the sessions maximising the chances of success in the process. . Self-talk is another psychological skills training technique that will be assimilated into Jerome’s (PST) program. Hackfort Schwenkmezger (1993) define Self talk as the verbal dialogue in which an athlete can not only understand their perceptions and feelings but also evaluate how their feeling and then give themselves instructions or reinforcement. Self talk can be used both in a sporting environments e.g. the changing rooms, during competition before competition, after competition and in a non-sporting environments e.g. at home or a quiet/peaceful place. Landin and Herbert (1999) states that self talk can be separated into three different categories which are positive i.e. motivational, negative and instructional. Self talk can be separated into three different categories positive i.e. motivational, negative and instructional. Conventionally positive self talk is used to increase an athlete’s endeavour and to promote a positive attitude although positive self talk does not implement any sport specific target or task e.g. (a golf player can say to himself â€Å"im going to sink this putt† ). Instructional self talk can be used in mental skills training to assist in the maintenance of an athlete’s focus on task associated areas of their own performance with the desired outcome being that they augment the execution of a skill e.g. (â€Å"a footballer could say to himself to self to focus on his technique when striking the ball†). The third and final category is negative self talk and this can be described as when an athlete is over critical of them self which can decrease the athlete’s chances of achieving their goals, this can also lead to anxiety which can also bring an athlete’s performance down. A good example of negative self talk could be a footballer telling them self that their passing is below par or they do not have the ability to compete with the opposition etc. one limitation of self talk is that if an athlete does not fully focused they may become distracted as they could find themselves confused as their overloaded with stimuli. Self talk used correctly can be useful in a number of different tasks in sport, this being said it is important that the practitioner evaluate what would be the most suitable type of self talk for the selected task which will then maximise the chance of future performance augmentation for an athlete. Mikes (1987) suggests that there are six rules which can aid an athlete with performance implementation, these are as follows: First person should be used and present tense Keep phrases as short as possible and be specific The phrases should be constructive and positive Speak to yourself in a kind manner Phrases should be meaningful Phrases should be repeated frequently In consideration of all the bullet points stated there are also a number of other strategies which have been found to improve self-talk. Changing negative self-talk and thought stopping are some of the most successful strategies used in psychology in sport. The term Thought stopping describes the way in which an individual or disregards or deals with negative thoughts before they begin corrupt the mind-set of the individual which whether you’re an athlete or amateur could lead to a negative impact on performance. The term Changing negative self-talk to positive self-talk can be described as when an individual is coping with negative thoughts and then transforms them into positive self-talk which could change the mind frame of the individual as the athlete or amateur will be more than likely more motivated. Jerome could use this particular mental skills method of positive self talk before attempting to take a penalty or free kick simply telling saying â€Å"I will score† . Jerome’s psychological skills training program (PST) will be conducted in phases as he attempts to improve his confidence in his penalty taking.as previously stated the program will be based on the two mental skills training methods of imagery and self-talk. This program should be used and repeated for over 6 weeks as anything less could cause the effects of the skills training to be temporary. Phase 1 (Night prior to match)   Picture your customary match day routine as detailed as possible then once the match has ended picture yourself falling asleep. Phase 2 (Night prior to match) Picture yourself before kick-off walking with your teammates through the tunnel, the cheers of the crowd, while also trying to imagine or recreate how that makes you feel, then end the image with you falling asleep. Phase 3 (Training) Picture you on the pitch stepping up to take a penalty kick saying to yourself repeatedly â€Å"I will score†. Phase 4 (Night prior to match) Picture yourself going through your customary match day routine, then imagine as detailed as possible yourself in a game situation just about to step up to take a penalty telling yourself obscurely â€Å"I will score† you should then imagine yourself scoring the penalty and celebrating moving on to your