Bang and Ofulsen Case - Potential Answers - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1283 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/09/21 Category Business Essay Type Analytical essay Tags: Development Essay Did you like this example? Francois Baranne | September 14th 2010 | MBA Program 2nd year Operations Strategy Case Bang Olufsen Introduction It seems important to begin this case analysis with a evaluation of the company in order to underline some of the key points to keep in mind for this case. Appreciated First of all, we can say that Bang Olufsen have developed, through a differentiation by the design, a sustainable competitive advantage in the high-tech audiovisual market which have allowed the company to increase the willingness to pay of the customers. Normally, this solution, the design-differentiation, should not have last or generate this increase but this is where BG has done great by developing the design to the point of it has become the core competency of the firm. Every function of BO (supply chain, manufacturing/quality ) gravitates around the design function. Thus, such as Toyota, BO has succeeded to developed a operations-based strategy quite impossible to reproduce because based on a philosophy. Secondly, it is interesting to note that BO has tried to reach the last phase of the Sand Cone The company, which deliver a great quality (long product lifetime, handwork manufacturing), has a good flexibility (specialized workers, integration of top-technology by the engineering department) and is relatively fast regarding its products (delivery in 5 days, concentration of the resources, accelerating cycles), is now looking for cost-reduction. As we can see it in the documentation, the reduction of the number of employees (which had surely helped to increase profits) and the implantation of a new factory in the Czech Republic have probably been decided in that perspective. Development Now that we have defined what we consider as the key points of this case, it is time to think about the critical issues BO is facing. Concretely, BO is a producer of high-tech audiovisual products with great design. The problem is that, nowadays, with the emergence of new produc ts such as the Ipod, people have extended their quality expectations about the audiovisual to the virtual level. To satisfy what BO supposed to be the customer needs, the company has begun to think about this topic, even creating a new entity, Idealab, for this purpose. Until now, BO has not take the risk to develop this approach to the next level and the influence of Idealab on the products in development is quite limited. Nevertheless, this situation could evolve with a new project for a digital audio/video product. In definitive, this project raises for the company the questions of the integration of more great software and network-based interaction in its products and, consequently, the importance it should give to Idealab in its organization. These issues are critical because they could change radically the way BO is doing business. We will now see in the following development that every options has its pros and cons. To begin with, we could imagine that BO would decide t o integrate more software and network applications on its products, to reach the â€Å"50% software, 50% physical product† mentioned by Sorensen for its products, for instance. By making such decision, BO would make a bet which could have serious consequences but could lead to new incomes. First of all, BO would have to reconsider its process by integrating upstream some resources about the integration of virtual content, more than they did recently. Among other actions, that would mean to develop a closer relationship between designers and Idealab, but also maybe the creation of entire â€Å"back-office† systems and some technical support, the development of new partnerships with RD labs specialized in IT The rewards ould be important, if BO is able to maintain high standards in design: anticipation of the customer needs, potential conquest of new customers attracted more by the software side than the physical product side or seduced by the combination of the two, potential reduction of the launch cycle by reducing the influence of designers, diminution of the â€Å"design-dependance†, potential mid/long-terms savings (re-utilization/update of a software), increase of the willingness to pay On the other side, the risks are quite important too. Indeed, BO does not have a long experience in software and they do not have all the resources so they would have to invest time and money. They also would have to change quite a bit the process which could lead to delays, quality problems, difficulties to define a good balance between the different services, resistance from the designers The design of the products in development could suffer of this situation (potentially less resources allocated) which could hurt the image of the brand. The design is what makes BO products luxury goods; without that, they just are good quality high-tech products. And, last but not least, the competition could be totally different for these type of products . In the case of BO decided to keep to the minimum needed the integration of software and network-based products, it would be objectively safer. This choice would preserve for sure the competitive advantage of BO, and if the company chooses to collaborate with a new IT partner, instead of working with Idealab, for the projects which need software integration, they could allocate the potential remaining resources to new projects such as diversification or new partnerships or they could just save the money. But with this choice, they take the risk to see their customers leaving for a competitor able to fully satisfy their virtual needs. Also, it would perpetuate the long-term dependance of the company towards the designers (especially a few of them such as David Lewis) which could be a problem in terms of delays, appeal of the products (a product could be not welcomed very well by the customers) or will to lower the costs. We can add that this immobility is damageable in a certain way because they loose the long-term opportunity to develop new types of products based on network technology and software that could be able to educe a new clientele. Indeed, nowadays, the kids and the teenagers, the buyers of tomorrow for BO, are raised in a environment where the virtual technologies are omnipresent. Conclusion My personal point of view of this situation is that BO has to continue its integration of virtual content into some of its products but I do not think that the current organization, with Idealab, is a good solution and I do not think either that the virtual input should be too important, especially for certain products. About the organization, I think that Idealab should be developed at the image of the engineering department, with the same type of relationship with the designers and the same method of work (partnerships with RD labs for instance). The intervention of Idealab, at the early stages of a project, should be limited at a few category of produ cts, such as the phones and eventually the TV. By doing that, BO does not deny its identity, gives itself the time to determinate the value added by the software implementation on its products (customer satisfaction) and tests a new process. Thus, the risk is quite limited and according to the results, BO will know if it is necessary to take the virtual integration to the next level. Anyway, this topic would not be my top priority if I were the CEO of BO. I would rather focus on the reduction of the costs despite the fact that BO is a company which sells luxury goods. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Bang and Ofulsen Case Potential Answers" essay for you Create order

