The Growing Representation Gap in the United States How to Fill It Essay

The Growing Representation Gap in the United States How to Fill It - Essay Example All these, in turn, had an effect of widening the representation gap. Employees are very much aware of this gap because they always believed that filling in this gap will â€Å"directly improve the quality of their working lives and †¦make their firms more productive and successful.†5 But the ground realities in US are not very conducive for the solution of this problem. Studies have shown that â€Å"only one out of six US employees†¦ have access to the independent representation of their individual and collective interests.†6 It is also a proven fact that though employees want representation, it is the employers who prevent them from accessing such opportunities.7 A major area of concern associated with the problem of representation is the changes that have happened in the composition of the workforce. The workforce scenario is greatly changed in US in the context of global migration of labor. Global alliances that are emerging in labour sector, the increased presence of women, and ethnic minorities in the global work force, and the new forms of workers organisations like the ‘worker centres’ of USA, have been some indicators of change. America has been depending more and more on immigrant labourers to meet the nation’s workforce needs. But these laborers have never been assimilated into the mainstream unionism. The race, ethnicity and nationality have come to play a great role in determining the group formations among workers. Organizing simply on a class basis has become a thing of the past, at least in the unorganized sector. There are attempts going on to assimilate the migrant workers into the mainstream work force of US by trade unions. This is very crucial when we see that in the United States, one in five people is from another nationality.8 The situation of the migrant workers have been pathetic as, â€Å"low-wage immigrant workers exist within industries in which there are few or no unions or other organis ational vehicles through which they can speak and act.†9 Hence, the key to filling in the representation gap also lies in understanding the challenges faced by this totally different work force mix and also the changes brought about by the extreme corporatization. The dominance of service sector over the primary production sectors has also presented a new set of problems regarding representation. When the rise of service sector in combination with the technological changes that accompany it is considered, it can be realized that the representation issue is at its worst in this area.10 The increase in part-time and temporary work clubbed with the increase in the percentage of woman workers in the total work force also create new challenges on the representation front.11 All these changes in the labor force composition is supposed to have enhanced the bargaining power of the corporate companies.12 Anti-union tactics of corporations in the United States Around 32 million civilian workers in US lack â€Å"collective bargaining rights under any law, either federal

Classifying Humans into Absolute Categories Essay Example for Free

Classifying Humans into Absolute Categories Essay There are three basic ways in which people have tried to classify people to real biological differences, instead of cultural differences, in the past. The first is the ‘typological model’. This model classifies people into geographical groups, on selected common characters. The second model is the ‘populational model, which classifies people on the basis of exclusive mating with each other, over a long period of time. The last model is the ‘clinical model’. This model looks at the inherited characteristics of a group, which change over time and is different from the changes in other geographic areas; the distribution of these characteristics (Ellison Goodman). All three models fail to do the job. The typological model is erroneous because of the fact that some racial characteristics are found in different groups. The populational model fails because of the fact that people do not limit their breeding to small areas. The clinical model is undermined by the fact that some human groups migrate and the therefore discontinuity of the typical characteristic, and by the fact that there are not so many small communities left on the world anymore. Scientists now agree on this, they understand that classifying humans, based on any specific model, would be arbitrary. Scientists now just use the classifications as a tool to organize the data. The number of racial groups that are ‘discovered’ depend on the number of characteristics researched. Therefore, all research methods are relative, and the classifications change when the sets of characteristics (or the research topic) change. Biological anthropology describes the nature of human variations through focusing on the biological aspects. This researches the human as biological organism, the behaviour of primates and the human evolution. The most important research is done through research of the genetic patterns and the connections between different populations over the whole world. Anthropologists can also compare historic gene material with modern ones. All these techniques might contribute to a definitive evidence of our origin and the way people populated the earth. References Ellison,G. A. H. Goodman. The Nature of Differences. Science, Society and Human Biology. Boca Raton, FL, CRC Press, 2006.

Education of Boys in Victorian England :: Victorian Era

Education of Boys in Victorian England The Upper and Middle Classes * The Elementary School Act of 1870 made school compulsory up to the age of 12. * The most famous group of public schools was referred to as â€Å"the Nine Great Public Schools.† * The famous schools were Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester, Shrewsbury, Charterhouse, Westminster, St. Paul's, and Merchant Taylors. * These schools were originally opened up to everyone and sustained through the donations of wealthy donors. Initially taught boys Latin and Greek grammar but in 1861 the administration was changed and more of the sciences were included. As a result, the schools became public in name only and were attended pretty much by upper class and middle class boys only. * Children of the upper and middle classes were taught at home by governesses or tutors until they were old enough to attend public schools. * Public schools were important for sons of well-off or aspiring families because schools gave them the opportunity to establish connections which could later help them out in their careers. * Most of the boys that attended these schools went off to Cambridge and Oxford and then later on to Parliament. * George Osborne was not of the upper classes but he interacted a lot with them and it was a possibility for a gain in status. * A lot of emphasize was placed on athletic games. They oftentimes even took precedence over the learning of Greek and Latin. Being a sportsman reaffirmed a man's leadership. The Lower Classes * Boys of the lower classes were excluded from attending the â€Å"public† schools of England because they did not fit into what was expected of the boys that attended those schools. * The boys attending the public schools were most often than not of well to do families, which meant they would be well-dressed, well-mannered boys. * Boys from the lower classes did not have the same upbringing and as a result did not fit into the public schools instead they attended what were often referred to as Ragged Schools. Purposes of Education * For the upper classes, the purpose of an education was to raise gentlemen and prepare them for prestigious appointments in Parliament or government.

Adopting Thorium Energy

When it comes to nuclear power most people would think about uranium. Our current state of nuclear power harnesses power through nuclear fission. The heat generated from this process boils water which drives massive steam turbines to create electricity. While this sounds like a fairly simple process the dangers it presents are massive. Reactor core meltdowns and the waste products are serious dangers the environment. There is an alternative element that can be used in place of uranium which is more efficient, abundant, and most importantly†¦safer. That element is thorium. Thorium is a naturally occurring radioactive chemical element. It is named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. When used in a system for generating electricity its waste materials are 10 – 1000 times less long lived than uranium. This provides profound benefits over uranium when it comes to storing waste products. Thorium provides a greater energy yield than uranium; 5,000 tons of thorium is equivalent to about 61,000 tons of uranium. Those amounts are what’s needed to provide energy to the entire planet. At this point you’re probably wondering why we’re not using it if it’s safer and more powerful. Thorium has had a complicated history. Not because of any potential dangers it may have presented, but the potential dangers it didn’t possess. Uranium based nuclear power plants serve another purpose. Their waste products aid in the creation of weapons. Thorium’s waste products are not as easily weaponized. During the cold war governments were hesitant about funding a fledgling source of energy. Instead they opted to continue to invest and expand the infrastructure of the established uranium based nuclear plants. The last government funded thorium reactor was shut down in 1973 and thorium research nearly died along with it. In short; the benefits of weapons were chosen over having a safer and more energy independent future. The very nature of thorium allows for a facility orders of magnitude safer than the uranium nuclear power plants. When a nuclear power malfunctions or is damaged there is possibility of it exploding and releasing radioactive aterials into the atmosphere. The three worst nuclear power plant disasters occurred in 1979 with Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania; 1986 with Chernobyl; and in 2011 with the disaster in Fukushima, Japan. Chernobyl is estimated to remain uninhabitable for approximately 20,000 years while Fukushima is expected to remain so for 20 years or more. Entire cities abandoned do to the inherent danger of uranium based nuclear energy. Thorium has a sort of built-in fail-safe in that it requires extremely high temperatures to operate. This is alone makes for one its safest qualities. Without going into too much detail; if a thorium power plant were to lose power the devices heating its reactor tank would stop working. This would decrease the operating temperatures of thorium and its reactions would cease. The thorium would then be drained into a collection tank through the force of gravity. Unlike uranium power plants; thorium has no need to use water as a coolant. In an emergency a thorium power plant can shut itself down without any human intervention. Only recently has thorium once again become a serious contender for replacing uranium. As countries move to dismantle their nuclear arsenals thorium moves closer to the forefront of an energy independent future. Not all countries are as forward thinking as others though. China is currently the most forward thinking when it comes to thorium and has already outlined plans to have a new thorium reactor by the end of the decade. Estimates show that China has enough thorium to power its electricity needs for 20,000 years. That amount of potential and safe energy is unheard of. The United States alone sits on a reserve of about 440,000 tons of thorium in storage. Remember that 5,000 tons could power the entire planet for a year. The total estimated thorium content on Earth is around 120 trillion tons. So much energy waiting to be harnessed. The United States has let politics get in the way of what truly matters for far too long. The main hurdle to building new thorium plants is that new regulations would have to be established first. Those who make their fortunes off the established nuclear power plants no doubt lobby politicians to prevent thorium from becoming the leading source of energy. America will hurt itself if it allows other countries to gain too much of a head start in thorium energy research. Though thorium is not without its hurdles; its potential cannot be denied or ignored any longer. It’s extremely energy dense. There will never be a shortage of it. It’s incredibly safe. The waste products are less long lived and cannot be made into weapons. Like the Norse god it was named after thorium is set to take the world by storm.

Why did a campaign for women’s suffrage develop in the years after 1870?

