Merseyside Essay

This case involves the dilemma between two mutually exclusive projects that Victoria Chemicals wants to proceed with, but can only choose one earning them 7% increase in polypropylene output per plant. The two proposals will be proposed by the plant managers and evaluated according to corporate criteria. They are to be evaluated on four credentials; Net present value, IRR, payback, and growth in EPS. However the two proposals are fairly different. The Rotterdam projects calls for the expenditure of 10. 5 million GBP spread over three years, firmly committing Victoria Chemicals to the new process technology. The Merseyside project calls for 12 million GBP for renovations, retaining the flexibility to later add the technology in the future. The question is which project should the company take on based on the financial calculations including the company decision criteria. Rotterdam Proposal The Rotterdam proposal consisted of a 90 page document with strategic analyses, and financial projections. The basic discounted cash flow (DCF) shows the project having a positive NPV of 11 million GBP with a IRR of 15. 4%. The initial invest spread over 3 years would help convert the plants polymerization line from batch to continuous-flow technology and to install sophisticated state-of-the-art process controls throughout the operations. This process has already been installed in several other production facilities in Japan and the improvements in cost and output had been positive on average. This proposal consists of 90 pages and already is giving a hint. In this proposal there can be a lot of bogus information which cant lead to false and misleading predictions. It can be looked at as very sketch as to why it seems to be the â€Å"better† proposal. In essence, the Rotterdam proposal seeks to accomplish their goals by having the option to purchase the pipeline for GBP3. 5 million in initial capital investment for overhauling the plant, having a value of 6 million GBP which can be later sold 15 years later for approx.. 40 million GBP. This violates the stand-alone principle. Subsequently, the plan calls for spending another GBP5 million in 2001, GBP1 million for 2002, and another GBP1 million for 2003. Total investments are roughly GBP10. 5 million, spread out in 3 years. These initial investment figures have a negative impact on the firm’s finances, affecting a series of other factors, which raise concerns among board of directors and executives. One major concern is that in the financial associated with this project they include 40 Million GBP from the selling of sale of the right-of-way pipeline in there cash flows in year 15 when in fact this is not substantial cash flow directly associated with the project. Some senior Victoria Chemicals executives firmly agreeing with this speculation saying â€Å"Our business is chemicals, not land speculation. Simply buying the right-of-way with the intention of reselling it for a profit takes us beyond our expertise. Who knows when we could sell it, and for how much? How distracting would this little side venture be for the executive committee? This then can affect the NPV as well as the IRR. The proposal also doesn’t account for the 3 percent inflation that is expected which also can change the estimates of gross profit also affecting the free cash flows for this project. As a result of these loses in output the first three years (from 2001-2003), there is also a reduction in gross profit. The report shows loses of -7. 79 GBP for 2001, -GPB5. 73 for 2002, and –GBP3. 40 for 2003 caused from the initial investment of 10. 5. The total loses amount to a staggering –GBP16. 92, a substantial amount for the firm during these first three years of upgrades and preparation for the new technology. These loses have a direct impact in sales figures, noticeably, thus creating a longer payback period for this project around 11 years, meaning that the project is a bit more risky considering a given 10 percent discount rate. I also noticed that this project seems to have the higher NPV of 14. 87 when they factor in the 40 million GBP from the sale of the pipeline in 15 years. Without that it then falls under the other proposal and is not the preferred project and has a lower NPV of 5. 29. Merseyside Proposal The Merseyside proposal consisted of a 12 million GBP expenditure creating significant opportunities for improvement in polypropylene production. Other opportunities stemmed from correcting the antiquated plant design in ways that would save energy and improve the process flow: relocating and modernizing tank-car unloading areas, which would enable the process flow to be streamlined, refurbishing the polymerization tank to achieve higher pressures and thus greater throughput, and renovating the compounding plant to increase extrusion throughput and obtain energy savings. No question that Morris’ plan is the more conservative of the two, suggesting a phased-in approach to the upgrades. In essence, Merseyside sees the need to make some technological upgrades as well. They want to slowly upgrade to the new controls system, and after a few years, make the full switch to the new software. In all, this 12 million GBP proposal retained the flexibility to add the technology in the future. The entire renovation would cause the plant to be down for 45 days causing the customers to go to other suppliers and competitors for the needed products due to the fact the other nearby plant (Rotterdam) is already working at maximum capacity. Some benefits of the renovations would be the improvement on gross margin up 1 % from 11. 5-12. 5. As you look at the financials associated with this project you notice that Merseyside met all the requirements for the corporate criteria with a greater NPV that Rotterdam when they do not include the 40 million sale of the pipeline. They also include and take inflation into account when giving their proposals as well. The initial investment is a bit more that Rotterdam but essentially the payback period is lower with only around 4. 1 years. This means this proposal is less risky then the other, both assuring the expected return of 7%. However there is a crossover rate at 15. 2 meaning with the discount rate at 15. there is no proposal that is preferred to one another if Rotterdam includes the 40 Million. Without the 40 million Merseyside project will always be preferred to Rotterdam because the NPV will always be greater. According to the case and my calculations I have come to the conclusion that it is best to accept the Merseyside project and reject the Rotterdam. Based on many financials and the corporate criteria Merseyside seems to be the best option. While evaluating both proposals I noticed that the Rotterdam project purchases a right-of-way pipeline for 3. 5 million included in the 10. million GBP investment to later sell in 15 years for 40 million GBP violating the standalone principle. However being that they are not in this type of business and are in the plastic manufacturing industry producing a wide variety of products; including medical supplies, carpet fibers, and automobile components, they should not account for the sale which would then put the NPV for this project from 14. 87 to 5. 29, which is then lower then the NPV for Merseyside which is 9. 12. When comparing mutually exclusive projects you want to focus on NPV and the project with the higher NPV is usually preferred to the oth er like in this case. Also when making my decision to choose Merseyside I noticed there was a smaller payback period meaning it will take a shorter time to recover your initial investment proving that the project can be less risky as well. I was also a little sketched out when the plant manager for Rotterdam presented a 90-page proposal. This can mean the managers put in a lot of false and misleading info to get the project approved. This can rest my case as to why I would prefer to choose the Merseyside project to the Rotterdam.

Negative Effects of Marijuana Use

When someone says the phrase â€Å"pot head†, what do people think of? Does the stereotypical street bum, pickpocket, or druggie come to mind, or is it possible that this type of person could be the normal neighbor next door? Marijuana use is looked down upon by society in general but more and more people are taking advantage of it. Marijuana has favorable effects for its users when it comes to physical feeling and experience, but it can also put our families and those that we expose it to in uncomfortable and often dangerous situations. The scientific term for marijuana is â€Å"Cannabis Sativa†, but is also referred to as weed, Mary Jane, grass, hash, and countless other street names. Marijuana can be smoked or eaten, the former often in the form of a joint, blunt, or bowl. Marijuana use in the United States has been on a slow increase since its extreme popularity in the 1960’s and 70’s. Marijuana is illegal in the United States, but this obstacle hasn’t been able to stop teenagers from gaining access to it. It is estimated that at least 49 percent of high school seniors experiment with marijuana at least once prior to graduating high school and that 22 percent of high school seniors smoke marijuana at least once a month. The effects of marijuana can influence all aspects of life, from the users’ educational and extra-curricular environment to their home and family life. Most doctors and physicians believe that marijuana use affects a person’s ability to retain information and learn in general. In a quote from John P. Walters, â€Å"Marijuana directly affects the brain†¦.It impairs the ability of young people to concentrate and retain information during their peak learning years.† THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the main property in marijuana, attaches to nerve receptors in the hippocampal area of the brain. This attachment distorts functions necessary for long-term memory and also weakens short-term memory. The effects that long-term marijuana use has on the brain and its processes can seriously endanger a students learning and educational environment. It can make memorization more difficult, studying harder, and concentrating and focusing an arduous task. The health risks that marijuana use poses to the individual are somewhat intimidating. First, the risk of heart attack for the smoker more than quadruples during the first hour of use. The effects of weed on the lungs are similar, if not more harmful, to the effects of tobacco. Burning and itching of the throat and esophagus are common, along with excessive coughing, increased heart beat, and an increased pulse. Marijuana use while pregnant with a child can cause lung/respiratory infections in the mother and slow the motor functions of the unborn child. Anxiety and panic attacks are also common results of long-term use. When faced with the side effects of using marijuana, the question is â€Å"Why do people continue smoking?† Some experts say that marijuana is addictive, but others are adamant that marijuana doesn’t contain addictive properties that are in things such as cigarettes and alcohol. Me as this being an experience in my life, I don’t agree to marijuana being addictive but for most it is a longterm drug mainly used to fit it or look cool , but that wasn’t my case and in the long anybody who does that drug will regret it. So my advice , pass it !

