International Dimension for Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Dimension for Business - Essay Example With the opening up of world economy, nearly all the business entities big or small, old or new are getting inspired in taking their business to the international level (Aswathappa, 2010, p.6). Companies are getting determined in their decision to operate across the globe. The shifting of organisations from a domestic viewpoint to a level of internationalization gives rise to a number of challenges for the firm (Turner & Johnson, 2009, p.2). The challenges may be in the form of setting up of infrastructure in the foreign market, purchasing the materials from overseas suppliers and the biggest challenge is to sell it to the foreign customers. One of the biggest trends of the recent times has been the lowering of international trade barriers. Different organisations such as World Trade Organisation, GATT and IMF are constantly working towards the intensification of globalised trade. In the recent past globalisation has been a catchphrase for the business organisations. Globalisation is a global phenomenon which can be defined as the movement of goods, services, resources, funds and labour around the world in a harmonized and synchronized way. In this process a global relation among the countries gets developed and ensures efficacy in using the scares resources of the world (Milward, 2003, p.10-16). The present study deals with the international dimension of business or in other words the other avenue to conduct business apart from the local listings. The study will reveal the international market entry strategies such as foreign direct investment, franchising, licensing and exporting. The study will also try to analyse the foreign market entry strategy of Volkswagen. The reason for choosing this organisation for conducting the study is because it is amongst prime multinational companies. A multinational company is described as the company which operates in its home country as well as in foreign market. The factors which contributed towards choosing this company a re its rich history, brand image and also considering the fact that it is the biggest car manufacturing & marketing company of the world. Company History The history of the company dates back to 1937, when the company was known as ‘Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH’. In the next year the company is renamed to ‘Volkswagenwerk GmbH’. The construction of the plant for manufacturing cars started on 1938 at Wolfsburg, Germany. During the period of 2nd world war the production of the company switched to weapons and arms. At around 20000 forced labours, prisoners were working at the plant. After the end of World War II the responsibility of Volkswagenwerk was placed on to the hands of British military government. During that era mass production of volkswagon beetle was started. During the 1950s the product line of the company was increased. In the meantime the production of Volkswagon bus was initialized. The bus is still popular even in this century for its multi-functionality and is popularly known as VB bully. As the wheels rolls on the company slowly touched the milestone of producing one million Volkswagon beetle cars. The employees and dealers from the country and overseas celebrated this memorable day in a special comportment. In 1972 the company has broken the all time record of car production with the figure touching mammoth 15,007,034 units. The company slowly moved towards the production of new age cars during 1973 with its model ‘passat’. With that initiation the company moved towards the production of varieties new age cars. That was the time when Golf was built inside the industrial units of the company. The

Caterpillar's Organizational Structure and Culture Essay

Caterpillar's Organizational Structure and Culture - Essay Example For this reason, organizational environment has been divided into three sections: general environment, task environment and internal environment. The first of them refers to factors that are likely to impact the organization as a market’s unit, as for instance technological and socio-cultural factors. Task environment refers to factors influencing the organization’s daily operations; customers and suppliers are factors of such type. As for the organization’s internal environment, this refers to factors, which are related to the organization’s internal boundaries, meaning factors such as employees and culture (Caterpillar, case study). Changing organizational structure can be a challenging task mostly because all parts of organizational structure need to be transformed. If a change successfully occurs, this fact can be made known to the management in the following way: no problems appear in the organization’s daily operations, especially in regard to the areas where change was promoted. The organizational culture can include a series of elements, such as symbols, ceremonies and stories; in Caterpillar, the above elements have been set as value hallmarks (Caterpillar, case study). Moreover, organizational culture can set the rules on which organization’s plans are based; reference is made particularly to the plans that regulate employee relations across the organization. In Caterpillar, organizational culture also refers to understandings, beliefs and norms; the above elements are characterized as shared values and define the cultural framework of Caterpillar (Caterpillar, case study). In accordance with the case study, adaptability and involvement are key characteristics of Caterpillar’s culture, ensuring flexibility and employee participation in organizational plans. In Caterpillar corporate culture is of critical value; teaching