During the 19th century women were seen differently, through the eyes of the law, men and work. Most people believed that women should be passive ‘ladies'; obedient to their husbands and should stay at home. Married women's property was owned by their husbands and so was their financial, political and social power. Women didn't have similar rights as men did during the 19th century and this had started to get more and more noticed, by women, towards the 20th century. Women were put into three types of class systems, working class being the lowest, middle class, being the intermediate and rich class being the highest. A woman's husband's class would determine which class she would belong to. Most working class women were noticeable if they had a tan. The reason being is that working class women would have had to do the domestic work as well as earning money by working for an employer, usually at a very low pay, and this would have resulted in the woman having a tan. Most working class girls were brought up into poor families and had to start work at a young age. They earned little money and tended to marry men from there own deprived class. However, middle class women had diverse experiences and attitudes towards themselves. They were known as ‘helpmeets' by men and had accepted their position in the sexual hierarchy. All middle class families had employed servants, which meant women had little to do except for embroidery and entertaining as only a majority of them could educate themselves. Middle class girls were taught at home by mothers and governesses and learned how to ‘catch a man' and how to be a good wife. On the contrary, rich class women had the ‘easiest' life out of all the types of women. They had servants to look after the homes, thus they had more time to spend on their families and themselves. They could go to school for an education and could even choose to be a doctor, accountant or banker. Although rich women could take up a career in one these jobs, they were still restricted in society of taking up a career in other jobs such as diplomats, barristers or judges. Overall, rich women had the most pleasant life out of all the types of women but even they had started to get fractious of the restrictions and the disparity that was towards them. Women were starting to get irritated of not having the same rights and equality as men did during the 19th century. They were mainly annoyed because of the ‘separate spheres' theory. This theory explained the roles of men and women, which were listed inside two circles, one for each sex, had showed the roles that each person would have to do. Women's roles were harder and longer than the men's were and this was due to the inequality, at the time of the 19th century, which lead to a difference in roles. By 1870, women were becoming more frustrated of the restricted paths they could choose from and this had lead in women starting to campaign and protest for equal rights. Changes in the education opportunities encouraged women to campaign for the vote because women had began to comprehend that they were not getting the same education as men were. This had started to infuriate women as they couldn't do much with their careers and this resulted in a lower income for women to support their families with. Working class women couldn't educate themselves due to their class, middle class women had accepted their position on the sexual hierarchy and where known as ‘helpmeets' towards men whereas rich class women were allowed to educate themselves but there were only a handful of good academic girl's schools at that time, of which the government didn't bother much about. Even though some women didn't want a change, things were starting to look good for the ones that did. In 1874, the first school of medicine was founded for the medical education for women. In 1878, London University was the first to award women degrees on the same terms as men. Although some opportunities were opening for women, the idea of disparity was still consistent. Changes in the legal status of women encouraged women to campaign for the vote because the general attitude towards them was beginning to change due to the legal status at that time such as the Custody of Infants Act, which was introduced in 1839 and meant that women were authorized to claim custody of young children following separation. In addition, the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 introduced the possibility of a civil divorce, one that could be granted without an act of Parliament. Also the Matrimonial Causes Act allowed legally separated women to retain their earnings, giving them some control over their own income for the first time. Now that women were a part of the new laws, they wanted to insure that they could get the vote, which was most important for them to achieve. Albeit there were beginning to be superior changes, women were still not treated equally and the law was preventing them from exercising politics. Changes in the workplace encouraged women to campaign for female suffrage because women (mainly working class) were starting to get stressed of having to do domestic work as well as working in factories, mills etc for little reward and being called ‘irresponsible' by people because they'd work and not look after there children all the time. Because of this, women had started to get annoyed and wanted better rights at work and home. Small groups had started to form due to the inequality of women's rights and campaigning was beginning to appear by the twentieth century. Although women had started to protest for disparity, they still weren't receiving the attitudes by men and the law as they had hoped to. Political groups such as the NUWSS encouraged women to gain the vote because they were opening a whole new gateway for women and their rights. The NUWSS (National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies) was beginning to make it clear to people that they wanted the vote. Milicent Fawcet was the leader of the NUWSS, also known as the Suffragists, and aimed to expand the rights of women and to improve society. The Suffragists were doing this by protesting, going to political meetings and by peaceful persuasion. By doing this they wanted people to realise they were solemn. They were achieving and had the success of many Liberal MPs and some Conservative leaders, however this wasn't enough to gain the vote and the slow moving process meant that suffrage groups such as the Suffragists weren't getting anywhere with the gaining of the vote and women were running out of patience. In conclusion, I think that a campaign for women's suffrage developed in the years after 1870 because situations changed for women, which took them one step closer to gaining the vote. The reasons I have listed in my essay show how women had started to take action after the year1870, such as protesting, peaceful persuasion etc. The main reasons that I think have encouraged women to campaign for equality are education, the workplace, the change in the legal status and most importantly female suffrage groups. All of these reasons have given women a better understanding on why they should gain the vote and to demonstrate why male and female ‘separate spheres' should interlink with each other to give the genders equal roles. I think that female suffrage groups acted like the spark that lit the fire for female equality as it gave women a voice to express their feeling on how they would have liked to be treated and the rights they would have liked to achieve from the government. Suffrage groups were a good way of campaigning towards the 20th century because people, such as the government, would have noticed suffrage groups and would have listened to their explanations rather than listening to only one person trying to explain a point. Although women had started to make points that they'd feel strongly about clear, this wasn't enough to gain the vote. Women had gained social and economical freedom, however they had still lacked in political freedom, which had started to exasperate the majority of them. Groups such as the Suffragists were making points clear to people, however there slow moving process was not going to plan as women still hadn't gained the vote towards the 20th century, and if their was no vote then their would be no change, so women had started to run out of ideas and most of them had started to run out of patience. Why did a campaign for women’s suffrage develop in the years after 1870? The women's suffrage campaign developed after the years of 1870, because life and existence was unjust. They way they were treated escorted to the development of the campaigns. To transform life, rules need to be changed, by chosen and appropriate law makers – the government, to fulfil the needs of the people. In 1865, the first British woman-suffrage association was founded by Mill. Campaigns expanded because the vote could change the life of women. Women were accused of being unable to vote, and the franchise was opposed, such as by antifeminist Queen Victoria. The Liberal Party was committed to increase franchise, but did not deliver their promise, so protest began, as women were infuriated. Additionally, women in other countries were given the vote. In 1893, New Zealand was the first country that franchised women's vote. This displayed the role of women and their independence, to the world. The campaigns in Britain arose because they wanted the same to be done, as it could be achieved. Next, the 1867 Reform Act was declared. It gave many working class men the vote, but did not mention the women's license to votes. This angered women very deeply, as they were promised again the vote in the new laws, but were betrayed. Again, this made the campaigns upgrade, as they worked even more to succeed. Inequalities with men in the workplace also lead to progression of the campaigns. There were more women working in factories, doing long hours in dull, un-skilled, monstrous work with little pay, particularly in textile factories, or as domestic workers plus servants than men. Men, conversely, did more skilled work in addition to receiving more responsibility and money. This displayed unfairness women wanted to change. Famous cases of women being prevented from taking ‘male' jobs depicted to women that they could be capable of doing anything but the country's antifeminists would stop them, unless they were stopped first by the law. Inequality with men before the law angered women. When women married, all her property became her husbands. Additionally, women could not sue. This was unjust. Successful but slow pace of reforms were prior to 1870. In 1882 and 1857, the Matrimonial and Cause Act were made, which took cruelty, adultery, and desertion in a marriage into account. But, this was unfair because men had to be committed to do two of these, while women had to act one of these, to face the law, divorce. In 1870, the Married Women's Property Act was released again, but more developed, to prevent loss of fortunes. However, even when the law was changed, inequality still existed. How women were treated unfairly in the eyes of the government was why the campaigns increased. Increased education of middle class women meant that women wanted jobs they were educated for, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers. Famous successful women as role models such as Annie Besant, Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole displayed that the work of women could revolutionise the world. Increased involvement of women in local politics allowed them to vote in local elections, such as the 1869 and 1882 Municipal Councils Act and in Schools Boards after 1870, plus Boards of Health from 1875. This acted as a taster of what could be, and women liked the power and control of voting. In conclusion, their development of their campaigns can stand to be symbolised that they wanted change and development since antiquity, in addition to the right of women to share on equal terms with men the political privileges afforded by representative government, and to vote in elections, referendums and hold public office.

Advancements in Peripherals1 essays

Advancements in Peripherals1 essays Recent Developments in Computer Peripherals Including an in-depth look at Multimedia Input Devices Development in Peripherals Three An in-depth look Digital Cameras Six The History of the Digital Camera Six A Peripheral device is any external device attached to a computer. Without Peripherals a computer is just a box full of wires, transistors and circuits, which is able to: - 1. Respond to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined manner. 2. Execute a prerecorded list of instructions (a program). The only problem being that without any input Peripherals you cannot tell the computer to do any of the above processes, and if you could, without an output device of some kind, the computer has no way of delivering the result to the user! Examples of peripherals include printers, disk drives, display monitors, keyboards, and mice etc. These can be separated into two categories: - An input device is any machine that feeds data into a computer. For example, a keyboard is an input device. Input devices other than the keyboard are sometimes called alternate input devices. Mice, trackballs, and light pens are all alternate input devices. An output device is any machine capable of representing information from a computer. This includes display screens, printers, plotters, and synthesizers. Developments in Peripherals in the Last Few Years There have been many advances in the field of Peripherals over the last few years. Even the humble keyboard and mouse have been re-invented to produce the Ergonomic keyboard and the cordless and laser mouse. There have also been advances in monitors such as flat screen displays and LCD screens. But there have also been advances in technology, which although not new, have been made commercially available for home use such as the digital camera, scanners, digital video camera and the colour printer. To look at some of the advances in detail we should put them into the...

