The poem Beowulf, edited by Daniel Donoghue and translated by Seamus Heaney, is a masterful piece of poetry

The poem Beowulf, edited by Daniel Donoghue and translated by Seamus Heaney, is a masterful piece of poetry. By looking at the roles that women played back in Anglo-Saxon times, one can get a better understanding into the function of Grendel's mother in the poem. By examining specific examples of other women in this time frame to Grendel's mother it helps to compare the differences from the expected behavior. In one of her essays, Jane Chance investigates some of the possible meanings behind the importance of Grendel's mother and her societal acceptance. Many people still debate the actual function of Grendel's mother, but in previously written words of Jane Chance some answers may be found. Jane Chance, one of the many people who have examined the poem Beowulf, wrote an essay that provided an explanation of the important role played by the women in Beowulf. She states: â€Å"The role of women in Beowulf primarily depends upon ‘peace making' either biologically through her marital ties with foreign kings as a peace-pledge or mother of sons, or socially and psycho-logically as a cup passing and peace-weaving queen within a hall† (p. 156). Chance also goes on to establish how each of the women in the poem are used to prove her point about their symbolic presence. The women of pagan history, mostly notably the queen, portray a symbolic gesture of peace in the form of bringing the mead cup to the men of the hall. Chance believes that as the mead cup is passed around, the people who drink from the cup are tied together. This is a symbol of weaving men and families together. The Beowulf poet also mentions that the women's role is to create a â€Å"peace-pledge between nations† (2017). The standard practice to perform this was to give away daughters, or sisters in arranged marriages to order to bring strong ties with neighbouring or feuding families. Hildeburh, wife of the Frisian king Finn, sister of the Dane Hnaef (249), was given in marriage to fuse both the Danes and the Frisianes together. Freawaru is betrothed to Ingeld for this same reason; to renew alliances within families and countries. A line from Beowulf proves this point, â€Å"The friend of the Shieldings favors her betrothal: the guardian of the kingdom sees good in it and hopes this woman will heal old wounds and grievous feuds† (2026-2029). The expected role of women in this era was to provide harmony and become the symbol of peace in the hearts of men. Women also had an important responsibility to speak for her people during events; a prominent speech was the one that Wealtheow gives to the hall after the death of Grendel. She gives of blessings to the warriors, and speaks of her own children and their importance to the future as the next of kin: Take delight in this torque, dear Beowulf, wear it for luck and wear also this mail from our people's armory: may you prosper in them! Be acclaimed for strength, for kindly guidance to these two boys, and your bounty will be sure. You have won renown: you are known to all men far and near, now and forever. Your sway is wide as the wind's home, as the sea around cliffs. And so, my prince, I wish you a lifetime's luck and blessings to enjoy this treasure. Treat my sons with tender care, be strong and kind. Here each comrade is true to the other, loyal to Lord, loving in spirit. (1216-1229) Wealtheow ‘s responsibility is that of a mediator to make everyone happy and yet ensure that she and her people survive. In comparing the women and their purpose in society to the events concerning Grendle's mother, one can see a female does not usually take action but Grendel's mother does despite her gender. Feeling â€Å"grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge† (1278) Grendle's mother goes on the attack in order to redeem her son who was killed. In doing this she consequently exhibits more masculine traits than other women of the time. She displays quite a different reaction than the one that Hildeburh gave when she lost not only her brother but her son as well. Hildeburh did exactly what was expected of her at the time. She mourned and â€Å"Then Hidleburh ordered her own / son's body be burnt with Hnaef's, / the flesh of his bones to sputter and blaze / beside his uncle's. The women wailed / and sang keens† (1115-1119). Comparatively Grendel's mother does not have a problem in reacting to the wrongs she felt that were done to her: â€Å"monstrous hell-bride; brooded on her wrongs† (1259). Unlike the women of the time she fights her own battles: â€Å"she has taken up the feud because of last night when you killed Grendel† (1333). This is the main difference between the women of the time and Grendel's mother since dealing with grudges was typically a job left up to that of the males in the family. Chance also believes that women's expected place in society at that time was one of non-aggression and they become the ones to make the peace as opposed to men who fight. Chance goes on to explain, â€Å"the idea is stressed that a kinwoman or mother must passively accept and not actively avenge the loss of her son† (p.157-158). Females do not usually take action other than in a peaceful or symbolic sense in this Anglo-Saxon time period. Though Grendel's mother proceeds like a man by acting out her revenge she is referred to in the poem as a: â€Å"ghastly dam† (2120) reflecting that she is still seen as a lady in that time period: Her onslaught was less only by as much as an amazon warrior's strength is less than an armed man's when the hefted sword, its hammered edge and gleaming blade slathered in blood, razes the sturdy boar-ridge off a helmet. Then in the hall, hard-honed swords were grabbed from the bench, many a broad shield lifted and braced; there was little though of helmets or woven mail when they woke in terror. The hell-dam was in a panic, desperate to get out, in mortal terror the moment she was found. She had pounced and taken one of the retainers in a tight hold, then headed for the fen. (1282-1295) These lines from the poem help to show that even though some of the actions taken by Grendel's mother are masculine by nature, she does have some female traits. These traits include not being as strong as the men and fleeing or not staying to put up a fight once confronted. Women stereotypically were seen as being fearful of danger once it has been provoked. The function of Grendel's mother in the poem seems to be quite different from the function that the monsters of Grendel and the Dragon play. She seems to be a symbol of the blood feuds and displays an unwillingness to act as the peace-pledge, which was the normal female role after an injustice. In her essay Jane Chance states: â€Å"As a monstrous mother and queen she perverts a role more important socially and symbolically than that of Grendel† (p. 167). The devoted mother or the feminine side of Grendel's mother comes out in her anger and her sense of loss at the killing of her son. But Grendel's mother's actions are not accepted by the people of this time, as a result there is a conflict between her actions and her purpose. Chance writes about how the poet wishes to â€Å"stress this specific inversion of the Anglo-Saxon ideal of women as both monstrous and masculine† (p. 155). As Grendel's mother changes roles between mother and vengeance seeker through the story one might think that the poet is against women from acting in the same manor as Grendel's mother. By making Grendel's mother feminine but also powerful and ruthless she is then referred to as a â€Å"swamp thing from hell, the tarn-hag in all her terrible strength† (1518-1519) and â€Å"hell-dam†(1292). Grendel's mother seems to be desiring revenge over peace and her contemporaries viewed this as horrible, since women are the symbols of peace, as explained by Chance. The essay written by Jane Chance looks at the women and the roles that they played in that time period and then comparing their behavior to Grendel's mother's ever changing role as mother to vengeance seeker. It also evaluates the function that Grendel's mother occupies in the poem. Grendel's mother in the poem seems to have the most challenging role in the poem itself. She does not seem to agree with the view of women in the time period that the poem was written. By exploring the differences of behavior in Beowulf one can see that Grendel's mother is an important addition to the poem.

Go Green Speech Essay

Introduction: According to the U.S Census Bureau, the world population is growing at a mindboggling rate. The world reached 1 billion people in 1800, 2 billion by 1922, and over 6 billion by 2000. It is estimated that the population will swell to over 9 billion by 2050. This means that if the world’s natural recourses were evenly distributed, people in 2050 will only have 25% of the resources per capita that people in 1950 had. Thesis: People need to start making changes to their lifestyles by making environmentally friendly choices to help save our planet. Body 1) The slogan â€Å"going green† is seen and heard everywhere, but so many people don’t understand why go green. A) There are only so many natural resources and with the population to reach 9 billion by 2050, there’s going to be a lot less to go around. B) Burning of fossil fuels and other emissions causes increase in Carbon dioxide that leads to global warming. C) Landfills are a rising cause because they are filled with trash that can take millions of years to decompose. D) Even such things as deforestation have taken a huge impact on our rain forests. E) Also we ruin animal’s habitats for our benefits causing many animals to become endangered. Transition: Although all these reasons are scary results of what could happen, many people still don’t make the changes to help our planet. 2) There are so many easy changes everyone can do either large or small that will make a significant impact on helping our planet. A) Recycling is such an easy option that everyone can do to help preserve our natural resources. B) There are also many ways to save energy which can be very helpful to our environment. C) Can send less fossil fuel into the environment by not using your car as much or even buying a hybrid car. D) We can save more water and even say goodbye to bottled water! E) Start reusing things instead of buying more unnecessary things we don’t need, even just using reusable bags instead of plastic is so helpful. F) Also things like start planting trees to help contribute to a greener environment. Conclusion: Those are just a few things you can do to help make an impact on our planet. Going green can be as simple as recycling or making sure to turn off lights when you leave. Or it can be as big as turning in your car for a new hybrid model that burns less fossil fuel. No matter how large or small the changes you are doing will make an impact on the plant. I challenge all of you to make one change today because as I mentioned before it is estimated that in 2050 people will only have 25% of resources per capita that people in 1950 had, do you really want this to be your future?