Individual Leadership and Power Paper Essay

†¢ Review the Leader Motives in Ch. 5 of Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. How would you characterize Ho Ching’s motives? †¢ Review Highlight 5.3 in Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. What role, if any, do managerial differences based on gender play here? Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines We have described power as the capacity to cause change and influence as the degree of actual change in a target’s behaviors. Ho Ching’s power as a leader has been recognized by many, but would you describe Ho Ching as an influential leader? Why? A1) Ho Ching is an influential leader because of her capability to achieve complete control and authority over millions of people. She has been influential in bringing changes to the disclosure policies of the company. In order to make progress, a leader should take bold and controversial decisions fearlessly. They have a role playing in expanding the company or the group’s role as a leader. It is clear after reading about her actions and decisions that she possesses leadership qualities that are needed in order to become a great leader. On the basis of these convictions, I declare her a leader. 1. Based on the excerpt from Ho Ching’s speech, what type of tactics does she use to influence the behavior of others? A2) Her leadership approach is persuasive and populist which seems clear from one of her addresses through a speech. Alder taking all decisions must be acceptable for the masses and must present logic and reason to which her subordinates can link to and make use of. The thing about their local natives is that they possess a  democratic mindset with capitalism approach and their business ideas are based on entrepreneurship than traditional concept of the business. This is how the popular vote concepts work for her. Read more: Leadership Speech for School Captain Her leadership role and visions deserves praise and the fact that she believes why the local firm must expand to other boundaries poses an intelligent approach. Her leadership approach enriched with accommodation and scented with populist policy enables the company to grow and similarly it enables the employees and management to work together. 3. Ho Ching has been named one of the most powerful leaders in Asia. What are her major sources of power? A3) Her sources of power being one of the most successful leaders can be her populist approach to leadership. Her decisions are logical as well as pragmatic and they are made keeping in view long term affairs that can enable a higher level of capability for the firm based on good faith induced by her. If there has to be made any changes in policy, the management and board of directors are kept up close with confidence. After complete knowledge and consent of these people she enforces the decision which as a result enables her to maintain friendly relations with the board and managers. As a visionary leadership she has the ability to think in long terms. She believes that her local region on the globe can utilize its global economical strength and that she aims to eliminate the concept of nation states by encouraging existing powers to come forward and lead the world in terms of growth. The long term thinking strategy vision of hers is capable of expanding the company and the region she lives in. On the basis of these arguments, I believe that she has the strength of a revolutionary leader who believes in having a vision for her people. With such leaders, the nations are likely to prosper and touch heights.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Summary - Essay Example However whether obtaining ISO 9001 certificate and the registration process efforts impact or benefit competitiveness and profitability need to be critically analyzed. The aim of the present paper is to summarize the article written by Han, Sim and Ebrahimpour (222) for the International Journal Services and Operations Management, titled â€Å"Relationships among ISO 9001, competitive dimensions and profitability† to understand and bring light on this perspective. 2. Summary of the article The main purpose of Han, Sim and Ebrahimpour (222) article is â€Å"to better understand the relationships among ISO 9001 certification, competitive dimensions and profitability by focusing on two major industries in the USA†. The research was conducted using survey questionnaire. 2.1 Background and Hypothesis The authors introduced their article by stressing upon the ISO 9001 certification importance and its impact on improvement of quality. They also stated that significant discipli ne is needed in ISO 9001 implementation and its principles ensure that output consistency can be improved by procedures that are well planned and documented, resulting in achieving the goals of quality improvement and reduction of cost easily. ... However as customers’ needs are dynamic so is the world class manufacturing company’s operations strategy. Thus authors have conducted an empirical research to also understand the present relationship between registration efforts of ISO 9001 and firm’s profitability and its four competitive dimensions. After conducting a thorough past literature review Han, Sim and Ebrahimpour (224) tested nine hypothesis that are illustrated using the below figure The nine hypothesis tested in this research are listed below â€Å"H1 ISO 9001 registration efforts have a positive effect on quality. H2 ISO 9001 registration efforts have a positive effect on cost reduction. H3 ISO 9001 registration efforts have a positive effect on flexibility. H4 ISO 9001 registration efforts have a positive effect on dependability. H5 ISO 9000 registration efforts have a positive effect on profitability H6 Quality has a positive effect on profitability H7 Cost reduction has a positive effect on p rofitability H8 Flexibility has a positive effect on profitability† (Han, Sim and Ebrahimpour 225-226) Figure 1: Theoretical model – Relationships among ISO 9001, Competitive dimensions and profitability (Han, Sim and Ebrahimpour (227) 3. Research Design and Methodology The research was conducted using a questionnaire and sample was selected with due process for the survey. The questionnaire was developed based on literature review and later reviewed for content validation by external judges. The survey was tested for â€Å"clarity, relevance and technical accuracy† by the collaborative program in Massachusetts and all facets of the survey were commented upon (Han, Sim and Ebrahimpour,

Inventory Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Inventory Management - Assignment Example The materials requirement planning of the company is already implemented yet the results showed that it is not effective. The main cause of such ineffectiveness is the inaccurate information that is entered into the MRP. It is important for Andrea to consolidate and coordinate with other departments of the company in order to control not only what item is purchased and in what quantity but also the timing of its arrival and its intended production consumption. Furthermore, Andrea should consider planning a Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory system for the company. JIT is a means of meeting customer demands with minimum delay. It is referred as the production of goods, assemblies, and subassemblies to meet exactly the customer's demand in terms of time, quality and quantity. JIT goes further than an MRP. It controls not only the right item, in the right quantity, at the right time, but it also brings the SKU to the right place. Under JIT, an item appears exactly when it is needed - not before, not after. (Muller, 2003) The volatile demand may cause inaccurate forecasts, which is one of the main sources of backlogs and markdowns in a market-driven manufacturing environment.

Liberty Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Liberty - Coursework Example Liberty is a word which is often used politically wherein it is advocated and fought for. According to most dictionaries liberty is the state of immunity from exercise of authority. It also means a personal freedom one possesses or has to possess so as to make one's own choice, be it in speech, opinion, worship, occupation or anything. Defining liberty is almost impossible without using the words which mean the absence of coercion. But is liberty just the absence of restraint "By liberty then we can only mean a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will; this is, if we choose to remain at rest, we may; if we choose to move, we also may." (David Hume, 1748) Good and bad are relative things. One person's good may be other person's bad. Likewise, liberty and restraint are also relative things. An absence of restraint for committing an act of robbery cannot be called liberty. If all restraints are minimized, so as to bring a complete absence of any kind of control, one would hope to achieve liberty. But when restraints are removed entirely, the world will not have equality, and there will be battles and bloodshed. So the definition of the word needs something more or less than bare absence of restraints. Going by the general definitions, no one can have liberty because no one is free to do all that is wanted. Everybody is subject to some superior power to live against personal wishes. In the following sub-headings let us take a deeper study of the word and its meaning. Immunity from Authority "He (Man) must have a master; but the master may be Nature or may be a fellow man. When he is under the impersonal coercion of Nature, we say that he is free; and when he is under the personal coercion of some one above him, we call him, according to the degree of his dependence, a slave, a serf, or a vassal." (Spencer, 1891) History has many instances showing that liberty was the cause for people of various countries to fight which eventually lead to the overthrow of their governments. Aristocrats have always been revolted against and the French revolution and the Russian revolution stand testimony to that. As a matter of fact, Jean Jacques Rousseau's French Revolution slogan, "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" became the basic principles for democracy in the world. Even now many parts of the world struggle for liberty. In Pakistan and Myanmar, people are fighting for democracy against the military regimes. In this political sense, the restraint is in the form of anti-democratic rule. Such a government can be said to curb the people's freedom because the restraint imposed on them affects them, their country and prevents improvement on a global level. But at the same time, every country has a judiciary and the police, in order to protect the people from law offenders. The judicial laws are also restrictio ns laid down so that any action committed by common men does not go against the welfare of the nation. The judiciary has the power to punish offenders of the law. One may tend to opine that this affects the freedom of thought, belief and action of, say, a thief, or a murderer. Police could be wrongly thought of as ones who wipe out the liberty of a thief. Thus, it is

A business proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A business proposal - Essay Example Consequently, several homes provide an opportunity to sale televisions. Besides, most of the residents in the rural areas lack the expertise in terms of installation and operation of the televisions, providing these services will be quite profitable. The residents will not only be informed from the television news but they will also be entertained by the various programs cast on the television. The target market will be the workers in various institutions such as schools, hospitals and manufacturing industries. Advertisements in radios and newspapers will be a major marketing strategy. In order to achieve the goals, road shows and organizing talks in the various institutions will also be essential because planning is essential to any new business, (Mc Keever 2). Question Two The business venture is to be implemented though partnership. Partnership refers to the legal entity in which two or more people own a business (Walston, 463). Apart from partnership, other legal entities that ex ist are corporations and associations. Partnership is characterized by sharing of wealth as well as losses. This means that in the event of profit, the partners will enjoy and share it together. In the event that a business makes a loss, all the partners will miss on the agreed income that is to be received. The business fits a small by involving only two partners or agents in the partnership. The two agents will still undertake managerial tasks. Another characteristic of partnership is that the agents or the partners usually pay tax individually. Even though, the assets of the agents are not usually protected, there exist laws that protect the partnership (Walston, 464). For instance, the law of contracts and agency will oversee the operations, and provide guidelines in the event of partnership termination. Question Three For any business organization to be successful, it requires that managers seek assistance and guidance from various sources. Some of the common sources that exist are board of director or advisors, personal lender, business consultants and legal representations. In this proposal, business counselors will be consulted. By definition, business consultants refer to experienced and specialized individuals in matters concerning business operations or activities. Managers or owners of various businesses usually get advice from them at a fee. Business consultants are preferred in this case because two agents run the business. However, varied situations useful in the growth of the business might be overlooked. In addition, by involving consultants, much time will be spent in the actual operations of the business because the consultants will communicate to the business about the effectiveness of the business strategies. It is also known that business consultants usually upgrade the workers’ or managers’ experience (Davey, 07). Since the stock, will be obtainable from various suppliers, they can offer consultation at no fee. For example, information about the durability and quality of the television sets bought is available to them. Question Four A business usually obtains finance from various sources that could be internal or external (Sofat & Hiro, 330). The business venture will obtain finances from bank loans. It is known that bank loans are effective sources of finance for any business. Besides, bank loans are usually flexible because the contract is terminated immediately when a loan is paid early. In order to obtain a bank loan, a number of guarantors are required. Given the fact that the business is a partnership, the partners can act as guarantors or the suppliers can also be guarantors. Apart from the bank loan, friends and family members will be the source of finance because

African American Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

African American - Assignment Example With freedom came a chance for willing African Americans to access education thereby advancing self-development and consequently the entire society. Unlike during slavery, women gender discrimination and harassment decreased significantly albeit not completely. For the first time, African Americans were allowed to work in different sectors although unlike earlier they were supposed to receive payments for their work. Moreover, General William Sherman allocated free land to the African Americans under the â€Å"special field order # 15†. Freedom of movement meant that African Americans could work in places of their liking and participate in other important activities that were not necessarily within their localities. However, transitioning from slavery to freedom was aided greatly by the Freedman’s Bureau, thirteenth amendment, and fourteenth amendment. Freedman Bureau assisted African Americans in activities such as negotiating contracts with white people, settling disputes between whites and blacks, and ensuring access to food, land, education, and medical services. The thirteenth amendment was passed in 1865 with ascent of President Abraham Lincoln into power. The fourteenth amendment allowed African Americans to receive American citizenship. However, there were also some negatives effects of ending slavery such as loss of land by some of the white people. For instance, in the Southern Carolina white men who had fled during the civil war could not get back their land from the African Americans on returning after the war. Additionally, ending slavery led to hostility towards white men from some of the African American. Nevertheless, the end of slavery ushered in a new era of freedom for African Americans and the entire American community as