Free Essays on Nine Stories

that explain J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories. The author throughout this book uses children to show the innocence and happiness of youth. The carefree world of children and the unhappy worlds of his adult characters coincide until something from the past changes the characters forever. In Laughing Man, Salinger portrays the young boy and narrator as a happy go lucky child playing sports, enjoying the company of his friends and most of all getting lost in the fantastical story telling of his bus driver. Although Laughing Man had deformities and evil enemies, the boy could block out those parts of the story because Laughing Man would prevail. When Laughing Man was killed, part of the boy’s childhood was taken away, too. Stories come to an end and innocence to comes to an end. Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut is an interesting story with the main character, Eloise living a very unhappy life. Eloise’s past was in her eyes a blissful one. Walt was the man she truly loved. Walt made her laugh. Eloise felt childish and carefree with Walt. When he was killed, Eloise never regained her happiness. She married Lew and had her daughter Ramona. With her friend Mary Jane, she relived the death of Walt and in turn was able to mourn him. When Eloise’s daughter’s imaginary friend, Jimmy was run over and died and was no more in Ramona’s eyes, it brought back the sadness Eloise felt when Walt died. Quickly, Ramona replaced Jimmy with Mickey just like Eloise replaced Walt with Lew. Eloise showed anger towards Ramona because she saw herself in Ramona. Eloise was really angry with herself. She was angry because she replaced Walt with Lew as if it was insignificant and it meant nothing. Eloise lost her inner child and replaced it with an a dult she was unhappy with. Life for Seymour Glass, the main character in A Perfect Day for Bananafish,... Free Essays on Nine Stories Free Essays on Nine Stories Nine Stories Mysterious, confusing, thought provoking and inter-locking are a few words that explain J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories. The author throughout this book uses children to show the innocence and happiness of youth. The carefree world of children and the unhappy worlds of his adult characters coincide until something from the past changes the characters forever. In Laughing Man, Salinger portrays the young boy and narrator as a happy go lucky child playing sports, enjoying the company of his friends and most of all getting lost in the fantastical story telling of his bus driver. Although Laughing Man had deformities and evil enemies, the boy could block out those parts of the story because Laughing Man would prevail. When Laughing Man was killed, part of the boy’s childhood was taken away, too. Stories come to an end and innocence to comes to an end. Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut is an interesting story with the main character, Eloise living a very unhappy life. Eloise’s past was in her eyes a blissful one. Walt was the man she truly loved. Walt made her laugh. Eloise felt childish and carefree with Walt. When he was killed, Eloise never regained her happiness. She married Lew and had her daughter Ramona. With her friend Mary Jane, she relived the death of Walt and in turn was able to mourn him. When Eloise’s daughter’s imaginary friend, Jimmy was run over and died and was no more in Ramona’s eyes, it brought back the sadness Eloise felt when Walt died. Quickly, Ramona replaced Jimmy with Mickey just like Eloise replaced Walt with Lew. Eloise showed anger towards Ramona because she saw herself in Ramona. Eloise was really angry with herself. She was angry because she replaced Walt with Lew as if it was insignificant and it meant nothing. Eloise lost her inner child and replaced it with an a dult she was unhappy with. Life for Seymour Glass, the main character in A Perfect Day for Bananafish,...

The Three Best Places to Start Your Journalism Career

The Three Best Places to Start Your Journalism Career When I was in grad school I had a part-time gopher job at the New York Daily News. But my dream was to be a reporter in a big-city newsroom, so one day I put together my best clips and walked into the office of one of the papers top editors. Id toiled at several student papers and had an internship under my belt. Id also worked part-time at a local daily paper when I was an undergrad in journalism school. So I asked her if I had what it took to get a reporting job there. No, she said. Not yet. This is the big-time, she told me. You cant afford to make mistakes here. Go and make your mistakes at a smaller paper, then come back when youre ready. She was right. Four years later I did return to the Daily News, where I worked as a reporter, Long Island bureau chief and eventually deputy national news editor. But I did so after getting solid newsroom experience at The Associated Press, experience that prepared me for the big leagues. Too many journalism school grads today want to start their careers at places like The New York Times, Politico and CNN. Its fine to aspire to work at such lofty news organizations, but at places like that, there wont be much on-the-job-training. Youll be expected to hit the ground running. Thats fine if youre a prodigy, the Mozart of journalism, but most college grads need a training ground where they can be mentored, where they can learn - and make mistakes - before they hit the big time. So heres my list of the best places to start your career in the news business. Weekly Community Papers Probably not a sexy choice, but short-staffed weeklies offer new hires the opportunity to do a little bit of everything - write and edit stories, take pictures, do layout, and so on. This gives young journalists the kind of broad newsroom experience that can be valuable later on.​ Small to Midsized Local Papers Local papers are great incubators for young reporters. They offer you the chance to cover all the things youll cover at bigger papers - cops, courts, local politics and the like - but in an environment where you can hone your skills. Also, good local papers will have mentors, older reporters, and editors who can help you learn the tricks of the trade. There are plenty of very good local papers out there. One example: The Anniston Star. A small-town paper in southwest Alabama may not sound like the most exciting place to start out, but The Star has long been known for solid journalism and a crusading spirit. Indeed, during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, The Star was one of few southern papers to support school integration. The states racist governor, George Wallace, nicknamed it The Red Star for its liberal stance. The Associated Press The AP is the boot camp of journalism. People in the AP will tell you that two years at the wire service is like four or five years anywhere else, and its true. Youll work harder and write more stories at the AP than in any other job. Thats because while the AP is the worlds largest news organization, individual AP bureaus tend to be small. For instance, when I worked at the Boston AP bureau we had maybe a dozen or so staffers in the newsroom on a typical weekday shift. On the other hand, The Boston Globe, the citys largest newspaper, has dozens if not hundreds of reporters and editors. Since AP bureaus are so small, AP staffers have to produce a lot of copy. While a newspaper reporter might write a story or two a day, an AP staffer might write four or five articles - or more. The result is that AP staffers are known for being able to produce clean copy on very tight deadlines. In an age when the 24/7 news cycle of the Internet has forced reporters everywhere to write fast, the kind of experience you get at the AP is highly prized. In fact, my four years at the AP got me the job at the New York Daily News.

Amazon Marketing Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Amazon Marketing Strategies - Essay Example Consumer needs can be determined through their browsing history and can stock up their inventory levels as and when required for future references or to determine the expected form of orders that a certain level of the market can consider as relevant. It is vital for the business to have a combination of a good retail supply chain workforce and technical people who would be available within the company for the provision of technical support in the company’s operations. However, the turnover for Amazon is very high. This is because most of the employees do not stay in the organization for more than one year. This paper has been documented in an attempt to establish the reasons for a high rate of turnover. The basis for the study is mainly primary and secondary research in regards to the factors that contribute towards the understanding of the study item. The section of the literature review explores the studies that have been made by the authors about this issue of turnover in the business environment. The topic of employee turnover has been studied and researched by a big number of scholars over a very long period. In the Human resources framework, the rate of turnover of the employees is the rate at which an employer acquires and loses his/her employees. The high rate of turnover is an indication of the fact that the employees in an organization would work in the organization for a shorter span of time. This rate is determined after a comparison with the other industries found within the same market. The turnover metric is determined by dividing the total number of parts workers who have left within a year by the number of employees who were engaged in the company for that particular year (Cascio and Boudreau, 2011, p. 80). The same metric has been used by Price in his model of turnover (Price, 1977, pp. 10-25) which may not be viewed as a recently published source but still plays a major role in contributing to the topic of employee turnover.

Part b Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Part b - Assignment Example ntition, decreased appetite, decreased taste sensation, and presence of chronic illness, older adults are more likely to be nutritionally deficient, which put them at risk for hypoglycemic episodes (Roach, 2001, p. 321). Likewise, older adults frequently live alone and the non-recognition of the symptoms of hypoglycemia may lead to incidences of injury (Surrena, 2009, p. 387). Mr. Adams Douglas, 51 year-old male, was admitted to the hospital due to confusion. Assessment revealed a blood sugar of 2.1 mmol/L, a marked hypoglycemia. In addition, Mr. Douglas is receiving medication for diabetes and hypertension and stated that he administered full dose (26 units) of insulin in the morning although Mr. Douglas had not eaten anything prior to administration of insulin. Further assessment also revealed that Mr. Douglas smokes 1 pack of cigarette/day and has been living alone in a single bed unit. Upon admission to the hospital, Mr. Douglas’ current conditions include slurred speech, inability to remain still in the bed, feeling of weakness and lack of energy, and Glasgow Coma Scale of 13/15. Initial medical interventions were implemented in order to rule out hypoglycemic episodes. The first nursing diagnosis is the Risk for Injury related to decreased blood sugar level, secondary to insulin therapy. After two hours of nursing intervention, Mr. Douglas’ will be free from any form of injury by maintaining blood glucose levels between 2.7-3.3 mmol/L and identifying signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia. Nursing interventions include the following: assessment of serum glucose levels at bedside before administering oral hypoglycemic agents, before meals, and before going to sleep because serum glucose levels are more accurate parameters than urine glucose, which is affected by renal threshold and function of aging (Moyet, 2008, p. 856); assessment of signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia such as irritability, confusion, fatigue, weakness, sweating, shakiness, palpitation,