Marketing Strategy Of The Times Marketing Essay

Marketing Strategy Of The Times Marketing Essay Times Newspapers Limiteds The Times is one of the most famous newspapers based in the United Kingdom with 692,581 copies in circulation per day. The name of Times is not confined to the United Kingdom but is also a big name in the international newspaper industry. Many countries have newspapers published with the name of Times, such as New York Times, Times of India etc. The Times is published daily, with a special publication of Sunday Times. Its fame is always on the go. Recently, due the massive change in the global newspaper industry, where readers are switching to more interactive and internet based news broadcasts, The Times may have had its blow in terms of sales initially, but it has managed to survive very profitability. With leading newspapers such as The Economist, catching readers tremendously with new and improved marketing strategies, The Times has its own winning strategies. How is it coping up with this change? The marketing managers of the Times have devised a strate gy where the design, the look, the appeal of the newspaper has been changed so as to deal with intense competition, and changing readers preferences whilst bringing about increased revenue. This marketing strategy is backed with extensive marketing research to incorporate proper information in to it, and also takes into account the global context. The marketing strategy to renovate the newspapers very much deals with its e-business strategies. Overview of Newsweeks Marketing Strategy Marketing strategy is the game plan to achieve the marketing objectives as devised by the marketing manager. This game plan comprises the mission, marketing objectives, financial objectives, target markets, the positioning, the marketing mix and the information gathered through marketing research. (Donald, 1992) Mission: The Times mission to keep news circulating in an interactive way, to keep up with the real times, and maintain its strong readership throughout UK with its regular issues and throughout the world with its websites. (Times, 2009) Marketing Objectives: To narrow it down further, its marketing objectives are: To achieve higher sales To increase circulation To increase market penetration Financial Objectives: The financial objectives behind the marketing strategy are: To increase profit margin Target Markets: The Times target market is A smaller group of an elite audience who prefer quality over price. Web users to prefer to get the news on one click. Critical thinkers who want information on a wide variety of subjects. And most importantly the business people. Positioning: The Times positions itself as a thought leader in the world of journalism so that the readers jump on to the latest editions of the Times before any other having a firm impression that The Times will be covering the best news. It is a high-end newspaper which sells commentary, reports and articles that are in-depth, elaborative, interesting and reader-friendly. (Hrichorn, 2009) Strategies: How is The Times going to achieve all of this? Through three main things: Content, Layout and Advertisements. Firstly, The Times keeps a firm focus on its profound glory of original reporting in its publication, with the editorial policy that focuses on rich and fair content. This is backed by the implementation of a new and improved business models in the entire organisation. The newspaper emphasizes more on narrative reporting, and deviate from the news where the paper does not have any original piece of its own to add to. (Hrichorn, 2009) It adds a provocative element in journalism to outrage the readers, through well structured, well presented and strong opinionated articles. Its famous writers contribute articles on the hottest topics of the modern world that the readers are just dying to read. Secondly, The Times timely changes its design and redesigns through employing creativity and innovation. The purpose of the redesigns are to make the newspaper more appealing, more modern, classy, entertaining and reader friendly. The new layout contains sections on, brief news reports, essays and detailed opinioned reports, special features and reports on cultures. The Website Times Online features, online articles as well as an archive of all the in print articles. (Times, 2009) High quality paper is being used for printing the newspaper, so that readers can feel the fine class of the newspaper as soon as they take it in their hand. (Times, 2009) The marketing team of The Times tries to keep the original DNA of the newspaper intact, by just updating it and not changing it altogether. Finally, Times focuses on gaining advertisers and traffic on its website. Advertisers, too, are more inclined towards targeted audiences. The Times newspaper is focusing on a more affluent, high-taste, and deep audience, and the advertisers will be giving ads for just this small group. Whereas, there are separate advertisers for the different groups the newspaper targets. The purpose is to increase sales revenue in its target markets. Marketing Mix Product: The Times has the following product features: An attractive layout design Various sections, with rich content High-quality paper Targeted advertisements Price The Times is charged 90p every day, but 30p for students and  £1.50 on the weekends.. Distribution The distribution of The times, is in selection university shops, all business locations, and several newsstands all throughout UK. To summarise The Times marketing strategy focuses on its content, higher-quality paper and a more elite audience and to become a thought leader all in an attempt to achieve sustainability in the world of journalism with an increase in price. (Hischorn, 2009) Use of Marketing Research Information in the Marketing Strategy Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company (Kotler, 2006). The Marketing Research is a detailed process, which is very crucial to developing a sound and effective marketing strategy. In fact, it is the first step when planning to develop a marketing strategy. The marketing research process includes: Define the problem, he decision alternatives, and the research objectives Develop the Research Plan Collect the information Analyse the information Present the information Making the decision Before devising the marketing strategy for the re-launch of The Times Newspaper, the marketing team had conducted a detailed marketing research that became the foundation of the whole campaign. Research Objectives The marketing research objectives of the marketing team were to: Find out the reason why the sales of the newspaper were declining; The global conditions of the newspaper industry; The reader preferences; Analyse competitors strengths; and Search market segments unexploited by another newspaper as yet; Presenting the information of the research, analysing it and then making the decision based on them is the most crucial element of the marketing research, though the other elements also hold their respective worth. Research Findings So what did the market researchers find out? Following were some of the things that caught immediate attention of the marketing manager of The Times: The Times before 1988 was only known for celebrity and entertainment news. (Times, 2009) The newspaper had been getting fewer ads, which were on the decline of 11.7 percent as recorded by Publishers Information Bureau. This showed that the future was in red. This reduced the revenue per ad thus, affecting the overall profit of the newspaper The reason for this decline was the drastic economic affect upon the advertisers, the vast audience for which the ads were targeted to, was not working too well, and lastly, the falling quality of the newspaper was discouraging the advertisers to place ads in it repeatedly. (Richard, 2009) The newspaper was targeting mediocre readers whose curiosity for news was nonetheless for the sake of knowing things. This audience does not exist anymore. (Hrichorn, 2009) Internet has changed the news reading concept with online journals available at a mouse-click, readers now prefer to go to more catchy, speedy, and interactive delivery of news than having going through user-unfriendly layout of newspapers. Several websites serving to provide the juiciest and fasted news such as The Huffington Post, Yahoo headlines and Politico.com are changing the readership of news scenario. (Richard, 2009) As for the international scenario, more focus is towards, localizing the imprint rather than producing on the basis of mass-customization. And the need is for more fast, rich The rising newspapers of today, like The Economist are exploiting niches in the newspaper market, and focus on their quality more. They are also engaged in online journalism and are attracting readers through impressive and attractive web pages and easy navigation. (Hrichorn, 2009) Although there is abundance of information available for journalists to make use of in their articles and essay, they seldom present a proper insight in their writing. Readers want less of celebrity news, which is splattered across almost every newspaper. Research Conclusions The marketing research findings lead the marketing manager to conclude the following things that were to be incorporated in the newspaper: Times needed to clearly define its target audience and move to a more sensible and serious genre which reflected its foundation. (Times, 2009) The newspaper was in need of gaining new ads, which were not mass- targeted; Improve the print and web layout of the newspaper to appeal to the changing readers preferences; Make the content richer in terms of in-depth essays and world-wide appeal; Target a small segment; Include articles that are related to more serious issues. Enrich the online version. Therefore, with these conclusions the marketing strategy for the re-launch of the newspaper took its roots and sprung up. Effects of the Global Context in the Marketing Strategy Marketing has a lot to do with the international market. Marketers of multinational businesses detect the changes in the international market, and bring about innovation in meeting demands. Where, the international businesses bring about changes, the local businesses suffer from the consequences in the form of changed customer preferences. They get compelled to develop new marketing strategies to deal with this situation. All in all, all the businesses let it be local or international have to deal with global changes. (Kevin, 2000) What changes were there for Times to deal with? First was the international change in the readers preferences. This change was a move towards interactivity in reading from the plain text layout of the conventional newspapers. Second, was the preference towards accessibility and speed. The Times sales were greatly being affected because of this. To cope up with this, the marketing strategy was devised around redesigning the layout and the content of the newspaper. Other than the content, the inclusion of various sections in the newspaper and the website were mainly because of the changing preferences of the readers. Also, a special feature to create your own profile on the website of The Times, was something very new and a strategy to compete with the international market. E-Business Strategy Incorporated in the Marketing Strategy The Times e-business strategy involved increasing readership on its website. So the marketing strategy was kept in line with this. As part of the marketing strategy of the newspaper, was to redesign the web page. The marketing research showed that more and more readers prefer to read online now so redesigning the online layout was essential. Few things were kept in mind: the design was to be so that the readers would find easy navigation through the various interesting articles, there had to be proper illustration along with the news articles, and most importantly, a proper space for user access. What did that mean? The new e-business strategy of the newspaper was to increase reader involvement in the newspaper. So to achieve this, the designing was done so that the website contained a mix of the newspapers own content created by its expert writers and the content posted by the readers. The Times allows reader interactivity to maintain traffic on the website, through a section called comments. (Orienwell, 2009) The marketers found out that readers have accounts of social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook, so the Times sought alliance from these websites, offering the link to its website and allowing readers to comment on articles through Twitter and Facebook. To gain revenue through online operations, advertisements are encouraged for posting on the website and online subscriptions are offered. The Times e-business strategies are to exploit online journalism to the maximum. And its marketing strategy is devised keeping in mind this very important element. New Product Marketing Strategy The Times can offer an online and print supplement of The Times Youth, for the age- group of 18- 25. This is the segment that is least exploited by the competitors of The Times. This segment includes the college graduates, who will the be the leading entrepreneurs, and are just looking to indulge in the changing world, are seeking opportunities to exploit, are waiting to bring change themselves, and have a lot to say about the current situations. Mission: To develop a magazine for the youth who are ready to become the leading entrepreneurs of tomorrow and increaser market share of the newspaper through this. Marketing Objectives: To narrow it down further, its marketing objectives would be: To achieve sales To increase circulation To increase market penetration Financial Objectives: The financial objectives behind the marketing strategy would be: To increase profit margin To cover up the market research expenditure in the minimum time after the re launch. Target Markets: The target market would be the youth between 18-25 who is: Energetic; Business-minded; Political minded; and Change oriented. Positioning: The Magazine is to be a one-of-a-kind youth motivator to bring change in the business world and in the society. Strategies: The strategies could include: Creating word-of-mouth awareness of the magazine; and Catching readers from blogs and viral advertising. Marketing Mix Product: The Times Youth magazine will have sections on, business, politics, society and youth issues. Price The price would range from 20p to 25p. Distribution The limited distribution would be in colleges and Universities, and campus residents. Conclusion The Times executives are sure in the near future the newspaper will be able to achieve profitability with its top-notch marketing strategies that ensure maximum returns. As much as the marketing strategy boosts up sales, the future of the newspaper industry still poses a threat to the old lasting newspapers who have so far had their share in fame. Internet continues to threaten the way the news is being delivered, through the ever changing readers tastes and the need it brings for faster and better. More and more online publications are being developed each day as online journalism continues to exploit readers. Blogs and social networking sites are taking the lead. Future looks more reader-oriented with more and more reader participation and less and less imposition of news from reports. The internet has made readers more opinionated so the newspapers have to watch out. (Orienwell, 2009)

Prejudice in The Song of Roland Essay -- Song of Roland Essays

Prejudice in The Song of Roland Unfortunately, the role of ignorance and jealousy combining to breed fear and hatred is a recurring theme in history ultimately exhibiting itself in the form of prejudice. As demonstrated through the altering of historical events in The Song of Roland, the conflict between the Christian and Islamic religions takes precedence over the more narrow scope of any specific battle and is shaped, at least in part by the blind perception of a prejudice born of the ignorance and envy Christian Europe had for representatives of the non-Christian world. To fully see this prejudice and its effect on the participants, it is necessary to recognize the circumstances of the "real" battle along with the altering characters and settings attributed to its later writing, understand the character and beliefs of the participants, and carefully examine the text itself to see how prejudice comes into play. The historical battle described in The Song of Roland, took place on 15 August 778 and involved the ambush and slaughter of Charlemagne's rearguard by Basques (Burgess 9). Victims of treachery, those killed included Roland of Breton (Burgess 10). This battle was a part of the fighting to create the Spanish March which served as a buffer zone between Spain and the Franks of Charlemagne (Koeller). While this particular ambush was relatively insignificant, the incident was transformed into a rallying cry for the Christian armies of Europe when taken and reworked by a later poet. External evidence indicates the epic poem was written no earlier than 1060 and no later than the second half of the twelfth century with the generally accepted time begin 1098-1100 which coincides with the time of the First Crusade (Bur... ...tions for them. Just as the Christians fought the Muslims fueled by this prejudice and greed, the historical pattern has been shown to recur frequently throughout history -- whether the slave issue of the nineteenth century United States or the Nazi treatment of Jews in the twentieth century -- man takes the unknown and distorts it into hatred rather than seeking enlightenment. This is the true tragedy of The Song of Roland and man's unwillingness to learn from history. Works Cited Burgess, Glyn trans. The Song of Roland. NY: Penguin Books, 1990. Koeller, David. Lectures on Western Civilization to 1500. Phillips University. Enid, Fall 1992. Perry, Marvin, et al. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics and Society. 4th ed. Vol. I. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. Southern, R.W. The Making of the Middle Ages. London: The Cresset Library, 1967.