Management of Information & Knowledge Strategically Essay

Management of Information & Knowledge Strategically - Essay Example Further on, recommendations have been made such as having a knowledge management system that is comprehensive and accessed to everyone, including customers and one that has fully searchable and one that can be used to access a great deal of information by attaching multiple files. Currently, Baby Boomers are heading off into retirement. In the United States of America, Baby Boomers who were born between 1946 and 1964 and are now over 50 to 55 years of age and make up one third of the country’s workforce and they are rapidly leaving the boardroom (Foster 2005). In Europe alone, most workers are aged between 36 and 44 years of age and this is expected to reduce by 19 per cent as most of them move into retirement (Foster 2005). And yet most American, Canadian and European firms do not have plans to manage and transfer knowledge and for this reason, there is a great risk of loss of experience and knowledge on an unprecedented scale (Thompson 2004). Ryanair does not have a comprehensive knowledge management system to manage its knowledge assets (Creaton 2007). This poses a huge threat for the company with the current and future problems for this being the risk of reinventing the wheel in terms of innovation, lack of customer responsiveness to products, lack of knowledge on the competitors’ moves and strategy which may result to poor pricing, loss of intellectual property after employees leave with essential knowledge, poor employee relations and time wastage in training and developing workers. A knowledge management system is important in solving and avoiding these problems in a number of certain ways. A knowledge management system comes in handy as it enhances Ryanair’s value proposition of operational excellence whereby the company focuses on creating operational efficiencies to keep costs low so as to maintain its position as a low cost airline. A knowledge management system is

Marxist theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marxist theory - Essay Example Marxist theory He believes that the existence of poverty and inequality only is not what may turn the employees against the capitalist system. This capital crisis has been a major problem in almost among the daily human workings. Of greater ideological and social impact the instability, ruin and insecurity that periodically inflicted on the working- class people’s lives by the economic crises (Blackledge, 2006pp. 84). This theory states that capital crises have a large impact on the capitalists’ fortunes as well. The saying, ‘operating the union of the capitalist class’ is broken up and led to all- out fight for survival between capitalists themselves and the capital against the working class. Due to this, political instability, an intensification of the class struggle, war and ideological confusion among the ruling class may come around as a result of the capitalism crises. In that case, Marx argues that capital crisis is the most frightful devastation and like an earthq uake, it causes bourgeois society to shake to the very foundations. Out of the capitalist crises there is an emerging of the revolutionally change. This is not guaranteed but it comes about in the hands of the working class. Most of the cases, the people found in the lower classes do not look forward living in their old ways (Cohen, 2000 pp.75). Additionally, the capitalism crises persistence makes the revolutionary change possible and an urgent necessity. ... Conversely, he agues that the capitalism which is prone to crisis brings about the need to socialism. It does not only abolish inequality and poverty but it eliminates the recurrent economic and social disasters that are endemic to the capitalist system (Dougherty & Pfaltzgraff, 2001 pp. 85). Many people have argued differently concerning the capitalism. For instance, Adam said that the free market and the capitalism were caused by the propensity in human nature in order to truck the barter exchange. Conversely, Lionel Robbins argued that capitalism consist of an interdependent series which is in the relationship with the men and economic goods. They both viewed the economic relationships as the relationship between the people and the products. On the other hand, Marx went in to their contrast and argues in capital as the relation between capital and labour wage. He said that the two determines the whole character of the production mode of the capitalist. He was aiming at studying th e process of exchange which clearly tells the under surface happenings. He stated that if the rules and the mechanisms are focused only, the economists will claim that everybody participated as equal whether one was rich or was poor (Eubank, 2011 pp. 94). The Marx’s method Conversely, he argued that by analysing the production sphere the relation between the capital and the wage-labour is able to expose the hidden class contradictions in the system. These contradictions are the ones that are likely to be ignored by the capitalist economists. Additionally, Marx also views capitalist relation as the natural order of things that is rooted from the propensity of the human nature where he supported Adam smith.

Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Microeconomics - Essay Example Another major barrier blocking a firm’s entry into a new market is the raising of sufficient capital to buy necessary products or technology. While this barrier is clearly industry specific, it can surface in terms of financing to buy the business itself, or in start-up costs that are necessary to purchase machines, technology, or patents that will permit full organizational operation. Another barrier is the nature of predatory pricing. This functions when the established firm is able to sell products for prices wherein they take a loss for a period of time as a means of putting the competing firm out of business. Another major barrier for entry in a market is the nature of exclusive relationships with suppliers. In these instance, the established firm is able to sign deals wherein the supplier is only able to sell products to the established firm; in-effect making it impossible for new firms to enter the market 2. The demand curve for a purely monopolistic firm differs from t he demand curve for competitive firm in significant ways (Krugman 2005). One of the important concepts to recognize in these regards is the nature of market power. Market power is understood as the ability of a business or firm to raise prices above the marginal cost level and still retain customers. In firms experiencing a purely competitive market environment, the market power is non-existent. In these situations, then, the demand curve for purely competitive firms is a horizontal line. This reflects the nature of market prices as static due to market conditions of pure competition that ensure the market prices don’t rise about the level of marginal costs. Conversely, the demand curve for a firm in a market experiencing pure monopoly is entirely different. In a purely monopolistic market the firm experiences no competition from outside firms. In these regards, the nature of the market is not based on supply and demand, but is constituted by the monopoly itself. In these sit uations, the firm has close to complete power; yet, the firm is still bounded by the price consumers are willing to pay for the product. In pure monopolistic situations, the demand curve is the exact equivalent of the price the firm establishes. This is because consumer demand will decrease with the increased price, yet it is entirely determined by this element, as there are no outside competitive factors. 3. When considering the nature of productive efficiencies and allocative efficiencies, it’s clear that there are a number of notable differences (‘Productive vs Allocative Efficiency’). In firms or markets that promote productive efficiency measures, the major goal is to produce goods or services for the lowest cost that is possible. In achieving optimal productive efficiency the firm is implementing all of its inputs and workforce to ultimate efficiency measures as a means of driving down product prices to the lowest possible level. Productive efficiency is di fferentiated from allocative efficiency. Allocative efficiency is concerned with the allocation of resources throughout society. Allocative efficiency recognizes that not all goods that are produced can be utilized by society, so that in overproducing goods can negatively affect efficiency levels. The primary difference between these types of efficiency then is the nature of the end goal; with

US Government Interest Groups Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

US Government Interest Groups - Research Paper Example Economic interest groups safeguard some sort economic merit for their members and are the most common kind of special interest groups. In capitalist societies like America, money occupies a central position, and thus economic groups are many and very influential. Economic groups are well financed as members are willing to part with money with the hope of garnering greater political benefit. Economic groups operate to attain private goods where only members of the group will enjoy (Paddock, 2005). Â  Business groups seek to influence the government on policies regarding the economy and business. For instance, the National Manufacturers Association operates to limit the government regulation in the manufacturing industry in America (Miller, nd). Â  A labor group represents unions that operate to enhance the wages and promote favorable working conditions for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled employees. AFL-CIO is one of the biggest labor groups in America. Â  An agricultural group represents the interests of farmers and farm businesses. The National Farmers’ Union is the interest group that represents small-scale farmers while American Farm Bureau Federation represents the interests of large-scale farmers. Â  These are official groups that formulate ground rules for a certain profession, monitor practices, and foster standards of conduct. For instance, American Psychological Association safeguards regulate and foster the rights of psychologists. Â  This group plays an enormous task in governing drugs prescription, influencing drug authorization, as well as monitoring the price and disbursement of pharmaceuticals. An example of Interest groups and prescription drugs is the Food and Drug Administration. Â  

Consumer Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 8

Consumer Behaviour - Essay Example 2003, p. 285). Fair trade influence organizations and movements of products in the third world countries by ensuring that consumers pay fair prices for the products. Also, it ensures producers have healthy working conditions, and their rights are preserved from exploitation by some unethical consumer behaviors (Auger & Devinney 2007, p. 361). It is important to note that ethical consumer behaviour allows users to express their personal feelings freely and show the sense of responsibility to societies. It also enables them appreciate products from different companies (Auger et al. 2003, p. 299). Hines and Ames (2000), affirms that 68% of the population buys a product from a company because of the company’s ethical reputation. Also, they argue that 51% of the population makes purchases in different companies due to its behavior. This indicates that a higher per cent of the population are driven by the ethical standards of a producer to buy their products, and this encourages fair trading (Auger & Devinney 2007, p. 365). If the ethical reputation of a company is not standard, then most consumers will tend shy away from purchasing their products. This unethical behaviour can be in the forms of prices or the poor qualities of their products. It can also be due to weak and unhealthy working conditions of the workers and the violation of the consumer rights (Arvola & Vassallo 2008, p. 445). According to a study of a group of European consumers, indicates that most of the consumers are willing to pay more money for proved ethical products from the companies. These consumers are also willing to import ethical products from the producers in the developing countries thereby improving the standards of the producers. In his study of Belgian consumers, Dolan (2009, p. 38) indicated that most of the consumers are willing to pay about 10% more for fair-trade despite the country of

Behavioural Finance topic 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Behavioural Finance topic 8 - Essay Example rd disagree with Koopmans as they consider reporting facts-without data assumptions through some probability model is an important scientific activity. Growth facts which came out of empirical works of Kuznets and some others are important in the development of economic theory. Solow (1970, p.2) agrees that these facts led to the development of his neoclassical growth model which has become the most crucial organizing structure in macroeconomics whether we consider the issues of growth or public finance or fluctuation. Solows (1970, pp.2-3) major growth factors are: Kydland and Edward study aimed at presenting the business cycle facts with reference to the established neoclassical growth theory which they have used as an organizing framework. They stress that the statistics reported in their study are not measure; rather they are statistics from interesting patterns in the light of neoclassical growth theory. Business cycles study grew during 1920s and 1940s.With the development of Koopmans structural systems of equations, it didnt remain a very active area of study. However, it is alive once again in the form of recurrent fluctuations. Lucas (1977) study proved to be instrumental in bringing business cycles study into mainstream. He defined business cycles as the "deviations of aggregate real output from trend". In order to complete his definition, Kydland and Edward provided an explicit procedure for calculating time series presented in smooth curves which researchers draw through plots of the data. Mitchell defined business cycles as sequence of expansion and contractions with a particular emphasis on the turning points and phases of the business cycles. Kydland and Edward consider the development in economic theory that Mitchells work and Lucas idea of business cycles. The term cycle is a broad term; the most widely accepted example of cycle is the sunspot cycle that varies in length from under 10 to 20 years. Most evident feature of the cycle is the