Health promotion in Hong Kong Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Health promotion in Hong Kong - Essay Example ealth Service of the Department of Health (DH), the obesity rate among primary school students increased from 16.4% in 1997-98 to 21.3% in 2007-08.  Recent study states that 20.3% of the boys and 10.1% of the girls are overweight at 10 years of age and about half of this figure is noticed among the 15-year-old (10.3% boys, 6.3% girls). To encourage healthy eating habit, DH has made arrangements so that public awareness with regard to the vitality of healthy eating can be increased. Obesity is now a global problem. There is now consensus on the negative impact of obesity on physical, mental and social functions in children (Swallen KC, et all, 2004 and Reilly JJ, Wilson D, 2006). What is more, majority of the obese children stay obese in their adulthood also (Vanhala M, 1998), resulting in potential augmented hazard of adult mortality and morbidity (Rudolf MC, 2001), (Burke V, 2005) and (Karnehed N, et al, 2007). Community need appraisal was conducted before the project was instituted. Clear pictures of health issue, identification of the problems and directions for intervention were undertaken. Obesity is the foremost public health scourge worldwide in children and adults [(Flegal KM, et all, 2002), (Hedley AA, et all, 2002), (Ogden CL et al, 2002), (Sharma M, 2007)]. The occurrence and brutality of childhood obesity is considerably raising with a consequent augment in the frequency of obesity-related unwholesomeness especially those linking to obstructive sleep apnea and metabolic and cardiovascular sequelae (Tauman R, Gozal D, 2006). Avoidance of childhood obesity is a critical concern for public health in several industrialized countries and some changeover societies. Nutrition and physical activity (PA) has been the most vital study focused on obesity prevention. But the issued findings of such treatments recommended little achievement in keeping away childhood obesity (Nestle M, Jacobson & MF. Halting, 2000). Some studies also focused on dietary or/and PA

History of german from 1933-1945 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History of german from 1933-1945 - Assignment Example This victory made Hitler to conclude that he could get off scot-free with harsher actions since he considered Britain and France to be weak. Hitler’s alliance with Mussolini grew stronger and known as the Rome-Berlin Axis (Tonge, no.page). They wanted to pursue united foreign policy. They ended up signing â€Å"The Pact of Steel† in 1939 in order to bring to a standstill the increase of communism in Europe. The Munich agreement also known as Appeasement policy was a strategy formulated in the Munich conference in 1938, which caused other leaders to give into Hitler’s logical demands in order to put off war. This agreement widely accepted in Britain during the period of 1938. Hitler proposed that the Hossbach conference was vital and that if he passed away the proceedings would be his last will and testament. The Hossbach conference’s main aim was ensure that the Germany policy protects and safeguards the racial society and broadens it. In addition Hitler d ealt with the forms of implementation of this policy. Hitler pointed out that after the 1943-1945 phase, German aspirations would not be approved in the International circumstances; therefore, the reorganization and equipping of the German’s armed forces was necessary if it wasn’t up for being phased out (Chapter 6: The Causes of World War II in Europe: Hitler’s War, 118, par 1). In addition, the consideration of weakening nations such as France through the emergence of domestic wars with other nations, as well as the need for Germany to grab hold of new territories such as the Czechoslovakia and Austria, was another vital goal of the conference. Another feature of the conference was the strategizing of the German’s defence (Chapter 6: The Causes of World War II in Europe: Hitler’s War, 118, par 1). The Munich Agreement came into being due to Hitler wish to take over his birth country, Austria, and bring it under the German control. This siege was at first resisted in 1934, though the Nazi party and many people Austria were in favor of the union. The German’s authority broadened in Austria by 1938 (Tonge, no.page). In 1938, the Austrian prime minister, Schuschnigg was forced by Hitler to position Austrian Nazis into the government. The prime minister resisted by forming a referendum against the spread of German influence, but failed. Eventually, Austria incorporated into the Reich as the province of Ostmark marked the event as the Anschluss (Tonge, no.page). Since the British and French did not oppose this move by the Germans, then Appeasement policy became a strategy, which caused other leaders to give into Hitler’s logical demands in order to put off war. This agreement widely accepted in Britain during the period of 1938 (Tonge, no.page). 4) Overview: The Czechoslovakia invasion by the German in March 1939 began when Hitler in pursuit of the long-term goals of his foreign policy, he destabilized the peace of Europe by systematically amending the terms and conditions provided in the Treaty of Versailles (Chapter 6: The Causes of World War II in Europe: Hitler’s War, 119, par 2). Hitler planned to invade Sudetenland. Edvard Benes, the Czechoslovakian leader, learning the plan,

Applied Research Skills - E commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Applied Research Skills - E commerce - Essay Example In relation to customer relationship management (CRM), this study will first discuss e-commerce technology can be used in creating a good customer service followed by discussing how to use e-commerce in order to communicate effectively and be able to balance online and human interaction in order to maximize the clients’ trust and loyalty. Using e-commerce technology, the customer relationship management (CRM) combined with the use of e-loyalty programs help online businesses create a stronger long-term relationship with its target customers. Business-to-business (B2B) or e-biz is an effective tool in the exchange of products, services, and information between business and consumers. Over the years, B2B has proven to be very effective in closing business transactions between the business owner and the customers. According to a study that was published back in early 2000, the profitability of using B2B has exceeded the ‘e-tailing’ by 10 to 1% and is expected to have an annual growth of 41% over the next few years (Jones, 2001). In general, the tight competition web markets contribute to a lot of challenges in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and e-loyalty when it comes to maintaining brands online (Ragins & Greco, 2005). The most important challenge that online companies have is to build a solid customer loyalty rather than expanding the online channels of the company. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a ‘software’ that helps a business organization in managing its customers better (Anderson & Stang, 2000). CRM software enables the sales people and service representatives to have a quick access over the information related to the customers. This allows the sales force of the company to immediately provide the customers with a more customized service according to the customers’ needs regarding the products and services the business is offering

Business Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Tourism - Essay Example (Parliament, Great Britain, Media and Sport Committee Culture, and House of Commons, 2005) Although the Business tourism in Britain is well over  £ 20 Billion currently, still the tourism industry is eagerly anticipating Olympics, because that is supposed to bring some good omen after the last decision by the government to cut the funding for tourism by nearly one fifth, some economists had discovered that this decision was made on completely inaccurate data which stated an over anticipated growth in the industry. (Connor, Ashling, 2008) Here in this report we have discussed all the above and have also stated the future prospects of the tourism industry and the effects of 2012 Olympics on it. We have also provided a strong conclusion and recommendations as to the best options and growth opportunities in Britain. The non-discretionary business tourism is composed of the individual or corporate travel garners  £ 7 billion of revenues per annum. There has been a 53% growth in all business trips to the UK in the span of more than a decade. Approximately, 7 million visits are made to the UK each year for business purposes. (Rogers, Tony, 2003) The decision made by the government to cut the revenues and expenditures by a fifth was not justified and the opposition as well as the tourism promotion NGO’s realize that and some have even protested against that decision, after all, we wouldn’t want to ruin England’s name by not being prepared or rather not being able to organize a breathtaking Olympics, we have to at least show a better performance than most of the first or third world countries, being one of the most supreme and developed nation. (Great Britain: National Audit Office, 2007) One of the most alluring characters of the business tourism industry is that it creates a lot of job as well as business opportunities as well as it sustains the workforce as it is an industry that’s growing at a constant and stable growth rate. As a

Applied Research Skills - E commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Applied Research Skills - E commerce - Essay Example In relation to customer relationship management (CRM), this study will first discuss e-commerce technology can be used in creating a good customer service followed by discussing how to use e-commerce in order to communicate effectively and be able to balance online and human interaction in order to maximize the clients’ trust and loyalty. Using e-commerce technology, the customer relationship management (CRM) combined with the use of e-loyalty programs help online businesses create a stronger long-term relationship with its target customers. Business-to-business (B2B) or e-biz is an effective tool in the exchange of products, services, and information between business and consumers. Over the years, B2B has proven to be very effective in closing business transactions between the business owner and the customers. According to a study that was published back in early 2000, the profitability of using B2B has exceeded the ‘e-tailing’ by 10 to 1% and is expected to have an annual growth of 41% over the next few years (Jones, 2001). In general, the tight competition web markets contribute to a lot of challenges in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and e-loyalty when it comes to maintaining brands online (Ragins & Greco, 2005). The most important challenge that online companies have is to build a solid customer loyalty rather than expanding the online channels of the company. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a ‘software’ that helps a business organization in managing its customers better (Anderson & Stang, 2000). CRM software enables the sales people and service representatives to have a quick access over the information related to the customers. This allows the sales force of the company to immediately provide the customers with a more customized service according to the customers’ needs regarding the products and services the business is offering

Talk about the comnponents that make the cell phone work, then talk Essay

Talk about the comnponents that make the cell phone work, then talk about the effect the cell phone has on people and culture in - Essay Example Naturally, this discussion of the production and internal componentry of the iPhone, as well as raw materials, will engage a discussion upon labor standards, working conditions, international trade, and a litany of other topics. It is the hope of this author that such a broad level of discussion will provide the reader with a nuanced understanding of how the globalization of the world is evidenced in something as seemingly simple as a cell phone. Firstly, it must be understood that the cell phone is not singular piece of technology. Rather, is a complex miniature computer that derives its compliments from a litany of different manufacturers in a great number of different places throughout the world. Whereas the previous era saw the flip phone being produced by a single manufacturer in only a handful of different factories, the current era is one in which smartphones dominate the market. By very definition, a smartphone is a type of small tablet PC; capable of light computing tasks, g aming, and processing of various types (Montlake 42). As one might expect, the increased complexity requires that an increased number of manufacturers and complement providers are responsible for providing these parts. Accordingly, the first section of this analysis will be contingent upon where most of the major parts for the iPhone come from. Although it is commonly understood that Foxconn is responsible for putting them together, it is only once these parts have been manufactured that Foxconn enters the equation whatsoever. Although a direct competitor to the iPhone, Samsung electronics is responsible for making the main processor as well as the flash memory that the iPhone relies upon to store data. Naturally, without the flash memory and/or the processor itself, the iPhone would be effectively useless. Samsung has a litany of different factories around the globe; however, the ones that are responsible for making the flash memory and the processor are located within the Peopleâ €™s Republic of China and South Korea (Wright 47). Interestingly, even though the processor is made by Samsung, it is made under license and ultimately legally owned by ARM Holdings; a British firm that originally designed architectural license for the way in which the processor works. Moreover, the iPhone does not simply have one processor; it has a minimum of two. As such, Germany’s Infeneon Technologies is responsible for supplying the second processor that serves as the phones brainstem. Moreover, the same company referenced above is also responsible for providing the transceiver for the iPhone. As such, these compliments are ultimately made within Germany and subsequently sold and shipped to Foxconn/Apple as a function of piecing the iPhone together. Another British firm, Wolfson Microeletronics, is responsible for the creation of the audio processing chip. This audio processing chip is used not for the calls that are made to it from individuals utilizing iPhone; rat her, it is used as a means of providing a transcription for the audio files stored on flash memory and encoding not surprisingly, the same

