Monday, December 30, 2019

The Hippocratic Oath And Euthanasia - 2151 Words

Euthanasia was first introduced in ancient Greece and Rome around the fifth century B.C. Occasionally, abortions and mercy killings were performed. 1 The Hippocratic Oath is an oath taken by physicians, which states that the physician will treat the ill to the best of their ability, to preserve a patient’s privacy and to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation. 2 Many of the physicians didn’t follow the Hippocratic Oath and if a patient asked to be poisoned, certain physicians would comply with the patient’s request. 1 Euthanasia wasn’t a topic of discussion in the Middle Ages and if someone committed suicide, the law in Europe was that the body had to be â€Å"dragged down the streets or nailed to a barrel and left to drift downriver† (procon.org). 1Euthanasia was a big topic of discussion during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries but people continued to turn down euthanasia and assisted suicide. 1 In 1828, the first American law made assisted suicide illegal. 1 It wasn’t until the 1930’s that people started to support euthanasia in the United States and in England. 1 Americans grew less fond of euthanasia around World War II when Hitler and the Nazis killed hundreds of thousands of people using euthanasia. 1Their tactics included starvation, gassing and administering drugs to their prisoners. 1 In the late twentieth and twenty first century, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia. 1Belgium soon followed theShow MoreRelatedEuthanasia And Assisted Suicide : A Patient s Choice1742 Words   |  7 Pages Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: A patient s choice in their type of death. When a patient is terminally ill or is experiencing extreme pain, often Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide can both be plausible options to end any suffering. Euthanasia is currently legalized in seven countries and parts of the United States (New Health Guide). This number is not likely to increase soon because of the high controversy, which is due to the very serious topic of this matter: a person s life. The generalRead MoreThe Case Against Euthanasia913 Words   |  4 Pages(Kirkey 2). Euthanasia is defined as assisting a terminally ill patient with dying early. In many countries the legalization of this practice is being debated in many countries. All doctors against assisted suicide, including the 44 percent in Canada, are on the right side of the argument. Euthanasia should not be legalized because it is unnatural, it violates the Hippocratic Oath, and laws are to extensive. Protecting life is the ethical view of society today, and legalizing euthanasia offsets thatRead MoreShould Euthanasia be Prohibited? Essay examples1553 Words   |  7 Pagesher to evade pain and enter a realm of eternal sleep. This action is called euthanasia. Euthanasia is defined as â€Å"a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending a life of another to relieve that person’s suffering and where the act is the cause of death† (Gupta, Bhatnagar, and Mishra 1). Unfortunately, this type of situation is not far from reality. In fact, the first national survey on euthanasia, conducted in 1990, showed that 8,100 deaths resulted from administration ofRead MoreEuthanasia: The Solution Is a Bad Idea834 Words   |  3 PagesEuthanasia: The â€Å"Solution† is a Bad Idea Protecting life is the ethical view of society today, and legalizing euthanasia offsets that. Religious figures have recently welcomed the idea of getting God back into this debate. Ed Feinstein, senior rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California states that, â€Å"It [prayer] recognizes God as the one who decides ‘Who will live and who will die’† (Wood 3). Assisted suicide is a peculiar process and not the intended way to die. Similarly, the constitutionRead MoreDeath With Dignity Essay900 Words   |  4 Pagessituation every day. Fortunately, there is an option that they can turn to: euthanasia, also known as physician-assisted suicide. Euthanasia is the humane killing of ones self when terminally ill. It has been supported and shown to be moral by many political figures and follows several Democratic ideals. Euthanasia is a humane and moral way to end ones life during a time of unrecoverable suffering. The ways that euthanasia promotes the common good and help grant people their individual rights areRead MoreThe Hidden Potential Of Euthanasia1006 Words   |  5 PagesThe Hidden Potential of Euthanasia When people think of the term â€Å"dying with dignity† they will usually picture themselves living a very fulfilling life where everyone saw them as some sort of hero. Maybe they want to be seen as someone who was strong and kept up with a battle to fight disease. This same image could come to mind with a person who chose to take their own life rather than let a disease or terminal illness be the reason for them dying. There are very few people that imagine dyingRead MoreIs Euthanasia A Mercy Killing Or Assisted Suicide?947 Words   |  4 Pagesof which that is most commonly discussed and debated is euthanasia. Also referred to as mercy killing or assisted suicide, euthanasia is defined as the â€Å"act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy†. (Euthanasia) Though such a basic definition is provided, mercy killing can be classified into several different categories. V oluntary euthanasia is performed with the permission and consent of the personRead MoreEuthanasia 1044 Words   |  5 Pages Science Paper: Euthanasia An 80-year-old man is rushed to the hospital after complaining of acute pain occurring in his abdomen and back. The patient has a yellow disfigured color suggesting the possibility of jaundice. Doctors discover through premature reports that the 80-year-old man is also suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. After being hospitalized for several days, the family is told that the patient has terminal pancreatic cancer; one of the most painful types of cancer. They are toldRead MoreEuthanasia And Physician Assisted Suicide983 Words   |  4 Pagesviews on Euthanasia or Physician-assisted suicide and how they should or should not be legal. In some cases people feel as if the patient who are suffering from a terminal painful disease should have the right to commit suicide in other cases people feel as if the patient is being selfish to end their life when you have loved ones that are going to suffer because they killed themselves. People feel it should or should not be legal because o f right to die, living wills, and Hippocratic Oath. RightRead MoreEuthanasi A More Humane Option For Suffering And Dying Patients1328 Words   |  6 Pages Euthanasia would be a more humane option for suffering and dying patients. Afterall, death row inmates have the option of lethal injection because it is more humane, so why are competent patients not given the same option? Why do we allow people who committed serious crimes to have a humane death, but force innocent patients with severe illnesses, to suffer through the pain? Giving a suffering patient the option to end their misery in a relatively quick and painless way would not only ease their

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Changes And Changes Of Change Blindness Essay - 1471 Words

Change blindness shows surprising perception phenomenon that is noticed through the visual change of stimulus introduced and observers do not notice the change. When observer fails to observe and notice the change major changes and differences introduced into an image at a flick off and on again. People having poor ability in detecting the changes are argued to have limitation of human attention (Hecht-Nielsen McKenna, 2003). Change blindness has provided a wide range of research that has important and practical implications especially in eyewitness position and distraction while driving among other areas. In early observation of change blindness was made in 19th century when the film was edited and introduced. The editor came to realize that those watching it were not noticing the changed background (Norman, 2006). This made Williams James to become the first person to mention the lack of ability to detect the changes according to principles of psychology. According to research, the earliest experimental change blindness is developed from the phenomena such as eye movements and more on working memory. It depends on the personal attention to the images they perceive (MacWhinney, 2001). Although individual have well informed and good memory on whether or not they have perceived an image, they also have poor recalling ability especially on the smaller details that are presented in that image. This is evidently through presentation of the complex pictures that are stimulatedShow MoreRelatedChange Blindness And Its Effects On Blindness1852 Words   |  8 Pagesto explain why change blindness occurs and in what situations is change blindness more likely to occur. Literature on change blindness is quite extensive, as it is an emerging area in psychology. A number of researchers have conducted experiments into the key areas where change blindness has been found to cause consequential outcomes. These areas include the effects of change blindne ss on eye witness testimonies, driving ability, and effects on autism. Literature on change blindness places an emphasisRead More Change Blindness Essay1563 Words   |  7 PagesChange Blindness After investigating spatial cognition and the construction of cognitive maps in my previous paper, Where Am I Going? Where Have I Been: Spatial Cognition and Navigation, and growing in my comprehension of the more complex elements of the nervous system, the development of an informed discussion of human perception has become possible. The formation of cognitive maps, which serve as internal representations of the world, are dependent upon the human capacities for visionRead MoreChange Blindness: a Literature Review on Attention1664 Words   |  7 PagesChange Blindness: A Literature Review on Attention When going about our daily lives, just how much are we missing of the things around us? Visual attention has fascinated psychologists and now research is being carried out to distinguish to what extent, our attention or the absence of it, can affect our day-to-day lives. Change blindness is something we all experience at some point, some more than others. By definition it refers to the failure a person has to notice a change that would otherwiseRead MoreThe Detection Of Change Blindness1429 Words   |  6 Pages1 – Briefly describe the aim(s) of the study In the abstract the authors Daniel. J. Simmons and Daniel. T. Levin, document that the aim of the study was to determine the detection of change blindness for objects in still images and motion pictures, but their focus was to use people in the real world. In the abstract it is pointed out that the research was divided into two similar experiments only changing specific details in which the surrounding objects, such as; clothing, accessories and theirRead MoreChange Blindness Essay1362 Words   |  6 Pagestraffic accidents. The goal of this paper is to look at research and explain how change blindness can possibly effect driving. One failure of awareness that seems to have a connection with traffic accidents is change blindness. Rensink (2002) proposed that change blindness occurs when a change within the scene goes unnoticed, due to the inability or difficulty to detect it. Resink (2002) also explained that change blindness can take place during a disruption in vision, such as an eye- movement or aRead MoreChange Blindness: a Literature Review on Attention1674 Words   |  7 PagesChange Blindness: A Literature Review on Attention When going about our daily lives, just how much are we missing of the things around us? Visual attention has fascinated psychologists and now research is being carried out to distinguish to what extent, our attention or the absence of it, can affect our day-to-day lives. Change blindness is something we all experience at some point, some more than others. By definition it refers to the failure a person has to notice a change that would otherwiseRead MoreChange Blindness And The Field Of Human Sensation And Perception1926 Words   |  8 Pages Change blindness is a phenomenon in attention where drastic changes to a scene can go unnoticed. This is important to the field of Human Sensation and Perception because it helps illustrate how a visual scene is processed. Specifically it shows how even if there is direct attention to a scene, there are times when drastic changes can occur without perception of the change occurring. With extensive research already conducted illustrating thi s effect, new research has recently been conducted studyingRead MoreThe Effects Of Change Blindness On Adults : How Did We Miss That?1525 Words   |  7 PagesThe Effects of Change Blindness in Adults: How did we miss that? In the article review, â€Å"Failure to Detect Changes in People During a Real-World Interaction,† Daniel T. Levin of Kent University and Daniel J. Simpson of Harvard university sought to research change blindness, but through a different perspective than previous research. In many previous studies, change blindness was tested through moving images, two-dimensional images on television or computer screens, or even through in-lab tests.Read MoreNative America Hypothesis1226 Words   |  5 Pagesdetermine a change between pictures. Data were analyzed using a linear regression model where the average time taken to notice a change was used as a dependent variable, and the age was used as an independent variable. This analysis revealed that there is not a significant difference between age and the amount of time that it took any individual to notice a change, F (1, 224) = 3.52, p = .06. Results show that there was an insignificant increase of .27 seconds in time taken to notice t he change betweenRead MoreThe Reoccurring Blues Music And The Blindness Of The Book The Song 1453 Words   |  6 PagesThe reoccurring blues music plays a significant role in the blindness of the book. In the song â€Å"Nobody Knows the Trouble I ve Seen† by Louis Armstrong, Louis sings â€Å"Sometimes I m up, sometimes I m down, ohh, yes Lord Sometimes I m almost to the ground, oh yes, Lord Nobody knows the trouble I ve seen†. The narrator claims â€Å"Perhaps I like Louis Armstrong because he s made poetry out of being invisible† (Ellison, 10). This statement by the narrator is ironic because the narrator is literally being