Marketing Mix, the Supply and Management Chain Equations for Case Study

Essays on Marketing Mix, the Supply and Management Chain Equations for Blackmores Case Study The paper "Marketing Mix, the Supply and Management Chain Equations for Blackmores" is a wonderful example of a case study on marketing. Marketing is ‘the social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others’, (Kotler, et al., 2006) One of the better ways of ensuring that there are a proper retention and expansion of bases of consumer base is to ensure that the business is able to ensure deliverance of a consumer needs that are suited to the manner and processes of the need at the time and place needed in a manner that delivers on the brand promise (Accenture, 2008).Basic Considerations in Marketing:People today, do not just "buy" a product. They "buy" the concept of what that product will do for them, or help them do for themselves. It is in this context that the relevance of the marketing concept becomes clear as it helps a given organization understand its product and the market to which the product is aimed (Berry and Wilson: 13). What can be understood in this regard is that no product has a universal appeal nor can it have a universal marketing plan, there are a number of considerations that alter plans based on product and brand (Aker and Mills, 2001). It is in cases such as these that the primacy of the marketing strategy comes to the fore. There are basically three parts to any given marketing strategy formulations:SegmentationTargetingpositioningCompany Background:Blakemore has been a part of the expansion and advertising of health products for a long time. The range of products that the company has on offer includes vitamin medication, herbal medicines and mineral dietary additions (Official Blackmores Website, 2009). Blackmore’s is, in essence, an Australian company with an operational presence in Thailand and in Malaysia. There is also an autonomous dispensing system present in the countries of southeast Asia like Indonesia besides having a p resence in New Zealand. There is a variety of products that the company deals with-these include medication for a variety of pain medication, cold and influenza immunizations, medication related to the wellbeing of the digestive system, etc.Executive Summary:Blakemore’s is a brand that enjoys a high level of recognition power in Australia and New Zealand. It is in fact known as the vitamin kings of the country. It has also seen high rates of growth and development in countries of South East Asia that include countries like Malaysia, Thailand Hong Kong Singapore, and Indonesia. The company has employed a variety of marketing and logistics plans in every market that it has ventured into (Data Services International Report, 2003). The company has had operations in Hong Kong for over 15 years. Even then, there is still no office that the company has in the country. At the same time, Singapore has witnessed not just an official distribution system along with an official space that employees more than forty people.

Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Free Essays

Climax A climax is a decisive moment in a novel that is of maximum intensity or is a major turning point in a plot. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the major moment of intensity in the novel is when Gatsby finally talks to Daisy for the fist time in years. We will write a custom essay sample on Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald or any similar topic only for you Order Now When they finally reconnect Gatsby feels like it was a â€Å"terrible mistake. †(87) The situation is awkward in every aspect. Gatsby is so uncomfortable to be with Daisy he breaks Nick’s clock while in a fluster of her presence. Gatsby although more noticeably uncomfortable in Daisy’s presence, has Nick to point out that â€Å"Daisy’s embarrassed too. † (87) During there first words they talked about how long it had been and Gatsby remembered the exact time it had been, it would be â€Å" five months next November. †(87) The turning point of this particular scene comes when nick comes back to the room and realizes that Gatsby â€Å"literally glowed. (89) Gatsby and Daisy had been left alone by Nick and when he comes back in he describes a scene that a question had just been answered, the question of their love. It comes to be concluded that Gatsby is happy by there conversation, that Gatsby has hope of love with Daisy. Gatsby’s rise to the riches was all for Daisy and the fact that she could love him was the only thing he wanted to hear. This is a decisive moment of maximum intensity of love and prosperity for Gatsby. It fuels his next actions of the book and his ultimate downfall in the end. How to cite Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Essay examples