customary post match routine then ending the image with you falling asleep. Phase 5 (Match) Prior to taking a penalty you should use imagery to picture yourself scoring and then use self talk saying to yourself obscurely and repeatedly â€Å"I will score†. After analysing the current evidence and research in imagery and self talk it is safe to say that both are effective practices. The psychological skills training program provided will allow for the chosen athlete to improve his confidence in his penalty taking ability if both the practitioner conducts the program correctly and the athlete participates in the program willingly and in the right frame of minds. Jerome should be able to improve his confidence with regard to his penalty taking ability. The development of Strong mental skills may help Jerome to perform at his maximum level and may also lead to him becoming a more consistent performer. Although, a number of limitations have been recognized that could affect the success of these types of programs. The person delivering the programme plays a key role in the success of the program as the person delivering the programme has to be able to correctly impart to the player the basics behind the use of these methods as lack of knowle dge of the methods could have a negative effect in the players motivation as they might start to lose faith in the methods. This could possibly lead to a decrease in effort from Jerome as motivation could play a key role in him being able to work on and maintain his ability to produce mental images. Another limitation that can affect the success of the program is the time spent on it as it is important that the athlete spend almost as much time practicing these skills as they do practicing their physical skills. A common mistake made in the application of these programmes is that the practitioner or athlete does not keep to the recommended time period which in order to augment and maintain not only their mental stability but also their confidence in these methods should be recurrently practiced throughout the football season. Reference list Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and actions: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Calmels, C. et al. (2003) Competitive strategies among elite female gymnasts: An exploration of the relative influence of psychological skills training and natural learning experiences. International Journal of Sport Exercise Psychology. Callow, N. Hardy, L. (2001). Types of Imagery with Sport Confidence in Netball Players of Varying Skill Levels.Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. 13 (1), p1-17. Gregg, M. Hall, C., Hanton, S. (2004). Perceived effectiveness of mental imagery. Manuscript submitted for publication. Gill, D. (2000) Psychological Dynamics of Sport and Exercise, 2nd edition, Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics. Hackfort, D., Schwenkmezger, P. (1993) Anxiety. In R. N. Singer, M. Murphy, L. K. Tenant (Eds.), Handbook of research in sport psychology. New York: Macmillan. Moritz, S. Hall, C. Martin, K. Vadocz, E. (1996). What are confident athletes imaging?: An Examination of Image Content. The Sports Psychologist. 10 (1), p171-179. Mikes, J. (1987). Basketball fundamentals: A complete mental training guide. Champaign, IL: Leisure Press. Munroe, K. J., Giacobbi, P., Hall, C. R., Weinberg, R. S. (2000). The 4 W’s of imagery use: Where, when, why and what. The Sport Psychologist, 14 Landin, D., Hebert, E. P. (1999). The influence of self-talk on the performance of skilled female tennis players. Journal ofApplied Sport Psychology, 11, 263–282. Thelwell, R.C. and Greenlees, I.A. (2001) The effects of a mental skills training package on gymnasium triathlon performance. The Sports Psychologist, Vealey, R. S., Greenleaf, C. A. (2006). Seeing is believing: Understanding and using imagery in sport. In J. M. Williams (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance 5th ed. (pp. 285-305). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing. Weinberg, R. and Gould, D. (2003). Foundations of sport exercise psychology (3rd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Weinberg, R and Gould, D (2007). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology.. Champaigne, IL: Human Kinetics. Weinberg, R, and Gould, D (2011). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. 5th ed. Leeds: Human Kinetics. p.247-362. Williams, J.M., Straub, W.F. (2006). Sport Psychology: Past, present, future. In J.M. Wiliams (Ed.), Applied Sport Psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (5th ed). Boston: McGraw-Hill

Distinguishing Between Good and Bad Fats in the Human Diet Essay