What are the ethical responsibilities of American consumers Term Paper

What are the ethical responsibilities of American consumers - Term Paper Example Today's American economy stretches to every corner of the globe. It is the responsibility of the Senate to offer Enlightened Humanitarian conditions to the economic periphery. I am here today to remind the Senate committee about African human rights abuses which are unwittingly funded by American consumers through the trade of conflict minerals. The Senate first inspected the Congolese mineral trade in columbite-tantalite, cassiterite and wolframite in 2009. Senator Brownback sponsored S.891, titled â€Å"Congo Conflict Minerals Act.† This bill cites experts at humanitarian organizations, public health officials, economists and the United Nations. The consensus opinion condemns the Congolese mineral trade and the violence which it funds. The bill called for tighter economic control of conflict minerals in America. In the Congo, violent military forces are profiting from the trade in conflict minerals. These forces â€Å"continue to commit widespread human rights abuses† including â€Å"sexual violence and rape† (S.891, Sec. 2 (2), (4)). Sadly, the bill died in committee and American consumers have continued to unknowingly fund the violence in Africa. The Senate should do everything in its power to diminish the trade in conflict minerals. These actions should not be limited to economic sanctions, tariffs, political declarations or consumer education. This serious situation requires a broad approach based in the same Senate mandate that spurred humanitarian regulations of slaves, diamonds, child laborers and even green house gas emissions. Africa has long been the a source of raw materials for colonial nations. The Belgian King Leopold II first founded the Congo in the 19th century as a colonial asset. While Leopold's brutal regime was based in extracting rubber, the current crisis comes from military leaders funded by conflict minerals. (Polgreen). America consumes these materials as finished goods. Consumers must be made cognizant of the ec ological and human costs of this neo-Colonial relationship. New York Times columnist Lydia Polgreen described conflict minerals as â€Å"Africa's resource curse: The wealth is unearthed by the poor, controlled by the strong, then sold to a world largely oblivious of its origins† (Polgreen). Ethical consumers must be made aware of these origins. What can the Senate do to regulate American trade in conflict minerals? Two years ago, Senator Brownback would have required manufacturers which use conflict minerals to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (S. 891). In 2009, the primary concern was the identification of conflict minerals. Today we need to also educate American citizens about the humanitarian cost of consumption. Hopefully this knowledge will allow consumers to regulate their purchase of conflict minerals within the free market. While American consumers are often ethical, sometimes policymakers need to help define the nations economic scope, humanitari an obligations and ecological impact. America is an Enlightened nation with many trading partners. We are all responsible for the well being of the individuals who live on the periphery of our economic influence. We are quick to give philanthropic aid to African nations through the IMF and World Bank. On December 1 of this year, President Obama and this congress guaranteed $48 billion to Africa as part of the â€Å"President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.† This money will be spent over the next five years (Freeman). Our ethical consumption can mirror our humanitarian aid. Conflict minerals fund sexual violence in the Congo, here American consumption needs to be regulated in order line up with our

Business Driven Technology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Driven Technology - Research Paper Example In the modern era, two popular business driven technologies are social networks and e-commerce. These technologies are considerably transforming the retail industry (Mercier et al., 2012). Based on this aspect, the paper describes the way in which these technologies have transformed the retail industry and also provides example of two companies that have applied them in the businesses. How Social Networks is Transforming Retail Industry The proliferation of social media is transforming the way people connect with each other and how they make purchasing decisions. As the channels for sales have increased and boundaries between them are disappearing, consumers are in higher requirement of combining brand experience. Due to social networking, consumers are more empowered and influential than before. Through social networking, they can easily compare prices, review products’ quality and evaluate the opinions of other customers which facilitate to shape the products and services of retail companies. The retail industry is already exploiting the social media for the purpose of marketing and commerce. The social media trends are forcing the industry in the direction of individual oriented marketing approach from retailers comprising components such as social commerce, real time marketing and supply chain collaborations. Essentially, this approach is subjected to transaction history of customers in combination with pertinent social networking behaviors. Social networking is starting to play an essential role in the associated retail experience. The retail shopping experience is facilitating to target individual customers (Symphony Teleca Corp., 2013). Social Media Strategies of Walmart Walmart is an international retail company which provides general merchandise products and groceries. The following figure demonstrates the SWOT analysis of one of the largest retail chains, Walmart. Walmart has learnt regarding the management of social networking in its business. The company faced several challenges due to controversial commercial activities and hence, it has utilized the social media for promoting the brand. For example, in the year 2008, the company introduced ‘checkoutblog.com’ which features the employees of the company. They provided their valuable opinions regarding the product varieties of Walmart and also gave supportive recommendations. It helped to develop a positive image of the company for large audience. Apart from this, Walmart also sponsored a blog named ‘Eleven Moms’. This blog has rapidly become a large community where women consumers’ converse subjects about motherhood, health products and budgeting (Barker, 2013). Walmart has attempted to leverage the technological tendencies of social networking by investing in mobile marketing services. For instance, in 2011, Walmart had acquired a social networking technology company namely Kosmix. This acquisition is essentially intended to utilize the monitoring application and to enlarge the online business. The Walmart program for iPhone delivers guidance to the customers while shopping electronic products, reviewing products and placing orders. These social media services are quite convenient and enjoyable for the present generation of customers (Barker, 2013). How Electronic Commerce is Transforming Retail Industry The other important business driven technology

Should School Students Do Part Time Jobs Essay Example for Free

Should School Students Do Part Time Jobs Essay Low Yee Ching 5S1 In my opinion, I agree that school children should be allowed to work after school. Let me explain to you why I think so. Firstly, school children nowadays are very free after school. Therefore, they should be allowed to work after school so that they will not have the chance to get involved in any crime. Besides, they can learn to be independent while working. This is because they always expect everything to be prepared for them. So, it is a good chance for them to learn how to carry out their daily lives without any help. It is very useful to them when they step out into the complicated working society. Furthermore, there are many school children who come from poor families. In the family, their fathers are the only breadwinners. Their pocket money is not enough for them to carry out their daily activities. When their parents experience financial constraints, their pocket money is reduced. Therefore, they take on part-time jobs to earn more pocket money and also to reduce the burden of the family. Moreover, school children can also learn how to manage their time well between studying and working. They should plan a timetable for their studies and do their revision by following the schedule. This is to ensure that they pass their examinations with good results. They are trained to use their time wisely because time is priceless. In addition, school children can obtain more invaluable working experiences while having a part-time job. They meet many new friends and help one another whenever somebody needs a helping hand. Besides this, they also learn how to communicate with the customers. They have the chance to communicate with different personalities and as a result, get to improve their communicative skills. Apart from that, school children can also learn to be more responsible while working. They should finish their work on time and try their best to make it perfect. This can help them to take on their responsibilities more seriously. Moreover, they are given the opportunity to polish their leadership skills. They have to lead the groups to complete their work and also to perform well. In conclusion, I feel that school children should be allowed to work after school as they can learn many things while undertaking a part-time job. We should give them a chance to try because they are the backbones of our country in the future.