Social Work and Data Protection

CYP3. 3: Understand how to safeguard the well being of children and young people 1. 2 Explain child protection within the wider concept of safeguarding children and young people Child protection is much more than safeguarding or protecting children from direct abuse. The ‘Safe action plan’ is a piece of legislation that is very similar to the outcome of the 10 year strategies which we have here in Northern Ireland. It shows an understanding that children need protected in a wider view of safeguarding and has recognised a number of aspects in areas of protection . Keeping children safe. . Crime and bullying . Forced marriage Missing children . Actively promoting their welfare in a healthy and safe environment. This action plan is designed to work in a more holistic nature and be more ‘child centred’ promoting a happy safe environment for the child, supporting the child in areas of social and emotional wellbeing, healthy eating e. g. Healthy eating vouchers, n o tolerance to bullying. 1. 3 Analyse how national and local guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding affect ‘day to day work with children and young people. As it is the responsibility that anyone who comes into the contact of children directly or indirectly have a duty to keep children safe. And have the ability to recognise if a child is at risk of harm or abuse the local guidelines, policies and procedures have some clear guideline responsibility exist to ensure children are protected. The table below shows the English equivalent to the ‘Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety’(DHSPSS) which issues guidance for or four local health and social service boards in Northern Ireland. THE LINE OF RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE CHILDREN OR PROTECTED There is a multitude of services and people who work directly with children and are guided by regional policies such as professional nurses, doctors, social workers. Teachers, classroom assistants and education officers. Also those who offer leisure activities such as football coaches, piano teachers, drama club leaders etc. all of which will need to be familiar with their settings/ organisations policy and procedures. The policy and procedures in my setting is also based on the guidance of the DHSPSS. It is made available for all in the setting to be made aware of and to know how to follow. Each setting including my own has a flow chart of steps to follow in the case of suspected abuse. ( please see copy of flow chart attached. The guidance in my setting are clear and if I had to report an incident of suspected abuse I would know who and how to report this. By following the flow chart guidelines I would be able to do the above in a professional manor keeping the child’s best interest foremost. 1. 5 Explain how the processes used by own work setting or service comply with legislation that cover data protection, information handling and sha ring. My organisation and myself understand that data protection is a legal legislation where the information held on service users must be kept safe, must be accurate, kept up to date and used only as needed. In my work setting data protection is held very highly as the information held in the setting about service users may be of a very sensitive nature and not for public knowledge. Staff are required to complete mandatory training on confidentiality, and are aware of the consequences if they breach the policies and procedures of the organisation regarding data protection and confidentiality. As all information on a service user is covered by the data protection/ confidentiality policies there are times when this information can not be kept secret e. g. when abuse is suspected. There is procedures set up to pass this information on but keeping it to a need to know bases. E. g. designated child protection officer who will then pass it on to the appropriate organisations. Social worker, police etc. CYP3. 3 LO 1. 1-5 Department of Education- overall responsibility for safeguarding and child protection in England Issue statutory and non statutory guidance to local authorities Local authorities – use guidance to produce procedures for services and practitioners Services use basis for their own polices and procedures.

Leading and Developing a Work Team

UNIT 9 LEADING AND DEVELOPING A WORK TEAM Distinguish between management and leadership and assess the implications of each on effective team performance. Managers depend on their people. They cannot do without their wholehearted commitment and support. But gaining that support, motivating and engaging them and ensuring that they know what they are expected to do and how to do it is down to managers and it is a difficult task.This book How to Manage People of Michael Armstrong 2008 is designed to make it easier by going into the main actions that managers have to carry out to get things done through people, namely: managing effectively overall, leading, motivating, team building, delegating, interviewing, managing performance, developing and rewarding people, managing change and handling people problems. As a manager you are there to get things done through people. You are engaged in a purposeful activity involving others.But you are concerned with defining ends as well as gaining th em. You decide what to do and then ensure that it gets done with the help of the members of your team. You deal with programs, processes, events and eventualities. All this is done through the exercise of leadership. People are the most important resource available to you as a manager. It is through this resource that other resources are managed. However, you are ultimately accountable for the management of all resources, including your own.When dealing with immediate issues, anticipating problems, responding to demands or even a crisis, and developing new ways of doing things, you are personally involved. You manage yourself as well as other people. You cannot delegate everything. You frequently have to rely on your own resources to get things done. These resources include skill, know-how, competencies, time, and reserves of resilience and determination. You will get support, advice and assistance from your own staff and specialists, including human resources, but in the last analy sis you are on your own.It is important to examine particular aspects of managing people, such as leadership, organizing and motivation including teamwork. There is a need to exercise your people management responsibilities effectively. It starts with an overall look at the criteria for managerial effectiveness. This is followed by a review of the attributes of effective managers. The rest of the chapter deals with a number of the key aspects of management. As a manager and a leader you will be judged not only on the results you have achieved but the level of competence you have attained and applied in getting those results.Competence is about knowledge and skills – what people need to know and be able to do to carry out their work well. You will also be judged on how you do your work – how you behave in using your knowledge and skills. These are often described as ‘behavioral competencies’ and can be defined as those aspects of behavior that lead to effec tive performance. They refer to the personal characteristics that people bring to their work roles in such areas as leadership, team working, flexibility and communication.As a manager of people your role is to ensure that the members of your team give of their best to achieve a desired result. In other words you are a leader – you set the direction and ensure that people follow you. It is necessary to distinguish between management and leadership: Management is concerned with achieving results by obtaining, deploying, using and controlling all the resources required, namely people, money, facilities, plant and equipment, information and knowledge.Leadership focuses on the most important resource, people. It is the process of developing and communicating a vision for the future, motivating people and gaining their engagement. The distinction is important. Management is mainly about the provision, utilization and control of resources. But where people are involved it is imposs ible to deliver results without providing effective leadership.Describe the processes of team formation, and evaluate strategies for encouraging team formation and development One of your most important roles as a manager is to act as a team builder – developing and making the best use of the capacity of your team so that its members jointly deliver superior levels of performance. Team building takes place when you clarify the team’s purpose and goals, ensure that its members work well together, strengthen the team’s collective skills, enhance commitment and confidence, remove externally imposed obstacles and create opportunities for team members to develop their skills and competencies.A team is a group of people with complementary skills who work together to achieve a common purpose. Their team leader sets the direction, provides guidance and support, coordinates the team’s activities, ensures that each team member plays his or her part, promotes the le arning and development of team members, consults with the team on issues affecting its work and, in conjunction with team members, monitors and reviews team performance.However, some organizations have developed the concept of self-managing teams which are largely autonomous, responsible to a considerable degree for planning and scheduling work, problem solving, developing their own key performance indicators and setting and monitoring team performance and quality standards. The role of their team leaders is primarily to act as coordinators and facilitators; their style is expected to be more supportive and facilitative than directive.An effective team is likely to be one in which its purpose is clear and its members feel the task is important, both to them and to the organization. The structure, leadership and methods of operation are relevant to the requirements of the task. Team members will be highly engaged in the work they do together and committed to the whole group task. The y will have been grouped together in a way that means they are related to one another through the requirements of task performance and task interdependence.The team will use discretionary effort – going the extra mile – to ensure that its work gets done. The main features of well-functioning teams as described by Douglas McGregor (1960) are that the atmosphere tends to be informal, comfortable and relaxed; team members listen to each other; most decisions are reached by consensus; when action is taken, clear assignments are made and accepted, and team leaders do not dominate their teams – the issue is not who controls but how to get the work done.The performance of teams should be assessed in terms of their output and results and the quality of team processes that have contributed to those results. Output criteria include the achievement of team goals, customer satisfaction and the quantity and quality of work. Process measures comprise participation, collaborat ion and collective effort, conflict resolution, joint decision making, planning and goal setting, interpersonal relations, interdependence and adaptability and flexibility.How you and your team apply these criteria will be related to the following factors that affect team performance: the clarity of the team’s goals in terms of expectations and priorities; how work is allocated to the team; how the team is working its processes in terms of cohesion, ability to handle internal conflict and pressure, relationships with other teams; the extent to which the team is capable of managing itself – setting goals and priorities, monitoring performance; the quality of leadership – even self-managed teams need a sense of direction which they cannot necessarily generate by themselves; the level and range of skills possessed by individual team members; the extent to which team members work flexibly, taking advantage of the multi-skilling capabilities of its members; the syste ms and resources support available to the team.Good support to your team-building efforts will be provided if you conduct regular team performance review meetings to assess feedback and control information on their joint achievements against objectives and to discuss any issues concerning team work. The agenda for such meetings could be as follows: general feedback review of the progress of the team as a whole and problems encountered by the team which have caused difficulties or hampered progress, and helps and hindrances to the operation of the team. Work reviews of how well the team has functioned. The group problem solving, including an analysis of reasons for any shortfalls or other problems and agreement of what needs to be done to solve them and prevent their re-occurrence.Update objectives – review of new requirements, opportunities or threats and the amendment of objectives as required. Evaluate the stages of development of their work group as a team and select and e mploy strategies to improve and develop team working. One of your most important, if not the most important, responsibilities as a manager is to ensure that the members of your team achieve high levels of performance. You have to ensure that they understand what you expect from them, that you and they work together to review performance against those expectations and that you jointly agree what needs to be done to develop knowledge and skills and, here necessary, improve performance. Your organization may well have a performance management system which provides guidance on how this should be done but ultimately it is up to the manager. You are the person on the spot. Performance management systems only work if managers want them to work and are capable of making them work. You have to believe that your time is well spent in the process of managing performance as described in the first part of this chapter. You need to know about performance planning (agreeing what has to be done), m anaging performance throughout the year and conducting formal performance reviews as covered in the next three parts.You should have no problems in appreciating the importance of the first two activities. It is the third activity – performance reviews – managers often find hard to accept as necessary and even more difficult to do well. The process of managing performance is based on two simple propositions. First, people are most likely to perform well when they know and understand what is expected of them and have taken part in defining these expectations. In other words, if you know where you are going you are more likely to get there. Second, the ability to meet these expectations depends on the levels of knowledge, skill, competency and motivation of individuals and the leadership and support they receive from their managers.As a manager or team leader you need skilled, knowledgeable and competent people in your department or team. You may appoint able people from within and outside the organization but most of them will still have a lot to learn about their jobs. And to improve your team members’ performance you must not only ensure that they learn the basic skills they need but also that they develop those skills to enable them to perform even better when faced with new demands and challenges. Most learning happens at the place of work, although it can be supplemented by such activities as e-learning (the delivery of learning opportunities and support via computer, networked and web-based technology) and formal ‘off-the-job’ training courses.It is your job to ensure that favorable conditions for learning ‘on the job’ exist generally in your area as well as taking steps to help individuals develop. To do this job well you need to know about: the conditions that enable effective learning to take place; the importance of ‘self-managed learning’, i. e. individuals taking control of their own learnin g; the contribution of formal learning; the advantages and disadvantages of informal learning and development approaches; how you can contribute to promoting learning and development in your department or team; the use of such learning and development aids as coaching, mentoring, learning contracts and personal development plans; how to instruct people in specific tasks should the need arise. Set standards and targets and review performance.Managing performance is about getting people into action so that they achieve planned and agreed results. It focuses on what has to be done, how it should be done and what is to be achieved. But it is equally concerned with developing people – helping them to learn – and providing them with the support they need to do well, now and in the future. The framework for performance management is provided by the performance agreement, which is the outcome of performance planning. The agreement provides the basis for managing performance th roughout the year and for guiding improvement and development activities. It is used as a reference point when reviewing performance and the achievement of improvement and development plans.You should treat your responsibility for managing performance as an integral part of the continuing process of management. This is based on a philosophy which emphasizes: the achievement of sustained improvements in performance; the continuous development of skills and capabilities; that the organization is a ‘learning organization’ in the sense that it is constantly developing and applying the learning gained from experience and the analysis of the factors that have produced high levels of performance. You should therefore be ready, willing and able to monitor performance and define and meet development and improvement needs as they arise. As far as practicable, learning and work should be integrated.This means that encouragement should be given to your team members to learn from th e successes, challenges and problems inherent in their day-to-day work. You should carry out the process of monitoring performance by reference to agreed objectives and to work, development and improvement plans. You have to decide how tightly you monitor on the basis of your understanding of the capacity of individuals to do the work. Identify own leadership style and skills, and assess own effectiveness in leading and developing the team and its performance. Self-managed learning style involves encouraging individuals to take responsibility for their own learning needs.The aim is to encourage ‘discretionary learning’, which happens when individuals actively seek to acquire the knowledge and skills required to perform well. It is based on processes of recording achievement and action planning, which involves individuals reviewing what they have learned, what they have achieved, what their goals are, how they are going to achieve those goals and what new learning they n eed to acquire. The learning program can be ‘self-paced’ in the sense that learners can decide for themselves, up to a point, the rate at which they work and are encouraged to measure their own progress and adjust the program accordingly. Self-directed learning is based on the principle that people learn and retain more if they find things out for themselves.But they still need to be given guidance on what to look for and help in finding it. Learners have to be encouraged to define, with whatever help they may require, what they need to know to perform their job effectively. They need to be provided with guidance on where they can get the material or information that will help them to learn and how to make good use of it. Personal development plans as described later in this chapter can provide a framework for this process. People also need support from their manager and the organization, with the provision of coaching, mentoring and learning facilities, including e-lea rning. The leadership style I would apply is the combination of a Transformational and Transactional Leader.As a leader I can be both arouse emotions of my followers which motivates them to act beyond the framework of what may be described as exchange relations at the same time be aware of the link between the effort and reward. I can be proactive and form new expectation and be responsive from the basic orientation in dealing with present issues. Transformational leaders are distinguished by their capacity to inspire and provide individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation and idealized influence to their followers while transactional leaders rely on standard forms of inducement, reward, punishment and sanction to control followers. Leaders create learning opportunities for their followers and stimulate followers to solve problems at the same time they can motivate followers by setting goals and promising rewards for desired performance.A trait that a leader should posses s good visioning, rhetorical and management skills, to develop strong emotional bonds with followers and depends on the leader’s power to reinforce subordinates for their successful completion of the bargain. Lastly, leaders motivate followers to work for goals that go beyond self-interest.REFERENCES: http://www. ehow. com/how_5485211_evaluate-team- performance. html#ixzz1sqUbPZyH accessed on July 18, 2012 How to Manage People. Michael Armstrong 2008 accessed on July 24, 2012 How to Evaluate Team Performance | eHow. com accessed on August 3, 2012 http://www. ehow. com/how_5485211_evaluate-team-performance. html#ixzz1sqUbPZyH accessed on August 10, 2012