Decision making & problem solving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Decision making & problem solving - Essay Example The National Health Services, a publicly funded healthcare organization, was founded in UK near about fifty years ago. Their focus on modernization in the management has given new edge to the functioning of the NHS. It is significant that the NHS management has readily recognized the need for the charges, and timely implemented the plan But the momentum for the charge has only started gaining pace. These changes are not necessarily the result of the internal market for health. They arise partly also from developments in the science of medicine itself. Four changes will have particular impact on the future organization of the NHS (Leathard, 1991, p.126).Assuming that medical science remains in continual state of development and evolution, differences of opinions between doctors become inevitable. The law regarding medical negligence permits wide range of practice variations.Though the NHS does not have a profit motive, it is, of course, enormously concerned with control of expenditure . Surprisingly, however, it still lacks any real continuous evaluation of its performance against criteria.Concerns about the irrational use of medicines has led the government to introduce scheme designed to put downward pressure on indiscriminate prescription. GP spending on pharmaceuticals is now subject to regulation by indicative amounts, or 'target budgets'. In the past, the stance of the British Medical ... The concept of the 'general' hospital, with broad range of services designed to cater for the needs of a variety patients, will decline. Instead, there will be smaller number of specialist units which maximize the use made of expensive equipment (Astley & Van de, 1983, p.245-273). This will bring out movement from secondary to primary care and an increase in the power of GPs both in terms of the numbers of patients they treat and their influence over the distribution of health service resources. Their role as passive partners in the enterprise of health, removed from the reality of hard decisions about costs and benefits, will be change. Inevitably, they will become more involved in the debate about priorities in health care. Secondly, since the power to decide how resources should be spent gets decentralized, tension will arise between the duty of the Secretary of State to promote national strategies and objectives and the wishes of local doctors and health managers as to their own goals and aspirations. Thirdly, the use of market for health care will not discourage this trend. The use of the word 'market' is undoubtedly contentious and the exact future of the current system of funding, obviously, will be subject to the winds of political change. Equally, both main political parties would endorse the following two principles: (i) that effective care in the NHS is enhanced by the use of some measure of financial incentives for employees who achieve most, and (ii) that an entirely unregulated market for health care in the NHS would be largely ineffective and wasteful. Fourthly, the distinction between public and private care will become increasingly blurred. Private hospitals will be encouraged liberally and be able to sell their services to

Managing and leading people Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Managing and leading people - Essay Example Failure to examine the wellbeing of the employees impacts directly on the profitability and profitability of the organisation. Also, failure by the management to support the wellbeing of the employees has various effects on the business such as increased operation costs and poor public relations (Rees and French, 2013). There are different descriptions of well being of employees in various employment contexts. According to research, the workers’ wellbeing should balance their needs with those of the company. In this case, the concept of wellbeing refers to the creation of an environment for the promotion of a state of satisfaction among the workers as well as achieves their maximum potential for personal and organization’s benefit (Anjum, 2010). The wellbeing of the workers entails more than the aspect of preventing sickness at the workplace. It involves a wider bio-psycho-social structure that includes mental, physical and social health. Normally, employees are mentally and physically capable of contributing at the workplace and become more engaged to their work under good working conditions. Well-being at the workplace, therefore, does not involve the management of the cultural and physical environment with the aim of safeguarding workers from harm. However, it requires corporations to assist individuals to maximise their mental and physical health. The approach for wellbeing benefits individuals both inside and outside the work environment (Jibeen, 2013). In addition, it promotes various aspects of the workplace such as productivity, morale and commitment. Positive wellbeing at the workplace can also benefit the community that is essential for enhancing the public relations of the organisation. It is important for the ma nagement and leadership of various organisations to support the wellbeing of the employees because of various reasons such as promotion of employees’ morale, commitment, transparency, productivity, public relations and efficiency

Text Set-Literacy Curriculum Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Text Set-Literacy Curriculum - Research Paper Example This leaves no room for ambiguity for students at the same time in understanding the subject matter. It is rather suggested that teachers should undertake activities in class where students will have to select short text as per their choice. However, a limitation is there in this regard i.e. teacher’s obligation for reading each and every story that the students pick as a short text. For this, it can be said that short text is much manageable in reading (Fletcher & Portalupi, 2001). It immediately finishes up in one sitting rather than longer novels that are continued for some days. Looking at the real life examples of reading habits of general public, short text such as tweets, how-to articles, cookbooks, announcements, online forums are read more than longer books. Therefore, there is an avid need of making reading interesting for peers that is possible with the help of short text selection (Cohen,

Crichton Smith Critical Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Crichton Smith Critical Evaluation Essay Home by Iain Crichton Smith is a short story which creates a sense of time and place. This essay will examine how the sense of place is shown in setting and will comment on the message the writer has. Jackson is a man returning to his hometown in Glasgow from South Africa. It becomes apparent to the reader that the setting, in both time and place, is a very important aspect in conveying the meaning of the text. In the short story it becomes apparent that the place has changed since Jackson was last here as the city of Glasgow has undergone a period of decline and decay. This is shown in different ways such as characterisation, descriptive language and the use of imagery. Smith shows firstly how very unpleasant Jacksons hometown has become at the start of the story. He describes how things are poorly maintained like his old tenement has become drab and the walls are described as:  Brown above and dirty blue below, pitted with scars  Brown shows how unpleasant the setting is through the use of negative colour imagery. The colour brown very often has negative connotations. This gives the reader an immediate negative image of the tenement. Also Smith uses the colour blue which should give a positive image, however he uses it with the word dirty which also gives the reader an image of the unpleasant environment around the tenement. Also to give the reader a bit more of a negative image of the area, Smith writes pitted with scars, which has two meanings in the story one of which is suppose to mean the area is literally scarred because the area has been very poorly maintained and is very unpleasant. The second meaning is that it is metaphorically scarred because it has had an emotional impact on everyone in the neighbourhood. This is also used to highlight the horrendous living conditions in Glasgow. While Jackson remains regretful about the hardships of the living conditions in Glasgow and in his tenement, Jacksons wife has a more realistic idea that times have changed in Glasgow when she says to Jackson, Lock the car dear, This shows the reality of this area and shows Jacksons ignorance and that his wife is very wary about that particular area. Jackson shows how naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve he really is and that he does not realise that the place has changed dramatically and protests: They dont do things like that here  The image of the unpleasantness of the area is again highlighted.  as the town had changed a lot since they had left it, that much was clear  The story continues by focusing strongly on the negative changes such as, the loss of the community spirit, the local shops and the loss of friends to featureless estates. Smith is clearly commenting of how the social conditions of Glasgow have changed dramatically through time. Jackson visits his old office, a place of happy memories of. However, upon entering the office his memories are shattered and he begins to realise how uninteresting and unpleasant the office actually is. Jackson stood cringing in that rotting office. This shows that Jacksons view is beginning to change as he draws back and he does not enjoy being back at his old office. Both cringing and rotting have negative connotations and this highlights how uncomfortable he is beginning to feel in an office that appears to be decaying in his eyes. At this point the reader is also meant to see that Jacksons nostalgia destroys the strikingly expressive memory immediately after arguing with the factor of the building. Jackson shows and immediate change of attitude and character when he now sees Africa as home by suddenly saying;  I wish to God we were home  This speech shows the dramatic change in his character. The reader sees how the nostalgia that Jackson had has been completely destroyed. Also he sees people who live in the tenements as punks when Smith writes;  By God, they knew how to deal with punks where he came from  Iain Smith uses very effective word choice. Punks shows how Jackson sees people who live in the tenements in a very bad way. The reader is made aware of the ignorance of Jackson and he appears to have learned nothing from his visit and he would have still have acted aggressively.  Overall, Home by Iain Crichton Smith is a short story which has been shown throughout. The character of Jackson has changed dramatically because of the setting in place. This short story shows that people can be naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve when they are talking about where they come from but when they leave and come back again and see a massive difference which changes the character of the person.