Information Management System of IKEA

Information Management System of IKEA Introduction History A privately held international retailers of home products, being the largest retailers of the world they provide home products from furniture, fabric, glass, kitchen and bathroom accessories at an affordable price. Their vision being Anybody can make a good-quality product for a high price, or a poor-quality product for a low price. But to make good products at low prices, one needs to develop methods that are both cost-effective and innovative. This has been IKEAs focus. Maximizing the use of raw materials and production adaptation to meet peoples needs and preferences have meant that their costs are low. The IKEA way of doing things is to pass these cost savings on to customers. This idea came into being in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden who laid basis of IKEA and then afterwards it was owned by Kamprad Family. Data of august 2009 shows currently it has 301 stores (outlets) in 37 countries (scattered in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia), with more than 135,000 employees. (Source net) All products are in flat packed form to be assembled by consumer himself (saving space and time from in store assembling, easy handling and transportation and reducing packaging cost. IKEA Financial Progress this decade: This graph clearly describes IKEAs progress in terms of financial point of view but in this recession period what could be the factors it has adopted to increase its progress towards a progressing/ profiting organization. Multiple factors can be mentioned starting from its outlets structure up to higher level management all working in a close coordination. They modernized their structure at every step ultimately profiting the organization and customers in terms of providing cheap furniture accessories. Special Design of IKEA Outlets IKEA outlets are often on â€Å"one way lay out pattern† to encourage customers to see the store in its entirety. A self service way is introduced as customers collect shopping cart, proceed to open-shelf warehouse (for smaller items) then proceed to furniture warehouse where they could collect previously noted showroom product (but in a flat pack form). Furniture warehouse is usually located adjacent to main store. Ultimately proceeding to cashier for due payments. Retail Business Model of IKEA All trading of IKEA is through its outlets as well as internet, called as Clicks and Mortar or Bricks Clicks or Bricks, Clicks Flips (Catalogues). The usability of both of the ways for sales proved advantageous for the IKEA and for consumers as well: Developers Perspective Profitability of IKEA Management Perspective Increased / better productivity User Perspective Accuracy/ satisfaction/ cost effective To fulfill the above described criteria products have be efficient, effective as well as user friendly. Flaws of this system include Security problems, staff retraining or new technical staff, more employees loosing jobs and redundancies. Establishment of e-business is still advantageous for IKEA as counter mediation made payment available to them before goods are delivered, goods are supplied in time further reducing inventory cost, space for storage, direct delivery to customers home further reduces their cost. Structure of IKEA: OPERATIONAL Level Information Management system of IKEA Main structure of IKEA family comprises of â€Å"INGKA Holding† which is the main (parent) company for all the IKEA group companies. This INGKA foundation consists of 5 member executive committee naming â€Å"Kampard†, his wife and 3 attorneys (The Economist, 2006). IKEA Group company supervisory board comprises of Goran Grosskopf, the chairman and Ingvar Kampard being senior advisor and many others representing their own territories. This group of companies is basically concerned with carrying out all the necessary functions to bring the right product to markets. These companies include IKEA Sweden, Swedwood (Industrial IKEA production company), purchasing, distribution, human resource services, internet technology and communications departments (all working together). All scattered branches of IKEA (Franchisees) are connected to a common system networking â€Å"inter IKEA system† at national as well as at international level (monitoring all the sales, stocks, cash, inventory, demand and supply balances). The basic unit of information is provided by managers at local stores (shift / branch/ area/ territory managers), all collaborating to disseminate information from local up to international level. This propagation of information is carried out through internet using wide area networks (ultimately spreading information from end user to main supplier). So Human computer interaction results in: Cost reduction less staff needed, Resource Land saving Tangible Deployment Business Improved More messages Productivity transmission New ideas/products Organizational new forms of integration Enhancement improved business Work Intangible Enhancement Business Human Resource Structure of IKEA: Human Resource is one of the strongest departments of IKEA as it gives emphasis on IKEAs vision Their HR philosophy believes that employees are more productive and committed when company takes care of them and their needs. Timings of IKEA Store Opening: IKEA outlets are open 24 hours a day, restoring and maintenance carried out at night hours. For such long working hours IKEA hires students at a minimum rate in return getting good quality work. As officially students are allowed to work part time hours, so remain available for various shifts. Recruiting process: Recruitment in IKEA starts from online basic test in form of multiple choice questions which are meant to judge the intelligence, personality and persons response towards a particular situation. Online testing is another factor for saving up the extra money spent on recruitment process as well as time saving. Passed candidates are then called for a face to face interview which shows their level of confidence, dedication, interests and future goals. Passing candidates then go through a short training period, ultimately becoming a member of IKEA. Data Security Control/ Biometric Control: Employees are supplied with specialized computerized made IKEA identity cards which they swipe on a card reader, having a data of time in, working hours and time out. For enhanced security each card contains picture of employee (which can be checked by shift manager on duty). Job Security/ Benefits: All employees are provided with benefits uniformly like worker health and safety, housing facilities, forced and bonded labor, no child labor harassment, abuse and disciplinary actions. Employees are empowered fully in terms of their task completion. Supply Chain Management of IKEA: Supply chain management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work in process, inventory, finished goods, and their transportation from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Structure of IKEA is designed to optimize the efficacy of its designed products and supply process. For the purpose of ease it can be divided into 4 parts, each operating as a type of internal market. Sweden is the head quarter where all the basic furniture is designed. â€Å"Swedwood† the oldest supplier from Sweden for IKEA providing raw material mainly wood from its own forests but with time increasing demands of raw material forced IKEA to look for other suppliers. Currently there are more than 57 suppliers of raw material in furniture industry only, more interestingly these suppliers are not centered rather scattered worldwide but they all are connected with ECIS (IKEA s own system) which allows them to have look at inventory level, forecasting and transparency of supply chain , ultimately helping them to anticipate orders. Here another important IKEA perspective can be appreciated that it further neglects/reduces its switching costs at minimum as it always try to negotiate with previous suppliers rather than searching for newer ones. Retail division largely keeps all the responsibilities of controlling stores (franchises) world wide. For this purpose they have integrated complex communicating system (with the help of IT) which is maintained at every step . â€Å"Istra† the marketing decision maker set up a competitive tender to decide the production. More interestingly most products are manufactured in developing countries to keep down the costs. It is the responsibility of the â€Å"distribution centers† for the distribution (transportation) of raw material/ goods and designs to manufacturers (which again are not centered, giving huge emphases on communication and continuous support). IKEA ‘s highly trained technical staff keep concentrating on design improvements as advised by management to make products that are functional, simple, well made, affordable, easy to get assembled and durable. A specialized integrated project team (IPT) ensures that all these demands are met at all levels. All the above described divisions though working independently but still are connected and being monitored by â€Å"Business Support Centers† which keep introducing newer technologies and logistics. Similarly IKEA transport manager make arrangements for all transportation s at a global level (in collaboration with support centers for product/ material tracing). IKEAs policy is to shorten lead time. Attempts are being made at supplier, manufacturer especially at transportation level, where bypassing most of the retail stores is being tried. For this purpose products are transported directly from the main distribution center to consumers house (at consumers cost) saving his time and saving IKEA money at the same time. For this purpose IKEA maintains 41 trading service offices, scattered in 30 countries with 1350 suppliers. Having discussed various steps of supply chain it can be said that it is the collaboration between suppliers, intermediaries, third party service providers and customers through various transport sources (Strategic Supply chain). On the basis of demands management takes decisions regarding purchasing and production, inventory decisions, transportation strategy and routes, at the same time keeping an eye on accounts (Tactical Supply chain) . Ultimately production and distribution planning, demand planning and forecasting, all inbound and outbound movements, order promising on day to day basis (Operational Supply chain). Shopping at IKEA Franchises: Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Newer technology which enables remote and automated gathering, then sending information between RFID tags (attached with the products ) and readers (which could be handled units or fixed units as both are in operation in IKEA). RFID tag consists of an integrated circuit, having specific data which could range from a unique identity number up to a thousand bites data. When these tags are shown to readers all necessary information get flashed at the device (reader) which is connected with not only in store local area network but also with a higher level management (at international level) as communication satellites are in operation as well. So information propagating starts as soon as a product is shown to reader without any delay. Advantages of RFID System for IKEA Data transmission, storage and analysis become much easy now than before. Information between tags and readers is rapid, does not even require direct contact. Inventory and stock level could easily be accessed. On the basis of previous sales accurate forecasts for a particular product could be made. Disadvantages of RFID System for IKEA Newer technology needed trained staff Data had to put over tags and readers with accuracy Required some investment. Client Server Architecture A customer can place an order online or through a computer system placed at IKEA franchise. For this kind of order placement customer places an order, pays cash through his debit card (in UK cash payments are handled through PayPal which is considered as the safest way of e-shopping. After making a transaction he is given a â€Å"specific order number† he shows to the main reception staff and gets his desired product straight away. Pic In this case information gets flashed at all (local, national and international levels). â€Å"Just In Time† (JIT) Policy OF IKEA: For the purpose of further reducing cost IKEA uses just in time policy as all the furniture is not stocked at the store level, so when a product is ordered it is directly shipped from the warehouse to customers home at a cost of additional transportation charge (bypassing intermediaries and reducing costs to both consumer and IKEA itself). Pre requisite for JIT All departments (suppliers, designers, manufacturers, transportation) have to work in close association to shorten the time frame, cut the cost while no compromise at the quality. Requires handsome inventory. IT plays the most crucial part for JIT to function at its best. Pull Based Model for IKEA Customer Relation Management Customer relation management can be discussed under 3 headings: Customer Relation Management Sales Marketing Customer Service â€Å"Sales† could be further discussed as IKEA uses the below given ways for sales. Web sales Sales Phone Field (Franchise) These Points have discussed earlier in the assignment. IKEA Catalogue Marketing of IKEA Web Marketing IKEA Catalogue: IKEA catalogue provides the most important tool for the purpose of marketing. IKEA is known as the trend setter in the catalogue publishing field. Annually published catalogue is in 27 languages and is published in 36 countries (†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..) Catalogue accounts more than 70% of the IKEAs annual marketing budget. It is said that more copies of IKEA Catalogue are printed as compared to Bible each year. PIC A quarterly printed magazine â€Å"IKEA FAMILY† further supplements the catalogue in terms of marketing. IKEA Website Marketing An up to date, well maintained website for marketing purposes is maintained round the clock. A specialized team of IT consultants remain available for all the times. Every promotional, seasonal offers, sales, discounts and special offers are displayed for the interest of customers. A wide range of products remain separately available on stock for e- shopping. On field Promotional staff Customer Service Play Area for Kids Bargain Corner IKEA Warranty IKEA Special handling booklets On field/Ground Staff: A well trained ground staff is available at store round the clock providing a high level of customer support. Friendly staff of IKEA feels pride helping their customers. Its a part of their routine practice to promote and assist their customers interest and guide them towards purchasing their goods. Play Area for Kids: IKEA has introduced a separate play area for children (aging 3 to 10 years of age). This facility is provided free of charge. As play area is a separate unit in the IKEA franchise so parents are provided with hand held pagers in order to get back to their children if they need some help during shopping. This unique feature is available only at IKEA stores which makes its customers more interested in visiting and shopping from IKEA. Bargain Center: A bargain corner is specially meant for returned, damaged or previously displayed products at a fairly reasonable low price. These products though are priced quite low as compared to other products but with no warranty. Furthermore on buying such goods customers are reminded again that this product does not carry any warranty and all the products clearly mention that either they are repaired, returned damaged or previously was displayed in the store. IKEA Warranty: All IKEA products come with IKEA warranty cards. Warranty of IKEA products ranges from minimum of 5 years up to 20 years depending upon the type of product and its life cycle. If a product gets damaged before this time customer is offered free service or even complete new product replacement. For these purposes IKEA keeps its customers details on records in order to trace them on their demand. IKEA Special Handling Booklets: As IKEA products are pre assembled and customer has to assemble the furniture himself, for this purpose customer is provided with a special product handling booklets which describes all the basic information regarding assembling all the material. Booklet further provide guidance for its proper usage, any precautions and safety advices. IKEA Outsourcing IKEA Help lines IKEA uses its help lines as a basic tool for outsourcing. A well trained, highly motivated staff is available round the clock to assist customers at all the levels. These help lines are free of charge and can be assessed 24 hours. Customers make calls; tell them their product reference number (mentioned on the booklets) Customer service assistant check that number in their computer system and get all the necessary information. Then they guide consumers what to do and where to report further or in case if they need any guidance they are given guidance if possible at the same time. Development of Internet Technology (IT) IKEA main center can be assessed through internet as all necessary guidance, sales, discounts, special offers and details of specified products can be assessed while sitting at home, or on work without any time delay. Development of IT therefore provides a major source of not only promotional perspective but sales and customers service as well. Help desk is available not only at IKEA stores but online as well. Limitations of IT Internet technology is labor intensive for both data input as well as accessibility. Well experienced staff is needed to gather all the necessary information from all the relevant departments (starting from a local level to national to global level). A separate IT department is mandatory for its time to time approach and functioning efficiently. Internet viruses/ hackers are a continuous threat for an active IT department. Many organizations may not want to supply information regarding their quality costs as they may have to face increased competitive force. Human errors, environmental hazards and computer system failures still remain unintentional threats. An educated/ well aware audience is needed to avail the internet advantages.