IS spring Essay Example for Free

IS spring Essay Economy should serve the individuals by maximizing its wealth and power C. economy should serve the Rich by maximizing its wealth and power D. None of the above 3. Which one of the following was promoted under mercantilism? A. A nation should build strong army and conquer other nations. B. Grant legal monopolies to businesses that produce goods for export C. Establish colonies for raw D. All of the above 4. Which school of thought promoted freedom of press, rule of law, and a free market? A. Marxism B. Classical Mercantilism C. Classical Liberalism 5. Which one of the following theorists was against any protections for landlords and aid, Landlords gain is industrialists loss? A. Adam Smith B. David Ricardo C. Karl Marx D. Herbert Spencer 6. Which system tends to believe in trickle down economy? A. Socialism B. Communism C. Capitalism 7. What was David Ricardos point of view on foreign trade? A. Foreign trade is not good for economy B. Foreign trade is not good for economy, therefore government should ban it C. Foreign trade is good for economy because it lowers the wages of local labor leading to more profit for the industrialists D. Balance between imports and exports is good for economy 8. In our discussion on Marxism, we presented a number of evolutionary stages of society. Which stage was pointed out in our lectures as Natural Socialism? A. Hunting and gathering societies B. Agrarian societies C. Ancient societies Feudal societies D. Who was the rural Proletariat during Feudalism? 9. A. Factory worker B. Feudal lord C. Farmer 10. In old days, shoemakers used to make shoes using simple tools. They sold it and made some profit for themselves. What type of capitalism was it? Cooperative capitalism A. Manufacturing capitalism B. Modern capitalism None of the above In a socialist society, who owns the means of production? 1. A. State B. Individuals C. Communities D. Bourgeoisie 12. Karl Marx lists a number of things under forces of production. Which one of the following is one of them? A. Labor C. Money, machines, and infrastructure 13. The story It was Grandfathers Birthday was used in our class to illustrate? A. Poverty B. Inequality C. Class conflict D. Alienation 14. According to Karl Marx, what is a class conflict? A. Conflict between two countries B. Conflict between two religious groups C. Conflict between Bourgeoisies and Proletariats 15. According to Marxists, which one of the following nations has a real socialism? A. China B. cuba C. North Korea 16. According to Karl Marx, what is the main reason of growth in Capital in a Capitalist society? A. Modern technology B. Optimum use of workers C. Exploitation of workers Modernization Theory 17. Which one of the following societies is relatively an undifferentiated society? A. France B. Chad C. Germany D. Norway Modernization theorys point of view on why Somalia is poor? A. Poverty of Somalia is a product of internal factors B. Poverty of Somalia is a product of external factors C. Poverty of nations is a product of both internal and external factors D. All of the Native Indians lived in a traditional society. According to Lews Model of 19. Modernization, which one of the following would be one of the characteristics of this society? A. Fewer specializations B. Universalism C. High use of money and market D. Complex bureaucracy 20. Social scientists have criticized modernization theory for a number of reasons. Why did they believe that Modernization theory is based on ethnocentrism? A. Western European definition of development was used for modernization B. Christian definition of development was used for modernization C. It completely ignored the role of colonialism in the development of Europe D. None of the above 21. Amish live very traditional life in the USA. You have been asked by the US government to prepare a plan to modernize them. Which one of the following should be the main focus of your plan? A. Make laws to force Amish to change B. Make laws to force Amish children to go to public schools C. Try to change the values, traditions, and culture of Amish D. All of the above 22. According to Modernization Generally speaking, how does it influence migration? A. Industrialization leads to a decline in migration B. Industrialization leads to an increase in migration C. Industrialization does not have any impact on migration D. It varies from country to country 23. Japan, USA, Norway, South Korea, and Netherlands went through the same process of industrialization, urbanization, and modernization. Why are these countries so different from one another? Because of cultural differences Because of religious differences Because of environmental differences All of the above World Systems Perspective 24. Which one of the following theorists said that foundations of dependency were laid down during 19th century Europe? A. Karl Marx B. A. G. Frank C. Adam Smith D. Moore 25. Which one of the following nations is Capital intensive? B. China C. India D. Bangladesh 26. Rwanda is a poor nation. Which one of the following reasons of under- development of Rwanda refers to Chase-Dunn? A. Colonialism B. Wars imposed by core nations C. Local environmental and social reason 27. According to Robert Cox, global financial organizations give out loans to poor countries. What is the real goal of these financial policies? B. Help the elites of those countries C. Help their own nations 28. Which one of the following characteristics refers to periphery nations? A. Urban B. Politically powerful C. Poor economy D. Stable governments 29. You watched a video on Wallenstein. What did he say about the future of Capitalism? A. Greed to accumulate wealth will help Capitalism to survive B. Capitalism will collapse as it is C. Capitalism will be replaced by religious fundamentalism 30. Which one of the following statements on Global economic and political interdependence refers to Chase Dunn? A. It helps poor nations through diffusion of technology B. It helps rich nations because they are able to sell their technologies to poor nations C. It helps both rich and poor countries Assignment 1 Generally speaking, in which continent life expectancy tends to be very high? 31. Africa Europe Latin America D. Asia 32. Which nations tend to have very high infant mortality rates?