Contrary to public belief, not all fats that we consume are bad. Similar to our lesson in complex carbohydrates and added sugars, the key is to be able to distinguish the â€Å"good† from the â€Å"bad,† as well as to learn ways to select leaner food products more wisely and to moderate our total daily fat intake. The fats that are considered â€Å"bad† are the saturated and trans-fatty acids, which are both associated with raising LDL cholesterol (Whitney & Rolfes, 2005, pg 159). An elevated level of LDL cholesterol is linked with artherosclerosis, a plaque formation in arterial walls that causes stiffening and the loss of elasticity in their smooth muscle (Marieb & Hoehn, 2007, pg 980). Plaque formations not only pose increased risk for stroke and heart attack, but they also cause a narrowing of the blood flow through arterial vessels and raise blood pressure (Whitney & Rolfes, 2005, pg 159). In order to prevent the potential for such a trickle down, domino effect towards increasing one’s likelihood for cardiovascular disease, we can intentionally try to avoid intake of food sources that contain saturated fats, such as: whole milk, butter, cheese, fatty cuts of beef and pork, and tropical coconut and palm oils; in addition to products containing trans fats, including: vegetab le shortening, margarine, imitation cheese, and meat and dairy products (Whitney & Rolfes, 2005, pg 159). Baked goods, fried foods, and snack chips may also include trans-fats in their ingredients or cooking method. Considerable reduction, replacement, or complete omission of these â€Å"bad† fats from the diet could make a significant difference in preventing these deadly heart diseases. Conversely, the monounsaturated fats (in olive, canola and peanut oils; avocados) ... ...ds (McMurry, Castellion, & Ballantine, 2007, pg 748). At room temperature, saturated fats (i.e. lard, butter, bacon grease) solidify because their hydrocarbon chains are stable and can pack together (McMurry, Castellion, & Ballantine, 2007, pg 770). Plant-derived polyunsaturated fats (sunflower, safflower, soybean, and corn oils) are unstable and remain in liquid form at room temperature, because of the rigid kinks of the cis double bonds (McMurry, Castellion, & Ballantine, 2007, pg 752). The more double bonds that a polyunsaturated fat contains, the less it is able to bind together as a solid (McMurry, Castellion, & Ballantine, 2007, pg 752). Other than identifying foods having the â€Å"bad† saturated or trans-fats with safe food containing the beneficial â€Å"good fats,† the difference between the two ultimately is found within the molecular structures of fatty acids.

J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace: Post-Apartheid South Africa Essay -- South Afr

Through the perspective of an unconventional college professor, J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace addresses the transition into post-apartheid South Africa, societal acceptance and rape through David Lurie and Lucy Lurie’s complex father-daughter relationship. While living in his daughter’s countryside home, David Lurie’s experiences reveal that despite the powerful political reform, crime continues to dominate the African people. Aspects of South African history are used to emphasize racial tension and the shift from a white to a black dominated South Africa. Coetzee also suggests the instability of the African society through constantly depicting his characters as emotionally unable to adapt to adverse situations. Although David and Lucy were initially introduced as polar opposites, their value of privacy and refusal to endure public humiliation and shame draw a parallel between the predator and prey of the novel. David Lurie ultimately evolves from his sexual en counters with Soraya, Melanie and Bev Shaw by realizing the traumatizing implications of his actions after the Lucy’s rape. J.M. Coetzee, a white South African writer, was strongly influenced by his personal experiences while he witnessed the social barriers during the apartheid. As the novel begins, Coetzee describes the sexual relationship between the protagonist David Lurie and Soraya, a prostitute that David routinely indulged in every Thursday. â€Å"For a man of his age, fifty- two, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well† (Coetzee 1). In his mind, however, he did not put into perspective the thoughts of Soraya. He satisfied his desires at the expense of another’s emotional wellbeing. Despite Soraya’s acceptance of prostitution, her reaction towar... ...Originally, David uses his status as a white male in South Africa as his leverage and source of power, however, this tactic quickly fails and causes him to seek a new lifestyle. Lucy’s farm life introduces David not only to natural beauties but the strength people have to provide the services that they do such as managing a last resort animal aid center. By the end of his experiences, he learns that he does not belong in the environment that he used to surround himself with in the city, but that he enjoys himself when he has the company of animals and his daughter. His shift in standards of living and customs demonstrates the racial impacts of the apartheid. The connection between Lucy’s disgrace as the victim and David’s shame as the rapist demonstrates hardships both flaws. Each aspect of these flaws represents the difficulties of the apartheid in South Africa.