Health and Social Care within the British Welfare State

Health and Social Care within the British Welfare State The 1843 Poor Law was created because the middle and upper classes were coming to the conclusion that the local taxes they were paying were supporting the poor to be lazy and avoid work so many complained wanting a change to the current system. The new poor law sounded good as the poor and homeless would be sent to work houses being clothed and fed, even children would get some education there and they would have work for several hours a day. The work houses were not as accommodating as that; the people were treated as slaves, as if they were being punished for being poor and the work was hard and often dangerous. The workhouses would be an object of fear for the poor, families would be split up, they suffered from poor diets and any medical needs were not met. Many were outraged and spoke out against the poor law. Richard Oastler was one of those who spoke out against the poor law and fought for reform of the factories. He said: â€Å"I will use all my influence in trying to remove from our factory system the cruelties which are practiced in our mills. (Chaplin, A. 2009).† Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th earl of Shaftesbury fought for factory reform for improved working conditions and in 1847 the changes to the factory act were improved and over the years kept improving to try and stop any worker being exploited. The great wars gave medical specialist a new image of stardom from the people of Britain because of their courage on the battle field and treating those back home. The first Great War praised the actions of the orthopaedic surgeon preforming impressive lifesaving medical procedures where ever they were needed. By World War 2 there were advances in medical, factory and motorised machinery leading to new challenges for medical professionals to deal with a new range of injuries. The orthopaedic surgeon now shared the limelight with other medical specialists now being recognised for their work. During the interwar years plastic surgeons were developing their skills and maintaining their specialist identity; their profession was now in high demand treating burn victims which was now an injury that affected a high amount of individual during WW2 because of the petrol driven means of transport; this also called for a high demand for burn specialists, cardiologists and thoracic surgeons who now had to treat patients who have been crushed by vehicles of war and machinery. A more modernised society was producing more ailments where the health care had to develop to meet the needs. The end of WW2 now recognised the importance of rehabilitation, this was not the situation after WW1 but now occupational therapists and physical medicines were sought after. The poor living conditions and the constant threat of danger caused a high number of soldiers and civilians to suffer with a psychiatric disorder and requested the need of psychiatric help. More than A third of military officers suffered with a mental disorder. WW2 created more opportunities for pathology as Penicillin ‘the miracle drug,’ cured wound infection, STDs and relieving a range of life threatening disease. The improved health of soldiers and gave them a morale boost and boosted the idea of creating more medicines to cure diseases. (Hardy, A. 2009) After 1945 Britain’s economy needed reconstruction so Britain wanted an influx of immigration labour. There was a large population growth which did lead to a shortage of social houses and from 1946 to the 1960s there was a baby boom leaving the system overwhelmed with the rapidly growing population. Sir William Beverage wrote the report Social Insurance and Allied Services in 1942 which became the blue print for the modern welfare state. â€Å"The Beveridge Report aimed to provide a comprehensive system of social insurance from cradle to grave. It proposed that all working people should pay a weekly contribution to the state. In return, benefits would be paid to the unemployed, the sick, the retired and the widowed. Beveridge wanted to ensure that there was an acceptable minimum standard of living in Britain below which nobody fell. (The National Archives. 2009).† â€Å"It was this report that identified the five ‘Giant Evils’ the government should fight namely: ‘Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. (Sir William Beveridge Foundation. 2012).† The public welcomed the idea with open arms and could not wait for it to be put into action but their current government the conservatives which was led by Winston Churchill missed his chance to ap ply any of the Beveridge report as he put all his focus on the war giving labour the chance to tell the public that they would implement this law if they were to get elected. In 1945 Winston Churchill lost the election even though his leadership helped win the war but it was not enough to keep him as prime minister because the British people were desperate for a better quality of life and equal health care, no longer have to go to struggling charity hospitals or only the working to be aloud treatment. (Addison, P. 2005). Labour now ran the country and led by Clement Attlee, his minister of health was Aneurin Bevan who would work hard to pass the national health act. Aneurin Bevan had a lot of opposition his main adversary was DR Charles Hill of the British Medical Association and organised a vote amongst all doctors to vote for or against the NHS, 85% were against and all those who were for were bullied for it and they created propaganda for the media to turn the public against the NHS. The doctors wanted to keep their status of independent contractors and not become civil servants. The working and middle classes were in support of the NHS, only 13% was on the side of the doctors. Aneurin gained support of Lord Moran the president of the Royal College of Physicians who controlled the consultants and the charity hospitals they were at this time destitute and Aneurin would support these hospitals with tax funding if he had support from his medical staff. The remaining doctors decided to join the NHS da ys before the start of the act as they realised all patients would be joining the NHS leaving their clinics soon to be empty. 1948 the National Health Act was implemented. The medical system realised how people were suffering with conditions who could not afford the healthcare. The hospitals were full and patience were requesting a lot of treatment as so many conditions were far gone they needed a lot of care even babies were in terrible conditions, before the NHS babies had a high mortality rate. (Rick, B. 2008). The NHS continued to improve and parliament discovers that it was impossible to cap its spending as medical techniques and equipment was always evolving. â€Å"Bevan foresaw this in speaking on 2nd June to a Royal College of Nursing conference. ‘We shall never have all we need, he said. Expectations will always exceed capacity. (Rivett. G. 2014)†. In 1965 there was an investigation into the local authorities in England and Wales; in 1968 this report was published by Fredrick Seebohm. He believed the current system was inadequate and a new more family orientated system should take its place and work for the individual and could work long term. He wanted it to be better than the current services but will be able to provide those services that are already available like â€Å"the childrens departments, the welfare services provided under the National Assistance Act 1948, educational welfare and child guidance services, the home help service, mental health social work services and other social work services provided by health departments, day nurseries, and certain social welfare work currently undertaken by some housing departments.† Local authorities should be able to assess a situation immediately and be able to provide for them out of what provisions they have in their own area. This improved social services department will be provided with training and staff will gain a social worker qualification and there will be specific jobs like field staff and residential staff. 11. (Seebohm, F. 1968). In 1970 the Local Authority Social Services act was implemented making it mandatory for every local authority to have a social services department and should adhere to the functions set by the secretary of state. The LASS act 1970 will work alongside the National Health Service Act 1946, the National Assistance Act 1948 and the Children Act 1948. Local authorities would also follow this act as they would their Health Visiting and Social Work (Training) Act 1962 and Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 and refer to all acts when to fulfil their authorities function. There is a 22 year difference between the NHS act and the LASS act this could be that before the NHS act the attitude of certain groups thought that the poor were a burden, brought their situation on themselves and even some G.Ps did not like to treat those in the slums. So health care was a priority to bring society to a stage of good health and good living conditions so social services could come in and have the provisions to work with and encourage wellbeing because the previous ill health of those who couldn’t afford to get it treated gave a low chance of living long lives for the working class. Social services would not be able to make their assessment if people were not able to be diagnosed by physicians or psychiatrists and a social worker does not have the medical training to diagnose a person and then people would go without help. Also working class and a high number of middle class were ill, suffering neglect from the state and malnourished if this was the norm in so me parts of Britain what could that area’s local authority do if the poor living conditions were that vast and what would be a case for social services to step in would be the how certain people had to live due to their financial status. In 1979 Margret Thatcher a conservative leader and a Neo-liberal became prime minister after winning the election against Labour as it was said their bad leadership lead to the country being in debt. Unlike her labour predecessors Thatcher opposed some of the ideas of the Beveridge report and reformed the NHS for it to become more of a market where the patients become customers and encouraged people to go private. She created the National Health Service act 1980 which promoted privatisation. This concerned the public who still wanted to keep their NHS the way it was but the waiting lists got longer and certain wards started to close. Health boards became purchasers and would have contracts with different medical drug companies to be able to purchase the best value for money. After Thatcher ‘the cradle to the grave’ ideology has not be looked back on. (BBC NEWS) The Barclay Report 1982 identified the unrealistic expectations of social workers and how society and the media would complain when these expectations were not met. Barclay saw two distinctive elements to social work: counselling and social care planning. He encouraged the idea of partnership between service users, families, statutory services and voluntary services and also to seek networks of care in the service users’ community. (Blewett, J. 1997) John Major was next after Thatcher in 1990 and continued with the reform of the NHS. Under conservative leadership â€Å"eight English Regional Health Authorities abolished from April 1996 and replaced by eight regional offices of a new NHS Executive, based in Leeds. Likewise, 100 new Health Authorities (HAs) replaced the previous structure of District Health Authorities and Family Health Service Authorities, the aim being to reduce bureaucracy and improve services. With no regional structure in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, responsibility was left with health departments at national and local trust level. (BBC NEWS). â€Å" Labour comes back into power 1997 with Leader Tony Blair who believed in ‘the third way’. The third way’ or New Labour was the combination of the best features of the USA and Continental Europe economic dynamism and European social inclusion and bring them together. (Powell, M. 2008). Pressures from Scottish and Welsh Labour parties led to a political commitment by labour to transfer the powers from the Scottish office to a Scottish Parliament giving the ability to now pass primary legislation in those areas and from the welsh office to a National Assembly for Wales, administering and financing them within a frame work of Westminster legislation. Scotland and Wales now had the power to create health, education, housing and training department’s government by their own parliaments and Assembly and this system became a lot more organised. There are differences in some of the services of the NHS in other regions compared to England. In Wales and Scotland presc riptions are free but in England people are charged, ‘The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’ is responsible for cost efficient medicines and equipment for England and Wales based but its ‘The Scottish Medicines Consortium’ that is in charge of that in Scotland and only in Scotland was the NHS car parking char abolished. (Hicks, R. 2013) Chancellor George Osborne gave his autumn statement 2014 sharing his plans for the NHS. Osborne has announced that he will be funding the NHS an extra 2 billion a year and a â€Å"new  £300m a year fund for kick-starting GP innovation†. The issue is is this too little too late, the NHS has been suffering for a while and is believed this extra money will be spend half way into the year on its shortfalls due to budget cuts. David Cameron quoted Thatcher by saying NHS spending was ‘safe in his hands’ but reports say the NHS has never been in such a worse state. Elizabeth Evans