UK Social Enterprises for Sustainability

UK Social Enterprises for Sustainability Abstract Social enterprise is a dynamic and sustainable business model of choice which is able to bring social, economic and environmental benefits to the UK. It operates across all sectors of the economy, serving individuals in the private, public and third sectors. Through out this research will identify the increase levels of understanding of the role and value of Social Enterprise, given that a lack of understanding of the role and value of social enterprises was cited as a major barrier to the acceleration of the use of the business model. I will further state that social enterprises compete in the marketplace like any other business, but they use their business skills to achieve social aims. The purpose of this research will identify the key barriers faced by Social Enterprise and explore how these barriers have/could potentially be overcome to achieve sustainability. There is also a need to recognise that some social enterprise activity will need an element of finance through public fu nds, particularly because they are operating in areas of market failure or a non-commercial market such as providing services to vulnerable people, including supported employment in many cases. This paper is intended to create an environment which will lead to opportunities for social enterprise to grow successfully in the future. Chapter 1: Introduction A brief overview of social enterprise is introduced in the first chapter. Then, the purpose of the study will be next discussed which will end with a specific research question. In the end of this chapter the contribution of this research and limitation of the study are also presented. 1.1 A Brief Overview of Social Enterprise Social enterprises are organisations that supply goods and services as part of the social economy sector; this group constitutes a collection of organisations that exist between the traditionally private and public sectors and has a stronger relationship with the Community and Non-profit sector. This sector has a key role to play in achieving many of its goals, including overcoming social injustice and exclusion Todays completive business world defining social enterprise is a challenging task, according to OECD (1999, p.10) â€Å"there is no universal, commonly accepted definition of Social Enterprise.† However, the OECD (1999, p.10) has defined social enterprise as: â€Å"any private activity conducted in the public interest, organised with an entrepreneurial strategy but whose main purpose is not the maximisation of profit but the accomplishment of certain economic and social goals, and which has a capacity of bringing innovative solutions to the problems of social exclusion and unemployment†. Social enterprises are becoming a recognised part of the local and national economy in the UK, and the organisations operating in this sector are aware that becoming sustainable businesses is the path to independence both financially and in mission. However, social enterprises, in common with many small businesses, find growth difficult, and this could impact negatively on their sustainability. These should be supported and encouraged to grow both as a sector and as individual organizations so as to become more sustainable organizations. 1.2 Purpose of the Study My paper has been developed to explore how the term social enterprise has acquired meaning in England and to illustrate how practitioners, policymakers and academics influence each other in the development of new sustainable ideas, given that a lack of understanding of the role and significance of social enterprises was cited as a major barrier to the acceleration of the use of this business model. These challenges come in many forms. Some are the same as those affecting any other business including access to business support and finance, a lack of affordable premises and finding skilled staff. However, social enterprises also face one huge barrier that seriously affects their ability to assume a position within the market. That barrier is a lack of understanding of how social enterprises work and of their potential value. This lack of understanding exists across the public, private and voluntary and community sectors. The confusion and conflict about what the model could or should be for results all too often in misrepresentation and exaggeration of its potential, fragmentation in the provision of support and real and perceived barriers to accessing contracts and mainstream funding opportunities. So my dissertation will identify the key barriers faced by Social Enterprise and explore how these barriers have/could potentially be overcome in order to achieve sustainability. It examines critical incidents that have shaped the meaning of social enterprise in England and reflects on these incidents to draw conclusions about the future sustainable development of social enterprise practice. Through out this paper I will also examine the potential conditions for the growth of social enterprise through a set of outline scenarios. The aim is to inform both policy-making and the wider debate about social enterprise: what its potential might be and how that potential can be realised in different settings. So my research question is: To explore how the social enterprise is potential for sustainability in the UK. 1.3 Limitations of the Study: During conducting the research I came across certain limitations and among them the foremost one is time constrain. The interviewed person could not provide all necessary information due to lack of time. The research timeline also reveals that time constrain was actually a barrier as there was plenty to find about this research topic. A huge portion of the report is based on primary data collected through interviews which is very lengthy process. The key point here is that social enterprise cannot be identified solely by legal form or pre-set categories. Social enterprises can often see themselves as belonging to more than one category, leading to problems of double counting. For example, a social enterprise may be a charity registered with the Charities Commission or an ‘exempt charity which is also an Industrial and Provident Society. There is also much variation in the categories which have been used in studies to date, making aggregation and comparison very difficult. 1.4 Structure of the Report: This research is divided into five chapters: the first chapter is an introduction with purpose and limitation of the study. In the second chapter, literature based review of definitions of social enterprise, roots of social enterprise, discussion relevant to the sustainability of social enterprise, the nature of their contribution and their sponsors and sources of funding. The third summarises the background information of social enterprise in the UK and the fourth and fifth chapter contain the methodology and the summary of the main findings of the study with implications for policy. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter will give an overview of literature and models that are related to the research problem presented in the previous chapter. This chapter will introduce the roots and concepts of social enterprise in order to give a clear idea about the research area. 2.1 Roots of social enterprise Scott specified (Market, Schmarket : Building the Post-Capitalist Society,2006, p50) â€Å"The roots of social enterprises and community enterprise overall can be found in the mutual, self help and co-operative sector which goes back, in the UK, at least to the Fenwick Weavers in Ayrshire 1769 and Dr William King of Brighton in the 1820s (Trimingham, 2007), with earlier antecedents.† Within the development of this movement there has always been an important strand which has focused on the local community-based nature of these organisations and also on the economic development of poorer communities including the need to maintain paid work. For example between the two world wars, local community activists such as Harry Cowley campaigned for housing and work for returning service people and support for small local businesses. He organised marches to demand public works ‘job creation programmes from the local council for unemployed people with some success. 2.3 General Discussion on Social Enterprise Social Enterprises combine the need to be successful businesses with social aims. This is a competitive business, owned and trading for a social purpose. They seek to succeed as businesses by establishing a market share and making a profit and emphasise the long-term benefits for employees, consumers and the community. Bob Doherty and John Thompson mentioned in the journal ‘The diverse world of social enterprise stories (p.362) that social enterprises are organizations which are seeking business solutions to social crisis. These are needed to be differentiated from other socially-oriented organizations. These also need to take initiatives that can promote to communities but which are not wanting or seeking to be â€Å"businesses†. In this esteem these latter organizations remain dependent on endowments and donations rather than build up true paying customers. According to DTI report A Progress Report on Social Enterprise: A Strategy for Success (2003, p.6), social enterprise is such a business which reinvests its surpluses in the business or in the community rather than increases profit for shareholders or owners. Peter Drucker argues that social entrepreneurs â€Å"change the performance capacity of society† (Gendron, 1996, p. 37) while Henton et al. (1997: p.1) speak of ‘civic entrepreneurs as â€Å"a new generation of leaders who forge new, powerfully productive linkages at the intersection of business, government, education and community† . Ali B. Somers (Shaping the balanced scorecard for use in UK social enterprises, p.46) stated â€Å"Social enterprise emphasise creating social and/or environmental value at all stages of their production process, as an intrinsic part of their identity†. Figure:1 describes the production process of social enterprise. Inputs Production Process Outputs: Goods and Services Labour Employee/ Client Raw Materials: from Environmental Sources Can Include: Democratic Governance or training for employee/ client Base Goods and services sold to market: Economic Profit, Social Profit and Environmental Profit Economic Profit flows back to Social Enterprise and Ethical Investors Social and Environmental profit flow to Community Indicates environmental and social motives affect production Figure: 1 Production of Social Enterprise Source: Somers, A.B., 2005. Shaping the balanced scorecard for use in UK social enterprises. Social Enterprise Journal, 1(1), p.46 2.4 Discussion Relevant to the Sustainability of Social Enterprise There has been an unprecedented wave of growth in Social Entrepreneurship globally over the last ten years (Bornstein 2004, pp.3-6). For Example, as part of the 2004 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report a survey was conducted of social entrepreneurship activity in the UK; these data suggested that new ‘social start-ups are emerging at a faster ate than more conventional, commercial ventures (Harding and Cowling, 2004, p.5) There are three sides to sustainability in business activity: environment, economy and community. When aiming for sustainable practice all three factors must be given equal consideration from a local through to a global level. Environment Ensuring that business engages in the proper and careful use of finite resources and the management of waste so as to minimize the negative and maximize the positive impact of human activity. Economy Ensuring that business is financially viable, engages in good employment practice and is of benefit to the economy as a whole. Community Ensuring that business is overall of benefit to communities, their culture heritage and does not endanger them. Figure2: Sustainable Social Enterprise Schulyer (1998: p.3) describes social entrepreneurs as â€Å"individuals who have a vision for social change and who have the financial resources to support their ideas.who exhibit all the skills of successful business people as well as a powerful desire for social change† Greater flexibility in the use of public resources to respond to innovative community proposals, and venture investments from foundations and the private sector could be used to stimulate innovation in areas thought to be too risky for government as the sole investor. As Catford (1998, p. 96) argues that â€Å"social entrepreneurswill only flourish if they are supported by the right environment, which will be created largely by governments together with the private sector†. Social Enterprise seeks surplus generation in order to achieve financial sustainability. The need to financial sustainability is fundamental to social enterprises. Emphasizing financial sustainability in addition to profit distribution becomes a way to account for all activities the organization engages in, including advocacy and in support of bono work. Sacrificing one cause and effect chain for another can have significant implications for both the quality of work and social enterprises financial sustainability. Profit Distribution (Increase Income) Increase Revenue Use Resource Efficiently Trading Revenue Non Trading Revenue Manage Cost Track Advocacy Financial: Promote Sustainability of organization Social: Increase value to target community Whilst many may rely on combination of grant and trading income, ultimately, if an organisation is not financially sustainable, it cannot deliver its social and environmental impact. Fig3. shows how the profit of social organisation is distributed to the organization itself and community. Figure: 3 Financial Sustainability Source: Somers, A.B., 2005. Shaping the balanced scorecard for use in UK social enterprises. Social Enterprise Journal, 1(1), p.50 2.5 Policy Reform and Good Governance DTI report A Progress Report onSocial Enterprise: A Strategy for Success (2003, p.6) describes the three key goals for government as creating an enabling environment, making social enterprises better businesses and establishing the value of social enterprise. The danger in not supporting social entrepreneurship is obvious to Reis (1999: p. 4) who calls for systematic intervention to accelerate and improve philanthropic efforts. Without this he argues that substantial numbers of potential donors and social entrepreneurs could be â€Å"discouraged, turned-off, and lost from philanthropy and social change work†. So, in recent years, the boundaries between the private sectors (in term of market thinking and managerial practices) have impacted the public and voluntary sectors and started to blur traditional distinctions between them (Bull, 2006, 2007). The emergence of radical business alternatives with a strong social orientation, democratic organisation, and positive attitude to profitable trading has led to formal recognition and academic scrutiny (Seanor, Bull and Ridley-Duff, 2007). Brown, H and Murphy, E (2003: p.57) mentioned on Bank of England report that â€Å"Social enterprises, like all businesses, need access to a range of financial products appropriate to their activity