Chicken Run

What are the roles of professional accountants in relation to their compliance to the 3yLaws of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants as in this case? Integrity Integrity means that the auditor must always carry out their auditing duties and responsibilities with the highest level and sense of integrity. Their work must be performed with diligence, responsibility, and complete sincere truthfulness. The auditor should not involve themselves in any illegal activities that can bring down their reputation.In this case, professional accountants should always check the inancial statement of the company so that the Information In the financial statement has fairly presented. Objectivity Objectivity means that an auditor must be independent in appearance and in fact, and also to be unbiased and Impartial. For an auditor to be Independent, they should not have any financial nor managerial relationship with anyone or anything that has to do with the company being audited. In this case, the pr ofessional accountants have to be objectivity In evaluating the going concern Issue.They have to Investigate he relationship between Encik Selamat and Encik Azrnan. They should ask Encik Selamatto proceed to the legal suits against Cold Gold Sdn. Bhd. Professional competence and due care Competence and due care means that avoid from conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest may exist when there Is a significant relationship with a person, entity, product or services that could be viewed as impairing the members' objectives. Professional member should understand well about the business environment of EPM so that they can make sure that the company Is free from conflicts of Interest. Chicken Run What are the roles of professional accountants in relation to their compliance to the 3yLaws of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants as in this case? Integrity Integrity means that the auditor must always carry out their auditing duties and responsibilities with the highest level and sense of integrity. Their work must be performed with diligence, responsibility, and complete sincere truthfulness. The auditor should not involve themselves in any illegal activities that can bring down their reputation.In this case, professional accountants should always check the inancial statement of the company so that the Information In the financial statement has fairly presented. Objectivity Objectivity means that an auditor must be independent in appearance and in fact, and also to be unbiased and Impartial. For an auditor to be Independent, they should not have any financial nor managerial relationship with anyone or anything that has to do with the company being audited. In this case, the pr ofessional accountants have to be objectivity In evaluating the going concern Issue.They have to Investigate he relationship between Encik Selamat and Encik Azrnan. They should ask Encik Selamatto proceed to the legal suits against Cold Gold Sdn. Bhd. Professional competence and due care Competence and due care means that avoid from conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest may exist when there Is a significant relationship with a person, entity, product or services that could be viewed as impairing the members' objectives. Professional member should understand well about the business environment of EPM so that they can make sure that the company Is free from conflicts of Interest. Chicken Run 1. INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Case Background This case is about the Small medium enterprises, Excel Poultry & Meat Sdn Bhd (EPM) that face management, production, financial and internal control problems. Besides that, In this case also show conflict of interest between General Manager of EPM, En Selamat with the main debtors. The lack of internal control causes bad financial performance since 2008. Other than that, this case also shows the external factors for the production process that cause â€Å"chicken run† crisis.Our responsibility is to give the solutions to EPM for face their problems. SMEs is the most important for Malaysian economic growth, so for that purpose we need make sure our SMEs had the excellent management in their financial and internal control. 2. Company Background Excel Poultry & Meat Sdn Bhd (EPM) was establish in 1998 as Small and medium sized enterprise (SME). Their Core business is chicken farming and supplying to various outlets in Malaysia such as hypermar kets and restaurants. Currently, they have more than 200 employees.EPM aso knowed as Top 5 chicken supplier in mid-tier producers in the country. 