The Accounting and Finance

Question: Discuss about the Accounting and Finance ? Answer : Introducation Financial needs of the business depends upon its type and size. Retail business requires less capital and on the other hand, substantial amount of capital is required by processing business. It is necessary for start up to take into account several areas such as starting investment in capacity, initial set up cost, growth and development and working capital. Equity and debt are the most important source of financing start up business (Brigham Ehrhardt, 2013). Equity financing is the process of raising capital through selling of shares in an enterprise. It is essentially the process of raising funds for selling of an ownership interest. It involves a permanent investment in the company. Debt financing on the other hand, is the process of buying money and involves borrowing funds from with the stipulation of borrowed funds along with interest at specified future time. This is the traditional method of raising funds for startup business. Current activities or operations are financed using short-term debt and financing of business assets are done using long-term debt (Titman et al., 2014). Equity financing comes with several advantages and disadvantages. Using equity finance involves less burdening on business, as there is no liability of making monthly payments. Equity is preferable if the business does not enjoy good credit worthiness. It comes with the advantage of retaining equity in the business. Disadvantage of equity financing: Equity financing involve sharing of control of company and it is regarded as one of potential disadvantage. Business needs to share its profit with the investors in dividend form. Advantage of debt financing: Debt financing provides the business with tax advantage as the amount of interest paid is tax deductible and net obligation is reduced effectively. Debt financers would not relinquish any ownership or retaining of control in the business. Disadvantage of debt financing: Borrowing money represents financing the business against future earnings that is this involves an allocation of future profits for repaying debts. Financing using debt would affect the credit rating of company as the borrower needs to higher interest rate if borrowing increases. Retained earnings- Future expansion of business can be financed by reinvestment of business earnings. Business can reinvest such earning for future growth. It makes the company less dependent on others for funds and contributes to companys stability. Advantage of retained earnings: Using retained earnings helps to determine growth potentially of business and determine their financial health. This would be useful for investors seeking investment in the company (Lasher, 2013). It also helps in funding several other projects of company such as research and development, paying off liabilities and purchasing equipments. Disadvantage of retained earnings: Retained earnings does not provide the company with advantage of taxation. It is quite possible to miss the business opportunities for building up necessary funds if retained earnings are used in business. Factoring- It is a third party funding source for raising capital where the business sell its account receivable at discounts. This source frees up working capital, provide fast cash for meeting financial needs of business, and does not involve collateral (Frank Pamela, 2016). However, factoring comes with cost as third party charge interest on cash balance. Recommendation: Equity financial should be used for staring up any new business and retained earnings is considered more reliable when expanding future business. Reference: Brigham, E. F., Ehrhardt, M. C. (2013).Financial management: Theory practice. Cengage Learning. Frank, J. F., Pamela, P. P. (2016). Financial Management and Analysis. Lasher, W. R. (2013).Practical financial management. Nelson Education. Titman, S., Martin, J. D., Keown, A. J. (2014). Financial Management Principles.