Importance Of Cost Control In Construction Projects

Importance Of Cost Control In Construction Projects The purpose of this report is to explain the importance of cost control in construction projects and its function. The Cost Control is an important process in construction project. It is widely practiced by contractors and needs to carry out throughout the life of project. The main objective of cost control of a project is to gain the maximum profit within the designated period within the budget. To monitor and control actual expenditure against the estimated project budget. The project budget is represented by the tender price / contract sum. According to Nunnally (1998), cost control of a project involves the measuring and collecting the cost record of a project and the work progress. It also involves the comparison of actual progress with the planning. The main objective of cost control of a project is to gain the maximum profit within the designated period and satisfactory quality of work. A systematic procedure of cost control will give a good result in collecting important data in estimating and controlling of the cost of the coming projects in future. After preparing the reports based on the actual costs, it is important to distribute the remaining budget for the future periods and estimate or re-estimate the cost of the work yet to be completed. Any new information must take into account since the commencement of contracts. It is important to ensure that there should not be any under claim or over claim of the work done. This is required to maintain a steady cash flow. Also it helps the client and the contractor to manage their expenditure and income. The cost control techniques generally used in construction projects are: Cost Value Reconciliation, Control of Project Cash flow, Break  ¿Ã‚ ½ Even Analysis, Budgetary Control, and Contractors cost Control, Cost Comparison, Schedule Control and Asset Register 2. INTRODUCTION The cost control is a process that should be continued through the construction period to ensure that the cost of the building is kept within the agreed cost limits. The cost control can be divided into major areas: the control of cost during design stages and the control of cost by the contractors once the construction project has started. According to Nunnaly (1998), cost control of projects involves the measuring and collecting the cost record of a project and the work progress. It involves the comparison of actual progress with the planning. The main aims of the cost control: a) To gain the maximum profit within the designated period within the budget. b) To keep the total expenditure within the amount agreed by client, frequently based on approximate estimate of cost prepared by the quantity surveyor in the early stages of the design process. There is a need for strict cost discipline thought all stages of design and execution to ensure that the initial estimate, tender figure and final account sum all are closely related. c) To give the building client good value for money  ¿Ã‚ ½ a building which is soundly constructed, of satisfactory appearance and well suited to perform the functions for which it is required, combined with economical construction and layout. d) To achieve a balanced and logical distribution of the available funds between the various parts of the building. The cost controlling system we can use as a tool for estimating the new projects based on previous experience. To win a new project As a quantity surveyor for a construction company to research this project, I have started with reading text books to get theoretical understanding of the subject. Thereafter I have discussed the technique of cost control with my colleague and managers to get practical knowledge of this application. 3. WHAT IS COST CONTROL? Controlling how much is spent on a certain item on project. Anything above a certain amount needs approval of higher authority The process of controlling the expenses of cost in a project, from the starting of client ¿Ã‚ ½s idea to the completion and final payment on site An active process to control the causes of the cost changes, to document those cost changes, and to monitor cost fluctuations within the project 4. STATEMENT OF FACTS IN COST CONTROL According to Nunnally (1998), cost control of a project involves the measuring and collecting the cost record of a project and the work progress. It also involves the comparison of actual progress with the planning. The main objective of cost control of a project is to gain the maximum profit within the designated period and satisfactory quality of work. A systematic procedure of cost control will give a good result in collecting important data in estimating and controlling of the cost of the coming projects in future. 5. THE PURPOSE OF COST CONTROL To monitor and control actual expenditure against the estimated project budget The project budget is represented by the tender price / contract sum. 6. THE IMPORTANCE OF COST CONTROL There has in recent years been great need for an understanding of construction economics and cost control, particularly during the design stage of projects. The importance of this due largely to the following:- * The increased pace of development in general has resulted in clients being less likely to tolerate delays caused by redesigning buildings when tenders are too high. * The clients ¿Ã‚ ½ requirements today are more complex than those of their Victorian counterparts. A more effective system of control is therefore desirable from inception up to the completion of the final account, and thereafter during cost-in-use. * The clients of the industry often represent large organizations and financial institutions. This is a result of takeovers, mergers and some public ownership. De-nationalization has often meant that these large organizations remain intact as a single entity. There has thus been an increased emphasis on accountability in both the public and the private sectors of industry. The efficiency of these organizations at construction work is only as good as their advisers. * Contractor ¿Ã‚ ½s profit margins have in real terms been reduced considerably during the past decade. This resulted in their greater cost-consciousness in an attempt to redress possible losses and remain competitive. * There has, in general, been move towards the elimination of waste, and a greater emphasis on the efficient use of the world ¿Ã‚ ½s scarce resources. This has necessitated a desire for improved methods of forecasting and control of costs. * There is a general trend towards greater cost-effectiveness, and thus a need to examine construction cost, not solely in the context of initial costs, but in terms of whole-life costs. * World recession has generally produced a shortage of funds for capital purposes and construction in general. This has been coupled with high inflation and interest charges, resulting in an increase in the cost of construction. Although the relative costs compared with other commodities may be similar, the apparent high costs have resulted in greater caution, particularly on the part of clients. 7. POST  ¿Ã‚ ½ CONTRACT COST CONTROL Project cost control commences at project inception stage by the client. Thereafter costs are controlled continuously and at every stage of the project up to finalization of the construction contract. 8. THE PROJECT BUDGET For cost control on a project, the construction plan and the associated cash flow estimates can provide the baseline reference for subsequent project monitoring and control. For schedules, progress on individual activities and the achievement of milestone completions can be compared with the project schedule to monitor the progress of activities. The final detailed cost estimate provides a baseline for the assessment of financial performance during the project. To the extent that costs are within the detailed cost estimate, the project is considered to be under financial control. Overruns in particular cost categories signal the possibility of problems and give an indication of exactly what problems are being encountered. Expenses oriented construction planning and control focus upon the categories included in the final detailed cost estimation/cost plan prepared by the contractors. For cost control monitoring purpose, the original detail cost estimate is typically converted to a project budget, and the project budget is used subsequently as a guide for management. Specific items in the detailed cost estimate become job cost elements. Expenses incurred during the course of the project are recorded in specific job cost accounts to be compared with the original cost estimate in each category. In addition to costs, information on material utilization and labor inputs and productivities within each cost code is also typically monitored in the project budget. With this information, actual materials usage and labor employed can be compared to the expected requirements. As a result, cost overruns or savings on particular items can be identified as due to changes in unit price, labor productivity or in the amount of material consumed. The number of cost code associated with a particular project can vary considerably. For contractors, on the order of four hundred separate cost accounts might be used on a project. In developing or implementing a system of cost accounts / cost codes an appropriate numbering or coding system is essential to facilitate communication of information and proper aggregation of cost information. Particular cost accounts are used to indicate the expenditures associated with the specific projects and to indicate the expenditures on particular item throughout an organization. Cost coding is also used for comparing the budget with actual expenditure, which is typically referred to as cost/value reconciliation. Sample of material requisition form showing the cost code with the allowance and remaining allowanceSample of project budget summary 9. TECHNIQUES AND WAYS FOR CONTROLLING COSTS The most important of all the cost control techniques is to appoint a small team of qualified and experienced people well versed in the financial management team to manage the daily finances of the company in a very professional and systematic manner. The cost control software can be helpful in doing the work in comparatively less time and with more accuracy. A. COST VALUE RECONCILATION The cost and value of the project must be reconciled and monitored regularly. This allows a contractor to manage and control actual against estimated expenditure. This will also allow the contractor to monitor costs and value movement and importantly also monitor profit levels. For the purpose of cost control, it is not sufficient to consider only the past records of costs and revenues incurred in a project. Good project commercial managers should focus upon future revenues, future costs and technical problems. For this purpose, traditional financial accounting schemes are not adequate to reflect the dynamic nature of building project. Accounts typically focus on recording routine costs and past expenditures associated with activities. W.H.Lucas and T.L.Morrison,  ¿Ã‚ ½Management Accounting for construction Contracts, Management Accounting, 1981, PP- 59  ¿Ã‚ ½ 65. Sample of a typical cost/value Reconciliation B. CONTROL OF PROJECT CASH FLOW A positive cash flow is critical to any business. On building projects cash flow is typically generated from the periodic payment for works completed, i.e. interim payments. Cash flow forecasts are unusually prepared and based on the program of works for internal purposes and for use by the client. Sample cash flow forecast C. BREAK _- EVEN ANALYSIS A break even analysis determines the point at which one method becomes superior to another method of accomplishing some task or objective. Break even analysis is a common and important part of cost control. Example:- One illustration of break even analysis would be compare two methods of road construction for a road that involves a limited amount of cut-and-fill earth work. It would be possible earthwork by hand or by bulldozer. If the manual method were adopted, the fixed costs would be low or nonexistent. Payment would be done on a daily basis and would call for direct supervision by a foreman. The cost would be calculated by estimating the time required and multiplying this time by the average wages of the men employed. The men could also be paid on a piece-work basis. Alternatively, this work could be done by a bulldozer which would have to be moved in from another site. Let us assume that the cost of the hand labor would be $0.60 per cubic meter and the bulldozer would cost $0.40 per cubic meter and would require $100 to move in from another site. The move-in cost for the bulldozer is a fixed cost, and is independent of the quantity of the earthwork handled. If the bulldozer is used, no econ omy will result unless the amount of earthwork is sufficient to carry the fixed cost plus the direct cost of the bulldozer operation. Breakeven Example for Earthwork Excavation If, on a set of co-ordinates, cost in dollars is plotted on the vertical axis and units of production on the horizontal line parallel to the x  ¿Ã‚ ½ axis. If variable cost per unit output is constant, then the total cost for any number of unit production will be the sum of the fixed cost and the variable cost multiplied by the number of units of production, or F+NV. If the cost data two processes or methods, one of which has higher variable cost, but lower fixed cost than the other are plotted on the same graph, the total cost lines will intersect at some point. At this point the levels of production and total cost are the same. This point known as the  ¿Ã‚ ½breakeven ¿Ã‚ ½ point, since at this level one method is as economical other. Referring the above Figure the breakeven point at which quantity the bulldozer alternative and the manual labor alternative become equal is at 500 cubic meters. We could have found this same result algebraically by writing F+NV = F ¿Ã‚ ½+NV ¿  ½, where F and V are the fixed and variable costs for the manual method and, F ¿Ã‚ ½ and V ¿Ã‚ ½ are the corresponding values for the bulldozer method. Since we all values are known except N, we can solve for N using the formula N = (F ¿Ã‚ ½  ¿Ã‚ ½ F) / (V-V ¿Ã‚ ½) D. BUDGETARY CONTROL Budgets are used for planning and controlling the income and expenditure in many different organizations. It is through the budget that a company ¿Ã‚ ½s plans and objectives can be converted into quantitative and monetary terms. Without these a company has little control. The budget may represent a total sum divided among a number of subheadings or work packages. It is important that the various sub headings include a timescale, since the expenditure by both the contractor and the client needs to be matched against income or the availability of funds. While the contractor will have a work program for the project and this can be costed, the procedure may be disrupted by delays on the part of all those involved and through changes (variations) to the original scheme. This information will give a rate of expenditure and a rate of income throughout the project, and by deducting income from expenditure the amount of capital required at the different times can then be calculated. The contractor will need to aggregate this information from all projects in order company position the company position. For budgeting purpose these data are prepared in advance of work being carried out on site. The information will also be collected after the execution of the works in order to establish the  ¿Ã‚ ½as done ¿Ã‚ ½ position and to facilitate a comparison with the budget. This known as budgetary control. In common with other control techniques, budgetary control is a continuous process undertaken throughout the contract duration. When variances from the budget occur, the contractor will need to assess the reason for them. E. CONTRACTORS COST CONTROL The contractor, having priced successfully enough to win the contract through tendering, must now ensure that the work can be completed for the estimated costs. One of the duties of the contractor ¿Ã‚ ½s quantity surveyors is to monitor the expenditure and advice site management of action that should be taken. This process also includes the costs of subcontractors, since these forms a part of the main contractor ¿Ã‚ ½s total expenditure. The contractor ¿Ã‚ ½s surveyors also comment on the profitability of different site operations. Where loss-making situations are encountered, decisions need to be taken to reverse this position if at all possible. The fact that estimators can be wide of the mark when estimating, even with common items, the contractor would seek reason for such a wide variation between costs and prices. This will be done for two reasons; first, in an attempt to recoup some of the loss; second, to avert such errors in future work. This situation may have arisen for one of the following reasons. * The character of the work is different from that envisaged at the time of tender. * The conditions for executing the work have changed. * Adverse weather conditions severely disrupted the work * There was inefficient use of resources. * There was excessive wastage of materials. * Plant had to stand idle for long periods of time. * Delays had occurred because of a lack of accurate design information F. COST COMPARISION In practice it is always difficult make to comparison between costs and valuations, since either the full items of expenditure are unavailable or the valuation has only been approximately prepared. However, the contractor does need to determine which contracts are profitable and which are not, and also to determine which operations gain or lose money. The information which is the generated may be used to form the basis of contractual claims or to assist in future tendering and the contractor ¿Ã‚ ½s selection of projects for which to tender. Both the actual profit and percentage on cost can be calculated from the given table. This offers the contractor an indication of the financial Trent, although in order to measure this realistically these figures need to be compared with their respective budgets. It is unclear from these data alone whether the contract was successful. By inference it can be suggested that the project reached its most successful stage in terms of profit alone at month 7. The profit  ¿Ã‚ ½expenditure ratio, however, had been decreasing since the commencement of the contract. This is also typical feature of fixed price contracts if the anticipated profit has been disturbed evenly throughout the project. Towards the end of the contract the project was probably losing money. For example compare the expenditure with the valuation for the month 9. This may suggest that work has been deliberately overvalued during this early stage. Month (Valuation  ¿Ã‚ ½ expenditure) G. SCHEDULE CONTROL In addition to cost control, commercial managers must also give considerable attention to monitoring schedules. (E.g. variation schedules) Construction typically involves a deadline for work completion, so contractual agreements will force attention to schedules. More generally, delays in construction represent additional costs to the client due to late facility occupancy or other factors. Just as costs incurred are compared to budgeted costs, actual activity durations may be compared to expected durations. In this process, forecasting the time to complete particular activities may be required. The methods used for forecasting completion times of activities are directly analogous to those used for forecasting. For example, a typical estimating formula might be : Df = Wht Where Df is the forecast duration, W is the amount of work, and ht is the observed productivity to time t. As with cost control, it is important to devise efficient and cost effective methods for gathering information on actual project accomplishment. Planned Vs Actual Expenditures H. ASSET REGISTER A part of Cost control techniques maintain and updating the register of the company ¿Ã‚ ½s inventory of assets, e.g. plant and equipment. The inventory should list all of the items that have been purchased by the company, their date of acquisition, initial value, current value (approximate), and/or depreciation, age and expected renewal date. The location of the asset and, if appropriate, the manufacturer ¿Ã‚ ½s serial number should be included. This register will remain an active document and be constantly updated. The inventory provides an accurate checklist for insurance purpose and to substantiate claims should these be necessary. The asset register can also be employed for taxation purposes in respect of depreciation and replacement funding. It acts as a financial register for the company ¿Ã‚ ½s assets. 10. ILLUSTRATIONS (TABLES AND GRAPHS) A. PROPORTION COMPLETION Vs EXPENDITURE FOR AN ACTIVITY B. PLANNED VS ACTUAL PROGRESS OVER TIME ON A PROJECT C. COST CODE SAMPLE D. VARIATION SCHEDULE SAMPLE E. LIGHT FITTINGS TRACKING SCHEDULE 11. CONCLUSION The main objective of cost control is to minimize and reduce the project costs. Cost control is necessary for all types of project disregarding its sizes. Most of the contractors have their own cost control system. The amount of detail and time interval between cost control reports must be considered, which is different according to level of management for which they have prepared mostly, it will be on monthly basis. After preparing the reports based on the actual costs, it is important to distribute the remaining budget for the future periods and estimate or re-estimate the cost of the work yet to be completed. Any new information must take into account since the commencement of contracts. It is important to ensure that there should not be any under claim or over claim of the work done. This is required to maintain a steady cash flow. Also, it helps the client and the contractor to manage their expenditure and income. The cost control techniques generally used in construction projects are: Cost Value Reconciliation, Control of Project Cash flow, Break  ¿Ã‚ ½ Even Analysis, Budgetary Control, and Contractors cost Control, Cost Comparison, Schedule Control and Asset Register.