Saturday, December 14, 2019

The Effects of Standardized Tests on Education Free Essays

Standardized tests have been debated and argued for as many years as they have existed. It is worthwhile to look at some of the arguments for both sides and find out if there can be some middle ground. Two important factors of standardized tests are the way the tests are administered and how the results are handled. We will write a custom essay sample on The Effects of Standardized Tests on Education or any similar topic only for you Order Now These two issues may be more important than the tests themselves. There must be ways to have accountability in most areas of society. In schools, we need to know if teachers are teaching and if students are learning. There has to be some way to judge whether the system is working. Standardized tests can show students’ strengths and weaknesses. Ideally, teachers then develop strategies to address the needs of the student that the test has outlined. These tests can help predict selection at college, justification for scholarships, and selection for employment. They can document achievement, both for the student and the teacher. â€Å"The fundamental ideas behind the construction and use of tests are not beyond our understanding†. Says Andrew J. Strenio Jr.  These tests â€Å"certify that the examinee does have the requisite skills and competencies needed to graduate from high school programs, practice in an occupation or profession, or receive elevated status within a profession†. (Defending Standardized Testing; Phelps, Richard. We could not function in society without some basic standards and these standards need to be uniform throughout our society. Chauncey and Dobbin write in their book Testing: It’s Place in Education Today:â€Å"Every school and almost every teacher uses a test at some point in the process of planning instruction that will fit the student and his capacities†. Standardized testing is just a larger scale for comparison. It offers feedback to the student and the school system about where achievement is in certain areas. But it should not be the only criteria for what we consider success. There is a great deal of criticism of standardized tests. Making test scores public is a way to see them as indicators of school quality. This has increased their value 100% but not in a particularly good way. Officials use an assortment of bribes and threats to coerce everyone into concentrating on test results. If the scores are high, the bribes may include bonuses for teachers and schools. Students may receive food, tickets to theme parks or sporting events, exemptions from in-class final exams, and even scholarships. The threats include loss of funding or accreditation for schools, while students may be held back a year or denied a high school diploma if they don’t test well, regardless of their over-all academic record. All together, these tactics are known as ‘high stakes’ testing. There may not be data on this, but Alfie Kohn states â€Å"the people who work most closely with kids are the most likely to understand the limits of standardized tests. † He says that â€Å"support for testing seems to grow as you move away from the students, going from teacher to principal to central office administrator to school board member to state board member, state legislator, and governor. † 3 Standardized Minds by Peter Sacks talks about the unquestioned position of standardized testing which he terms â€Å"an unhealthy and enduring obsession†. He also writes about the cost of all this testing. â€Å"The amount Americans spend taking tests, preparing for tests, scoring tests, and running magnificently elaborate testing programs in schools, colleges and the workplace is stunning, probably running in the billions of dollars each year. It is possible that Americans may be taking as many as 600 million standardized tests annually, or more than two tests per year for every man, woman, and child in the United States. Unreasonable demands of ‘higher scores’ from schools has many negative results. Alfie Kohn says â€Å"Teachers are beginning to tire of the pressure, the skewed priorities, and the disrespectful treatment as they are forced to implement a curriculum largely determined by test manufacturers or state legislators. † A hostile environment develops as teachers feel the need to prove that low scores were not their fault. An unhealthy competition is set up between teachers. High-stakes testing has led to widespread cheating. Recently, Atlanta schools cheating scandal has been front page news. An article in Substance News by George N. Schmidt on Dec. 26, 2010 details the depth and breadth of the CRCT scandal. The article is part of series that has examined the statistically improbable gains in test scores in Atlanta schools and how school district officials responded to them. The money spent on this investigation could probably build a new school. The expectation of higher scores means teachers are more likely to â€Å"teach to the test’ and become drill sergeants. Other things like fine arts fall to the wayside as math and science are emphasized. From the book Standardized Minds: â€Å"Researchers have found consistently that one of the most damaging effects of large-scale, big-stakes standardized testing in schools has been to: (1) oversimplify what’s taught in school; and (2) to severely constrict what is taught to only those items most likely to appear on an upcoming standardized test. There is blame and consequence to cheating, whether it is outright erasures on tests or days of teaching the test. But it should help us to rethink the pressures on ‘high-stakes’ testing. Maybe the Atlanta cheating scandal can show us that our response to the test score is way out of line. School districts, schools, teachers, and students should not have to be tested under such extreme pressure. This threatening atmosphere makes cheating a likelihood. Grades and test scores don’t tell us what we really want to know about somebody. The Case Against Standardized Testing includes a list offered by educator Bill Ayers: â€Å"Standardized tests can’t measure initiative, creativity, imagination, conceptual thinking, curiosity, effort, irony, judgment, commitment, nuance, good will, ethical reflection, or a host of other valuable dispositions and attributes. What they can measure and count are isolated skills, specific facts and functions, the least interesting and least significant aspects of learning†. Maybe it is not a ‘bad test’ but how the results are handled. Daniel Koretz in Measuring Up talks about the limits of test scores. He says â€Å"What education leaders want is a fair, straight-forward measure of school performance, to be able to monitor schools and hold them accountable. The problem is that we tend to overestimate what tests can do. Tests are not designed to summarize all that students and schools can do†. By the same token Andrew Strenio states that â€Å"Standardized tests convey an illusion of much greater precision than they are actually capable of achieving†. Learning is a process and process is defined as movement, a series of actions or changes. That is what makes it hard to precisely measure. So maybe we should not pin so much on standardized tests. Instead, make them a component of the over-all measurement of quality achievement. Valerie Janesick states in The Assessment Debate that â€Å"Learning does not take place by sheer dumb chance or luck . It takes place by design†. She makes reference to Grant Wiggins saying â€Å"the goal is not instant reform or instant knowing but rather a continuous process that results in understanding†. Priscilla Vail states â€Å"Above all, parents, students, and educators must remember that a test only shows what one person did on one exercise on one day. A standardized test score is not a license to live or a measure of deserving oxygen and space on our planet. † The opportunity to demonstrate what you know can also be done with portfolio assessment, group or individual projects, and take-home exams. We should strive to create schools that help students flourish. We should also strive to hire administrators who can develop and implement new criteria for measuring achievement that could go along with the standardized tests. How to cite The Effects of Standardized Tests on Education, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Channel Integration free essay sample