3. Definition of SMEs. Malaysia adopted a common definition of SMEs to facilitate identification of SMEs in the various sectors and subsectors. This has facilitated the Government to formulate effective development policies, support programmers’ as well as provision of technical and financial assistance. An enterprise is considered an SME in each of the respective sectors based on the Annual Sales Turnover or Number of Full- Time Employees.SMEs were divided into two categories. First category is manufacturing, manufacturing-related services, and agro-based industries. Small and medium enterprises in this industries have full-time employees not exceeding 150 OR with annual sales turnover not exceeding RM 25 million. Second category is services, primary agriculture, and information & communication technology (ICT) sectors. Small and m edium enterprise in this sectors have full-time employees not exceeding 50 OR with annual sales turnover not exceeding RM 5 million (SMEs. Corp, 2012).Table 1: Definition of SMEs |Type/ Size |Micro-enterprises |Small enterprise |Medium enterprise | |Manufacturing, |Sale turnover of less than RM |Sales turnover between RM 250,000 and|Sales turnover between RM 10 million | |Manufacturing- |250,000 OR full time employees |less than RM 10 Million OR full time |and RM 25 million OR full time | |Related Services and |less than 5 |employees between 5 and 50 |employees between 51 and 150. |Agro-based industries | | | | |Services, Primary |Sales turnover of less than RM |Sales turnover between RM 200,000 and|Sales turnover between RM 1 million and| |Agriculture and |200,000 OR full time employees |less than RM 1 million OR full time |RM 5 million OR full time employees | |Information & Communication |less than 5 |employees between 5 and 19. |between 20 and 25. |Technology (ICT) | | | | (Sour ces: SME Corp. Malaysia) Table 1 above shows the summary of defining Malaysian SMEs. 2. 0 ISSUES AND PROBLEMS There are many problems that can be detected in Excel Poultry & Meat Sdn Bhd (EPM). The main issue is a lack of internal control. There is no segregation of duties among EPM staff. This situation can be seen when Munir, the former staff at the finance department, collects the payment from client but he does not disclosed the payment receipt to the account department.Next, the issue is conflict of interest. The situation can be seen on the company’s General Manager, Encik Selamat has close relationship with one of the executive directors of Cold Gold Sdn. Bhd. , Encik Azman. This relationship has enabled Cold Gold to extend its credit limit with authorization from Encik Selamat and not the Credit Controller (Ms. Choy). Encik Selamat also has personal interest in the deal with Cold Gold Sdn. Bhd. The deal was if Encik Selamat extended the credit limit of Cold Gold Sdn. Bhd. , he will personally benefit from the deal.Encik Selamat did not disclose this matter to the Board. Besides that, the issue is the increasing of production cost. Since 2008, the company has been facing the problem of increased chicken feed cost which has risen from RM54. 50 to RM88; the increase is more than 50%. The increase in feeding cost has ultimately increased the company’s production cost to about 56. 5% the increase of feeding cost has affected the whole industry. Thus, Federation of Livestock Farmers’ Associations of Malaysia (FLFAM) has called for higher chicken prices in order to protect producer’s earnings in the face of feed cost hike.However, members of the FLFAM had seen a drop in demand of the chicken. On top of that, the event of the feed cost hike discovered that the company has systematically low operating cash. In the situation, the company resorted to borrow short-term loans from the bank in order to meet operating obligations. This in turn increased its financial obligations in terms of interest payments plus principal. Then, there is also issue on the shortage of chicken supply in market. Since the feed cost hike, the company has cut down the production of chicken in market.While at the same time, the demand of chicken from hypermarket, flea market and individual become high. The ceiling price that control by government also contributed to this problem. Another problem discovered is that in EPM’s books, a retailer, Mr. Siva’s account had outstanding balance. This was contrast with the books of Mr. Siva, where he claimed to have paid all outstanding balance and the cash payments had been made to Encik Munir. This can show that the company has lack of management on account receivables.Last but not least, Encik Selamat has influence in the company make the small and medium enterprise look alike a sole proprietor to him. Every decision making by Encik Selamat is totally agree by the other staff. The le adership style of Encik Selamat also need to consideration in the company operation. FINANCIAL RATIO ANALYSIS | |2006 |2007 |2008 | |Current ratio |0. 85 |0. 59 |0. 4 | |Net profit margin |4. 02% |(0. 35)% |(1. 05)% | |Return on asset |14% |(1. 07)% |(2. 76)% | GRAPH [pic] [pic] Based on the graph above, the company faced a decreased in net profit within three years of its operation in year 2006 to 2008. The decrease of net profit is mainly because of the feeding cost hike and also undiscovered irregularities in the accounts.The company also faced a decreased in return on asset within three years of its operation in year 2006 to 2008. The decreased of asset is probably because of the bottom line of the company is also decreased due to the feeding cost hike. 3. 