For My Business Studies Coursework Personal Development Essay

For My Business Studies Coursework Personal Development Essay My business idea is a domestic cleaning service which I am providing in my local area of Doncaster. My service is called pink ladies and is a business which cleans offices and houses in the local area. The cleaning services which I am going to provide are: Domestic cleaning around home and offices Spring cleaning packages Packages with different aspect of cleaning Window cleaning Regular and one off cleans Daily/ weekly/ monthly Ironing and washing Emergency cleaning Brass cleaning Moving in/moving out cleaning Carpet cleaning My service will be providing trusted, trained and friendly staff. My service is for people who do not have time to clean, older people who cannot manage to clean, offices and busy working people. I have decided to do a cleaning business as they are little competition in my local area around the local area where I live for example Bessacarr, Cantley and Rossington. (See appendix). Due to this I thought this would be a good market as they are a lot of opportunities in my local area for business. I will use the money from my loan and the money which my grandparents have given me to set up Pink Ladies. My aims and objectives for Pink Ladies Aims I am setting aims so I can try and get what I want to achieve in the long run and what I want in the long run. Pink Ladies aims are: Increase market share- in the long run I want to try and be better then my competitors by getting the market share which is getting to be the highest in the market cleaning service. This can be done by doing advertising, having cheaper prices or the same price then competitors and training staff to provide a better overall service so more customers will come to Pink Ladies which will increase the market share. Maximum profit- When Pink Ladies is provide cleaning I want to get the maximum profit I can by getting the market share I will have more customer which will create more profit so I pay off my loans etc. By getting maximum profit, Pink ladies will be seen as a success. I will do this by advertising so people know about Pink ladies. Also trying to breakeven so I am making a profit and trying to beat competitors. I will maximum my success by making sure I monitor my competitors, make sure staff are well trained and provide a good quality service. I will get my customer involved with regular feedback to see how Pink Ladies can be improved. I will measure my sales by watching Pink Ladies market share and measure by profit by doing financial check ups to check my profit. Objectives An objective helps to set targets to achieve an aim. Pink Ladies objectives are: Maximum sales- This helps me achieve my aim of getting maximum profit as the more sales the more profit I will get. I will do this by advertising Pink Ladies and making sure I provide a good quality service so people recommend Pink Ladies so I can the most sales I can. To survive- it is very important that Pink Ladies survive as my business will not be successful and the money which I have put into it will have been wasted. I measure my survive with my breakeven and my cash flow forecast. I will achieve my aim of increasing market share as by achieve this is will be working my way up to the market share. I will achieve this by doing advertising and making sure that money is kept safe and recorded. To breakeven- I will need to breakeven to make a profit so this is important it helps me achieve my aim of maximum profit. I will do this by checking I am breaking even and making sure that I am doing advertising so people know about Pink Ladies. I must also make sure I charge the right prices. To expand to public or private limited company- By expanding it will achieve my aim of increasing market share. As by doing this I will be a bigger company which people are more likely to know about. I will do this by trying to let people know about my service Pink Ladies with advertising. To not get into unlimited liability-If my business fails I will get into unlimited liability so if I can pay off my debts, I will have to use my own possession. To make sure this doesnt happen I need to make sure that I check my finance regular so I met my aim of getting maximum profit. Run in a cost effective manner-By running in a cost effective manner, I will prevent waste by making sure waste is recorded and kept to a minimum with training with staff. By doing sure I will be able to make sure I do not spent any my profits on replacing waste. My other business ideas I decide to make two alternate business idea so I could research to see what would do better in the market. My first alternative idea- One of my idea for a business was a nail technician who visits people housing to do people nails who like to have their nails done at home or cannot get out. After doing secondary research (see research) they was too much competition around the Doncaster idea so it would be hard to try and get the market share and hard to get customer as they may already have a nail technician they like. For example of my competitors would be Bedazzled in Balby. My second alternative idea- My second alternative was a bouncy castle hire service for local people around Doncaster to provide events for parties and different events. After doing some secondary research I found in winter went the weather is cold it can affect sales which could affect if this business would be a success as less people have bouncy castle inside. This would mean I may not breakeven and not make much money. Materials are also very expensive to buy so it would take a lot of the money I have earning. I chose cleaning business of Pink Ladies as it can be done all year round in any weather, materials are cheap and they is little competition around Doncaster especially near the area I live. Primary research for Pink Ladies Primary research is getting information about a subject which is been collected and has not already been done. I did a questionnaire to 50 different people within different age groups. This is what I asked them. 1) what is your gender I asked equal amount of males and females so my results were fair as this would affect the people who I target my advertising on and the promotion I would do which would affect my marketing mix. 2) What age are you? I asked this to find what age group were more interested in my cleaning services. This would help the promotion and find the type of people I want to help me do my marketing mix. I mainly get results from people above 21 year old. 3) What part of Doncaster do you live in? Most people I asked live in: Bessacarr Cantley Bawtry Tickhill Sheffield Rossington Edentrope Adwick Thorne Hatfield Askern With these places except Sheffield as it is too far away, it will help me decide in my marketing mix the place which I am going to target my sales and promotion on. A lot of these are locally to my base on home. 4) Do you know any other cleaning company? I asked to find what my local competition is as this would help me watch out for them. They were: Poppies Diamond cleaning The feather duster PSS Done and dusted Star drops Help me see what prices they have on secondary research so I can decide on the price I will charge and promotion I will chose to beat my competitors. 5) Would you be interested in a cleaning service in your home or office? I asked this to see if they were any interest in the service which I was doing which related to my people in my marketing mix. Most people yes or maybe which is a positive sign as people may interest in my cleaning. It will affect my product in my marketing mix as it affect what service I provide. 6) Would you be interested in having cleaning in certain parts of the year for example Christmas time? Out of 50 people I question 38 of them said yes or maybe, this shows some people may be interested in my cleaning service being provided at special times. This affect the promotion I do at certain times of the year and the product I provide for this. It may mean offering special deals at special times of the year. 7) What kinds of jobs would you expect to be done around the home? I asked this to see what customers see a cleaner doing in their home and expect them to be like so I can could the product in the best quality. People said: Washing up Reliable, trustworthy, good hygiene Honest Dusting Hovering Cleaning surfaces Cleaning floors and hovering Spring cleaning General cleaning jobs Ironing By doing it will help me train my staff to be these things so customers do what they want and treat they well to create a good quality staff. This will affect my People at work and the product they receive. 8) What would be the most suitable time for cleaning to come and clean your house? A lot of the answer to this got the same results but more for morning cleaning. From doing this it shows that some people may prefer evening and this may affect the times could I could clean and the prices I charge for doing cleaning at night. It will help me find staff hours. 9) How much would you like to pay per hour for a cleaning service? By doing this it would help me decide on the price I will charge my customer per hour for my cleaning services. This could affect the people at work will what they get paid. I will decide my price with this and my competitions price. A lot of people would pay between 4.00- 5.00 pound but this may be too low for my costs. 10) What things influence you to a certain cleaning company? A lot of people prices and recommendation, this means I have to make sure that I create a good quality service so people are recommended to Pink Ladies as this will help my costs and get my aim of maximum profit. The price has to be similar to my competitors so people will pay it. 11) What physical environment you expect from cleaning service? I did this to find out what I could do to make Pink Ladies stand out from my competitors. This is what physical environment customer expect and I must train my staff to do: Friendly service Trustworthy Welcoming Good clean house Quality 12) How often would you want a cleaner to come to your house? The most common was weekly and 28 people would prefer it then. This will affect the promotion I do as I need to make I fit my regular customer in. It will also affect the price I charge them as they may want special packages for having regularly cleaning. 13) Would you be interested in special packages A lot were interested in the special packages as it is a way of saving money. 28 people were interested in this so this may be something to consider in my package deals. This will affect packaging and the products which I provide with the deals. From doing this questionnaire it has help me see what customer want a cleaning service so I can work my Pink Ladies business around this so I give the best service I can. Secondary research for Pink Ladies For my first bit of secondary research I found out by going on yell.com where my competitors are in my local area. This would help me as I found by ringing up the service which they provide and the prices they charge. This would help me decide on the services to often my customers and the prices to charge. This will help with my marketing mix. I have found my top five competitors and have found out their prices and the service they often. (see map in research) Company Service offered prices location Poppies Weekly/monthly/fortnightly cleans, one off cleans, spring cleans, carpet cleans, brass silver, emergency cleaning 8.00per hour Bessacarr PSS Tailor made programs, window cleaning, spring cleans, packages, weekly and monthly cleans 7.50 per hour 61 boughton road, Bessacarr The feather duster Washing and ironing, one off cleans, daily weekly, monthly 7.75 Thorne Maid to clean Weekly/monthly cleans, ironing, one off cleans 7.50 Town centre Stardrops Weekly/Daily cleans, ironing, one off cleans 7.50 Conisbrough From looking at my competitors I have found that poppies is my biggest competitor as it provides the most service, it is a national company and they are two cleaners working in the area. This means I must make sure I provide the same service and more so I look better then my competitors and the price will be cheaper or the same as my competitors. I am going to try and provide more service then poppies. In my marketing mix it will help me decide my price and the product I will provide in my marketing mix. I also look on poppies website to see how they persuade people to having cleaning done by them. I found that they say about the physical environment which is expected from them when cleaning which are the same which I found out from my questionnaire. I am going to make sure I promote this. (See research for website) To look at some more secondary research I decide to go on national statistics.com to look at the population and income of people. From looking at income and wealth I found that more people are earning more money which means more people can have the luxury of a cleaner. With wealth rising and longer hours at work, it means more and more people will need cleaners in the future. This affect my price which I charge due to how much people can afford and who I promotion and advertising my cleaning to. Household income is growing.(see research) I also looked at the population rate which is also going up which means more people in the world, more people who will want cleaning being done then pervious years. This will affect how many staff I have (people) and the amount of hours and the price I charge. Comparing the service which are offer between Pink Ladies and it competitors These are the service which I am offering as part of Pink Ladies: Domestic cleaning around home and offices Spring cleaning packages Packages with different aspect of cleaning Window cleaning Regular and one off cleans Daily/ weekly/ monthly Ironing and washing Emergency cleaning Brass cleaning Moving in/moving out cleaning Carpet cleaning Poppies as my biggest competitors provide these service except: Ironing and washing Packages deals Cleaning around offices Spring cleaning packages. Other services which my other competitors offer are the normal cleans and washing and ironing. BY providing more service it makes me stand out from my competitors as I have more choice so customers are more likely to come to me. My Proposal for Pink Ladies From doing my primary and secondary research I have made proposals on my service from talking to potential customers and looking at competitors. My biggest competition is from poppies which are in my local area of Bessacarr. I need to make sure I do promotion within my marketing mix so people know about the service I am providing. This may going to promotion in areas such as carcroft where they are no local cleaners. To make sure I am up to date with my competitors I will provide the same services and more service so I am more update and people come to my cleaning services. Due to the great variety in services. I must give the same physical environment which I found from my questionnaire and poppies website. I need to charge the same price as my competitors so my prices are not too high and try and be the lowest price in the market as people want cheaper prices shown when asking in the questionnaire I will use my questionnaire and my secondary research to make sure I decide correctly when doing my marketing mix. Market strategy for Pink Ladies This the strategies I will use to try and get the market share. For my market strategy to get the market share I am going to provide the service which my competitors offer so people are more likely to Pink Ladies as more service are offered. I will offer unique package deals so I look more up to date then my competitors. Another market strategy I am using is targeting area where competitions are not base to try and get customer from there, as this is how I will build my market share by promoting in the paper and leaflets to try and get customer and build my market share. I am also going to try the cheapest price of my competitors of 7.50 so people come to me as I am cheaper which will help build up my market share. Marketing mix of Pink Ladies A marketing mix is tactical components of a marketing plan. I am going to be looking at 6 p s of the marketing mix. Price- is what I am going to charge for my service for cleaning people houses. When looking to the research I did, I found from my questionnaire that People wanted to pay between 4-5 cleaning per hour however from secondary research I found that my competitors were charging between 7.50 and 8.00. When also looking at the profit a would make for 4.00- 5.00 I would not make a profit as it is my costs. So I decide to go for the lower price that my competitors changes which is 7.50 which is the cheapest. This will still make people come to Pink Ladies as it is the cheapest cleaning business. Packages will be charge per hour as well with two things done in the hour e.g. Carpet cleaning a room and certain cleaning. Place- this is where the goods are sold or services are placed. From doing my questionnaire I found out where people live in area of Doncaster to give me the place where my cleaning could be done. However in my secondary research I found where my competitors are situated so I could promote and get customer from area of Doncaster where not many cleaners are. I decide to try and get customer from carcroft, adwick, rossington and cantley. I am not buying any premises as I do not need one at the moment as they is only me to start with, I am going to use a home office at home. In the future I may need premises if Pink Ladies expand for staff breaks and for people book our cleaning. In the future I would try and situate near my local area as Bessacarr so I am near where I am hoping my customers will be around rossington from when I found out in my secondary research. I also would need to think about be near cash and carry as this would save money in petrol. If I bought a property in the fu ture, I would get a mortgage and spent about 50,000 on premises. This will depend on the housing and shop pricing at the time. Packaging- packaging can be packaging on a good but I am using package as a service. This is where you include two things together for a special deal.I will use packaging when doing my package deals. I research this in the primary research by asking if people would interest in package deals, I got a good response. From my secondary research I found that not other cleaners provide package deals, which makes my service unique and stand out from my competition. The package deals I would do is for example carpet and certain cleaning in the hour for 7.50 but would depend on the size of curtain or room. This would mean a person doesnt has pay for cleaning but certain jobs around the house. These may be common in certain times in the year as in my primary research a lot said they be interested in cleaning at special times at year such as Christmas. Product-this is the service which I am providing or if could be the product which I am selling. From doing my primary research I found if people would be interested in my service or workplace where I got a good response where a lot of people said no or maybe. I also ask when jobs would be expected by a cleaner. This and my secondary research of finding out what service by competitors decide, I decide to offer more service or the same so I am at the same stage as my competitors. These are the service which I will be offering: Domestic cleaning around home and offices Spring cleaning packages Packages with different aspect of cleaning Window cleaning Regular and one off cleans Daily/ weekly/ monthly Ironing and washing Emergency cleaning Brass cleaning Moving in/moving out cleaning Carpet cleaning From doing this research I can provide these service which my competitors do not provide such as cleaning packages. Promotion-This is tools to help promote a product or service to persuade people to buy the product or service. From doing my secondary research I found that people are attractive to certain cleaning company due to with the price and recommendation. This is why I need make sure I giving the best quality service at the lowest price. I need promote my cleaning service, Pink Ladies to make sure that people know that a new service and available. I will use this using leaflet through people doors in area which I am targeting, cantley, rossington, carcroft and adwick. I am going advertise my service through the paper every week to make sure people know about my service and the service which I provide. From my secondary I found that my biggest competitor poppies using persuade about the service they provide such as trustworthy, I am going to do this in my advertising to be at the same stage as my competition. By doing special package deals instead just cleaning, this one of the promotion I w ill be doing where I do two jobs such as carpet cleaning and curtain cleaning for 7.50 in a hour or two instead of a person getting their house cleaned. Physical environment- this is the physical environment which a cleaning service is given. This could be the feel of the service and an environment which a customer expects. From doing secondary research I am using my competitors ideas of the physical environment they expect from cleaning. These are things like trust and friendly. In my primary research I also find that the customer wanted these things out of service for a physical environment from cleaning: Friendly Trustworthy Welcoming Good environment Good cleaning Good quality These are things I will be using to make sure that customers feel like the environment around them is to a good standard. People-People is the people within a business such as staff; I need to make sure that my staff provides the physical environment customers want from cleaning. This will when having staff in the future. I found this out from my primary and secondary research about what people what out of a business. For this staff will need training when I get staff in the future when I expand. Further explanation of place- At the moment Pink Ladies will be ran from home as they is no need for a place as it is not a big enough company jet. When Pink Ladies expand I will need a place where my customer can come and book, and office work can be done from a central point. If I was to get a shop where I could run things from, I would spent 100,000 pounds and try and get a place in the local area where I started or in town. Town is more direct for customers for customers to get to however it depend if they is a property available at my price range. It would be connivance in the town centre as customer and staff would be able to access it easily however I would need parking available to store company vans and cars when not being used and for staff to gain easier access. I would provide a place where customer can come and inquire, and be able to employee people to do paper work and equipment can be stored. This depends on how well Pink Ladies do as they need to expand before they d o this. SWOT analysis of Pink Ladies A SWOT analysis is helping manage the risk of making decision and help see what a business current position is in. Strengths This is something that a business performs effectively and it is strong in it. These are the strengths of Pink Ladies: Provides Package deals different from competitors which make Pink Ladies stand out as it is a unique selling point. High quality service due to the training the cleaner receive and what and how the services are provided. High level of customer service- customer come first Effective promotion within the package deals as people are attractive from doing my questionnaire. Weaknesses This is where a business is performing poorly and not effectively. These are the weaknesses of Pink Ladies: Restricted service sure to the expensive of equipment e.g. One carpet cleaner. Low sales when the customer base in growing. Opportunities- this is the business could take advantage of in the future. These are the opportunities of Pink Ladies: Expanding when profit is made, with more available staff to clean to make business increase market share Technology development means better equipment which improve services New markets as more people are working longer hour and getting more money so do not have not have time to clean and can afford it. Product extensions when more equipment is bought. Threats This is a potential problem within a business in the future. Pink Ladies threats are: A lot of competitors within the cleaning industrial and people are setting cleaning company all the time Poppies have a high market share New legislation to do with staff and materials may affect the business in the futures PEST analysis of Pink Ladies This is where a business analysis the external macro environment, looking what might affect the business from the outside. PEST is made up of political, economic, social and technology factors. Political factors- These are government regulation, legal issue and laws which a business such operate under. The factors which may affect Pink Ladies are: Employment laws- In the future when I expand and get staff, employment laws may affect Pink Ladies as I have to consider employment laws such as minimum wage and hour people are allow to work. I need to make sure that no one id discriminated through my workplace. This could affect Pink Ladies as training will need to be done about discrimination and more money may need to pay for more staff. If the minimum wage goes up, I will lose profit as I will have to pay for wages Environment regulation- As Pink Ladies using chemical within the business, I need make sure they are dispose of correctly and control. This will affect Pink Ladies as more money spending on making sure some substance are taking to dumping sites etc. this well cost money in petrol and training staff how to get rid of certain substances. National insurance and Tax- When I come to end of Pink Ladies working year, I will have to pay a total amount of tax if a make a certain amount of profit. This will affect Pink Ladies as I will have to use money for taxes out of the profit I make. Economic wealth-These are the purchasing power which could affect the business and customers. These are the affects which would affect Pink Ladies: Economic wealth-This is depended on the customers and how much money they have to spent. If wages increase then more people are likely to have cleaners as they have more money to spend. However if wages go down it will mean less people will have money to hire cleaners. VOT-This tax with is added on to certain which are buying. If VOT goes up then it will affect Pink Ladies stock prices as they will have to pay more and things petrol will be more. However if they go down it will mean Pink Ladies has less money to spent Social factors-this is demographic and culture aspects. This affects the customer needs and wants which could include age distribution. Social factors could affect Pink Ladies by: Population growth rate- If the birth rate is rising in the UK, this means they will be more people in the world who may want cleaning which means they would be a better demand. However if the population lower it would mean that they would be less demand for cleaning. Emphasis on safety- This could be social factors which emphasis on cleaning and safety. This may cleaning may not seen as safe so it may be hard to find staff due working with chemical. This means it is important that I protect my staff from any dangers. This may more money spent on training and making sure staffs are safe. Technology factors- this relates to technology which is available. This could affect Pink Ladies as: Rate of technological change- When changes to technology occur, this may means spending money keeping up to date with the latest technology as my competitors may provide a better service them me due to better technology. This may mean Pink Ladies spending money to keep up to date. Latest technology- If Pink Ladies can afford the new technology or not, people are more likely to go to service with better technology which could cause problems with losing customers.