In the world of Sales and Distribution Management, it is imperative to have upstream partners like logistics , distributor , retailers , transporter and whole sellers to effectively sell the products manufactured by a company . Channel integration is a collaborative effort to bring together all these partners into the system and integrate the efforts so that all the partners are benefited out of it. By using the concepts of Channel Integration, rather than the traditional methods of distribution the organisations save on transaction costs and have better control over the partners. This concept also closely relates to the Supply Chain Management and better management of downstream partners. Importance of Channel Integration As has been suggested in the previous paragraphs , the concept of Channel Integration helps us reduce the transaction cost and enjoy better control over the channel members . SCM concepts of Collaborative Planning ,Replenishment and Forecasting (CPFR) apply to the Channel integration. Experts suggest that there is a cost saving to the tune of 10-15% by using channel integration. Channel integration provides sustainable competitive advantage by using the following concepts: †¢ It bridges gaps between the consumption and production . The gaps that can be bridged include but are not limited to quantity gap , space gap time gap and variety gaps †¢ Since the manufacturer can have real time information of the consumption on distributor and retailer front , it helps him plan the inventory and production levels , thus preventing the stock pile at the retailer , distributor or the manufacturer level. Channel integration is useful in the international and the exports markets as well †¢ Channel Integration helps build a strong relationship between the channel members and helps each exploit the advantage the other holds in the market . This concept is built along the lines of exploiting horizontal as well as vertical integration in the channel †¢ Channel Integration by virtue of controlling the inventory levels at all stages of integration , prevents and avoids the issues of stock outs . Issues like over stocking and Bull whip effect can also be effectively dealt with the using this. Channel integration helps in reduction of transaction cost and have great control over entire process by elimination of individual vested interests and working towards common goals. †¢ As different channel members have different degree of experience and expertise. If all of them work together for common purpose then it can lead to becoming a very efficient distribution system. †¢ Successful integration work as barrier to entry in market as it provides competitive advantage to the company and helps in reduction of sales due to stock out situations. Integrated channel also helps in doing sales promotion and campaigns for increasing sales. Manufacture and channel can forge a relationship and strike a good balance on need and timings of promotion. †¢ An integrated channel strategy also works a successful marketing strategy against its co mpetitors and helps to win competition. Vertical Marketing System In Vertical Marketing system, channel is controlled by one of the channel members and the manufacturer, distributor and retailers vertically integrate to form a marketing system. The member join together for the mutual benefit and helps the companies to control the changing market conditions. Vertical Marketing systems or VMS allows better cooperation between the channel members and reduces conflicts . Good examples of companies successfully completing VMS are Mc Donalds and Wendy. Vertical Marketing System can be further subdivided into Corporate VMS, Adminstered VMS and contractual VMS. Corporate VMS In a corporate VMS , the VMS is owned and controlled by the manufacturer. Since control is in the hands of the company , it develops the key strategies to properly coordinate the VMS. When the company runs the VMS at the retailer or distributor level , this is known as the forward integrated VMS. Certain factors help the company decide if the company should develop Corporate VMS . Following are the factors which decide the same †¢ The cost involved †¢ Price competition †¢ Manufacturing capacity †¢ Value addition †¢ Product sustainability †¢ Environmental uncertainty †¢ Coordination and team selling †¢ Transaction size Administered VMS In this type of VMS , no member exercises complete over the channel . This type of the VMS is used by companies who are into traditional distribution system. In administered VMS, level of control is more than traditional system but less than corporate VMS. This type of system is mainly popular in retail sector as lately importance of retailers has increased in trade. Retailers in this system work closely with manufacturer and helps in development of new products designs, quality control and delivery schedule. Retailers have got greater bargaining power in this system. The foundation of this system is longevity and stability of relation between manufacturer and retailer. Relations are usually long term. These types of systems are prevalent in grocery, apparel and finished goods sector. The need for administered VMS arises due to following factors: 1. Good product quality 2. Very agile delivery schedules 3. Joint product development 4. Need based delivery system 5. Strong company brand and image Contractual VMS In this type of VMS, companies enter in to contact with channel members for performing channel functions. In this type of systems all entities are independent yet they work together towards common goal. This type of arrangement can be utilized either to exploit marketing capabilities or to exploit resources available with partners. One primary need for such arrangement is to have sound knowledge of legal and contractual clauses so that all situations can be mentioned in contract. This requires thorough understanding of business and repercussions in case of non-delivery. Contract requires mentioning all deliverables, SLA and also penalty clause in case of non-performance. Most of organization works through this type of system by outsourcing their activities. Horizontal Marketing Systems In this system, channels at same level work together to harness opportunity available in market by pooling in their joint resources and skills. This arrangement helps to complement each other by skills which everyone may not have so by being together a consortium is having all required skills and knowledge to become successful in market. It may be technology, money or marketing knowledge. Such arrangements usually take form of JV or strategic alliances. For successful integration it is likely to have four mix ups which are operational, intellectual, social and emotional. Operational integration means standardization of manufacturing and marketing processes. Intellectual integration includes sharing of information at all levels so that gaps can be minimized and knowledge can be used. Social and emotional integration means that employees at same level in all organizations work together and collaborate to achieve a single goal. This type of system is quite successful in pharma, research development and retailing segments. As advance research requires lot of knowledge and skill such arrangement helps to share the same across board and achieve objective with lesser cost and higher speed. Hybrid Channel Systems Hybrid channels systems is merger of two or more type of systems like Vertical and horizontal system. Many companies to beat competition resort to multiple channel system like direct selling, channel selling, internet selling and telemarketing. Main purpose for implementing such system is to overcome difficulties faced due to different and large boundaries, different behaviour shown by customers and difficult territories. Also target of achieving higher sales continuously push to go for new means of achieving the same. Different steps in developing hybrid channel involve identification of determinants, identification of channel mix and selection of channel. After this comparing the outcome of channel with that of planned one and then analyse results. Distributor Advisory Council It is necessary to motivate channel so that best performance can be achieved. To motivate them, it is important to understand their issues and needs to that same can be taken care of. It is work of Distributor advisory council to determine needs and problems of channel and apprise the same to manufacturer for appropriate action. Advisory council encourage sharing of information between channel and manufacturer. It also motivates channel to provide inputs in planning process and improve overall working. Personal relation and strong relationship also helps to engage in channel members. Company should also try to provide enough incentive to channel so that they can improve sales by putting in extra efforts and lowering costs. Modifying Channel Arrangement Most of the companies think that Once the Channel setup is in place, then there is no need to do any changes in the channel setup. As same channel setup can be used in all the time and all situations. But this thought process is not right, different situations required different channel arrangement. We can discuss the how different situations can have impact on Channel arrangement. Product Lifecycle Changes: Different distribution strategy is required for product Based on the Product life cycle stage of the product. Even for the same product, different distribution strategy is required at the different stages of PLC. As in the early stage, the motivation of the distributor to sell a product will be low as compared to the product in growth stage. Also in the early stage the Distribution should be selective in the early stage of PLC and later when the products enter the growth stage then extensive distribution stragety is to be used. There will be one point of influx when distribution strategy is to be changed from selective to extensive. Customer driven refinement of existing channels Based on the consumer behaviour study, it is found that with time there are changes in the customer expectation from same product. For example, the products and services which used to be luxury 10 years back are now commodities. So earlier companies if were able to perform even missing on some particular distribution channel, but because of change in expectation, it becomes necessary to be available on those channels.. Companies need to take into consideration for these changes and modify their distribution strategy. If companies will not modify their distribution strategy with time, then it will become difficult to survive in the competing environment. For example now Online retail has been so popular, if any company is not concentrating on this channel, then it will be difficult to survive in near future. Growth of multi-channel marketing systems Earlier, companies used to rely on one distribution channel for reaching to the customer, but because of changing environment and consumer behaviour, no company can rely on only one kind of distribution channel. Companies are trying to use different distribution channel to reach the customer. Earlier companies were using only tradition distribution system(Distributor -gt; Wholesaler -gt; Retailer -gt; Customer) , but with Modern Trade into picture, companies have started putting emphasis on this distribution channel also. Looking at the exmples of Developed economies where Modern Trade constitutes of more than 80% of the Sales, it is evident that in Future, Modern Trade will take a major share of the overall sales. Managing Channel Relationship Once the distribution system is in place and different channels are established, then organization needs to maintain the channel relationships. It is an important part of the Sales and Distribution because good relationship will not be maintained with channel members, and then it can impact the company’s objective. Cooperation and Coordination AS each channel member have a different role in the overall strategy of the company. So It is the companies responsibility that all channel members should work in-sync with each other. Different channel members should co-operate and co-ordinate with other channel members, so that overall objective of growth for the company can be achieved. Conflict As the organization goal is to achieve higher customer reach and growth for all the channel members. But it is possible that some channel members work in way which help them grow at the expense of other channel members. This can have a negative impact on the overall company strategy. In such scenario companies have to intervene and resolve the conflict. There are two stages of the conflict Perceptual Stage: When it is perceived that there is some conflict on-going between different channel members. Manifest Stage: Once it is know that conflict exist then, company will take some corrective action to resolve the conflict. This stage is called as manifest stage of the conflict. Power A channel member’s capability of changing the behaviour of other channel members can be termed as the channel power. If one channel members have some resource which is required by other channel members, then the channel member having resource can exert power on other. This is not a good situation for the company. There are basically five types of power viz. Coercive power, Expert Power, Legitimate power, Referent power and Reward power. Coercive power is exercised by one channel partner, when he has ability to get the things done from other. It can be exercised either by decreasing profit margins or by withdrawing the rights given earlier. Expert power is enjoyed by channel when he has expertise or special knowledge about product or market. He may have gained it by attending special trainings or by having long period of experience in industry. Legitimate power can be granted by way of exclusive contract which one channel member may have. This contract gives him extra power and rights over the other channel members. Referent power is derived by channel based on his relationship with other channel members or manufacturer based on previous history. Channel may be well known in market for its reputation etc. Reward power is enjoyed by channel when he gets appreciated for his work by industry or manufacturer. As powers can be misutilised as well, Company should always try to balance the power between different distribution channel members. Channel Integration- Sales and Distribution Management Prepared by: Pankaj Jain- 31 Vishal Babuta-63 Rohit Khanna-72 October 2010 PTPGPM Batch