buy custom HIPAA for Health Care Professionals essay

buy custom HIPAA for Health Care Professionals essay Since its enactment in 1996, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act have had a profound impact in various domains of the United States healthcare system. Its main role is to protect the privacy of protected health information. This law establishes guidelines that control the sharing of protected health information. Chemical dependency counselors, just like other health professionals collect medical information as well as demographic information from individuals who use their services. This information is classified as Protected Healthcare Information (PHI) which contains individually identifiable health information (Root, 2002). PHI includes demographic information such as an individuals contacts, address, national security number, gender and date of birth in addition to healthcare information. PHI can be communicated in any form; written, spoken, electronically, etc. This paper expresses my views on the HIPPA rules apply to documentation in the field of chemical dep endency counseling. Client record The HIPPA rules require that counselors establish and maintain a client record for every client at the instance of first service delivery. The client record should contain demographic information that identifies the client. After the initial service delivery, the counselor should record the assessment results which include the diagnosis, the clients statement of their problem and the care plan. Further, there should be documentation of all services provided and their times, duration, delivery modes and the state of the client during the time of services discontinuation. There are requirements that counselors maintain a record of al payments received form clients and the charges billed to the counselors (Krager Krager, 2008). These entries should be authenticated. In the case of electronic records, a digital authentication key should be used to authenticate the records. Corrections of entries are required to be marked through with a single line and signed by the counselor. In my view, the stringent record keeping requrements are necessary to avoid documentation problems in the course of the counselors engagement with a client. These rules ensure that documentations are accurate and reflect on the actual situation. Inaccurate documentation is potentially detrimental to the success of a clients treatment plan. In situations where a change of counselor occurs, accurate information should be passed to the next counselor. In case of inaccurate documentation, the counseling plan can be wrongly administered to the client resulting into wastage of time, resources and efforts. Worse still, the customer is left in a worse state than he/she was in before the counseling sessions. The problem of improper documentation is especially harmful to the chemical dependency counseling field due to the nature of psychological treatment plans that require good planning and continuity. Privacy protection HIPAA rules require that the counselor protects client information from unauthorized disclosure. The HIPAA rules stipulate that the client and the counselor have to sign HIPAA agreement papers before commencement of their sessions. The papers are a statement of privacy practices of the facility where the counselor operates. This statement specifies how the counselor can use the information provided in the clients personal file. It also specifies third parties that are allowed to use this information, if any. The counselor and medical staff under him/her are required to sign the agreement at least once annually as an assurance of their awareness of privacy laws, their understanding of the same and their readiness to upholding these laws. In my view, the protection of privacy as provisioned in the HIPAA laws is very important to the client and the entire medical fraternity. Ensuring that this information is only used for the correct purposes that do not jeopardize the normality of clients life is of paramount importance. If shared, chemical dependency issues might lead to unfair discriminations from various quarters of life such as employment and education. People with addictions can be helped out of their preddicaments with proper counseling and guidance. It is therefore unfair to expose such persons to discriminatory treatment that might result from sharing of their personal and medical information. Therefore the HIPAA rules are important in protecting people with chemical dependency issue. They ensure that such people are protected by the law and they get a chance to live just like other people while dealing with their addiction problems. Other issues surrounding HIPAA In addition to client record and protection of private information, there are other issues surrounding HIPAA laws and chemical dependency counseling services. The requirement that counselors keep all the client data helps in coordination of that clients healthcare with other specialists if need when need arises. Such coordination would not be quick enough and efficient if proper client records are not properly kept. This is also helpful in sharing of information with family and friends, and other people that clients deem necessary. There is a need to ensure that HIPAA rules do not hinder the sharing of medical and personal information where it is necessary to do so for various reasons. For instance, a family discovered that their old neighbor was exhibiting signs of mental breakdowns. On taking him to the hospital, treatment was administered to him and since his neighbors were not legally allowed to access his health and personal information, they had to leave him under the care of healthcare providers. With time they could not trace the old man, and despite their goodwill, they were kept away from helping their old neighbor. I therefore find it necessary for HIPAA laws to be amended to allow such concerned parties have access to specific client information, as long as their sincerity can be verified. In conclusion, I believe that the documentation requirements as imposed by the HIPAA rules are largely beneficial, not only to the client but also to other concerned parties. It enhances quick and efficient counseling services and privacy protection for chemical dependency counseling services. Buy custom HIPAA for Health Care Professionals essay

Slavery essay essays

Slavery essay essays In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it states; all humans have the right to freedom, education, and equality - yet, we allow African Americans be tortured and have no freedom with no equality, and no education. Slavery is an institution where human rights are constantly violated. The barbaric treatment the slaves endured, rents the sole purpose of the UDHR. Due to these circumstances, slavery should be abolished and, slaves granted their freedom, education, and have an equal right to life. In the novel The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, the slaves endured much excruciating pain and torture. A young woman was beaten with dried cow skin on her back until her back was covered in blood and raw tenderness. She was beaten because she was caught with her boyfriend. But the punishment did not fit the crime. In the UDHR, article 5, it states, no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment. Slaves are people too, they dont deserve being treated in such inhuman and tormenting ways. They should also have a right to have an education. In the book Fredrick taught himself to read because he was denied education due to his color. He hide from his master that he was teaching himself to read. If his maser had found out, Douglass would have gotten beaten severely. It also states in the UDHR that everyone has the right to an elementary education. Slaves dont have to learn calculus but they deserve to at least know their ABCs or even be able to read the bible if they chose to. Slaves dont know what its like being free and being equal with whites. Why? How are they so different from us? Just because they are of different color and may feel different about religion or politics does not mean they dont deserve to be free and equal. It also doesnt mean they are any different from us. They breathe the same air as w...