0 SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Internal control system Internal control is main problem for this company. It plays an important role in preventing and detecting fraud of the organizations. For example this company has no segr egation of duties that important for the company to observe and see the flow of the company functions such as En.Munir (finance department) collects the payment from client and does not disclosure the receipt to accounting department. When these functions not be divided, a detailed supervisory review of related activities is required as a compensating control activity. Segregation of duties is a deterrent to fraud because it requires collusion with another person to perpetrate a fraudulent. So the company must have segregation of duties to reduce the critical problem of internal control. Such as, the approval function, the accounting or conciliating function, and the asset custody function should be separated among employees.Excel Poultry& Meat Sdn Bhd (EPM) is one of the SME’s company and need to follow all the rules and regulation internal control for SME’s. Encik Selamat as a general manager need to emphasize the nature and importance of the internal control, organi ze and lead all staff to set up a whole, appropriate internal control system to make middle managers and ordinary employees see the importance of the internal control to enterprise develop and job descriptions respectively. At the same time, managers should teach others a good example for all staff and establish a scientific evaluation system to supervise the implementation of the internal control.Besides that, SME’s internal control also need the company to have internal environment that refers to the basis of the internal control and when internal environment improve it can reduce the establishment of the inherent limitations of internal controls effectively, and improve the efficiency of internal control. According to the relevant laws and regulations, SMEs should establish a reasonable internal structure and give full play to the strength of the collective power to avoid excessive concentration of rights. Furthermore, the company also need to monitoring and reviewing the employees.It is the one of the internal control system that reviewed by management. By performing a periodic assessment, management assures that internal control activities have not become obsolete or lost due to turnover or other factors. They should also be enhanced to remain sufficient for the current state of risks. The availability of information and a clear and evident plan for communicating responsibilities and expectations is paramount to a good internal control system. At last, the company must control the environment to be a good internal control.A sound control environment is created by management through communication, attitude and example. This includes a focus on integrity, a commitment to investigating discrepancies, diligence in designing systems and assigning responsibilities. When the company follows all the framework of good internal control, the company can become better and can be successful in the future later. Management information system This company also la ck of focus on the important considerations for proper running of business operations. It is because the general manager cannot proper running the business operations.The company must have a mission and vision to be successful in the future. If company does not use the mission and vision, the company cannot run properly and become chaotic. So the solution is to use management information system that designed to help the organization accomplish specific goals or objective. Management information system  (MIS) provides information to the organizations to manage themselves efficiently and effectively. Besides that, management information system are typically computer systems used for managing three components that are technology, people individuals, groups or organizations) and data (information for decision making). Furthermore, the management information system uses to analyze the operational activities in the company to become more effective and efficient. Lastly, when the Excel P oultry & Meat Sdn. Bhd uses the management information system, it can be better and more efficient to the company to manage and running their business properly and can achieve goal, mission and the vision successfully. Negotiate with suppliersTo solve the higher costs of chicken feeds in Excel Poultry & Meat Sdn Bhd, the company may try to negotiate with their suppliers in considering the price reductions or offering some cheaper alternatives. If the suppliers are unable to do so, the company has to explore the other suppliers who are able to provide a reasonable price. By continuously watching the sources from a few of suppliers, it may be effective way to keep the costs lower due to competition. Moreover, some government agencies and private sectors could play an important role in assisting SMEs to solve the problems which they are facing.For example, the company may obtain some advisory services and consultancy from the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (M ARDI) in order to get some ideas on the chicken feeds problem. They may ask for the new alternatives to replace the old chicken feeds which are higher in costs. The SMEs like Excel Poultry & Meat Sdn Bhd also may apply the financial tools to help them in cost management such as breakeven point, budgeting and cost analysis. For example, if the company uses budgeting, it will able to prepare a forecast of revenues and expenses, so that it may perform better in the financial aspect.It also enables to find out the cost constraints on its operation. The