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Restaurant feasibility report free essay sample

The information has been provided on ‘as is where is’ basis without any warranties or assertions as to the correctness or soundness thereof. Although, due care and diligence has been taken to compile this document, the contained information may vary due to any change in any of the concerned factors, and the actual results may differ substantially from the presented information. SMEDA, its employees or agents do not assume any liability for any financial or other loss resulting from this memorandum in consequence of undertaking this activity. The contained  information does not preclude any further professional advice. The prospective user of this memorandum is encouraged to carry out additional diligence and gather any information which is necessary for making an informed decision including taking professional advice from a qualified consultant / technical expert before taking any decision to act upon the information. For more information on services offered by SMEDA, please contact our website: www. We will write a custom essay sample on Restaurant feasibility report or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page smeda. org. pk SMEDA Services / Information related to PM’s Youth Business Loan are FREE OF COST The objective of the pre-feasibility study is primarily to facilitate potential entrepreneurs in project identification for investment. The project pre-feasibility may form the basis of an important investment decision and in order to serve this objective, the document / study covers various aspects of project concept development, start-up, production, marketing, finance and business management. The purpose of this document is to facilitate potential investors in Restaurant Cum Fast Food Restaurant (Take Away) business by providing them with a general understanding of the business with the intention of supporting potential investors in crucial investment decisions. The need to come up with pre-feasibility reports for undocumented or minimally documented sectors attains greater imminence as the research that precedes such reports reveal certain thumb rules; best practices developed  by existing enterprises by trial and error, and certain industrial norms that become a guiding source regarding various aspects of business set-up and it’s successful management. Apart from carefully studying the whole document, one must consider critical aspects provided later on, which form basis of any investment decision. 3. INTRODUCTION TO SMEDA The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) was established in October 1998 with an objective to provide fresh impetus to the economy through development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). With a mission to assist in employment generation and value addition to the national income, through development of the SME sector, by helping increase the number, scale and competitiveness of SMEs, SMEDA has carried out ‘sectoral research’ to identify policy, access to finance, business development services, strategic initiatives and institutional collaboration and networking initiatives. Preparation and dissemination of prefeasibility studies in key areas of investment has been a hallmark of SME facilitation by SMEDA. Concurrent to the prefeasibility studies, a broad spectrum of business development services is also offered to the SMEs by SMEDA. These services include identification of experts and consultants and delivery of need based capacity building programs of different types in addition to business guidance through help desk services. Prime Minister’s Youth Business Loan for young entrepreneurs, with an allocated budget of Rs. 5.0 Billion for the year 2013-14, is designed to provide subsidised financing at 8% mark-up per annum for one hundred thousand (100,000) beneficiaries, by designated financial institutions, initially by National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and First Women Bank Ltd. (FWBL). Loans from Rs. 0. 1 million to Rs. 2. 0 million, with tenure up to 8 years, inclusive of 1 year grace period and a debt: equity of 90 : 10 will be disbursed to SME beneficiaries across Pakistan, covering; Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwah, Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Jammu Kashmir and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). 5. The fast food restaurant is proposed to be established at a location that has a continuous stream of traffic, convenient parking, and is in proximity to other businesses, preferably near densely populated middle income areas or flat complexes. Major cities like Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Multan, Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Hub and Quetta etc. are suitable to house the project. Common menu items at the proposed fast food outlet include sandwiches, burgers, fried chicken, Chinese soups, Chinese rice variants, French fries, salad and cold drinks. The fast food restaurant will have an installed capacity to serve 335 clients per day; however, the restaurant would initially start business with 140-150 clients. 10 personnel would be required to manage the operations of fast food restaurant. Total Cost Estimates are Rs. 2. 20 million with a fixed investment of Rs. 1. 88 million and an initial working capital requirement of Rs. 0. 32 million. Given the cost assumptions, internal rate of Return (IRR) and payback are 54% and 2. 25 years respectively. The most critical considerations or factors for success of the project are: 1. Choosing the right location for the fast food outlet 2. Creating the right menu and menu pricing 3. Hiring experienced cooks and staff 4. Knowing the competition SMEDA Services / Information related to PM’s Youth Business Loan are FREE OF COST 4 Pre-Feasibility Study Restaurant Cum Fast Food (Take Away) 6. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT AND PRODUCT Fast food is a name given to food which is prepared with preheated or precooked ingredients and served to customers in a packaged form for take-away or dine in. Many fast-food restaurants operate chains or franchise operations, where standardized foodstuff is shipped to each restaurant from a central location. There are also simpler fast-food outlets, such as stands or kiosks, which may or may not provide seating arrangements for customers. As capital requirements to start a fast-food restaurant are relatively low, individually-owned fast-food restaurants have become popular and common throughout Pakistan. Market growth largely depends on demographics, urbanization, changing lifestyle patterns and demand for convenience. Thus all these variables determine the potential of fast food business. The proposed setup with used fast food cooking machinery including fryers, grilling machine, soup containers and pre-processing equipment would serve popular fast food and Chinese cuisine. †¢ Location: The business is envisaged to be established as a fast food takeaway/outlet, with limited seating capacity on rented premises/shop of around 500 sqft. , near a densely populated area suitable for fast food. Major cities like Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Multan, Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Hub or Quetta etc.  soups, have been selected to be served separately or as combo meals through the outlet. The restaurant is proposed to have an installed capacity of serving 335 customer per day but is estimated to start with 140-150 customers per day. †¢ Target Market: The middle income segment of major cities such as Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Multan, Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Hub or Quetta etc.  is the target market for the business. †¢ Employment Generation: employment to 10 people. The proposed project will provide direct 7. CRITICAL FACTORS Whether an entrepreneur is opening a one-of-a-kind no-frills fast food restaurant or trying to expand an existing fast food outlet into a multi-unit chain, there are SMEDA Services / Information related to PM’s Youth Business Loan are FREE OF COST 5 Pre-Feasibility Study Restaurant Cum Fast Food (Take Away) winning principles that can improve the chances of success. Some key success factors are as follows: Selecting the right location and layout Hiring well experienced staff especially cooks and servers Quality Hygiene Creating the right menu Menu pricing Operational food quality consistency Knowing the competition 8. INSTALLED AND OPERATIONAL CAPACITIES In the fast food restaurant business, the installed capacities are mainly dependant on the location and layout of the outlet, service style, food concept and the target market. The proposed fast food business is envisaged to be established as a take-away outlet with limited seating capacity around it. The restaurant is expected to serve around 335 customers in a day. At start up, the operational capacities are estimated to be around 140-150 clients. Once the fast food gains popularity and acceptance, sales are expected to increase with the same installed capacity. 9. GEOGRAPHICAL POTENTIAL FOR INVESTMENT In recent years, much of the expansion in the fast food business has been in the form of satellite outlets. These tend to be smaller in size, with little or no seating capacity, and are often in nontraditional locations, such as office buildings, department stores, airports, and gasoline stations i.e. locations chosen specifically to maximize convenience and consumer accessibility. It is important to find a location that has a continuous stream of traffic, convenient parking, and is in proximity to other businesses or densely populated middle income areas / apartment buildings, where the target market is available. Here are some factors to consider when deciding on a location to e stablish a fast food outlet: †¢ †¢ Anticipated sales volume. Estimate the sales potential of a location. Accessibility and visibility. Consider how easy it will be for customers to get to the outlet. If an entrepreneur is relying on strong pedestrian traffic, it SMEDA Services / Information related to PM’s Youth Business Loan are FREE OF COST 6 Pre-Feasibility Study Restaurant Cum Fast Food (Take Away) should be considered whether or not nearby businesses will generate foot traffic. †¢ The rent-paying capacity of the business. Sales-and-profit projections give a fair idea of how much revenue can be generated. This information can be used to decide how much rent can be paid. †¢ Restrictive ordinances. Unusually restrictive ordinances can encountered that make an otherwise strong site less than ideal. †¢ Traffic density. Two factors are especially important in this analysis: total pedestrian traffic during business hours and the percentage of it that is likely to patronize the food service business. †¢ Customer parking facilities. The site should provide convenient and adequate parking and easy access for customers. †¢ Proximity to other businesses. Neighboring businesses may influence the fast food’s sales volume, and their presence can have both positive and negative implications. †¢ History of the site. The recent history of each site under consideration should be ascertained before making a final selection. †¢ Terms of the lease. All the details of the lease must be carefully read, as it is possible to encounter unacceptable lease terms for an otherwise excellent site. †¢ Future development. The local Development Authority / Planning Board should be consulted to check if any development is planned for the future that could affect the business, such as bridges, underpasses or any construction restricting accessibility. be 10. POTENTIAL TARGET MARKETS / CUTOMERS The fast food restaurant market is a growing segment in Pakistan relying heavily on the changing lifestyle patterns, population growth of the target age group and increase in employment of women. The fast food consumption has also increased due to increase in the employment rate of male / female population aged between 20 to 45 years (fast food goers). In todays hectic urban lifestyles, demand for convenience dominates all other preferences. People want quick and convenient meals. They do not want to spend a lot of time preparing meals, traveling to pick up meals, or waiting for meals in restaurants. As a result, consumers rely on fast food. However, the major chunk of fast-food goers, the middle income segment, prefers visiting outlets that offer fast food at affordable prices. Fast Food outlets tend to focus on the â€Å"work while you eat† or â€Å"shop while SMEDA Services / Information related to PM’s Youth Business Loan are FREE OF COST 7 Pre-Feasibility Study Restaurant Cum Fast Food (Take Away) you eat† philosophy and fast food restaurants are rapidly becoming the eateries everyone can agree on, with many featuring menu combos for children, play areas and fancy branding campaigns, designed to appeal to younger customers. 11. PROCESS FLOW The service delivery diagram of the proposed fast food restaurant is as follows. Service Process Drive through customer Place order ? Front desk ? Walk in customer Meal preparation Main course (Grill/Fry meat Fry rice curry Prepare/heat soup Order in queue Takeaway Assembling order Server Sideline preparation SMEDA Services / Information related to PM’s Youth Business Loan are FREE OF COST Dine-in 8 Pre-Feasibility Study Restaurant Cum Fast Food (Take Away) 12. PROJECT COST SUMMARY A detailed financial model has been developed to analyze the commercial viability of this project. Various costs and revenue related assumptions along with results of the analysis are outlined in this section. The projected Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement and Balance Sheet are attached as annexure. 12. 1 Project Economics The following table shows internal rates of return and payback period for fastfood restaurant starting operations with 140-150 clients. Table 1 Project Economics Description Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Payback Period (yrs) Net Present Value (NPV) Details 54% 2 . 25 years Rs 6,997,879 Returns on the project and its profitability are highly dependent on the location, quality of food and service, efficiency of the service team, interest of the owner manager and competition. Waiting area Total Area Area (Sqft. ) 350 100 25 25 500 Cost of Renovation Amount (Rs. ) 175,000 30,000 20,500 7,500 233,000 The proposed premise would be acquired on rental basis with 3 months deposit and 3 months advance rent after which, rent will be payable every month. The monthly rent is estimated at approximately Rs. 85 / Sq. feet amounting to Rs. 42,500 per month for the proposed fast food outlet (500 Sq Ft. ). The premise renovation costs of Rs. 233,000/- would be depreciated at the rate of 10% per annum using diminishing balance method. Machinery and Equipment Fast-food machines are easily available in the local market but the entrepreneur also has the choice to select from international brands such as Spinzer, Frymaster, Henny Penny, Lincoln, Ayrking, Keating, Mirror, Carpigiani, Lincat, Morretti, Ilsa, Round-Up, Sanyo, Elettrobar etc. Chinese brands have gained popularity over the years and can also be considered. The machines can be purchased through international vendors with a minimum delivery period of 3 months while refurbished / reconditioned machines are also available.