Accounting Theory for Liability and Equity - MyAssignmenthelp

The accounting academics, as well as the developers of accounting standards, have tried to build a conceptual framework for counting, which gives a certain statement about the characteristics plus the objectives of financial accounting along with reporting. Besides this, the framework of accounting can be used as the guideline and guide all the accountants in entire accounting practices. The accounting firework can be useful as it can provide a firm theoretical base in order to provide a cogent explanation about the accounting as well as it helps in making the accounting process logical for the students (Appannaiah, Reddy & Putty, 2010). The main aim of the conceptual framework is to provide the guideline to the accountant throughout the preparation as well as the presentation of the common purpose of financial reports within the public as well as private sectors. The conceptual framework for accounting has the objectives to give a fundamental conception or theory for the accounting. The conceptual framework of accounting helps in detecting as well as defining the qualitative features of the financial information like reliability, relevance, comparability, timeliness, plus understandability. Furthermore, the conceptual framework can help in recognizing and defining the fundamental elements of accounting like assets, liability, equity, income, revenue, expenses as well as profit.  Ã‚   At the low level, it deals with the principles as well as the basic rules for the detection and assessment of the key elements (Britton & Waterston, 2013). It also helps in identifying the information types which would be displayed in the financial reports. However, the attempts to make the radical change by introducing a conceptual framework SAC 4 have failed. The essay is an attempt to explore the reason behind the failure of SAC 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The financial statements of a company should provide the appropriate value of the company. The accountants and auditors should focus on the fair representation of the financial statements. The errors or omissions in the financial statements can lead to the increase or decrease in the value of the company. The income, expense, assets and liabilities should be clearly and fairly stated in the financial statements. Both the FASB and IASB framework considers the objective of the financial reporting is to fairly communicate the financial information to the users. The financial information should be based on the usefulness in the decision-making process. The development of conceptual framework has been a lengthy and complicated process (Holton, 2012). The present focus is on the qualitative characteristics and objective of the financial reporting. The companies should focus on the true and fair view of the company. It has been argued by many people that the previous conceptual framework in cludes the measurement based on the unspecified rules, there is no previous agreement on the objective, logic is circular, and definitions of elements are not workable and also do not provide guidance to the practicing accountants. They have also argued that the previous agreement is not important and also lead to the mechanical decision making. Imprecise and loose definitions and logic can indicate that the accounting is in the pre-science phase. The criticism focuses on the epistemological and ontological assumptions. Thus, accounting can never be unbiased and neutral (Holtzman, 2008). The accountants and auditors play a significant role in depicting the reality and showing the fair value of all the financial items. The material misstatements should be determined that can affect the interests of the shareholders. Apart from this, some people stated that the conceptual framework based on self-interest and professional values. The motivation is to increase the economic through the m onopoly behavior and have gained the social power and acceptance. The accounting professions have to maintain its position and manipulating the attempts at the public regulations. The existence of conceptual framework has increased the conceptual debate level in the standard of setting the process of lobbying. It provides guidance to deal with the problems that are not yet the subject of the accounting standard. The accountants and auditors should provide clear true and fair view of the financial report of the company (Jackling, 2010).   Ã‚   The framework of the study is surrounding the issues which are established by showing the provision of the accounting framework as it is being established by showing the provision of the SAC 4 framework. This is simply explained the benefits and the decrement of the values of the liabilities as it is being provided in the form of the definition of the standards. The FASB statement is showing the financial accounting concepts which are showing the (SAC 4) framework as is being considered for the external reporting as the development of the objectives is considered (Powers & Needles, 2012). The information provided by the standards are showing the establishment of the information which is generally useful for illustrating the usefulness of the information which is beneficial for the purpose of presenting the potential information to the investors and also the creditors. In another way, the rationale established is showing the presented of the selected reporting which enables in showing the appropriate communication process as it is helpful for undertaking the decisions. The framework is also depicted to be surrounding the following objectives that can be achieved by this framework which is enlisted in the following points:- As per the objectives are concerned, these are depicted to be showing the useful financial information’s, but the principles are apart helping in transmitting the information that is necessary for the development of the hierarchy of the qualities. Therefore, the principle characteristics can be easily determined by showing the appropriate, useful information which is showing the complete structure as it is mentioned in the SAC 2. The hierarchical arrangement of the objectives is also showing the ability to the information which is being used for showing the understandability that simply defines the structures of the work (Roode & Leith, 2009). The hierarchy of the work is also presenting the quality measurements which are influencing the financial and the economic decisions as it is shown to be reliable in nature. Thus the material losses can be easily explained by showing the material bias and also the error can be easily categorized. This simply explains the failure of the s tandard SAC 4 for which the inappropriate determination of the values is defined. Since the explanation is also identifying the inappropriate conduct made by the implementation of the framework, then the establishment of the issue is being depicted in the form of showing the removal of the SAC 4 and also the inappropriate transactions are seen in this case. The removal of the issue is becoming the vital reason as it is being explained in this case and also the downfall of the organizational events can be seen by the implementation of this framework (Weil, 2017). These are the issues which are identified in this case and also it is seemed to be leading to the failure of the act as it is being explained in this case. As per the presentation of the work is being made, the errors in the estimations are more as it is being indicated by the implementation of the SAC 4 standard. The inappropriate raising of the issues in the business transactions are identified to be the vital reason for the development of the barriers and also the event destruction is clearly seen in the organizational development. For this reason, the SAC 4 is being removed which is showing the vital cause of the formation of the issues in the organization (Wolf, 2010). There are some archived statements of the accounting concepts such as the SAC 3 as well as SAC 4 were useful until the initial reporting period initiating on or afterward 1 st Jan. 2005, while this specific framework intends for the creation plus presentation of the financial statements according to the AASB the Australian equal to the international IASB framework.  Ã‚  Ã‚   The are several people criticizing the conceptual framework of SAC 4, which help in recognizing and defining the fundamental elements of accounting like assets, liability, equity, income, revenue, expenses as well as profit.   The main issue of this conceptual framework is measurement as the rules for the measurement are not specified in this conceptual framework. Besides this the logic behind the framework is spherical and there is not any previous agreement on the objectives. Apart from this, the definitions of the accounting elements are not workable as well as do not provide any guidance for practicing accounts.  Ã‚   Appannaiah, H., Reddy, P., & Putty, R. (2010).  Financial accounting. Mumbai [India]: Himalaya Pub. House. Britton, A., & Waterston, C. (2013).  Financial accounting. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Holton, R. (2012).  Global finance. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Holtzman, M. (2008).  What's new in financial reporting. Florham Park, N.J.: Financial Executives Research Foundation. Jackling, B. (2010).  Accounting. North Ryde, N.S.W.: McGraw-Hill Education. Powers, M., & Needles, B. (2012).  Financial accounting. [Mason]: South-Western, Cengage Learning. Revsine, L., & Mittelstaedt, F. (2017).  Financial reporting and analysis. Dubuque: McGraw-Hill Education. Roode, M., & Leith, K. (2009).  Financial reporting. [Pretoria]: [Salt and Pepper]. Weil, R. (2017).  Financial accounting. [Place of publication not identified]: Cengage Learning. Wolf, M. (2010).  Fixing global finance. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 84

Summary - Essay Example b. The issue is clearly stated and there can be no confusion in regard to its aspects. It should be noted that the issue is made clear in the following two ways: a) direct reference is made to the issue and b) the potential implications of the issue for humans and the planet are mentioned, leading the reader to the identification of the article’s main issue. b. The conclusion is clearly stated. In fact, in the last paragraph the author notes that ‘weve remained too silent for far too long’; this phrase illustrates the view of the author in regard to the strategy followed up today for handling the particular problem. c. The conclusion is related to the question raised in this article but not directly. In fact, the conclusion highlights the fact that no action has been taken up today for addressing global population growth but it does not focus on the key reason for which such action should be taken. a. The reasons that support the evidence are differentiated: a) for Paul Ehrlich, the continuous global population growth could result to a chaos, b) in the context of an article published in Time magazine, global population growth could lead to the increase of instability and c) the magazine Scientific American has promoted the idea that global population growth would threaten the availability of food. b. The first of the above reasons is based on a personal belief of Paul Ehrlich; the relationship between global population growth and instability is based on the personal experience of the General Michael Hayden, the author of the article published in Time magazine. As of the third reason, the relationship between global population growth and increased food needs is based on the personal belief of the American economist, as this belief is probably resulted from the study of demographic trends in countries worldwide. c. The evidence is related to the conclusion but not directly. In fact the evidence helps to understand the reasons for which initiatives