Lord Of The Flies :: essays research papers

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel that represents society and it’s components in a tale about a children stranded on an island. Of the group there are two who want to lead the boys for the duration of their stay, one of which is Jack Merridew. Although he doesn’t have any power at the beginning of the novel, he took every chance he had to try to take the position of chief which he eventually got. He ruled with an iron fist, allowing no one to question him or his leadership. Jack represented the wanting for a single, all powerful leader to guide the followers of society using any means he feels necessary. Golding grew up during a time when he was taught to believe that man was good at heart. Books like Tarzan, and Coral island showed him that it was indeed society that was evil and that man was good at heart. These views were demonstrated in some of his earlier writing, but that changed after his experiences in the war. After Golding returned from WWII, he had a different view on man. He saw a lot of action and destruction during his time with the navy, and this influenced his beliefs on man quite drastically. The mass destruction and killing pushed him to think that man can be evil, selfish and power hungry. Jack spawned out of these beliefs. Jack was a very power hungry young boy. He liked to be in command of things and when he wasn’t, he tried to put himself into that position. This desire for power was shown throughout the novel, as was the fact that he loved attention that accompanied it. He loved to be the centre of attention and would do anything to boost himself above other people. To make him more evil, he was not able to conceal any of these characteristics, he had to let them loose. Upon the arrival of the boys to the island Jack was put in the middle of a power struggle. Although the conflict was brief, there was still a very obvious confrontation between Jack and Ralph. Once the boys had assembled themselves there was an election to see who was to be chief. Dispite the fact that Ralph was voted leader, the wanting to be in command never left Jack, not for a minute. He already had some leadership skills, being head choir boy at his old school, and felt that he should be leader and continuously challenged Ralph. Among several things they argued about, the most common was the debate over the fire.