Monday, November 25, 2019

10 Comma Cases in Which More Is More

10 Comma Cases in Which More Is More 10 Comma Cases in Which More Is More 10 Comma Cases in Which More Is More By Mark Nichol The movement toward open punctuation the omission of commas in cases in which they are deemed optional has its merits, but writers and editors should take care to retain commas or even insert additional ones to clarify meaning: 1. â€Å"He points to the benefits and wonders how schools can justify not investing in tools for disabled students.† Because wonders can be a noun as well as a verb, and because a pairing of the noun form with benefits initially makes sense, it might be misread here as such. To avoid this misunderstanding, insert a comma after benefits to give the reader pause and signal a new thought: â€Å"He points to the benefits, and wonders how schools can justify not investing in tools for disabled students.† Alternatively, alter the introductory phrase and make the following phrase an independent clause: â€Å"Pointing to the benefits, he wonders how schools can justify not investing in tools for disabled students.† 2. â€Å"The dog should be content to bark at passing trains and slumber.† The sentence incorrectly implies that the dog barks at two things: passing trains and slumber. But bark at refers only to trains, not to slumber. How about reordering the sentence to place slumber first? (â€Å"The dog should be content to slumber and bark at passing trains.†) Now he’s slumbering at passing trains, then barking at them. Either introduce a comma or insert a parallel-signaling to, or both: â€Å"The dog should be content to bark at passing trains, and to slumber.† 3. â€Å"Couch or calisthenics? A majority of California students are opting for a couch based on the results of the state’s annual physical fitness test.† As the second sentence is structured, the couch appears to be based on the fitness test results. Insert a comma after couch to clarify the structure (and in the initial sentence, follow couch with a comma there, too, for the same reason): â€Å"Couch, or calisthenics? A majority of California students are opting for a couch, based on the results of the state’s annual physical fitness test.† Better yet, invert the syntax in the second sentence: â€Å"Couch, or calisthenics? Based on the results of the state’s annual physical fitness test, a majority of California students are opting for a couch.† 4. â€Å"The world contains too many bored fourteen-year-old boys and ex-boyfriends bearing grudges.† This reference to a particular woman’s two greatest classes of nemeses is taken out of context, but it still should be clear that only those in the latter category bear grudges. Therefore, a comma should separate the two categories: â€Å"The world contains too many bored fourteen-year-old boys, and ex-boyfriends bearing grudges.† Or, if the context allows, reverse the order and strengthen the parallel structure: â€Å"The world contains too many ex-boyfriends bearing grudges, and too many bored fourteen-year-old boys.† 5. â€Å"Halle Berry is the first African American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Monster’s Ball.† As punctuated, this sentence implies that more than one African American actress was in contention for an Academy Award for Berry’s performance. To set the record straight, set the qualification off with a comma: â€Å"Halle Berry is the first African American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar, for her performance in Monster’s Ball.† Here’s a smoother revision: â€Å"Halle Berry, who won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Monster’s Ball, is the first African-American woman to take home the award.† 6. â€Å"The prison plays an important role during the film’s third act, in which our hero is arrested thanks to the villain’s devious machinations.† The tag phrase â€Å"thanks to the villain’s devious machinations† should be set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma. Better yet, insert that parenthetical phrase into the middle of the sentence so that the result of the plotting dramatically punctuates the sentence: â€Å"The prison plays an important role, during which, thanks to the villain’s devious machinations, our hero is arrested.† 7. â€Å"Americans divide Russians into authoritarians and democrats with no regard for native context.† The sentence mistakenly implies that the two categories in question are â€Å"authoritarians† and â€Å"democrats with no regard for native context. The writer meant, â€Å"With no regard for native context, Americans divide Russians into authoritarians and democrats.† (Or start that sentence with Americans, followed by a comma.) Those revisions are more elegant than the simplest solution, employed above in other examples: â€Å"Americans divide Russians into authoritarians and democrats, with no regard for native context.† 8. â€Å"Another astronomer named Edwin Hubble cast his eye on the pulsing light of distant variable stars called Cepheids.† The initial phrase of this sentence implies the previous mention of another astronomer by that name. Solve this error by setting the name apart as an appositive, with framing commas (and delete the extraneous named): â€Å"Another astronomer, Edwin Hubble, cast his eye on the pulsing light of distant variable stars called Cepheids.† 9. â€Å"High school students who carry a poor or no understanding of evolution into college are less likely to pick careers in the biological and geological sciences. â€Å"Or no† is a parenthetical phrase in which no parallels poor as an option, and it could be omitted with no structural damage to the sentence, so it should be enclosed by a pair of commas: â€Å"High school students who carry a poor, or no, understanding of evolution into college are less likely to pick careers in the biological and geological sciences.† Alternatively, the sentence could be relaxed and given more impact with a revision such as â€Å"High school students who carry into college a poor understanding or, worse, no understanding at all of evolution are less likely to pick careers in the biological and geological sciences.† (Note the relocation of the flexible modifying phrase â€Å"into college† to smooth out the syntax.) 10. â€Å"Hindu believers are governed by the three doctrines of dharma or universal law, karma or the cumulative effects of personal actions, and samsara or the cycle of rebirth.† Always set terms off from their glosses, or brief definitions (See? I just glossed gloss), by a set of parenthetical commas; both in this explanation and in the sample sentence, the sentence structure requires a semicolon in place of the closing comma: â€Å"Hindu believers are governed by the three doctrines of dharma, or universal law; karma, or the cumulative effects of personal actions; and samsara, or the cycle of rebirth.† (A simple gloss would look like this: â€Å"Dharma, or universal law, is integral to both Hinduism and Buddhism.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:16 Substitutes for â€Å"Because† or â€Å"Because Of†Use a Dash for Number RangesAffect vs. Effect

Thursday, November 21, 2019

(case 1) human resources management (Employee Recruitment and Essay

(case 1) human resources management (Employee Recruitment and Selection) - Essay Example They company employees over 2 million associates. It is the largest employer in America. The selection process of the company is quite vast. It includes all aspects like the advertising, screening, selection process which includes interviews, assessments, testing etc. The company uses all the proven methods like interviews, qualitative testing and assessment centers. This is post the other steps like advertising and screening of applications, which form the basis to choose the candidates who would be a part of the selection process. The amount of monies that go into the entire process of selection and recruitment of employees is very high, since the process includes a number of different steps to choose the right candidate and choose the ones who would be great at what they do. The cost that can be incurred for filling in an open position is as much as $490,000. This however is the total cost which includes from advertising, until the training of the selected candidates and the figures that are provided are estimates and not the actual costs that are being incurred by the company (Bernthal, 2009). The table below provides a clear break up of all the costs. These form the direct costs of the selection process however there are a number of indirect costs that are also involved in the selection process of employees. These normally include costs which the organization incurs due to less rigorous selection method. Also another big indirect cost is the quality of the hires. The return on investment for the company can be calculated by [Benefits – Costs / Costs]*100 (Bernthal, 2009). This will provide for a clear view on the amount of return that the company makes out of the investment made into selecting, recruiting, training and paying each employee. This however includes a lot of estimations, which cannot be made by all companies. Hence it is seen that companies generally need to correctly and promptly