and stage of development† An HM Treasury report on Enterpriseand Social Exclusion (1999, p 108) came to the conclusion, arguing that social enterprise was â€Å"less understood and rarely promoted in a consistent way by the existing infrastructure for business support†. Thompson et al. (2000: p. 328) describe â€Å"people who realize where there is an opportunity to satisfy some unmet need that the state welfare system will not or cannot meet, and who gather together the necessary resources (generally people, often volunteers, money and premises) and use these to ‘make a difference†. It is more useful to consider and develop social enterprise capabilities rather than skills and capacity building. The fact that social enterprises need to combine commercial objectives with social mission as well as internal governance, means that a â€Å"capabilities approach† is more comprehensive. This is a useful way of recognising factors additional to individual skills that inter-play to determine the effectiveness and impact of a specific enterprise. It also moves away from limited considerations of a key person or group within the organisation, and their specific skills, towards a more holistic view of what the organisation is capable of doing, irrespective of the location of particular skills. Laville and Nyssens (2001: p 325) argue that while the origins of social enterprises are based in reciprocity and thus form part of the third system, their strength is based in their ability to tap into all three economic principles and systems. They are different from private enterprise in that their goal is not the maximization of profit to benefit owners, although they do develop market activities and generate profits. They are also different from the public sector in that they are independent from direct control by public authorities. But they benefit to a greater or lesser extent from public subsidy. Thus they mobilize market relations to sell services or goods, and can use redistributive relations by utilizing government funding to finance their services. Their long-term sustainability depends on their ability to ‘continuously hybridise the three poles of the economy so as to serve the project. Their complementary use of monetary and non-monetary relations guarantees auto nomy of service based on their connections within communities and economic viability. This view of social enterprises offers an insight into their complexity in terms of the roles they must juggle and of the many forms from cooperatives, community enterprises, social firms, fair-trade companies and more that they take. Dees (1998: p.4) identifies five criteria that social entrepreneurs possess: adopting a mission to create and sustain social value; recognizing and relentlessly pursuing new opportunities to serve that mission; engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation and learning; acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand; and exhibiting a heightened sense of accountability to the constituencies served and to the outcomes created. Catford (1998, p.97) who articulates the issues and one possible solution most eloquently: â€Å"Traditional welfare-state approaches are in decline globally, and in response new ways of creating healthy and sustainable communities are required. This challenges our social, economic and political systems to respond with new, creative and effective environments that support and reward change. From the evidence available, current examples of social entrepreneurship offer exciting new ways of realizing the potential of individuals and communitiesinto the 21st century†. The Progress Report on Social Enterprise: A Strategy for Success(2003, p.68) concludes that there is little hard evidence to demonstrate the impact and added value of social enterprise. The report points out that one of the reasons for the lack of statistical evidence is that social enterprises create a range of social and environmental impacts, beyond their financial return (the ‘double or the ‘triple bottom line) that are hard to measure (even by the social enterprises themselves). Limited information on their social and environmental, as well as financial, impact also means that policy makers, business support providers and finance providers find it difficult to assess the value of targeting social enterprises or of including them in their activities. 2.6 Concluding Remarks Academic writing about modern social entrepreneurship skills is relatively limited, compared to mainstream business or charities. The concept of ‘social enterprise has been rapidly emerging in the private, public and non-profit sectors over the last few years. Currently, the non-profit sector is facing increasing demands for improved effectiveness and sustainability in light of diminishing funding from traditional sources and increased competition for these scarce resources. At the same time, the increasing concentration of wealth in the private sector is promoting calls for increased corporate social responsibility and more proactive responses to complex social problems, while governments at all levels are struggling with multiple demands on public funds. Chapter 3: Background Information of Social Enterprise This chapter will give the idea about the social enterprise types and size in the UK along with the impact, barriers and sources of fund in this organizations. Social Enterprise in the UK The UK government has been at the front position of enabling and encouraging the increase of social enterprises as part of both welfare services delivery and community regeneration at the policy level. The impacts and influence of public, private, and citizen are empirically proven and exhibit that these conventional sectors of society are playing a part in re-evaluating the value creation opportunities offered by market (or quasi-market) mechanisms. [Brief overview of types] According to the UK policy-making community, social enterprises play a vital role in the creation of economic and social value. It has been claimed that, there were some 15,000 social enterprises in the UK SBS(2005, pp.1-2), accounting for around 1.2% of all employing enterprises in the UK. These social enterprises generate around  £18 billion in annual turnover and employ over 775,000 people (475,000 paid employees and 300,000 volunteer staff). Governments Survey and existing data for the social enterprise sector estimated that there are at least 55,000 social enterprises in the UK, with a combined turnover of  £27billion per year which is raised to over  £800 million from the preceding year. This corresponds to 2% of the UKs GDP . The number of registered charities rose from around 120,000 in 1995 to more than 164,000 in 2005, and there are also hundreds of thousands of small community groups. According to Government estimates, social enterprises account for 5% of all businesses with employees and contribute approximately  £8.4billion to GDP (HM Treasury and Cabinet Office, 2006, p.29), around 0.7% of the total economy. The data obtained from the cabinet office website in social sector showed that in the year 2003/04, 56% of third sector organisations reported an increase in activity in the previous year, and 67% of them expected activity to grow in the next three years. Positive aspects of social enterprise: Social enterprise is a varied activity and can include a range of organisations working on different scales and at different levels of trading. Some work at community level, while others work nationally. They can work in public services or commercial markets. They often work in the most disadvantaged areas and work with the most disadvantaged groups. Some organisations work only as a social enterprise while in other organisations social enterprise is often a part of their activity. This most commonly applies in a voluntary organisation or a housing association. According to Bob Doherty and John Thompson (The diverse world of social enterprise stories, p.362) the common characteristics for a Social Enterprise are: They have a social rationale and yields and surpluses are not shared out to shareholders. Reinvested profit can be used to provide training and development opportunities for staff. They use assets and capital to generate community benefit. They pursue this with (at least in part) trade in a market place. Members or employees can also take part in decision making. The enterprise is responsible to both its members and a wider society. Citizenship participation and volunteering are encouraged within the local community The social enterprise model could create new forms of entrepreneurship and employment within a community The model is ideally placed to meet new needs within a community, if supported sufficiently at start up Social Enterprises can offer goods and services to poor and disenfranchised communities The potential of a profits and revenue stream could liberate organisations from the tyranny of fundraising and grant applications Organisations could flourish effectively and creatively under this model There is either a double or triple-bottom line concept. The assumption is that the most effective social enterprises exhibit healthy financial and social returns rather than high profits in one and lower profits in the other. Social enterprise makes an important contribution to the social, economic and environmental development of Scotland. This can be summarised as follows. Fig 4: Beneficiaries of Social Enterprise Source: Social enterprise is extremely varied but, importantly, it works in a number of key priority areas for the UK economy- these include: employment and training; childcare; health; adult care services; recycling; renewable energy; transport; financial inclusion; community regeneration; and rural development. In particular, social enterprise contributes to regenerating our most deprived communities in both urban and rural areas. It often works with the people who have least opportunity in our society, including those outside the labour market, and so it has a major role to play in developing employability and supported employment and ensuring equal opportunities to those people. Social enterprise can add value to many of its activities by focusing on social, economic and environmental benefits, importantly linking these aims in a positive way, which in other business models may sometimes cause conflict. Social enterprise can offer goods and services to its customers in a flexible and innovative way. It can focus on their needs to deliver better public services. Often this is in areas where the market has failed areas where the private sector does not want to go. Social enterprise can make sure resources give value for money where a public-sector contract is needed for the activity. This includes working with very marginalised groups, where the enterprise activity helps reduce the amount of public funding needed. Through encouraging social entrepreneurship in communities, levels of public subsidy and grant dependency can be reduced. Barriers of social enterprise â€Å"†¦often have boards of directors or trustees who come from a voluntary sector rather than a business background. This can lead to a lack of business focus and prevent social enterprise from truly reaching their potential (DTI 2002, p.62) Several challenges remain before the full potential of the third sector can be realised. First, the Government must carry through its commitment to provide a constructive partnership with the sector and resist the temptation to treat it as one of the instruments for the marketisation of the Welfare State. Amicus, a trade union with workers in the public, private and third sectors, is concerned that an expansion of the third sector will be a ‘stepping stone to the privitisation of the public sector (Maskell quoted in Little, 2007, p.31). Second, the majority of third sector organisations are small and under-capitalised and they are constrained in the growth aspirations by limited access to capital (Bank of England, 2003; SQW, 2007). Insufficient capital can lead to either under-investment, or a re-orientation towards market objectives in order to obtain finance, and the consequent re-prioritisation of economic over social and environmental outcomes. To enable third sector organisations to maintain the balance between economic, social and environmental outcomes, the Government must ensure that a pragmatic and realistic assessment of the financial costs of service delivery is incorporated into their policies and strategies (HM Treasury, 2006).Third, a curse of successful activities in the third sector is that they themselves are prone to being privatised and consequently turned into capitalist ventures that adopt orthodox business practices, as has been the case with the demutualisation of the Building Society movement in the UK. According to UK Government and various literatures review shows that there are mainly four significant barriers to accessing appropriate business support and finance for social enterprises throughout the region. 1. Cultural barriers between those setting up social enterprises and mainstream business advisors. 2. Lack of clarity about where to access business support at the local level, largely due to the huge diversity of routes into starting up social enterprises. 3. Limited numbers of accredited technical specialists in key business advice areas where social enterprises require specialist support, for example on legal structure, potential investors or taxation. 4. Limited sources of affordable equity and loan finance of all sizes. All of these barriers inhibit the use of available business support by social enterprise. Many of the issues are cultural, but there are also skills issues, with mainstream business advice agencies not being adequately equipped to address more technical aspects of social enterprise business development. Specialists do exist within the region but many of them are funded through short-term grant finance. This enables the free provision of services but a lack of long-term sustainability for the advice services themselves. To grow and develop social enterprise in UK, we must tackle a range of challenges and issues which have been highlighted by the research and consultation carried out to develop this strategy. Tackling these challenges, which are summarised into five key areas in this chapter, will be a major part of this strategy: Use of the social enterprise business model. Business opportunities. Finance and investment. Business support for social enterprise. Raising the profile and demonstrating value. Sources of Finance The key factor in an enterprises development is access to appropriate sources of finance. Social enterprises are more likely than SMEs to have been rejected for finance, although the majority of those rejected by one lender appear subsequently to be successful with another. In addition, a large minority of social enterprises perceive access to external finance as a major barrier to expansion, including some of those that have successfully accessed finance in the past. While there is no one, clear reason to account for the higher rejection rates among social enterprises than SMEs, this report explores possible contributory factors, which