company must gain the raw materials at the possible lowest price and use them as effectively as possible while maintaining the quality of output. Marketing mix Besides that, Excel Poultry & Meat Sdn Bhd also faces the pricing problem. When a company is in a highly competitive industry, it must be able to provide high quality products at low cost. If they do not, they may be perished. In order to compete with other companies in the similar industry, the marketing mix is always crucial which it encompasses price, product, promotion and place.The SMEs like Excel Poultry & Meat Sdn Bhd needs to improve their marketing strategy on promoting their products in terms of branding, packaging and promotion to increase their revenue. With the greater turnover, the company may get the fund to improve the growth of their business. Furthermore, it may consult the SIRIM Berhad and it may help them in standardization and certification of their products according to their point of views. With the government support, it may satisfy the needs of consumers on the quality of their products.If the products have been recognized by the government, the consumers will be more reliable on them and the price may be marked up to overcome the problem of increase in cost of chicken feeds. The company also enables to explore the other potential markets in the foreign countries. As the demand in local country may not be satisfied, the company may ch oose other foreign markets which they have higher demands on the chicken supplies. Code of ethics The solution for the conflict of interest between Encik Selamat and Encik Azman is establishes the five fundamental principles according to the code of ethics.Encik Selamat should follow the code of ethics of the five fundamental principles such as integrity, objectivity, competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behavior. Some of the fundamental principles can be applied by Encik Selamat as the guidance to comply with the ethical behavior. For example, Encik Selamat should apply the integrity principle in which Encik Selamat should be honest in all professional and business relationship between his and the customers. In this case, Encik Selamat should be honest in the business although Encik Azman is his best friend.Besides that, Encik Selamat should comply with the principle of objectivity in which Encik Selamat should not allow conflict of interest to override profess ional or business judgments. In terms of professional competence and due care, Encik Selamat should maintain professionalism which cannot allow customers supplied without concerning the outstanding balances. Last but not least, Encik Selamat should apply the professional behavior which should comply with the relevant laws and regulations. Effective cash collections processThe solution for the poor collection of debtors’ outstanding leads to cash flow problems is designed an effective cash collection process which shown as below. [pic] Excel Poultry & Meat Sdn. Bhd. (EPM) should design the effective cash collection process to avoid the cash collection problems. The effective cash collection process is when the customers paid the payments to the company, the payment should passed to the accounting departments to verify the payments and the accounting department will send the cash receipts back to the customers.Besides that, the accounting departments in the company will put the deposits in the Bank after received the payments from the customers. Then, the Bank will send the statement of deposit back to the accounting department of the company. In this case, the weakness in the cash collection problems leads to the cash flow problems. For example, the net profit of the company is decreased from year 2006 to 2008. This means the company is facing the cash flow problems which can show by the financial performance of the company which is getting worst compare with previous year.SWOT Matrix |Strengths |Weakness | |One of the top chicken suppliers |Poor in internal control | |Has qualified accountant (En. Kassim) |Financial problems | |Good in development of marketing plan |Lack of leadership | | Lack of control in making decision | | |Imbalance of cash flow | |Opportunities |Threats | |Government support |Potential chicken disease | |Strong chicken consumption in domestic market |Government policies (ceiling price) | | |Increase in cost of raw materials | 4. 0 CONCLUSION As a conclusion, those have several main problems that cause the financial problem in EPM. Those problems are arise because lack of control in management and production within the company.In the business, those who have relationships between several factors will affect the financial performances. Economics, production and management are the factors that cause the financial crisis in EPM. The relationships are show bellow: 1. 2. EPM need to make sure their internal control is in the good position to make sure their cash flow can be controlled to run the business. The integrated systematic management on financial, internal control and production will give the EPM a better financial position in the future. ———————– Increase of Production cost Decrease of demand Decrease of sales Decrease of company profit Lack of internal control Increase the possibility fraud Bad financial performances