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Special need offender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Special need offender - Essay Example In most countries, convicted sex offenders are required to register with the sex offenders’ registry in their areas of jurisdiction. These registry databases are open to the public for viewing (Borzecki, 2008). If an individual is involved in a high-level sexual offence, he or she is deemed to stay in the registry forever but if the crime is low level, he or she may be registered for a short duration of time. There are various programs that have been established to aid in treating the sexual offenders and all programs are geared towards one goal: making the offenders refrain from committing future sexual offences. Before an individual is admitted to a treatment program it is always essential for the individual to admit guilt and agree to be treated. The reason behind this is that all sexual offenders are manipulative in nature and when put together they will effectively confront their manipulative problem since all of them have had similar experiences. Another reason for group therapy is that the offenders will be free to share with each other without fear of being victimized. These therapy groups provide the sexual offenders with the right environment to be aware of the harm they cause to their victims; they acquire new skills of coping with life as well as learn healthy ways of meeting their sexual and emotional needs both from their peers and therapists (Borzecki, 2008). Group therapy has its own pitfalls in that some sexual offenders don’t fully explain their inner most feelings. Some may hide their true emotions and tell lies to their counterparts. As a result, ascertaining if a sexual offender is telling the truth to others could be difficult. Secondly, there’s always no evidence of success of this therapy to cure sexual abuse and prevent recidivism. It is just an approach that is insisted by the system. Community notification is also a program that has been put in place in order to curb sexual offences. In this program convicted sexu al offenders are required to register to the sexual offenders’ registry and these databases are left to the public for view. The state also has a role to play by informing the public about sex offenders who live in close proximity. This program is efficient in the sense that sex offenders who are known to the public are arrested more quickly for new crimes than offenders who are not known to the public. Community notification on the other hand, has resulted in many sexual offenders losing their jobs or home, getting threats or being harassed or losing their property. Research has shown that 19% of sex offenders have realized some negative consequences in other family members. (Furby, 2009). Community notification does not fully play its role of enhancing public safety by exerting stressors such as loss of employment, shame, isolation and depression on a sexual offender. These may force the sexual offenders to commit sexual crimes again in protest of their fate. Some states al so publicize the location of sex offenders without fully conducting risk assessment and this may bring anxiety among citizens making them live in constant fear. Residence restriction is also a program implored by many states to reduce sexual offenders’ activities. These states have enacted laws which prevent sexual offenders from residing in close proximity to a day care centre, a school or a school bus stop. The most common restrictive distance is 1,000 to

Monday, November 18, 2019

3 lesson plans for algebra Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

3 lesson plans for algebra - Essay Example The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to quaternions in order to illustrate a non-commutative operation. The lesson will help students understand that the commutative property of multiplication is not always shared by other operations. However, there are other operations such as matrix multiplication and quaternion multiplication that are non-commutative. In these types of multiplication, the order of the factors affects the product. Quaternions are vectors x = x0 + x1 i + x2 j + x3 k where the coefficients x0, x1, x2 and x3 are real numbers and 1, i, j, and k are basis vectors. The product of any quaternions are defined by the following equations: Rules of quaternion operations also include: if a and b are scalars, and m and n are one of the quaternions 1, i, j, or k, then the product (am)(bn) = (ab) (mn). The distributive law also holds: if x = x0 + x1 i and y = y0 + y1 i, then their product is This exercise uses space rotations to arrive at quaternion equations. To demonstrate the rotations, a book is used with one end of a belt held firmly between its pages, while the other end of the belt is held firmly under a pile of books on a table. Three mutually perpendicular axes are used: the k-axis pointing upwards from the book, the i-axis pointing from the book to the right as you face the table, and the j-axis pointing forwards in the direction from the book to the table. Then an i quaternion is represented by rotating the book 180 degrees about the i axis in the positive sense (if your thumb points along the i-axis, the positive direction of rotation is in the direction your fingers curl). Similarly, the j and k quaternions are represented by 180 degree rotations in the positive direction about the j and k axes, respectively. A twist in the belt represents -1. Now the defining equations (1-4) of

Friday, November 15, 2019

Apples Competitive Advantage

Apples Competitive Advantage Apples since its inauguration brought an easy to use computers to the market. So that users would not face any problems while using Apple products. Apple practiced horizontal as well as vertical integration. Apple relied on its own designs and refused to authorize its hardware to third parties. Apple used superior software which made help them to grebe the market share. Apple offered a complete package of desktop solution which includes hardware, software and other things. Apple always used typical design for its products. In the era of Spindlers (1993-1996), he opt the strategy to expand Apple products to international market. Apples competitive advantage are its control of software, Hardware, retail strategy, product differentiation and most important one is Steve Jobs strategically decision making. For the distribution system, Apple launched a website for direct sales for the first time. Apple also spent more money on its Research and Development. Apples current competitive advantages can be linked to its initial competitive advantage because users now-a-days value the user experience just like when Mac was initially introduced (Bajg, 2012). Personal Computer Industry and dynamics IBM brought PCs into mainstream in 1980s. Microsoft and Intel products dominated the personal computer industry and more people owned their personal computer. Overall industry continued to boom through early 2000s. In 2000 and on wards PCs were very fast, have more memory and storage. But the prices of PCs continuously dropped. As a result, PC manufacturers average profit margin fell down. New PC emerged as well. Also more expensive laptops gained the attraction of the market. But as the price of PCs fell down, their sales volume increased. As there is expansion of growth so competition in the market also increased (Rich, 2012). Due to the increase in competition, prices of the products fell down and it provided consumers with more options. There are five categories of Pc buyers: Home, Small and medium sized business, government and corporate education. The biggest segment is represented by home consumers. There are four main vendors of PC: HP, Dell, Acer and Lenovo. There are two types of suppliers; one who make product with many sources and other make products such as microprocessors and operating system (Aquino, 2012). By viewing the PC industry it can be said that dynamics are very favorable for the Apple. There are good signs for Apple due to certain reasons. Competition is very high in today era and every company wants to provide best products or services so that customer can be retain. Mostly top four vendors are dealing with desktops and laptops. The preferred personal computers may no longer take the form of a desktop or laptop. Indeed a portion of the personal computer industry has already shifted their preference from a desktop or a laptop to a tablet or iPaD. There are many reasons for this change, including convenience and mobility. So there is chance for Apple to come up with new products and capture the market (Rich, 2012). Apple competitive position in Personal Computers Since its inception, Apples mission is to bring as easy-to-use computer, difference in design elegance to market. Apple also practiced horizontal and vertical integration instead of open system. It relied only o its own designs ad also rejected to license its hardware to the third parties. When Sculleys was the CEO during 1985-1993, Apple targeted low cost computer. Apple also made an alliance with IBM for OS development on Intel platform, but that ended without any result. One of the Apple main strength is to offer its customers a complete desktop solution; which is simply Plug and Play. Apple target market is now increasing. Because people want convenience and they need products which are easy in use (Bajg, 2012). The creation of Mac boasted Apple sales. And Mac customers allowed Apple to sell its products at a premium price. During 1993-1996 Splinder made the strategy to expand Apple to international market but it did not help Apple in long term. Steve Job took over as CEO in 1997 and restructured company on the original strategy. Jobs also launched a website for direct sale and also he increased its spending on RD to get further knowledge about the products. Exhibit 3 shows Apples worldwide PC market share from 1980-2009. In 1980 Apple has the very high market share. But with the passage of time its market share started to decline. And during 1994 market share fell down substantially. When Steve Jobs joined the company again it started to increase gradually. Now Apple is gaining market share slowly (Rich, 2012). Apples Competitive positioning in MP3 players Ipod set Apple on the high growth path. Initially iPod was the portable digital music Players based on the Mp3 standard. It has very good design, large storage and a simple user interface. Early MP3 players only stored hour music, can stored up to 1000 songs. But with the passage of time Apple launched new and innovative design one after another. In 2010, Apple has more than 70% of the MP3 market share. Gross margin for IPod is around 40% in 2007. The cost of main component is flash memory which is more than half of the billing material. In MP3 market there are very less competitors for Apple so it will easy o gain more market share for Apple. So in MP3 market Apple performance is very good and it is increasing as Apple delivers innovative designs which are very attractive to the customers (Aquino, 2012). Apple Competitive position in Smart Phones Steve Jobs launched the first iPhone and smart phone industry began. Apple smart phone Market share is high. More than 2 billion applications have been downloaded from the Apple iphone App Store. Apple mission is that iPhone gets better with every new app. Apple has just great job of continuously improving the iPhone with new features and capabilities. Also Steve Job did excellently with I Tunes and iPod. And now he is doing it with it iPhones. Apple iPhone created a new class of phone. Apple invented the market and other mobile device maker is chasing Apple. The main competitors of Apple are Google Android, Nokia and Blackberry. Apple provides the best services in iPhones (Bajg, 2012). iPad and new iPad mini iPad is the mixture produced by Apple after lending iPhone and iPod technology. iPad is the best way to experience the web. It has revolutionized traditional ways of surfing the internet. It views whole pages in portrait or landscape on the screen of large multi-touch. Its also deals with checking e-mail and sending email as well. It is also worlds largest cookbook. Storage of iPad is very great and also it has large display. It is also easy to access different books from iPad. iPad is use in businesses, education, health and consumer usage. So iPad is very useful in different areas. And its demand will be increasing in next days. As now a days consumer wants more convenience and mobility (Aquino, 2012). According to Rich (2012) iPad mini is a another amazing product launched by Apple. It has a smaller screen as compared to iPad. iPad is cheaper than iPad. Nd the reason for its cheapness is that it has no retina display. iPad mini is lighter and thinner than iPad. Also it has less powerful processor and it uses a nano SIM. It has fewer functions than iPad. But due to its size and thickness it is very easy to keep in the pocket. In future it will be very helpful for the people to some extent.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Life Lessons in The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs and The Third Wish by J