Solve a contemporary social and criminal justice issue Thesis

Solve a contemporary social and criminal justice issue - Thesis Example While this system has been designed to facilitate a more peaceful and non-violent society, there are challenges with criminal justice in providing rehabilitation for criminal offenders sustaining mental illness problems. There have been dramatic increases in the prevalence of mental illness among the prison population in the United States. In 1996, 25 percent of all individuals incarcerated in jails reported that they had sought treatment for a mental illness condition at some point in their lives, representative of approximately 127,000 jail inmates throughout the nation (Whitehead, Jones and Braswell, 2003). In the 1970s, there was a push to deinstitutionalize the mentally ill within psychiatric hospitals and, instead, to provide the mentally ill with community treatment programs. It was determined during this time period in history that such treatment programs would provide a superior public safety outcome, allow jails to operate more efficiently by removing challenges of rehabilitating mentally ill criminal offenders, and provide the mentally ill with more productive treatment methods that jails are unable to provide (Whitehead, et al.). However, this approach at deinstitutionalizing the mentally ill has not been effective. In 2002, it is estimated that a substantial 64 percent of all jailed inmates in the country suffered from a mental health issue (Whitehead, et al.). Community mental health services are designed to provide encouragement and treatment for people suffering from an array of mental disorders in a domiciliary environment rather than in psychiatric clinics. Such community mental health systems provide appropriate outpatient psychiatric services in an age where social perspectives on mental illness have transformed care from intensive psychotherapy to treatment ideology where the mentally ill have a positive place to live with encouraging social environments that

Clan of the Cave Bear Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Clan of the Cave Bear - Term Paper Example The woman’s name is Iza and she requests the clans leader,’Brun’ since the girl belonged to a distrusted antagonists of the clan and as such they had been nicknamed, â€Å"the others†. With the help of her brother who happens to be the â€Å"Mog-ur† of the group in spite of him being disabled. It happens that immediately the group adopts Ayla they are lucky and find another cave. Therefore she is adored and is seen as a good omen to the clan. In fact better thing come their way from that time. She is even given the role of becoming the next Mog-ur of the new cave. However, the young man who is expected to that over the clans leadership is angered by the way she is being envied by most people plans to avenge (Auel 1-211). Paleoenvironment Flora refers to the plants while fauna refers to the wildlife and they are distinct from place to place. In the case of this book the environment hosts a lot of animals and plant. In fact, it is evident from the boo k that the caves are in a forest. This has made the lives of the Neandertal to be easily since they are hunters and gathers as well as farmers. The farming aspect can be seen though the readily available green vegetables and plants like cinnamon. More so they have horses which are tamed (Auel 14).The fact also that there is a Mug-ur and a sister medicine woman revels the presence of many indigenous trees (Auel 94). Another example is revealed when Durc is heard telling Vorn how his hunt had favored him and he caught a deer that was being cooked by his mate (Auel 19). Further there are many fruits and this is revealed by Ura when he says, that cinnamon tastes good with apples. Moreover, the presence of foods like bread and cakes demonstrates that wheat was being cultivated (Auel 208). In addition, there are many birds in this setting as defined in this text of songbirds and squirrels fly (Auel 18). Lastly the book demonstrates that there are a lot of greens most of which was used by the clan as food (Auel 100). Neandertals v. Moderns There are very many anatomical, behavioral, and mental differences between the Neandertals and the current world people. For example their mode of survival in the Neandertals is totally different they have demonstrated to be almost supernatural if they can live in cave under ice and harsh cold conditions (Auel 19). Moreover, their eating habits are not what a modern day person would prefer. They survived on mainly wild meat and fruits and even used herbs as their only medication. Consequently, these people have been portrayed as being illiterate a thing that is almost inexistent in the modern would. However they have proved that literacy I not wisdom because they have demonstrated that even with the lack of basic education they were able to survive under hardships and they even had leaders and a medicine woman (Auel 23). Lastly but not the least their adaptation to harsh cold weather is seen as having a big start at an early age. T his is seen through the many children that the Neandertals bore and raised. The Neandertals also have a difference with the modern people through their neighborliness and harmonious way of living. They mind and watched each other closely and yet they were able to maintain respect for each other.

Observation Report. Observation of a group Essay

Observation Report. Observation of a group - Essay Example 1990; Little, 1990; Ponticell, 1995; Guskey, 1994: Dufour & Eaker, 1998; Guskey, 2000). The isolationist learning model, implying that students have to work on their own and not in collaboration with their peers, is imposed upon learners by teachers and educational institutions from the inception of their educational journey to its conclusion. Predicated on the assumption that collaboration could lead to collusion, the unfair distribution of work responsibilities and, learner dependence on others, culminating in his/her resignation of learning/studying responsibilities, the isolationist learning model tends to discourage cooperative learning (Hargreaves & Dawe. 1990; Little, 1990; Ponticell, 1995; Guskey, 1994: Dufour & Eaker, 1998; Guskey, 2000). To the extent that this assignment was about the formation of a study group and could only be completed through learner collaboration, it was a significant learning experience. Murphy and Lick (2001) maintain that group size is an important predictor of the capacity of a group to satisfy its objectives, insofar as size directly impinges upon manageability. As such, they advise that group sizes range between two to six members. As noted in the introductory paragraph, our group was comprised of four members, implying adherence to the aforementioned advise and, supposedly, an enhanced capacity for the quality completion of the set assignment. The assigned task was simple enough in itself. Group members were required to watch a film, following from which they were expected to collaborate on the composition of a report on that which the film had to say about group dynamics and on the completion of a number of other learning tasks. The film in question was Alive. The group assumed an online form, whereby collaboration was limited to group discussions via WebCT. While this was, in some ways, easier than

Securitization and Swaps Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Securitization and Swaps - Essay Example Hence the firms in the financial services industry attach more importance to the risk management in their organizations. Risk management in the financial services organizations is necessitated due to various reasons. The most important reason is the potential economic losses to which the firms will be exposed in case they had to meet with some unforeseen risk and it may erode the entire capital of the firm. There are other reasons for undertaking risk management in these firms like the tax implications of the transactions, movement in the capital and stock markets and the persistent fear of the people managing the financial services businesses that their decisions may be proved wrong by the course of business events. In any risk being faced by the financial service firm there is the potential danger of the firm losing profits which in turn would result in the decline of the firm value for some of the stakeholders. Similarly all or any of these reasons for managing the risk may force the management of the firm to make an assessment of the risks involved and take necessary corrective or preventive action to protect the firm against the risks identified. In this article the different kinds of risks to which the financial institutions are exposed and the ways in which the firms can protect them against these risks are discussed. The financial Methods to Protect against Risks The financial institutions adopt several ways of protecting them against the risks associated with their businesses. In general the organizations can find out the best business practices in the industry with respect to risk management and adopt them in their own organizations. Alternatively the organizations can find convenient ways of transferring the risks to other players in the market or the organizations can employ specialized risk management programs at their organizational level to protect them against any financial loss resulting from the risks. The best practices in the industry is the normally adopted risk management procedure by most of the organizations in which the organizations take actions like underwriting and reinsurance of risk so that the risks will be spread among the operators which have the effect of reducing the risks of apparent risks associated with the business. In addition the financial institutions may undertake hedging of their balance sheet items to protect any possible financial risks due to change in interest rates or exchange rates if the assets and liabilities are held in foreign companies. The basic objective behind these measures can be seen from the fact that the organizations do not want to carry the risks which are part of the businesses undertaken by them and also to maintain the level of total risks under controllable levels. There are systemic risks that can be eliminated by a proper assessment of the risks and taking risk protection programs to safeguard the financial interests of the organizations. Similarly in the case of risks that the organizations may face due to the frauds committed by the staff and employees, losses arising out of oversights and mistakes of the employees due to limited control by senior level management - known as operational risks - the organizations can find suitable ways to minimize these risks. In any case it must be noted that the organizations would suffer from possible erosion of profits due to

Clan of the Cave Bear Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Clan of the Cave Bear - Term Paper Example The woman’s name is Iza and she requests the clans leader,’Brun’ since the girl belonged to a distrusted antagonists of the clan and as such they had been nicknamed, â€Å"the others†. With the help of her brother who happens to be the â€Å"Mog-ur† of the group in spite of him being disabled. It happens that immediately the group adopts Ayla they are lucky and find another cave. Therefore she is adored and is seen as a good omen to the clan. In fact better thing come their way from that time. She is even given the role of becoming the next Mog-ur of the new cave. However, the young man who is expected to that over the clans leadership is angered by the way she is being envied by most people plans to avenge (Auel 1-211). Paleoenvironment Flora refers to the plants while fauna refers to the wildlife and they are distinct from place to place. In the case of this book the environment hosts a lot of animals and plant. In fact, it is evident from the boo k that the caves are in a forest. This has made the lives of the Neandertal to be easily since they are hunters and gathers as well as farmers. The farming aspect can be seen though the readily available green vegetables and plants like cinnamon. More so they have horses which are tamed (Auel 14).The fact also that there is a Mug-ur and a sister medicine woman revels the presence of many indigenous trees (Auel 94). Another example is revealed when Durc is heard telling Vorn how his hunt had favored him and he caught a deer that was being cooked by his mate (Auel 19). Further there are many fruits and this is revealed by Ura when he says, that cinnamon tastes good with apples. Moreover, the presence of foods like bread and cakes demonstrates that wheat was being cultivated (Auel 208). In addition, there are many birds in this setting as defined in this text of songbirds and squirrels fly (Auel 18). Lastly the book demonstrates that there are a lot of greens most of which was used by the clan as food (Auel 100). Neandertals v. Moderns There are very many anatomical, behavioral, and mental differences between the Neandertals and the current world people. For example their mode of survival in the Neandertals is totally different they have demonstrated to be almost supernatural if they can live in cave under ice and harsh cold conditions (Auel 19). Moreover, their eating habits are not what a modern day person would prefer. They survived on mainly wild meat and fruits and even used herbs as their only medication. Consequently, these people have been portrayed as being illiterate a thing that is almost inexistent in the modern would. However they have proved that literacy I not wisdom because they have demonstrated that even with the lack of basic education they were able to survive under hardships and they even had leaders and a medicine woman (Auel 23). Lastly but not the least their adaptation to harsh cold weather is seen as having a big start at an early age. T his is seen through the many children that the Neandertals bore and raised. The Neandertals also have a difference with the modern people through their neighborliness and harmonious way of living. They mind and watched each other closely and yet they were able to maintain respect for each other.