Ancient Religions: A Comparison Essay -- essays research papers fc

Ancient Religions: A Comparison As civilization has expanded and improved it has gone through many different religions. Some of the most interesting and different have been the Mesopotamian religion, the religion of the Greeks and finally Christianity. These three religions were practiced in different areas and different time periods and therefore they will be excellent for a comparison. Religion is a key part of every society and civilization. No matter how it is organized or what type of God they worship, a society would be nothing without some kind of deity to organize it. Through the units of study the amount that people rely on Gods has been evident and that is why this makes a very good essay topic. Three areas of religion will be used to compare each of the religions chosen, worship style, their temples or places of worship, and the nature of their God or Gods. Each of the three religions selected had very different ideas of how to worship their God or Gods. In the Mesopotamian religion worship was very straightforward and casual. They would give daily offerings of food and drink with sacrifices during special monthly and annual feasts. The most important of these feasts was the New Year’s festival, which later on during the first millennium came to include some lesser festivals as well. These worship events were held by the Priests and Priestesses who also took care of the great wealth stored in the Mesopotamian’s temples. The director of the temple cults was the Sheshgallu; all the sacrifices were performed by the Shangu-priests. Other classes of priests dealt with the other, lesser rituals. The priestesses varied from the Entu, the consort of the God, all the way down to the temple harlots (Garber, p204). The Greeks on the other hand, did most of their worship in private. They also had festivals and rituals, but their worsh ip was much less organized. If a person wished to pray to a god, or invoke their intervention, they would go to one of the shrines or temples of that god and say a prayer and leave a small gift. These gifts varied from frankincense or a cake to large sacrifices of animals. There were also dedications of small statuettes or even large painted vases (Webster, p79). There was no class of priests nor any real religious teachings or texts. There were no real worship services as we think of them, with large gatherings of people. The... ... thousand, it was the need for some greater being that drove people to temples, churches and shrines throughout the ages. With a God or multiple Gods to show them the way and even to put the blame on at times, they felt they could live with their problems. Also, having a God to turn to in times of trouble they had direction. Even though the three religions that were compared were different, they all provided the same thing, giving people the will to live and go on. Works Cited 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ?Garber, Janet Serlin The Concise encyclopedia of Ancient Civilizations Franklin Watts/New York/London 1978 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ?Millard, Anne Ancient Civilizations Warwick Press 1983 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ?Webster, T.B.L Everyday Life in Classical Athens Jarrold and Sons Ltd 1969 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ?Williams, Paul L. Everything You wanted to Know About the Catholic Church but Were Afraid to Ask for Fear of Excommunication Doubleday 1975 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ?Walker, Robert J. World Civilizations: A Comparative Study Oxford University Press 1998 New International Version The Teen Study Bible Zondervan Publishing House 1993

Art Evaluation (year10) :: essays research papers

Art book evaluation (Year 10) This year we have been studying natural forms, this has involved using many new and different materials and techniques. Firstly we started by looking at art by Georgia O’keefe who mainly painted abstract flowers this was a new style for me as I have never tried drawing in abstract style before, after this we did two paintings in acrylics one of shells and one piece of corn and around the edge of the paintings I then collaged in the background. This was a new way of doing backgrounds for me, as I have never tried using painting and colaging together. We have also tried a picture of natural objects with pastels then used chalk to make a grey background. I didn’t really like the results of the chalk background because it was so dull. Then we did a picture of fruits in pencils and shaded them this piece was very similar to the pictures I made of fruits later in my book one in watercolour pencils and one I collaged. I was very pleased with my picture in watercolour pencils but the collage didn’t turn out to well. After this I made a page of leaves drawn in 2 styles two in pencils and two in rubbings. I was pleased with the leaves done in pencil but the rubbings didn’t look that nice as you can only get a single colour and no shading. Next continuing with the vegetation theme I made a picture of Monet’s water lilies. I was pleased with this as it allowed me to experiment with pastels and enabled me to create a strong colourful picture. Next we made a copy of a picture of Jesus on the cross in acrylic this painting was done by Gauguin. This enabled me to experiment with a new style of painting with its simple lines and bright colours. The next piece of art is the piece that I’m happiest with out of my entire book. It was a copy of a print of black and white natural objects shaded with dots and lines. This was a completely new style of shading for me and it is one that I like a lot. Then I started developing my final art piece for the year I took a section of my garden and drew and shaded it in black pen after this I did 2 or 3 more pictures of this section of my garden one in pencil one in collage and one in acrylic.

Muhammad Yunus

Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus Muhammad Yunus is a banker to the poor and economist who was born on 28 June 1940 in Bangladesh. He was a professor of economics and is famous for his work in microcredit. Professor Muhammad Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983 to help the poor by giving out small loans. He turned the idea into  Grameen Bank, which has made small loans to more than 7. 5 million people now. His first loan was $27 given from his own pocket. This $27 was loaned to 42 women in the village, who made a profit of $0. 2 each from the loan. The activity of the Grameen Bank is known around the world. Its ideas have been used throughout the world including USA, China, Malaysia, India etc. More than 94% of these loans have been given to women to improve their lives and escape poverty. The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, divided into two equal parts, to  Muhammad Yunus  and  Grameen Bank  Ã¢â‚¬Å"for their efforts to create economic and social development from below†.Muhammad Yunus has received several other awards. Microcredit means giving small loans. These loans are given to poor people. To qualify for a loan, the villager must demonstrate that their family owns less than one half acre of land. The activity of Grameen Bank has not been limited to just Bangladesh but also around the world. Grameen helps the world’s poorest, especially women, improve their lives and escape poverty. More than 94% of Grameen loans have been given to women, who have less money and give more to their families.Grameen Bank was the first lender to hand out microcredit, giving very small loans to poor Bangladeshis who did not qualify for loans from normal banks. The bank has provided $5. 72 billion dollars to over 6 million families in Bangladesh. These loans average $200. With 1,417 branches, Grameen provides services in 51,000 villages, covering three quarters of all the villages in Bangladesh. This system was so successful that even beggars had been able to borrow money.The people who have enough money has many banks to support them, but those who don’t have anything, traditional banking system, that’s why Muhammad Yunus created the Grameen Bank and thus winning the Nobel Prize for Peace. The main aim of the traditional bank is to provide loan in exchange of depositing the property or other assets with interest. There is no scope/eligibility for the poor to do anything without any investment, but in the concept of Grameen Bank, Dr. Yunus has made his microcredit policy to provide banking service without any deposition.Muhammad Yunus is the recipient of numerous international awards for his ideas and endeavors, including the Mohamed Shabdeen Award for Science (1993), Sri Lanka; Humanitarian Award (1993), CARE, USA; World Food Prize (1994), World Food Prize Foundation, USA; Independence Day Award (1987), Bangladesh's highest award; King Hussein Humanitarian Leaders hip Award (2000), King Hussein Foundation, Jordan; Volvo Environment Prize (2003), Volvo Environment Prize Foundation, Sweden; Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth (2004), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan; Franklin D.Roosevelt Freedom Award (2006), Roosevelt Institute of The Netherlands; and the Seoul Peace Prize (2006), Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation, Seoul, Korea. He also is a member of the board of the United Nations Foundation. Yunus received the U. S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the U. S. Congressional Gold Medal in 2012. â€Å"If banks made large loans, he made small loans. If banks required paperwork, his loans were for the illiterate. Whatever banks did, he did the opposite,† marvels Sam Daley-Harris, director of the Microcredit Summit Campaign. He's a genius. † â€Å"Microcredit is something which is not going to disappear†¦ because this is a need of the people,† Mr. Yunus told the BBC in 2002. Bibliography â€Å"Press Release â₠¬â€œ Nobel Peace Prize 2006†. Nobelprize. org. 17 Apr 2013 http://www. nobelprize. org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2006/press. html Muhammad Yunus: Nobel Peace Prize Winner. Grameen-info. org. 17 Apr 2013. http://www. grameeninfo. org/index. php? option=com_content&task=view&id=404&Itemid=199 Yunus Wins Nobel Prize. 006. Nbcnews. com. 17 Apr 2013. http://www. nbcnews. com/id/15246216/ns/business-world_business/t/yunus-wins-peace-nobel-anti-poverty-efforts/ The New Heroes: Muhammad Yunus. Pbs. org. 17 Apr 2013 http://www. pbs. org/opb/thenewheroes/meet/yunus. html Muhammad Yunus: Worlds Banker to the Poor. 2 Mar 20011. Bbbc. co. uk. 17 Apr 2013 http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/world-south-asia-11901625. Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus Visits Quinnipiac. Qunnipiac. edu. 17 Apr 2013.