Teen Curfew free essay sample

Teen Curfew Teens must have a routine in order for proper behavior. Not every teen or adolescent agrees that curfews are necessary. However, curfews are a necessary part discipline and keep teens out of trouble; therefore, teen curfews are an effective way of keeping teens out of trouble. Teens need to have everyday routine schedule from the time they wake, throughout the school day, having a family dinner, right up to the time they go to bed. It is important for teens to have after school activities so that they are not bored. When teens have things planned and have commitments they are less likely to get into trouble. Establishing a routine and schedule should be at an early age. The younger the child the easier it will be to set time limits and curfews. Setting time limits when teens should be home every night is a great way to establish a routine Allowing a teenager, (who thinks they know everything), to stay out past midnight on a school night is not good way of helping them succeed in their studies during the day. We will write a custom essay sample on Teen Curfew or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Proper rest and good study habits are necessary for any child to perform well in school and in everyday activities. Time limits and curfews should be set to keep teens from roaming the streets. There is no good reason for children to be out unaccompanied late at night. Older children staying out late nights unsupervised promotes misconduct, and can result in being exposed to alcohol and drug abuse. In addition, other common behavior misconduct such as promiscuity, leading to teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and spreading communicable diseases. When kids have a set amount of time out of the house, they stay busy, but with no curfew, they get bored. Boredom leads to trouble . Making a curfew will help put a stop to these activities before they lead to these problems. The probabilities of teens getting into situations that can be dangerous occur more at night. For instance, violent crimes like fighting, stabbings, and shootings are committed late at night by minors who lack parental supervision. Statistics also state that home burglaries and auto theft are committed by teens, making the nighttime hours a better chance to elude authorities for the crimes they have committed. Curfews limit the chances of getting hurt or into unwanted trouble. For example driving home at eleven pm is usually much safer than driving home at two am, when the bars have closed and others are driving under the influence has increased. Therefore, we must enforce curfews to combat dangerous behavior in the late hours of the night, keeping our precious children safe. Growing up is a process. Following curfew is an important part of that process. Curfews are not just rules; they are a form of teaching responsibility to children of all ages. Curfews work simply because it gives a reckless teenager more structure in their lives so they can be better adults.

Landscape Architecture †Utilizing Space

Landscape Architecture – Utilizing Space Free Online Research Papers To me, Landscape Architecture is a profession that is able to utilize the outdoor spaces to cope with the needs and desires of people. It is able to make use of unused or wasted spaces, or plan undeveloped spaces to solve problems such as circulation, overpopulation, preservation of nature, and lots of other land use matters. Not only does landscape architecture solve various problems related to land use, the solution also needs to be pleasant in terms of aesthetics to the people as well. The elaboration of landscapes I believe first started out as gardening. People wanted to be able to enjoy the products of plant, such as flowers and fruits, so they start growing plants at locations where it’s easily reachable. Landscape architecture developed along with changes in the society. As people get wealthier, they possess more land, and have unlimited supply of food. Land no longer needs to be used agriculturally, so more and more of it functioned as places for entertainment, and served the purpose of flaunting a person’s wealth and power. Today, landscape architecture has become a very important element in our daily lives as people start to seek for better living environments. We are st arting to pay more attention to our surroundings. To me, landscape architecture is also a way of flaunting culture. The desired landscape designs of people from different cultures vary, since aesthetics in different cultures are different as well. This results in designing landscapes with elements of a certain culture with a modern twist to fit with the values and views of the present, which I consider to be highly artistic. How I see myself in the career of landscape architecture seems somehow unclear. However, I wish that someday I can be self-employed and create my own firm. If I could, I wish I can be designing public spaces that are not too large in scale. The reason for that is I see many small public places around me that are left unused and appear unattractive. There are always small bits and pieces here and there in the public that are just abandoned and unattended which I see as opportunities to make it into an attractive, cozy little spots. Together, these small places adds up to a lot, and by transforming these places around us, I believe that everyone would feel that the environment that we are living in suddenly became a bit more pleasant that before, which I feel is important in promoting the overall quality of the society. Rather than trying to create new places and encourage development, I am more interested in the improving of the existing. I am also very interested in the past traditional gardens, parks, and designs in my own culture. The concepts behind the landscape designing in China such as â€Å"Feng Shui†, and the idea that â€Å"man and nature are one† show through every element in Chinese architectures and gardens. It fascinates me deeply. If possible, I wish I am able to design the traditional gardens and parks as great as the master pieces from the past. However, I feel that these ancient gardens and parks were not taken care of that well. Most of them are left unattended and in ruins, which I feel is a great loss. So I might also consider working in the field of preservation of past gardens and parks in the future as well. Research Papers on Landscape Architecture - Utilizing SpaceOpen Architechture a white paperWhere Wild and West MeetRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andGenetic EngineeringThe Project Managment Office SystemAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeDefinition of Export Quotas19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of Self