Life Lessons in â€Å"The Monkey’s Paw† by W.W. Jacobs and â€Å"The Third Wish† by Joan Aiken What would a typical person do if they had three wishes and knew that there would be a price that they would have to pay in order for them to fulfill their wishes? This is the question that overcomes the main characters, Mr. White and Mr. Peters, in the stories â€Å"The Monkey’s Paw† by W.W. Jacobs and â€Å"The Third Wish† by Joan Aiken. In these two stories, two men were allowed to create three wishes each and had consequences that followed, therefore, they learned a valuable lesson about life. The men in the two stories were distinct in their own ways, one being very greedy and the other very cautious. In â€Å"The Monkey’s Paw,† our main character was Mr. White. He was very discerning. When he is first introduce in â€Å"The Monkey Paw,† he asks many question and is very curious (page 88-89). Mr. White is also very greedy. He was not content with hat he had, and he then, out of all the wishes in the world, asked for 200 pounds for his own conveniences (page 91). On the other hand, the main character of â€Å"The Third Wish† is Mr. Peters. Mr. Peters is a kind-hearted, cautious man. The reader can tell that those are his traits for number of reasons. First of all, the reader can tell that Mr. Peters is compassionate because of his reaction towards a swan trying to extricate itself from a branch. He quickly rushes over and tries to free the bird (page 101-102). Another reason why the reader knows that Mr. Peters is kind is because they see how h e wants his wife to be happy more than himself. This clearly shows how â€Å"warm his heart† is (page 104-105). The reader can also learn that Mr. Peters is cautious by observing the way he thinks about his three wishes. Ever... ... original was created (page 106). The last clue given was when people ask Mr. Peters to just find another wife. Mr. Peters replies in favor of Leita and says he will always be faithful to her (page 107). This suggests the true love between the two and the loyalty they share between each other. Mr. White and Mr. Peters both were eligible to wish for three things and, therefore, they encountered some consequences. Due to their experiences, the reader learns a valuable lesson about life. All in all, these two stories were very interesting. They way the authors set the mood of the stories based on character traits, wishes, consequences, and theme was very intelligent and well-though-out. Both stories had great themes that helped a reader understand the story and life better. I thought â€Å"The Monkey’s Paw,† and â€Å"The Third Wish,† were both marvelous pieces of literature.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Improving Employee Productivity

As you may already know, improving the employee productivity is one of the most important goals In any business. But, In spite of this, a lot of human resources professionals do not consider this field very relevant. Even though most of the human resources professionals do admit that their job Is all about establlshlng schedules and rules concerning people management, only a few of them succeeds in bonding all these connections, in order to be able to increase productivity.John Sullivan (2011) refers in his article to several factors divided in a few categories, which are onsiderably influencing not only the individual productivity, but also the team productivity. Employee productivity is the main leading power behind a company's profitability and Its growth. Momentarily, the demand for employee productivity Is Increasing more and more, making this a feature that Is actually missing In todays workforce and also leaving most of the managers wondering what they should do next and what the causes are.This is the result of all the distractions and all the separate activities happing in the work environment. Nowadays, it seems that mployees are too busy tweeting, updating their statuses or chatting on Facebook, or simply texting. Because of that, most employees are not taking their tasks to an end, they are not finishing their work and they miss their deadlines. Another key aspect of this problem concerns the employee training tools. unfortunately, this aspect receives too little attention.Most of the time, the provider with the lowest costs is often chosen, even though the most effective provider is recommended. As a result, the recruitment is also poor, because of having as a main goal to minimize costs as uch as possible, but without enough consideration of the quality and the capability of each employer. No matter how you think it, the drawn conclusion here Is that the human resources department, Instead of being more Interested In finding solutions for Increasi ng the productlvlty, they are actually less Interested In doing transactions and more interested in cutting off the expenses.In order to increase the employee productivity and the performance of the workforce, considering the help you can expect from the human resource department, you must know and understand the factors that are influencing this rocess. Overall, taking In consideration John Sullivan's article, I have selected the most Important 16 factors from four main categories, which are going to be discussed next. As for the categories, the first one taken In consideration Is â€Å"Foundations of Productivity. According to John Sullivan (2011), a first factor mentioned here is â€Å"High- performing and Innovative employees are the foundation of productivity.By working together, managers and human resources professionals can find, hire, grow and keep high performing employees. It was proved that the most important factor in orkforce and productivity is hiring and keeping emp loyees with the best capabilities. Unfortunately, even the best people may sometimes need help. Without the head managers, much-needed resources and proper guidance, It's very hard to achieve your goal. Another factor measured in this category, according to John pawns are the second most important productivity factor because they play a very important role in defining the roles and the goals of the workforce.More is the pity that many managers are the weak ring in the productivity chain, therefore most of the time not only the employees needs guidance and education, but also their eaders. The second category taken in sight is â€Å"Direction and Guidance†. According to John Sullivan (201 1), a first mentioned factor here is â€Å"A corporate strategy and plan that builds commitment†. Most of the time, a very good business strategy and planning will increase the chances of having a successful and committed organization.Moreover, if the strategy is very clear and very we ll communicated, your employees will be more focused and their motivation will considerably increase. Another factor measured in this category, according to John Sullivan (201 1), is â€Å"A defined purpose for teams makes roles clear†. The managers need to develop a clear communicated purpose that has to be persuasive and also has the role to make their employees from their department to feel important. Employees sometimes can contribute even more to their work and tasks if they had a role in creating and understanding the main purpose.Still according to John Sullivan (201 1), next factor mentioned here is â€Å"Team and individual goals†. Defining some clear goals will let everyone know what is expected and what really has to be done. Also, giving some heads up on some perfect clear goals will also contribute for their employees to nderstand exactly what is and what is not important. Another factor measured by John Sullivan (2011) in this category is â€Å"Prioritiz ation for impactful resource allocation†. Establishing some clear priorities will help to better assign resources and funds, in order to achieve more important objectives.Next factor mentioned by John Sullivan (2011) here is â€Å"Performance metrics for continuous improvement†. Measuring performance in a successful way strengthens both individual and group goals. This will provide more attention, better feedback and better results for an ongoing improvement. Last factor measured in this category, according to John Sullivan (201 1), is â€Å"Effective rewards drive performance†. When the rewards are more connected to one goal, you double the strength of the message related to the importance of the Job that needs to be done.The third category taken in consideration is â€Å"Support Factors†. According to John Sullivan (201 1), a first factor mentioned here is â€Å"Team member support increases individual performance†. Only a few tasks can exclusivel y be done by an employee. If the employees are not working together with other people in a group as a team and if they are also not receiving all he necessary support from their managers, productivity will be lost. Next factor measured in this category by John Sullivan (2011) is â€Å"Best-practice sharing and collaboration improve productivity'.Productivity will considerably improve when the other people outside the team collaborate and brainstorm together. When the employees are using the â€Å"trial and error† method, all the growth of your business will slow down. Another factor mentioned here, according to John Sullivan (201 1), is â€Å"Support for innovation can dramatically increase productivity'. Having in mind as a oal to be on top of their business environment, companies struggle to achieve a double digit percentage improvement in their productivity (at least 10%, sometimes even goes to 25%) for every year.In order to reach this, a sustained level of sometimes no t enough in order to provide a double digit rise. Because of this, the human resources department must develop training measures, good processes, and stimulants that help the innovation. Still according to John Sullivan (201 1), next factor measured in this category is â€Å"Control and authority can result in a better decision aking process†. When there is a certain balance between freedom and control, so that employees have the authority to take most of the operational decisions, at that point we can talk about maximum productivity.Another factor mentioned here by John Sullivan (2011) is â€Å"Non-monetary factors that can also excite employees†. In addition to the usual rewards (as money), the managers can also provide a few non- monetary rewards, such as: feedback on their Job, appreciation for their work and so on. This is one of human resources department's most important responsibilities to e sure that the managers are using all of these methods in a right way, in order to increase the productivity process. The fourth category taken in sight is â€Å"Skills, Communication and Information Factors†.According to John Sullivan (201 1), a first factor mentioned here is â€Å"Employee skills and knowledge must be continually updated to maintain productivity'. Because of the changes brought by the high level global competition, the expectations of the employee's skills are much higher. The main role of the human resources department is to develop a plan that helps in an ngoing increasing employee's knowledge and training. Next factor measured by John Sullivan (2011) in this category is â€Å"Effective communications and feedback reduce errors and frustration†.As feedback is one of the most important strategies in the process of motivation, the failure of providing good feedback will lead to a poor work quality and maybe errors. You can best avoid this kind of situation if a company comes up with a well-organized internal communicat ion channel (like an intranet). The last overall factor mentioned here, according to John Sullivan (201 1), is â€Å"Providing he right information improves decision-making†. In order to take the best decisions and to increase the productivity, the managers and the employees will have to use the right information and to process the data.