Black Pillow by Frank Moore

Black Pillow 2002 by Frank Moore is set on a cornfield during daylight. In the background of the canvas there is a large factory with some plants and butterflies. The edge of this artwork has a yellow border and parts of this canvas are also lightly filled with the color yellow as well. On the left side of the canvas, there is a farmer in overalls that does not seem like he cares about what he is doing, pumping gas into the roots of the cornfield as he glowers into space.One the bottom of the canvas you can find the gasoline spilling all over the pillow of the cornfield, the white roots from the corn stand out from the black color of the gasoline. The art elements shown in â€Å"Black Pillow† are that it has a very warm feel to it since warm colors are used; it almost makes you feel like you are there outside in the hot field and gasoline. It is loosely spaced out since there is no color in the background that fills it up a lot except for some yellow lines and spots. It defini tely has bold colors to it and has no greyscale in it.The yellow has a significant contrast from the background and the black as well. The line of the corn leaves looks very alive and natural while the roots in the gasoline are stiff, rough and dead looking. This canvas shows how humans and industrialization are harming the corn crops by the gasoline, since gasoline consists of ten percent ethanol which comes from cornfields. The color yellow in the border of this artwork symbolizes rotting, heat, decay and death. Which fits in well with this theme since the careless farmer is pumping gas all over the roots of the cornfield.The gasoline which represents the color black means the coldness, negativity and evil that is pouring and taking over the corn which the color yellow can also symbolize joy, happiness, and optimism. The white root of the corn symbolizes how the innocence is being besieged by the gasoline’s coldness and evil. The gasoline in the pillow of the soil is where it gets its name â€Å"Black Pillow†. Personally, I believe Frank Moore got his message across in this artwork. He is portraying the decay of cornfields because of the increase in oil industry.The color symbolism is prevalent because the oil is the evil that is invading the cornfields for the benefit of more resources. It shows the evolution of where the oil comes from and how it is not used properly and is wasted on an everyday basis which causes pollution. Frank Moore’s point for this artwork is to show how ignoble humans are today and how bestial we are to our world enervating its natural beauty for our own selfish purposes. This topic is very imperative to our society today since gasoline is in high demands and our world’s pollution is getting worse by each day.

Operational Systems in Early Years Essay

Structure of the day is one operational system that needs to be in place within an early years setting. This is because, it allows the setting to run smoothly as everyone knows what they need to do and when. Operational systems and financial systems are important elements of a business plan which enable a service to run efficiently. There are many operational systems and financial systems involved in a service. Task 2: Structure of the day: There are many ways in which this operational system impact on early years or play works services. It allows everyone to know their roles and what they need to do throughout the day. This will allow the service to run smoothly as people will not be wondering what needs to be done and things will then get done correctly instead of being left. Due to this, things like forms for the amount children eat and their behaviour will also be carried out correctly as there will be a designated member of staff who has to fill in the paper work for the room they are working in by the end of the day. If the setting has structured the day well enough then the member of staff will have time to write up the information as it comes instead of doing it all at the end of the day. This is because, if the practitioner leaves it until the end of the day, they may forget important bits of information and therefore will not be able to report back to parents correctly. This operational system also helps to keep the organised. However, there are a few problems with this operational system. If a member of staff rings in sick then it may be hard to find cover and therefore, the structure of the day will be jeopardised. Due to this, the day will not run smoothly as there will not be enough members of staff in the setting, meaning that everyone will be panicking and jobs and paperwork will not get done correctly. Especially if the member of staff who has rang in sick is designated with important jobs for that day. It may also be the case that other people are unaware of how to carry out the member of staff jobs and therefore, they will not get done until that member of staff comes into work. If some job roles are linked together, i.e. paperwork then this could also mean that other jobs cannot get done. As a result, the structure of the day will be ruined and the setting will not run smoothly. For this operational system to work effectively there needs to be correct effective communication in place. However, if this does not happen then this operational system wills no work. Health and safety: This operational system has a huge impact on early years or play works services, and it is very important to keep a service running smoothly and effectively. However, there are many positive and negatives points to this operational system. It keeps staff, children, visitors and anyone who may enter or work in the service safe. This happens as the operational system will include task like carrying out a risk assessment daily to reduce the risk of hazards and anyone getting injured. Due to this, the system can be made suitable to the specific setting as each setting may have different hazards. Also, each setting has different health and safety requirements; this is why it is important to have an operation system to each individual service so it fits in correctly and will work appropriately. This system will outline the procedures the staffs need to know and follow to abide to the healthy and safety rules. Due to the setting making them themselves, they will be able to make them simple enough for everybody to understand and follow. This will ensure that the healthy and safety within the setting will be followed correctly and there will be a reduced risk of people getting hurt. Members of staff will also be aware of what to do if a child falls poorly whilst attending the setting. Another positive is that it will give the staff, parents and children a sense of security as they will know they are safe and are able to relax. Therefore, there will not be any one getting stressed, worried or frustrated at the thought that someone might get hurt, as all hazards should have been removed to reduce the chance of this happening. On the other hand, there are also negative points about health and safety as an operational system. This is because, it can be quite time consuming for the setting to create, therefore this may be taking up members of staff valuable time that needs to be spent else where. Due to this, another part of the setting may not run as it should, for example, lunch time. There may not be enough members of staff helping out at that time if some are busy creating and readjusting the operational system. Also, to add to the time of creating it, someone needs to take the time to review the system and add or take away things when it needs updating. This could be very costly to the service because they will have to pay for things like the system to be printed, staff training on the different systems, and health and safety is a big system for staff to become knowledgeable about. Security of the building: The main impact that security of the building has on early years or play work services, is that it keeps everyone safe. Settings will have equipment installed to ensure that only the correct people are entering the building, for example, they may have a bell or a password on the main entrance door, and other doors are only able to be opened from the inside. This also means that they are able to adapt the building however they need. Some nurseries may have to have walls, gates or fences built around their outdoor play area. However, some building may not have to do this as there is already a wall there. Due to this, the setting will also be able to install equipment that will be suitable to the children’s needs. Some settings may have high door handles that the children cannot reach so they can’t let themselves out or open the door and get their fingers trapped in it. A sense of security will also be built up in the setting as everyone will be aware that it is secure and safe. This may also make parents feel better leaving their child at the setting. However, like any operational system, this one also has negatives aspects. Finding a good quality company to get the equipment off and for them to install it may become difficult. A setting will need a reliable company who is willing to come out at late notice when possible to install equipment. The setting also needs to be able to find a company that has their equipment at a reasonable price or else it may become very expensive for the setting. If a good quality company cannot be found, then equipment could be faulty putting the staff, children and visitors safety at risks. It could also then take a long time for the setting to be able to get the equipment fixed, causing problems and unneeded stress. As some equipment might be seen as good, there are also some impractical equipment, for example, if the setting has a bell for people to get in, it may be too loud and then wake up the children who are trying to sleep. Task 3: Within an early years or play work setting there is an operation system for the management and ordering of supplies. One current operational system that I have witnessed was at my primary school. Each classroom teacher recorded the supplies that they might need throughout the term, including books, pencils, paint, games, and work sheets and so on. Once they had done this, they then had to send their list to the lady in the office who would record what supplies the teachers requested onto an ordering form. She would also keep a record of what each teacher asked for so everyone could have the correct stuff. When it came to ordering things like food for school dinners, this was the chef’s responsibility. Each morning, the classroom teacher would ask each child who was having hot dinners what they would like, and there would be a meat and a vegetarian option. From this the chef would then be able to cook the correct amount of food each day. To order fresh food, the chef would do this once a week handing the order list to the office. However, with things like tin food, this would be brought in bulk at the beginning of each half term. For cleaning equipment, the head cleaner would create the ordering form to give to the office and this would include providing cleaning wipes for tables outside each classroom and soap for the toilets and so on. When it comes to the management of the operational system, this is down to the lady in the office as she is the one who rings through to the companies and places the orders and makes a time and date in which everything can be delivered. She keeps a record of past orders to make sure they are roughly ordering the same things each time an order is put in. This will help financial budgets as well. I do believe that the schools ordering of supplies operational system works effectively. The operational system is working well because there is someone to monitor what is being ordered and manage the system. This helps so staffs are aware who to send their order form to, if there are any problems then there is also someone that they can approach to try and solve the issue. All staff is able to put in an ordering form so nothing gets missed and the person in charge is then able to check the orders to ensure that staff are not spending too much money and are being realistic so the school can afford it. The school order supplies at realistic times to ensure that they do not run out of things they need especially things like hot dinners for the children. As a school, they have built up a good relationship with their suppliers and in time of need they can get a next delivery if something drastic happens. Another good point about this operational system is that the person, who manages it, also manages the financial records meaning that they will have a good understanding of what is coming in and going out. They will also be knowledgeable of how to make orders and will know appropriate times in which it can be delivered. however, the only problem is, if the member of staff who always puts the orders through is off work due to sickness, holiday or anything then it could mean that the school do not get there order through on time as know one else will know how to do. Therefore it would be a good idea for them to allow another member of staff knows how to do it so they can make an order if needs be. Schools need financial resources to function. School finances should be carefully managed according to regulations. Financial summaries provide information about the flow of a school’s financial resources, both into the school (income or revenue) and out of the school (expenditure). Financial records within the school are kept within the management office together with all supporting documents, e.g. receipts, invoices, bills and payment records. Access to financial records is restricted to the head teacher and member of staff in charge of the finance. The school has to keep their financial records for a minimum of 5 years. Financial records are kept both on the computer and in filing cabinets. The school has a spreadsheet on the computer in which everything they have to pay for is listed and all the incoming money is also listed. The financial records that are kept in the filing cabinet include things like receipts for orders, and things that they cannot put on the computer. Receipts allow the school to look back to ensure that the money going out is the same as the receipts for things that they have brought. The school has to record their financial income and expenditure. Income that the school records include: school fees, renting out facilities, donations, local community, government and expenditure that the school record includes: construction/repairs, equipment, and rental of premises, teacher salaries, school meals, electricity, telephone, water and maintenance. The school uses the financial summaries to monitor, verify and control the financial position of the school. Bibliography: Gill Squire. (2007): BTEC National Diploma Children’s Care Learning & Development: Essex