Securitization and Swaps Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Securitization and Swaps - Essay Example Hence the firms in the financial services industry attach more importance to the risk management in their organizations. Risk management in the financial services organizations is necessitated due to various reasons. The most important reason is the potential economic losses to which the firms will be exposed in case they had to meet with some unforeseen risk and it may erode the entire capital of the firm. There are other reasons for undertaking risk management in these firms like the tax implications of the transactions, movement in the capital and stock markets and the persistent fear of the people managing the financial services businesses that their decisions may be proved wrong by the course of business events. In any risk being faced by the financial service firm there is the potential danger of the firm losing profits which in turn would result in the decline of the firm value for some of the stakeholders. Similarly all or any of these reasons for managing the risk may force the management of the firm to make an assessment of the risks involved and take necessary corrective or preventive action to protect the firm against the risks identified. In this article the different kinds of risks to which the financial institutions are exposed and the ways in which the firms can protect them against these risks are discussed. The financial Methods to Protect against Risks The financial institutions adopt several ways of protecting them against the risks associated with their businesses. In general the organizations can find out the best business practices in the industry with respect to risk management and adopt them in their own organizations. Alternatively the organizations can find convenient ways of transferring the risks to other players in the market or the organizations can employ specialized risk management programs at their organizational level to protect them against any financial loss resulting from the risks. The best practices in the industry is the normally adopted risk management procedure by most of the organizations in which the organizations take actions like underwriting and reinsurance of risk so that the risks will be spread among the operators which have the effect of reducing the risks of apparent risks associated with the business. In addition the financial institutions may undertake hedging of their balance sheet items to protect any possible financial risks due to change in interest rates or exchange rates if the assets and liabilities are held in foreign companies. The basic objective behind these measures can be seen from the fact that the organizations do not want to carry the risks which are part of the businesses undertaken by them and also to maintain the level of total risks under controllable levels. There are systemic risks that can be eliminated by a proper assessment of the risks and taking risk protection programs to safeguard the financial interests of the organizations. Similarly in the case of risks that the organizations may face due to the frauds committed by the staff and employees, losses arising out of oversights and mistakes of the employees due to limited control by senior level management - known as operational risks - the organizations can find suitable ways to minimize these risks. In any case it must be noted that the organizations would suffer from possible erosion of profits due to

The play An Inspector Calls Essay Example for Free

The play An Inspector Calls Essay An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley is a play set in the early 1900s in the industrial city of Brumley. The Birling family and Gerald Croft is interrogated by a man who calls himself Inspector Goole, and it becomes clear that everyone is hiding something. The inspector controls the pace of the play by dealing with one enquiry at a time, and the tension is gradually built up, and since there is a lot at stake for each of the characters the situation is very fragile. Throughout Act I J. B. Priestley presents the differences between gender roles, as the men retreat to have their cigars and the women stay and discuss domesticities. The suicide of Eva Smith and the interrogation upon further explores notions of power division, morality and justice seen within the English society. An Inspector Calls is set during the pre-war Edwardian era in an industrial town in the North Midlands of England. It is the year 1912, and social status and wealth plays a vital role in the English society. The Birling family is gathered for a celebration in the dining room of a fairly large suburban house. Although the house is heavily comfortable, it is not cosy and homelike suggesting that the Birling family do not share a strong bond and that they do not spend much time together. The family is in evening dress, symptomatic for the time period, and an indication of wealth and prestige. A mans role during the Victorian era of the late 19th century consisted of mainly working, supporting the family, and standing upright in the society. Mr. Birling, the head of the family, is a man of great self-importance and vanity, with the idea that there is a very good chance of knighthood; however, he is very parochial and conveys a limited outlook on life, incapable of thinking beyond the comfortable boundaries he has created for himself seen in the dramatic irony in his lengthy speech. Mr. Birlings daughters fianci Gerald Croft aligns with Arthur Birling, as he has the same thoughts and beliefs, and more importantly he believes in the same business approach. He is of a wealthy background, and is perceived to be a well mannered man-about-town; however, he has a very superficial and narcissistic mentality. Inspector Goole, is a man in his 50s dressed in a plain dark suit, he enters on the note give us some light, suggesting that he will bring metaphorical light upon the situation. He creates an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness in the play, and although Inspector Goole ultimately belongs to the working class, he manages to gain the upper hand with morality and the law on his side. He portrays a very professional manner as he refrains from drinking, and addresses people eye to eye, which is disconcerting when attempting to tell a lie. Mr. Birlings son Eric, is a young man with good intentions; however, he is starting to loose himself to his excess of spare time. He is a paradoxical character as he demonstrates both hope for the future, as he is more conscious of the workers, but his drinking, gambling, and womanizing appears to act as a barrier.