Friday, November 8, 2019

1984 Essay Essay Example

1984 Essay Essay Example 1984 Essay Essay 1984 Essay Essay Essay Topic: 1984 1984 Essay In the book 1984 by George Orwell, many different ideas about the government and its power are discussed by the main character Winston. At one point in the book Winston says â€Å"It is impossible to found a civilization on fear and hatred and cruelty. It would never endure. † in reference to the state of the government at that point in time. However, this can be proven false by the actions of the government, the people’s response, and the determination the government uses to ensure their ultimate power and control. The government in 1984 is very powerful and does not shy away from exerting its unrelenting force upon its people. The government craves complete and total control and does whatever it takes to get its people to cooperate and behave. The government goes as far to invent a fictional war to influence people to feel sympathy for the government and make them feel more willing to help. They even go as far as launching missiles at their own people to instill fear into the hearts of the citizens. The government also has an organization called the thought police that do their best to control people’s thoughts and try to keep people from thinking negative things about the government or prevent them from starting some sort of revolution. The actions that they take are built off cruelty and causing fear, which in turn keep the governments people in line. When the government is going to such extreme lengths to fake a war and tell lies to control its people, people will be sure to react. However, not many people know of the true nature of the government because they grew up hearing these lies since the beginning, and if people do start to question the government’s actions then they are killed and or tortured. The people react exactly how the government wants them to, because if they step out of line, then they are sure to be killed. The government has that much control and the people in charge have such a need for power that they keep taking more and more. The government and people inside the government are shown to have a large amount of determination, especially when they begin torturing Winston. Winston proves to be very strong willed and doesn’t break easily. However the government stays diligent and doesn’t give up and they eventually break Winston. The government breaks Winston by enforcing cruel punishment and sparking fear in him, and if they could break Winston this way, then they could break anyone. The government uses fear to build their government, in fact, the only basis that their government is really built on is fear. Fear controls people. The government’s determination, peoples response to their actions, and their actions themselves prove that a civilization could be founded on the basis of â€Å"fear, hatred and cruelty†.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

How to Make Marketing Employee Performance Reviews Easy (Templates)

How to Make Marketing Employee Performance Reviews Easy (Templates) No one enjoys doing employee performance reviews. They’re often slightly uncomfortable conversations, and even in a best-case scenario, everyone involved feels relieved when they’re done. That isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for their value, necessity, or how we feel about them. However, they are valuable, they are necessary, and when conducted with a thoughtful process, they can be something you approach with less anxiety. When you can repeat that process effectively with consistent results, you can spend less time planning for reviews, and more time working through them efficiently with the results  you want. In this post, you’ll learn: Why are performance reviews important for marketing managers and teams? What steps should they include and which questions should be asked? How can marketing teams develop a repeatable review process that works? Best of all, this is the actual process the team  uses, which has been time-tested and shown to work well. In other words, this post is geared specifically toward what marketing managers need to know most about this topic. Be a Better Manager With Free Performance Review + Evaluation Form Templates.Be a Better Manager With Free Performance Review + Evaluation Form Templates Employee reviews don’t need to be overly complex. However, you will need to keep documentation of your conversation so you have something to reference in the future, to ensure the important details of the review aren’t forgotten later. Youll also need to accurately evaluate performance before going into each meeting. To get started, download these two templates: Marketing Performance Evaluation Form (Word): Answer six simple questions to gauge performance. Marketing Employee Performance Review Template (Word): Then, use this sheet to document the meeting. Both are short and simple to streamline the process effectively. Grab them quick before moving on:How Can Help Evaluate Team Productivity? As a marketing project management platform, is purpose-built for managing busy marketing teams. That includes your tasks and workflows for all projects and making sure everyone is getting their stuff done on time. One way measures that last item is with Team Performance Reports. It measures who’s rocking it and who’s falling behind so you can actually know who’s hitting their deadlines. Here's a quick look at how it works: What Exactly is an Employee Performance Review? Here’s a short definition this post will work with: An employee performance review is an opportunity for team members and managers to assess what’s going well, what isn’t going well, and what’s necessary for future success with a company or organization. There are a few things to note about this definition: It shouldn’t feel like an interrogation. A good review shouldn’t focus solely on negatives. They aren’t one-and-done meetings. Feedback gathered in a review should be considered and implemented throughout the year. This should be a two-way conversation. They aren’t just about assessing the team member’s performance; they’re also an opportunity to get the employee’s take on how they’re doing and how the company is doing, too. Recommended Reading: The Best Way to Plan a Successful Marketing Performance Management Process What Are the Benefits to Running Employee Reviews for Marketers? First things first, it’s important to understand that these meetings are more than just an annual requirement that you have to fulfill to keep HR happy. Here are a few reasons why they shouldn’t be blown off or phoned in without careful consideration for their purpose. Your team members need an honest assessment of their performance. If they don’t know how they’re doing (positively or negatively) or where they need to improve, they’re unlikely to reach their potential. You need to know what your team members need to succeed. Likewise, you can’t help your team achieve success unless you understand what they need from you. If you don’t set up employees for success, someone else will (when they leave your company). The market for marketing talent is tight. Don’t let people leave because they didn’t feel supported. Help Your Team, Help Your Company (Before They Leave) As a case in point, according to Smart Insights, 54.9% of marketers switch companies in order to find a new challenge. Why not provide that challenge for them instead of leaving them to find it somewhere else? And if that statistic doesn’t have you convinced, these might: Who Should Be in an Employee Review Meeting? In most cases, a marketing manager, their supervisor(s), and the employee themselves should be sufficient. If possible, including the CEO too is a good idea (at , CEO Garrett Moon offers direct feedback to each employee in the company during reviews). Then, once the review is completed, human resources will likely need to approve review paperwork (and any pay raises the team member might be due). Work with your HR department if you’re unsure what your internal processes are there. How Often Should Reviews Be Conducted? Here’s a common misconception: staff reviews are a once-a-year deal where you get all your feedback out at once. This could not be more incorrect, but unfortunately, it’s a common attitude (particularly at large companies where one-on-one communication might be challenging to schedule, or just doesn’t happen organically). So, how often should feedback be scheduled? Consider the following: Weekly syncs: Set up a recurring one-on-one meeting with each team member to check in on how things are going. Quarterly check-ins: Then, schedule quarterly meetings to review how things have gone year-to-date and what’s needed for success over the long term. Annual reviews: Finally, these are holistic performance evaluations that take the entire previous year into consideration. For marketers, ongoing mentorship with leadership is invaluable for development. Also, this post will stress this point multiple times: an annual review should not be the first time an employee hears a given piece of feedback. This is a sign they don’t feel like they can be open and honest with how things are going outside of times allotted for feedback, and that’s corrosive for everyone’s productivity and happiness at work. Recommended Reading: 6 Things You Need To Know About Marketing Management (+ 4 Free Templates) Scheduling Your Review Meetings The best way to make sure your review meetings actually happen is to schedule them on a regular basis. Schedule the following using your company’s shared Google or Outlook calendar: Weekly meetings: Stick to a set time each week. Quarterly reviews: Stick as closely to a 90-day window as you can. Annual reviews: Same as with quarterly reviews, they should be close to their start date each year. Map these all out in advance so they don’t catch anyone off guard. If you’re a customer and use Google Calendar, you can even sync your calendar with with Zapier, so they’ll appear alongside all your other projects. Evaluating Employees Prior to Your Meetings Before heading into a review, you’ll need to know for yourself what you honestly think about each employee’s performance, both in terms of what they’re doing well and where they can improve. It can help to have some sort of checklist to run through when assessing each team member, especially if you have a large team. In order to keep your meetings focused and conversational, do this before meeting face to face. Here’s an outline of a checklist you can use: Does the team member demonstrate high level of job knowledge? Does the team member complete work accurately and on time? Does the team member work well with others? Does the team member communicate effectively? Does the team member demonstrate initiative? Does the team member consistent show up to work on time? These are basic performance-oriented questions you’ll need to assess, and running through them as an exercise might help you identify strengths and areas in need of improvement. If you’d prefer this in a Word doc, there’s one included in this post’s template bundle. You can jump back up to the top of the post here to download it quick. Here's what it looks like: Planning Your Review Questions Once you’re face-to-face for a review, what should you ask? It might be tempting to prepare a detailed list of questions to dig deep into the needs of your team members. That might work. After all, it stands to reason that more granular questions will get more detailed answers, right? Well, you might be able to have a more productive and insightful conversation by keeping your questions simple. There are only three you really need to ask: What’s going well? This can be an open-ended discussion around what’s going right for the employee, their work, and the company. What isn’t going well? Same as above, but for things that need improvement. What’s needed for a successful future? What should the employee keep doing? What should they change? And likewise, is there anything you or the company may need to consider as well? Generally, it’s best to keep this an open-ended conversation. But, as that conversation moves forward, how do you make sure it stays on track and the words you choose to maintain a productive tone?