Unemployment Essay -- essays papers

Unemployment Definition of Unemployment The unemployment rate is the percentage of the US labor force that is unemployed. It is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by the sum of the number of people unemployed and employed. An individual is counted as unemployed if they are over the age of 16 and actively looking for a job, but cannot find one. Students, who choose not to work, and retirees, are not counted in the unemployment rate. In March 2001: Description Total civilian population 211,171,000(Excluding those under 16, members of the military, and persons in institutions) - Not in Labor force 69,304,000 (Retired, students, individuals choosing not to work)= Labor force 141,868,000 (Total population minus those not in labor force)- Employed 135,780,000 (Individuals with jobs)= Unemploye 6,088,000 (Individuals without a job and actively searching) Unemployment Rate =6,088,000 135,780,000 + 6,088,000 = 4.3% The unemployment rate for the month of March 2001 was 4.3 percent, a tenth of a point increase from the January and February 2001 rate of 4.2%. The number of individuals employed decreased by 86,000. An unemployment rate of 4.3 percent for March 2001 is the highest unemployment rate since July 1999, but only slightly higher than the 3.9 to 4.1 percent range from October 1999 to the end of 2000. Prior to that, the unemployment rate had been in a steady decline since shortly after the last recession in 1990-1991. The average monthly increase in employment was approximately 155,000 in 2000 and 220,000 in 1999. For almost ten years, unemployment has fallen and the number of employed persons has increased by more than 15 million. In March 2001, the number of jobs decreased by 86,000, the largest monthly decrease since 1991. Job losses were most prominent in the manufacturing sector (81,000 jobs), but there were also losses in the retail trade sector (46,000 jobs). These losses were partially offset by employment increases experienced in the construction and finance sectors. Growth in employment in 2000 was 1.9 million; in 1999, the increase in employment equaled 2.8 million. Changes For most of 2000, unemployment remained between 3.9 and 4.1 percent of the labor force. In the first three-quarters of 2000, the numbers of individuals in the labor force were i... ...te of growth in real GDP increased to 3.9, with the last three years being over 4.3 percent per year. A five percent increase from 1999 to 2000 is the highest level of yearly increase since 1984. The recent upward trend (until the last two quarters) in economic growth has been accompanied by increases in the rates of growth of consumption spending, investment spending and exports. Productivity increases; decreases in unemployment, expansion in the labor force, and increases in the amount of capital have allowed real GDP to grow at faster rates. Yet during this same time period, consumers have reduced their savings. Conclusion After reviewing the unemployment, inflation and the GDP history of the last decade it is obvious why the United States economy has been ranked number one in the world. The economy has averaged a 5% or less unemployment rate, a 3.5% or less inflation rate and a GDP rate that has fluctuated from 2.2% to 5% throughout the nineties. The future outlook of the next decade is promising, however, many economists are skeptical when asked if this trend can continue at its current rate. References www.econedlink.org www.economicsameria.org Unemployment Essay -- essays papers Unemployment Definition of Unemployment The unemployment rate is the percentage of the US labor force that is unemployed. It is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by the sum of the number of people unemployed and employed. An individual is counted as unemployed if they are over the age of 16 and actively looking for a job, but cannot find one. Students, who choose not to work, and retirees, are not counted in the unemployment rate. In March 2001: Description Total civilian population 211,171,000(Excluding those under 16, members of the military, and persons in institutions) - Not in Labor force 69,304,000 (Retired, students, individuals choosing not to work)= Labor force 141,868,000 (Total population minus those not in labor force)- Employed 135,780,000 (Individuals with jobs)= Unemploye 6,088,000 (Individuals without a job and actively searching) Unemployment Rate =6,088,000 135,780,000 + 6,088,000 = 4.3% The unemployment rate for the month of March 2001 was 4.3 percent, a tenth of a point increase from the January and February 2001 rate of 4.2%. The number of individuals employed decreased by 86,000. An unemployment rate of 4.3 percent for March 2001 is the highest unemployment rate since July 1999, but only slightly higher than the 3.9 to 4.1 percent range from October 1999 to the end of 2000. Prior to that, the unemployment rate had been in a steady decline since shortly after the last recession in 1990-1991. The average monthly increase in employment was approximately 155,000 in 2000 and 220,000 in 1999. For almost ten years, unemployment has fallen and the number of employed persons has increased by more than 15 million. In March 2001, the number of jobs decreased by 86,000, the largest monthly decrease since 1991. Job losses were most prominent in the manufacturing sector (81,000 jobs), but there were also losses in the retail trade sector (46,000 jobs). These losses were partially offset by employment increases experienced in the construction and finance sectors. Growth in employment in 2000 was 1.9 million; in 1999, the increase in employment equaled 2.8 million. Changes For most of 2000, unemployment remained between 3.9 and 4.1 percent of the labor force. In the first three-quarters of 2000, the numbers of individuals in the labor force were i... ...te of growth in real GDP increased to 3.9, with the last three years being over 4.3 percent per year. A five percent increase from 1999 to 2000 is the highest level of yearly increase since 1984. The recent upward trend (until the last two quarters) in economic growth has been accompanied by increases in the rates of growth of consumption spending, investment spending and exports. Productivity increases; decreases in unemployment, expansion in the labor force, and increases in the amount of capital have allowed real GDP to grow at faster rates. Yet during this same time period, consumers have reduced their savings. Conclusion After reviewing the unemployment, inflation and the GDP history of the last decade it is obvious why the United States economy has been ranked number one in the world. The economy has averaged a 5% or less unemployment rate, a 3.5% or less inflation rate and a GDP rate that has fluctuated from 2.2% to 5% throughout the nineties. The future outlook of the next decade is promising, however, many economists are skeptical when asked if this trend can continue at its current rate. References www.econedlink.org www.economicsameria.org

Child Language Acquisition Essay

Linguistically, both of these infants are at different stages of their language development. The lexical choices made by each child can show what stage they are at in developing their language and applying it to situations and conversations. Sophie’s use of the word ‘Bissie’, meaning biscuit shows that she hasn’t quite been able to pronounce the sound therefore makes an alternative word up that sounds similar, that is understandable by the child’s carer/parent, but is easier to say than ‘biscuit’. Other lexical choices Sophie uses, tend to be commanding words, such as ‘me want’ ‘No’. As the child is young, she realises to get what she wants; she has to ask for it and by using the commanding words, she is airing the fact that she wants something to her parent/carer. According to Halliday’s functions, this language is regulatory, as well as being instrumental. She is controlling the behaviour of others (telling Fran that she doesn’t want to tidy the dolls house) and she is obtaining material needs (wanting a biscuit). Katharine has grasped the concept of pronouns. She uses the personal pronoun ‘I’ to refer to herself ‘Now I’ll do Jason’, and she can even use ‘we’ as the collective term for her and her mum together ‘We do Jason again shall we? ‘ Sophie’s sentences have basic structure to them, as she voices what she needs to say, in the simplest way to say it. They are quite short, and to the point. Her language acquisition is at the stage where she knows how to communicate, speak and use words in a simple sentence to voice what she wants. ‘Mary come me’, meaning ‘Can Mary come and play with me’, is a very simple form of the sentence, but still communicates to her mum what she wants to do. She uses ‘me’ instead of ‘I’ to refer to herself. This confusion of pronoun usage is common among young children. Some of the words she uses, she omits the prefixes of the sounds, such as ‘nother’ instead of ‘another’. This makes it easier to say, and shortens what she says. Katharine on the other hand, who is involved in an activity, is communicating with her mum using more structured sentences. Her mum is constantly questioning what she is doing (Skinners theory of reinforcement and imitation (response)) ‘Where’s his body? ‘ then Katharine replies; ‘Dere’s his legs, touching his mouf’. The pronunciation of the words isn’t as important as the fact that she is constructing sentences and answering questions herself. A word such as ‘there’ has a consonant cluster at the beginning which is hard to say for young children, therefore they change the pronunciation, so it still sounds like ‘there’ but is easier to pronounce. She understood the question her mum was asking, and actually understood it was a question, maybe because of the intonation her mum would’ve had in her voice. This shows that she is capable enough with language to turn take, in a small conversation with her mum, talking about a subject/activity. This shows that her language acquisition is slightly more advanced than Sophie’s, as Sophie doesn’t turn take, she doesn’t answer questions either, she asks them and is at the stage of using ‘why’ as a questioning word. Sophie’s conversation with her mum doesn’t flow like Katharine’s, it is full of statements and commands rather than a question – answer structure. Turn taking is apparent in both these conversations as the parents are initiating the conversation and getting the children to talk, causing no interruptions. Sophie’s utterance lengths are longer than Katharine’s on average, but the fact that Katharine is involved in an activity has an affect on her utterances, due to concentration. Comparing the utterance lengths, Katharine’s are more advanced with the syntax structure, as her sentences make more grammatical sense than Sophie’s. This doesn’t make Sophie incorrect in her structure, she is just at a different stage of language acquisition than Katharine, and she is in the middle of developing her sentences. Age isn’t a factor in language development, as every child is different. Katharine’s mother uses tag questions, such as; ‘isn’t it? ‘ This encourages Katharine to answer her mum. Katharine does also use tag questions herself, to get a response from her mum, ‘shall we’. She has probably learnt how to use tag questions from listening to the way her mum speaks. This is quite advanced for a child as it shows they use a different way of getting a response, rather than just saying ‘why’ or using commands. She also uses encouraging sounds, which is back channel behaviour; ‘uhuh’ and ‘mmhu’, to show she is listening and taking in what Katharine is saying. Sophie’s carer/parent however doesn’t use tag questions and neither does Sophie. The conversation between the child and parent/carer is very simple and uses statements rather than questions, encouraging Sophie to talk. It is just a short conversation, with Sophie controlling it, rather then the parent/carer trying to encourage her to talk and say things. Of course, the pragmatics behind the conversations are for the parents/carers to get the children to speak and further their knowledge and understanding of the language. It is merely to get them to practice speaking, so they acquire language. There is a large difference between the two conversations, as they are in different environments (the contexts are different), with the children taking part in different situations. This is a factor which affects their language use and the way they use it in the context. After considering all of the factors to do with both conversations, I have come to the conclusion that Katharine is more linguistically developed and seems to be at a more advanced stage of language acquisition than Sophie. Katharine has a wider knowledge of the language and applies it to a conversation better than Sophie, as her sentences are constructed better and flow well.