College Admissions Essay: My Summer in Europe :: College Admissions Essays

My summer in Europe    I spent six weeks in Florence, studying renaissance art and art history. After this, I traveled across Europe for three weeks and experienced the many beautiful countries and cultures that exist on this continent.    Studying renaissance art in Florence, the place of it's birth, was literally a moving experience. To see works that I thought only existed in books and also to live in the same city that housed the masters, was amazing. I took a drawing class as well in Florence. This proved to be a challenging and beneficial class. Drawing street scenes, landscapes, figures, or anything for that matter, is always a challenge. However to do this in a city where there are masterpieces lining churches and museums all around you, made the action a bit more challenging. It was a wonderful and astounding resource to be able to refer to a Michelangelo sculpture or a Botticelli painting. The museums in Florence proved to be my most favorite pastime and the greatest tool for any artist. The Uffizi and Pitti Palace house some of the most famous and also not so famous (but just as wonderful) works.    Living in Florence for six weeks was such a wonderful learning experience. Each day was an adventure. By buying food and asking for directions, I slowly learned enough Italian to get by. Sadly, I found that like many places in Europe, Florence has also become Americanized. English was just as prevalent as Italian. Honestly, it was convenient to know that my waiter would be able to converse with me in English. Yet, at the same time, I felt a little guilty in knowing that through tourism, Italy has lost a small part of its culture and history.    After my stay in Florence, I had the chance to see more of Europe. I went to Salzburg, Prague, Lucerne, the Italian and French Riviera, and Paris. Three weeks of trains, hostels, new places and people proved to be an exciting and tiring time! I saw the Alps, the Mediterranean, the historic neighborhoods of Prague, and then Paris. Each day I woke up with excitement, ready to go and explore the new place we were in. And each night I fell asleep, and dreamt of what tomorrow would bring. It was a beautiful and simple three weeks. My only job was just to experience and see all that I could of a place.

Essay --

Unit Title: THE ORGANISATION OF THE BODY Task: 1.1, B) Q) Discuss the major historical events, which led to the birth and the evolution of both the Light and Electron Microscope? History of Light Microscopes It is not clear who invented the microscope but it is said that in Circa 1000AD, an implement called a reading stone was discovered by an unknown inventor, this sphere shaped glass object magnified reading material when placed over it, this then began the birth of the microscope. In 1284 an Italian inventor named Salvino D’Armate was credited for inventing the first pair of wearable spectacles. It wasn’t then till 1590 that things developed with Dutch glassmakers, Zaccharias Janssen and his son Hans, experimented by placing multiple lenses in tubes, observing objects placed in front of the tubes they realised that the objects appeared massively larger, thus creating both the forerunner of the compound microscope invented about 1595 and the telescope. In 1609 a father of physics and astronomy, Galileo Galilei made a better instrument with a focusing device, by working out the foundations of the lenses after hearing rumours about the Dutch eyeglass makers. In 1674 a man called Antony van Leeuwenhoek made a simple but useful microscope using only one lens to look at other tiny objects such as insects, yeast and to examine blood cells. Antony van Leeuwenhoek back round, to others, he would have been seen as an unpromising candidate to become a scientist of his time, due to him having no fortune, higher education or university degrees, but with his endless curiosity and an open mind he successfully came to make some of the most important findings in biology history, discovering bacteria, protists, sperm cells and many mor... ...entify individual molecules of biological importance. The microscope does suffer from a serious flaw, as no living sample would be able to survive under its extreme vacuum, not being able to show the character of an actual living cell. Ernst Ruska received half a nobel prize in physics in 1986 for his invention, the other half was split between Heinrich Rohrer and Gerd Binnig for their invention of the Scanning Tunnel Microscope (STM) enabling scientists to see images in three-dimensional, allowing them to define surface roughness, defects and arrangements of molecules and collections on the surface of the sample. This powerful STM is the strongest microscope to date. http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventions/a/microscopes.htm http://www.ucmp http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1986/ruska-bio.htmlberkeley.edu/history/leeuwenhoek.html Essay -- Unit Title: THE ORGANISATION OF THE BODY Task: 1.1, B) Q) Discuss the major historical events, which led to the birth and the evolution of both the Light and Electron Microscope? History of Light Microscopes It is not clear who invented the microscope but it is said that in Circa 1000AD, an implement called a reading stone was discovered by an unknown inventor, this sphere shaped glass object magnified reading material when placed over it, this then began the birth of the microscope. In 1284 an Italian inventor named Salvino D’Armate was credited for inventing the first pair of wearable spectacles. It wasn’t then till 1590 that things developed with Dutch glassmakers, Zaccharias Janssen and his son Hans, experimented by placing multiple lenses in tubes, observing objects placed in front of the tubes they realised that the objects appeared massively larger, thus creating both the forerunner of the compound microscope invented about 1595 and the telescope. In 1609 a father of physics and astronomy, Galileo Galilei made a better instrument with a focusing device, by working out the foundations of the lenses after hearing rumours about the Dutch eyeglass makers. In 1674 a man called Antony van Leeuwenhoek made a simple but useful microscope using only one lens to look at other tiny objects such as insects, yeast and to examine blood cells. Antony van Leeuwenhoek back round, to others, he would have been seen as an unpromising candidate to become a scientist of his time, due to him having no fortune, higher education or university degrees, but with his endless curiosity and an open mind he successfully came to make some of the most important findings in biology history, discovering bacteria, protists, sperm cells and many mor... ...entify individual molecules of biological importance. The microscope does suffer from a serious flaw, as no living sample would be able to survive under its extreme vacuum, not being able to show the character of an actual living cell. Ernst Ruska received half a nobel prize in physics in 1986 for his invention, the other half was split between Heinrich Rohrer and Gerd Binnig for their invention of the Scanning Tunnel Microscope (STM) enabling scientists to see images in three-dimensional, allowing them to define surface roughness, defects and arrangements of molecules and collections on the surface of the sample. This powerful STM is the strongest microscope to date. http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventions/a/microscopes.htm http://www.ucmp http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1986/ruska-bio.htmlberkeley.edu/history/leeuwenhoek.html