Action Potentials In Squid Axon

Action Potentials In Squid Axon In 1952, Hodgkin and Huxley published a series of four papers in the Journal of Physiology (London) reporting their experiments to investigate the underlying events of the action potential. In their final paper, they derived a series of equations that describe the relationship between sodium conductance (gNa+), potassium conductance (gK+) and the membrane potential in a squid axon following electrical stimulation. Hodgkin and Huxley were awarded the Nobel Prize for this work. In this practical, you will use a computer program based on the Hodgkin and Huxley equations to show what is happening to the membrane potential, gNa+ and gK+ during and after electrical stimulation. An example of the output from the program is illustrated in figure 1. It can be seen that the electrical stimulation depolarises the membrane. Once a depolarisation of 30mV has occurred, the conductance to sodium ions increases rapidly and the membrane potential rises to +20mV. The rise in gK+ is slower in onset and lasts for longer than the increase in gNa+. The fall in gNa+ and the associated rise in gK+ returns the membrane potential towards the resting value. Figure 1: Simulation of changes in membrane potential, Na+ and K+ conductances following the application of a single electrical stimulus of 50  Ã‚ ­A/cm2 for 1  ms. The peak height, amplitude, latency and threshold of the action potential are shown. Methods and Results Run the Squid Giant Axon simulation from the Start menu, HHX. Experiments using a single electrical stimulus In the first series of experiments, you will use a single electrical stimulus to initiate an action potential. Run a simulation with the following parameters: Stimulus 1 Amplitude ( Ã‚ ­A/cm2) Stimulus 1 Duration (ms) Delay (ms) Stimulus 2 Amplitude ( Ã‚ ­A/cm2) Stimulus 2 Duration (ms) 50 1 0 0 0 A trace similar to figure 1 will be obtained. From this trace, you can measure the peak height, amplitude, latency and threshold of the action potential: Peak Height (mV) Amplitude (mV) Latency (ms) Threshold Voltage (mV) +19 109 0.46 -66 Q1 and 2. Investigate the effects of varying stimulus amplitude and duration by running all the simulations shown in the matrix below in Table 1: Enter a X in the Table 1 matrix for experiments that produce an action potential, and record the peak height, amplitude, latency and threshold of any action potentials in Table 2 overleaf. For experiments that fail to elicit an action potential, enter a O in the matrix below, and record a value of  ¥ (infinity) for the latency and - for the other parameters in the table overleaf. Table 1. Success/failure matrix Stimulus Strength ( Ã‚ ­A/cm2) Stimulus Duration (ms) 0.1 0.5 1 2 5 50 O X X X X 20 O X X X X 10 O O X X X 7 O O X X X 5 O O O X X 2 O O O O O Table 2: Action potential characteristics Stimulus Response Strength ( Ã‚ ­A/cm2) Duration (ms) Peak Height (mV) Amplitude (mV) Latency (ms) Threshold Voltage (mV) 2 0.1  ¥ 0.5  ¥ 1  ¥ 2  ¥ 5  ¥ 5 0.1  ¥ 0.5  ¥ 1  ¥ 2 14 104 2.89 -61 5 15 105 2.74 -59 7 0.1  ¥ 0.5  ¥ 1 12 102 4.38 -57 2 15 105 2.16 -58 5 16 106 2.16 -57 10 0.1  ¥ 0.5  ¥ 1 15 105 2.01 -61 2 16 106 1.62 -64 5 16 106 1.62 -64 20 0.1  ¥ 0.5 15 105 1.58 -64 1 16 106 1.02 -63 2 17 107 0.97 -66 5 17 107 1.04 -61 50 0.1  ¥ 0.5 17 107 0.59 -61 1 19 109 0.54 -60 2 19 109 0.52 -62 5 19 109 0.57 -58 Q3. Plot two graphs to show the relationship between: (i) Stimulus strength and latency and (ii) Stimulus duration and latency. How these graphs should be plotted is not immediately obvious, and information on how to complete this task will not be explicitly given! The optimal solution to the problem is for you to find, but the following points are provided for guidance: It is not legitimate to plot infinity on graphs It is not appropriate to extrapolate beyond data points It is not legitimate to plot average latencies. The graphs must be plotted so that every value of latency (except  ¥) is represented. Use the blank sheet on the proforma, there is no need to use graph paper. Graph 1 : Stimulus strength and latency Remember you need to distinguish different stim durations in this gr Graph 2: Stimulus Duration and Latency Make sure you distinguish different strengths as well These can be plotted accurately using excel for your submitted report. Experiments with dual stimuli Q4. Run a simulation with the following parameters to demonstrate the absolute refractory period: Simulation Stimulus 1 Amplitude ( Ã‚ ­A/cm2) Stimulus 1 Duration (ms) Delay (ms) Stimulus 2 Amplitude ( Ã‚ ­A/cm2) Stimulus 2 Duration (ms) A 50 0.5 4 50 0.5 B 50 0.5 4 100 0.5 Briefly describe the responses obtained in simulations A and B in the space below: In A the first and second stimulus is equal. The first stimulus causes an action potential whilst the second stimulus does not. The delay is only 4ms. The membrane is at the absolute refractory period when the second stimulus is sent. Therefore an action potential cannot be produced. The first stimulus for A causes the gK value to change from -0.36 to 6.0. The gNa, 0.01, does not increase for the second stimulus and the peak reached is -92mV for the second stimulus and the threshold is -52mV. In B the second stimulus is larger than the first one but the delay remains the same at 4ms. The increase of the stimulus does not cause an action potential. This suggests it must be in the absolute refractory period because a larger stimulus should be able to generate an action potential if it is in the relative refractory period. The value of gK changes from -0.36 to -5.87. The peak was -83mV Q5. Repeat the simulations, but with a longer delay between stimuli: Simulation Stimulus 1 Amplitude ( Ã‚ ­A/cm2) Stimulus 1 Duration (ms) Delay (ms) Stimulus 2 Amplitude ( Ã‚ ­A/cm2) Stimulus 2 Duration (ms) C 50 0.5 7 50 0.5 D 50 0.5 7 100 0.5 Compare and contrast the responses obtained in simulations C and D with those of A and B. Stimulation C and D has a longer delay between the first and second stimulus than stimulation A and B. Stimulations C has a lower second stimulus than D but the same as A. Likewise for Simulation A which has a lower second stimulus than B. Stimulation B and D have got the same amplitude for the second stimulus. The second stimulus, like A, for simulation C did not generate an action potential. Whilst with simulation D, unlike B, an action potential was generated. This is because in the absolute refractory period it is not possible for an action potential to be generated hence why simulation B did not produce an action potential. The delay in stimulation C and D is longer therefore the membrane is in the relative refractory period. This is suggested by the action potential produced in D. The extra delay in D enables more inactivation gates to open generating an action potential. The larger amplitude in D caused the membrane to reach threshold. Discussion Answer the questions below in the spaces provided. This will provide the basis of your report discussion Q6. Briefly justify why a latency of  ¥ was recorded if an action potential was not produced. Latency is the time from the start of the stimulus to threshold. If no action potential is produced then it is not ever possible for it to reach threshold, -59mV, therefore it has to be labelled as infinity because no matter how long you wait you will never reach threshold. Q7. What evidence from your results suggests that action potentials are threshold phenomena? Only the experiments which reached threshold value produced an action potential, refer to table one. For example when the strength of the stimulus is 2mA/cm2 no action potential was produced but the membrane potential did change however it did not reach threshold. When the strength of the stimulus was increased the, for example to 5 mA/cm2, and the duration of the stimulus as increased to 2ms then an action potential was reached. This is because the membrane must depolarise to the threshold level therefore generating an action potential with the same amplitude. This is the all or nothing principle. Q8. Comment briefly on the amplitude of the action potentials generated in these experiments. In all the experiments, table 2, which an action potential was generated, the amplitude was always similar even though the stimulus strength and duration had changed. This is part of the all or nothing principle. The amplitude was always around 106mV showing that action potentials are not graded. The frequency of the action potential is determined by the intensity of the stimulus. The frequency of action potential is caused during the relative refractory period. Graded potentials can be larger and last longer than action potentials. Therefore during the relative refractory period if the graded potential is stronger than the threshold at resting then it will produce another action potential. If the graded potential last longer than the relative refractory period an action potential will also be generated. Both these factor effect the frequency of action potentials. Q9. From Graph 1, describe the effect of increasing stimulus strength on the latency of the action potential. The graph shows that the strength of the stimulus increases as the latency decreases. For example, when the stimulus strength is 5mA/cm2 and has duration of 2ms the latency is 2.89ms. When the stimulus strength is increased to 50mA/cm2 for the same duration of 2ms the latency decreased to 0.52ms. This shows that the latency has decreased by 2.37ms. Latency is the time from the start of the stimulus to the threshold. Therefore as the strength of the stimulus increases, the time for an action potential to be generated decreases. Q10. From Graph 2, describe the effect of increasing stimulus duration on the latency of the action potential. The graph shows a larger effect with the lower stimulus strength. For example if the stimulus strength is 50mA/cm2 and the duration is 0.5 the latency is 0.59ms and if the duration is 5ms the latency is 0.57. However, if the stimulus strength is 10mA/cm2 and the duration is 1ms the latency is 2.01ms and if the duration increases to 3ms the latency is 1.62ms. Latency is the time from the start of the stimulus to the threshold. Therefore as the duration of the stimulus increases, the time for an action potential to be generated decreases. Sodium permeability increase in membrane Number of sodium channel open increaseQ11. Draw a simple flow diagram to illustrate the positive feedback cycle that results in the rapid depolarizing phase of the action potential. Activation gates open Membrane depolarises Stimulus causing to reach threshold Positive feedback Charge of cell increases causing depolarisation Influx of sodium into cell increase Q12. What event at the ion channel level terminates the above cycle? 1ms after the activation gate open the inactivation gate closes. This is a delay response of the depolarisation. The channel is now incapable of opening until it reaches near resting potential; this is when the inactivation gate opens. Therefore the sodium channels closes and sodium ions cant enter the cell. Also the opening of the potassium channels helps terminates this cycle. Q13. What physiological mechanism is responsible for the absolute refractory period? Absolute refractory period is during the depolarisation and most of the repolarisation phase. At this point the sodium channels inactivation gates are closed and the activation gates are open. Therefore the channel is closed and incapable of opening so an action potential cannot be generated by another stimulus in this period. Q14. Explain your observations to simulations C and D in the Methods and Results section. Stimulations C have a lower second stimulus than D. The second stimulus, for C did not generate an action potential but simulation D did. The delay in stimulation C and D is long therefore the membrane is in the relative refractory period. This is suggested by the action potential produced in D because the larger stimulus amplitude. The extra delay in D, compared to B, enables more inactivation gates to open allowing. Also the larger stimulus allows another action potential to be generated. Q15. Briefly summarise two effects that refractory periods impose on the behaviour of neurones (N.B. restatement of the definitions of refractory periods is not what is asked here) There are two types of refractory period absolute and relative. During the absolute refractory period no action potential can be produced. In the relative an action potential can only be produced depending on the strength of the stimulus. Therefore there is a minimum delay required before a second action potential can be generated. Also it controls the frequency of the action potential generated. This period also helps ensure action potential can only move in one direction. Questions to answer after the practical. Q 16 . Most Local anaesthetics are Sodium channel blockers. Describe how these compounds work, the side-effects and what their main clinical uses are. ( max 300 words). Local anaesthetics are weak bases which are used for loss of pain and muscle power so that a particular area of the body becomes numb. When sodium channel blockers, like lidocaine, enter the body it will be equilibrium with the tissue fluid. The anaesthetic will be in its ionised and non-ionised form. The non-ionised form will be able to pass through. It will be become partially ionised and cant leave, ion trapping. The ionised form will bind to the sodium channel. This will prevent sodium ions from entering the cell and therefore it cannot be depolarised. As a result it does not reach threshold and an action potential is not generated. Consequently the nerve cells cant signal to the brain so pain cant be felt or muscle cant be moved. (Tuckley, 1994). There are many different local anaesthetic available with the side effects differing for each drug and. The general side-effects can be, for example, numbness, sickness, lower blood pressure, light headedness and drowsiness. Not all of these are felt by the patient. (Joint Formulary Committee (2010). The anaesthetic can be administered in by several methods, for example, a dentist will use an injection to the mouth. The effect of the anaesthetics will only be felt by the area in which it is injected in. Dentist will use local anaesthetic so that their patient will have loss of pain only in their mouth. Therefore the patient will not be able to feel any pain whilst the dentist carries out the procedure. It is also used for some eye surgery and minor skin surgery. (Tuckley, 1994). Referencing Tuckley, J, M. (1994).The pharmacology of local anaesthetic agents, Pharmacology, 4, 7. Joint Formulary Committee (2010). British National Formulary. (59th ed.). London: Pharmaceutical Press. Q17. Will these compounds work if they dont block all the Na channels ? Why ? (Use your experimental data to help answer this question) During the relative refractory period some channels are open allowing a second action potential to be generated. For example for stimulation D an action potential was produced for the second stimulus because the cell was in its relative refractory period. However for stimulation C an action potential was not produced for the second stimulus, even though the delay was the same. However the second stimulus was larger for D than C. Therefore if the compound does not block all the sodium channels then an action potential may be generated depending on the number of sodium channels blocked and the strength of the stimulus because the concept is very similar to the relative refractory period as some of the channels are not be open but in this case some channels are blocked. In both cases, relative refractory period and local anaesthetic, some channels allow sodium ions to enter the cell. As a result the compound will not work.