A Life Ruined by Drugs :: Illegal Drugs Narcotics

Susan is an anti-social, quiet and a kind decent girl.......she is good in her studys and came from a fine and educated family. She actually did not intend to go to the party but one of her best friend insisted.....so she bid to her request... When she reached the party, her best friend when away to find her own friends leaving Susan alone..Due to Susan's anti-social attitude, she went to a Dark corner of the house n sat quietly alone. Not long later, a group of 5 girls came to talk to Susan....Susan was quite afraid of them because of their numerous Piercing n weird dressing..But after talking to them for quite a moment, she thought that they were quite friendly n became friends with them. After a while, they Offered her a drink. Susan looked at the cup and thought,’ it’s just a plain cup of fruit punch.....it should be alright''and without second thoughts, she drank it.....she did not even thought that just because of this cup of fruit punch, her future is all ruin....all ruin...After a while later, she suddenly felt a gush of dizziness...but also Having a feel of being in cloud 9......She asked the girls why she experience this kind of feeling and not intending to hide the truth, they told her that they had Added oxycontin, a drug to let people feel high and get away from all the stress. Susan was shocked at first...and wanted to go home and rest....but the effectiveness of the drug was too strong for her to overcome....so she allowed the drug to take over her....it was not only about her....it also affects her future.....her life.....her actions.... Then, unlike herself, she went to dance in the crowd and was shouting and having a great time....but suddenly the sound of the police siren travelled to her ears..... Soon, in her blurred vision, everyone was scrambling to their feet and forcing their way to the exit.....there was already a serious ‘‘traffic jam'' at the doorway and Susan was still standing rooted to the ground laughing to herself. Where were all her friends? Those who actually the so-called ''friends’’ who brought her in to the drugs world without her aknowledgement?where It was suddenly a total silence.

Describe How Past Ways Of Working May Affect Present Services

Unit 22†¦ Understanding the Context of Supporting Individuals with Learning Disabilities. 1. 1 Identify Legislation and policies that are designed to promote the human rights, inclusion, equal life chances and citizenship of individuals with learning disabilities. Human Rights Stereotyping labelling Discrimination Anti Discrimination Oppression Anti Oppression Valuing people Mental Capacity Act Human Rights Act 2000. No Secrets – Guidance published by the Department of Health, builds upon the governments respects for human rights and highlights the need to protect vulnerable adults through effective multi-agency work.National Care Standards Commission, now the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). In Safe Hands: Implementing adult procedures in Wales The Human Rights Act 1998 became law in Briton in 2000 and its articles and protocols, give all people constitutional rights that were intended to prevent discrimination and unfair treatment, echoing and the idea of a dvocacy: Being able to say what I like as long as I respect others. Making choices about my life. Expecting people to listen to me.Having information about my rights. Having my rights respected. Being safe at home and having time to myself. Speaking out and complaining if something is wrong. Choosing the people I see and who my friends are. Getting married and having children. Living with people that I get on with. Deciding what I spend my money on and getting paid for what I do. 1. 2 Explain how this legislation and policies influence the day to day experiences of individuals with learning disabilities and their families.There is less ignorance in the community as more people with learning disabilities have been able to have better access in the community and the public are getting use to adapting to them. Also due to training at work the public are getting training at work and this is also making them aware about disabled people and they are being taught about disabled people. Als o due to legislations, disability act's, SOVA and Mental health acts, disabled people are being employed for work and are not being discriminated against and every one suitable for the job regardless of the disability are being adapted to and employed.Also †back in the day† (still in the 20th century) there were a vast amount of institutions and now there are no institutions due to the legislations that have been put in place and the human rights that there are as it is inhumane to institutionalise anyone. Families are also getting more help form the government and are receiving benefits to help them care for their loved ones. They families are also receiving support from the local councils and carers are coming to the home and taking disabled people out in the community. The day centre's also adheres to the day to day legislation, policies and equal opportunities. 2. Explain what is meant by learning disabilities. A significantly reduced ability to understand new or com plex information, to learn new skills with: A reduced ability to cope independently, which started before adulthood with a lasting effect on development. Degrees of Learning Disabilities MILD: Obvious difficulties in learning, especially educational skill, but can acquire skills of everyday living. MODERSTE: Considerable difficulties in learning, will probably need help mastering everyday skills. SEVERE: Substantial difficulties, language abilities will be limited. Will need support with many daily living activities.PROFOUND: Extreme difficulties in all learning. Limited communication and may possibly have physical needs. Will be dependant on others for personal care and other daily living activities. 2. 2 Give examples of causes of learning disabilities. Causes of learning disabilities can occur at various stages of development either before birth or after birth. The disabilities which occur before birth or (pre-natally) are know as congenital causes such as chromosomes, Fragile X Syndrome. In other cases, harmful substances in the womb may affect a foetus, this could include alcoholism or drug abuse during pregnancy. After birth or (post-natally) causes can occur because of illness, injury or environmental conditions, for example: Meningitis†¦.. Brain injury†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Malnutrition. 2. 3 Describe the medical and social models of disabilities. The medical model of disability views disabilities as a problem that belongs to the disabled person. It is not seen as a problem that needs the concern of anyone else apart from the disabled individual affected, for example if a wheelchair user is unable to get into a building because there are steps then, the wheelchair is seen as the problem not the steps, according to the medical model.The social model suggests that it is the steps that are the issue not the wheelchair, as it is the steps which are disabling the person access, which is seen as a barrier. This model suggests that it is society disabling people through designing everything to meet the needs of the majority of people, who are not disabled. The social model believe that there is a gre at deal that society can do to reduce and ultimately remove, some of the barriers.This task is the responsibility of society rather then the person, as far as is reasonably practical – which by if it is a big organisation and it is financially possible and financially beneficial, then it would make sense to adapt and make provisions for disabled people to have access for example, wider doors, disabled toilets, a ramp, lifts if it is not a ground level building, although if it is only a small company then it may not benefit them financially to adapt there building. As if they are not getting the business then there may not be a need to adapt for the one in a million disabled person, as it may not be practical. . 4 State the approximate proportion of individuals with a learning disability for whom the cause in not known. In adults with a mild learning disabilities, 50% of cases have no cause of identification. In adults with severe or profound learning disabilities, chromosomal abnormalities cause around 40% of cases. Prenatal and perinatal problems cause around 10% of learning disability, and post natal issues a further 10% of cases and unknown cause's are at around 25%. 2. 5 Describe the possible impact on a family of having a member with a learning disability.The impacts will depend on the type of condition and severity, as well as the physical, emotional, and financial wherewithal of the family and the resources that are available. Having a family member with a learning disability can be reacted upon in many different ways, for example – A family may see this family member no differently from their other children. They will support the child at home and continue to live ‘normally'. They would get help from the local authorities and from social services and get their family member sent to a special school specific to their needs.They would monitor the progress and aim to teach them personal care, social skills and everyday living skills to make their life as normal as possible. There is possibility that the family member may be challenging but the monitoring that was put in place previously would know what triggers the behaviour, and how to calm them down. The main carer may possibly have to leave work and the family member would have to be their main focus. This may put a struggle on the rest of the family financially and mentally as the rest of the family could feel unappreciated and start having bad behaviour to try and get attention, and to get by.On the other hand a family may feel like they do not have the ability to cope and may put the family member in either foster care or permanent care. Dependant on the severity of the disabled person is dependant on the affect which it could have and dependant on the disability and the severity of the ability. You may have to fight for help from the professionals and be persistent to get the help and support you need and not give up and tat may be hard as at times you may feel let down by the service your being offered or like you are getting nowhere and this could make you feel like giving up.It can broaden horizons, increase family members' awareness of their inner strength, enhance family cohesion, and encourage connections to community groups or religious institutions. On the negative side, the time and financial costs, physical and emotional demands, and logistical complexities associated with raising a disabled person can have far-reaching effects. 3. 1 Explain the types of services that have been provided for individuals with learning disabilities over time. Collages have provided sessions and lessons specifically designed for disabled people to meet their needs.Day centres have been provided for a wide variety of disabled people for stimulation and person centred needs. Charities, volunteers and church run groups are available. Advocacy groups – talk-back. Health care, specialist nurses and education. Ategi. People with learning disab ilities have been assessed in great depth to assess whether they have the capacity to have direct payments and personal budgets. People are getting supported living and outsource day opportunities. 3. 2 Describe how past ways of working may affect present services.Incidents that were happening such as abuse within institutions is one of the main reasons that we now have introduced safeguarding, and also as people were being hidden from the truth of the ongoings in the institutions. Inspections from the likes of C. Q. C are in the pipe line for day services. Safeguarding training has been pushed harder for all employees to get a place on a course for greater understanding and so that the disabled adults are safe. Identify some of the key changes in the following areas of the lives of individuals who have learning disabilities: A) Where People live.Huge changes have been made in society and disabled people now have access to supported living, shared life, Ategi, Respite services and R esidential home services. This provides disabled people who have the ability to live on their own have their mental capacity assessed to decide what the clients needs are based on person centred individual care. B) Daytime activities Charities and volunteers have organised church run groups in late afternoon early/evening's for adults with learning disabilities and the day centres provide stimulating outings for all the clients weekly whether its going for a ride in the bus or going swimming.The government also arranges social worker's to go to their homes and take clients out. C)Employment Each client with a learning disability will have a back to base assessment and this will assess whether a client has the capacity and ability to be able to work in paid employment. Also there are anti discrimination acts in place where if you do have a learning disability, then you are not able to be discriminated against and you have a fair right to employed. D)Sexual relationships and parenthoo d For an adult to have a sexual relationship and consider entering parenthood then the individual(s) will need to have a capacity assessment.With the assessment this determines whether the individual is able to understand and fully consent to the sexual relationship. If it is deemed that the client doesn't have the capacity to have a sexual relationship then the client will not be able to be involved and the client will have to have a best interest assessment in place. If it was deemed appropriate then the social services will become more involved to make sure that any of the individuals involved wasn't being abused in any way under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. If needed you would receive extra support from midwives and social services would monitor you throughout the pregnancy.You could even have extra help during and after for example you may get help for cooking and cleaning and the council would pay for this. If the sexual relationship progressed into something further for inst ance pregnancy, then again the social services would get involved and a capacity assessment would be done to assess whether you are fit to be a parent, and if you were then what help and support you would need if any. Also there would be a best interest assessment whether you are aloud to continue with the pregnancy and whether your aloud to keep the baby or put the baby up for adoption.If you did have the baby and keep the baby then you would be regularly assessed by the social services to make sure that you are coping and if you needed any help and the help and services they could offer you for full support. E) The provision of healthcare Each client has a medical health passport which follows them around whenever they need to go to the doctors or hospital then the medical professionals have the information they need to help medicate you or assess what is wrong to enable the professionals to give you the correct care you need.Each client has there own nurse, who have been trained in learning disabilities so that if you need help or advice then they are there for you and know your history. Also client have transport passports which enables them to travel safely. 4. 1 Explain the meaning of the term ‘social inclusion. Inclusion is based upon the idea of allowing everyone equal access to a service regardless of gender, disability, religion etc. There are many ways to ensure that your setting adheres to its inclusion policy. Here are a few examples.In a learning disability environment you could make access for disabled people possible by providing disabled toilets, ramps and wide doors. You could disabled people and families who have English as a second language resources to help with communication such as books and diagrams of words ; their meanings. Also staff could learn other means of communicate for example makaton and British sigh language as with disabled people with a hearing impairment you could train staff up on sign language to help with communi cation.For people with learning difficulties you could ensure that you gain support from outside agencies such as speech therapists, health visitors, specialist nurses etc. 4. 2 Explain the meaning of the term advocacy. Advocacy is: Protecting your rights when you are vulnerable. Listening to you Ensuring that you are listened to. Providing you with information so that you can make informed choices and decisions. Helping you to express yourself and take part in decisions which affect you. Respecting your right to make your own choices.Being there for you without conflict of interest. Advocacy must: Be Accessible to all who require it. Be Accountable to those who use it and fund it. Put those who use it first. Be as free as possible from conflicts of interest. Describe different types of advocacy. Self advocacy – This refers to the civil rights movement for people with developmental disabilities also called cognitive or intellectual disabilities, and other disabilities. The se lf-advocacy movement is (in basic terms) about people with disabilities speaking up for themselves.Self-Advocacy or Speaking up for yourself is to speak up for oneself, either as a member of a group or as an individual and contains an element of developing the confidence, skills and knowledge to do this. Self-advocacy groups are the same as self-help groups but will often involve the use of a facilitator or supporter where additional skills are required that members of the group do not already have. Peer advocacy – Peer Advocacy refers to â€Å"experts by experience†, and is used to describe advocacy relationships where both the advocate and the advocacy partner share similar experiences, difficulties or discrimination.This can include looked after children, with experience of children’s homes, those with mental ill health, the elderly or people with a learning disability. Peer advocacy is often spontaneous in such settings as day centres. Paid independent advoc acy – In paid advocacy – sometimes called independent advocacy – the advocate receives a salary or a fee per client. Citizen advocacy – ‘Citizen Advocacy organisations' (Citizen Advocacy programs/programmes) seek to cause benefit by reconnecting people who have become isolated from the ordinary community.Statutory advocacy – Statutory Advocacy is a term used to describe advocacy roles that are established in legislation. Statutory advocates will have certain legal rights, and where certain criteria are met, a person may have a right to this form of advocacy. There are two forms of statutory advocacy; Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHA’s) and Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCA’s). All advocacy types are of equal value. What advocacy is used, and when, should depend on what is best suited to the person who seeks it. A single person may ask for different types of advocacy support at different times in their life.Wha t is common to all types of advocacy is that the person who it is for (in this instance the person with a learning disability) is always at the centre of the advocacy process. It is all about what that person wants, and finding the best way of getting that across to the people who need to know. Advocacy can be like tools in a tool box, the different types can be used together or separately depending on the job that needs to be done. People with learning disabilities say that being part of a self advocacy group or getting support from an advocate is a really important part of being able to take control of their lives. . 4 Describe the ways to build empowerment and active participation into everyday support with individuals with learning disabilities. The way that we build empowerment and active participation in the day services is by giving each client as much control and choice as possible. By knowing and assessing the capacity of the individual and then giving that individual the c hoice and control of their life doing the best we can to help them. 5. 1 Explain how attitudes are changing in relation to individuals with learning disabilities.People with learning disabilities are given their voice and people are now excepting them as individuals and therefore the individual is getting the care and attention they do or don't need, this is making their lives better and more comfortable and so they are happier. Disabled people are now in the public more working and mixing with ‘normal' people and so the ‘normal' people are learning more about the individual and the wideness of people with learning disabilities and how to work with them in and work place and just on a day to day basis.This is giving people in the public a wider knowledge and understanding so they are beginning to accept and learn to work with the disabled. 5. 2 Give examples of positive and negative aspects of being labelled as have a learning disability. Positive: Those who are not exte nsively trained about learning disabilities may think they understand their problems, when they really don't, and have unrealistic expectations or make assumptions that they cant do something that they can actually do. Choosing to allow a person to be abelled as learning disabled can provide the person with many advantages and specific adaptations can be made at their school/workplace. They may also receive special understanding from their teacher/colleges and others. If they realize that a learning disability is something that simply affects how another person learns, they may come to respect that persons abilities rather than focus on their areas of weakness. Negative: Being labelled as having a learning disability. Labels are for life, and many people fear that having a label attached them will cause people to treat them in a negative way.Most people do not understand what it means to have a learning disability, and may discriminate against someone who is labelled as having a lea rning disability. 5. 3 Describe steps that can be taken to promote positive attitudes towards individuals with learning disabilities and their family/carers. Care in the community and action toward greater integration amongst mainstream society. To provide assistance and education for learning disabled people to gather the skills to live a less marginalised and more independent life within society.As well as modernising day services to help encourage independent living and social skills for forming meaningful relationships with a different groups of people. The local authority must evaluate the person's needs and make provisions where possible. 5. 4 Explain the roles of external agencies and others in changing attitudes, policies and practice. Agencies and care providers have a role to play in changing the situation. People with learning disabilities should be supported to be all they can be, and to achieve their fundamental human rights, including the right to make an informed choi ce about whether or not to form relationships.They are also working to improve conditions of the individuals that they work for. Some of the external agencies whom would be involved: Care Quality Commission, General Social Care Council, Skills for Care (includes Common Induction Standards) Health & Safety Executive, Social Care Institute for Excellence,the organisation you work for, yourself, advocates, citizens' advice bureau, charities, organisations, (Action on Hearing Loss, Scope, RNIB, Sense, Dementia UK, Alzheimer's Society, Parkinsons UK.The roles of external agencies are: Having to keep updated with legislation and training on all the staff. This is agencies with whom the day centre uses: Doctors/Nurses, carers/parents, care managers and physiotherapists. Carers and families attitudes with regards to policy and practice is to have continued communication with all professionals. 6. 1 Identify ways of adapting each of the following when communicating with individuals who have learning difficulties.Verbal communication:To learn the language that the client uses and the facial expression that the client uses as this can help you to understand how the client feels, also to listen to the client and not to finish the sentence for the client as this can lead to misunderstandings and confusions. You need to use simpler terms and never must use slang or jargon. Non Verbal communication:To watch facial expressions and body language that the client uses. Braille and sensory equipment will also help with communication and the clients needs.Using bright colours, picture cards and makaton/sigh language. 6. 2 Explain why it is important, to use language that is both ‘age appropriate' and ability appropriate' when communicating with individuals with learning disabilities. Its important to use age appropriate language as the client may have the ability to understand and respond to you when spoken to correctly, also you don't want the client to loose the ability to communicate, don't use big, long fancy words or talk fast.Every one has different abilities some individuals can walk and talk and some are highly dependable on the help of others, some people can interact with others but some may not have the mental ability to. All clients have different abilities for instance one client will be able to communicate with you to tell you what they would like to eat, some may be able to show you through pointing or eye contact and others may only be able to show you through trial and error e. g. if they eat the food or spit it out.You should use shorter sentences and give them time to take in what you are saying and be patient, give the client enough time to take in what you have said not rushing them. If you speak to the client like a child then this may upset of distress the client and make him/her feel inadequate, which could lead to further issues. When communicating you need to always communicate clearly and use basic English unless stated other wise otherwise this could lead to misunderstandings. 6. 3 Describe ways of checking whether an individual has understood communications, and how to address any misunderstandings.By knowing how the client communicates, you can read the facial expressions for example – blinking, head movements, sounds or body movements. If a client has misunderstood what you have said then the client may either not answer or act differently or answer even though they are not aware what they are saying. If the client is struggling to understand you or you think the client has misunderstood you then you need to rephrase the question or use visual aids, as this could help you to explain it in another way.