MACRO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MACRO - Essay Example It will also considered about the various issues and challenges related to economic growth, unemployment, inflation, and the balance of payment and the exchange rate Economic growth is often defined as the increase in the market value to the quantity of goods and services produced by the economy over the period of time. Economic growth can be measured in terms of the increase in the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) (The Saylor Foundation, 2014). Accordingly, the GDP growth rate of the UK has been identified to demonstrate constant fluctuation. The UK economy is ascertained to face with strong headwinds and challenges. Contextually, the sluggish progress of the global economy along with uncertainty related to euro zone is identified to generate considerable headwinds for the nation’s economy. Output of the economy has remained flat for the last two years demonstrating 3% lower than it was at peak. Besides, private consumption is identified to restrain particularly due to reducing real disposable income, precautionary saving, tight access to credit and deleveraging. Likewise, private investment is also ascertained to be suffering fro m declining demand for goods and services, increased uncertainty and rigid financial conditions. The sluggish growth experienced by the trading partners particularly in Europe has eroded the hopes of quick recovery from the challenges faced by the economy. Declining non-price competitiveness and the limited market share held by the UK in the emerging markets of the world has also hampered the rate of export growth. Notably, high household debt, alongside limited access to mortgages is reckoned to have continuous impact on the residential investment (Wehinger, 2011). According to Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), GDP growth rate of the economy is expected to be raised by 2.7 % in the year 2014. The OBR has warned about the prediction

Pressure Ulcers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Pressure Ulcers - Research Paper Example One such strategy is use of assessment tools for evaluation. In this essay, the role of assessment tools in the prevention and management of pressure ulcers effectively will be discussed through review of appropriate research articles for evidence-based information. Pressure ulcers are a common source of distress in any health care setting. They contribute to morbidity and mortality and are a significant source of healthcare cost. It is often difficult to treat pressure ulcers because of lack of proper understanding of the complexities involved in the causes of breakdown of skin (Riordan and Voegeli, 2009). This research is intended to evaluate and ascertain the benefits of using assessment tools in the prevention and management of pressure ulcers and in total decrease the incidence and prevalence of pressure ulcers in any health care setting. The article begins with the prevalence of the pressure ulcers in Europe and the impact they have on the patient, community and society. This is followed by the definition of pressure ulcer. According to the authors, pressure ulcers are "areas of localized damage to the skin and underlying tissue caused by exposure to pressure, shear or friction, or a combination of these." While most of the pressure ulcers affect only the skin, severe forms of ulcers involve other structures like muscle, bone and tendons. Pressure ulcers develop because of sustained high pressure in an area of the body, mostly over the prominences of bones. Due to the raised pressure, the capillaries supplying blood supply to a particular region get compressed resulting in ischemia of the tissue. Other than ischemia, thrombosis of the venous system and occlusion of the lymphatic vessels of the area also are affected because of pressure. All these eventually lead to increased permeability of the capillaries, intersti tial edema and tissue death. The article provides an

Financial Assignment of the Entrepreneurial World

Financial of the Entrepreneurial World - Assignment Example The major challenges faced by the cleaning businesses are; During the period of lower revenues, many contract cleaning companies are forced to redistribute resources, improve workforce performance and streamline back office functions such as human resources, accounting and IT this is in an attempt to heighten the efficiency and reduce costs. Amplified competition in the industry is forcing corporations to bargain contracts with very stiff margins. In addition, many customers are aimed at cutting down the costs of operation in their own occupation by altering the terms of their agreements and reducing the frequency of cleaning procedures. The poor economic conditions present has Limited the public spend. This means that their will only be a few opportunities for contract cleaning company growth in the long-term. The declined job opportunities in addition to the increasing costs of fuel and employees have resulted in UK companies cleaning industry making a loss. So as to face the challenges and persist in the market the cleaning businesses have integrated skill and abilities of employees to increase efficiency in the level of performance. The workers are equipped with; cleaning skills: these are applied skills required by a cleaner to undertake the role competently; for example, the capability to control machinery and equipment; mopping skills; and the ability to use chemical substances without harm. It will thus reduce operational cost. Multi-tasking skills: it is important that staff execute a range of varied tasks in order for the businesses to endure the competitive market and keep low costs. Multi-tasking allows the control to reduce the numbers of employees while still maintaining the level of output.

Securing Restful Services With Token Based Authentication Computer Science Essay

Securing Restful Services With Token Based Authentication Computer Science Essay Enterprises are increasingly deploying RESTful services for two reasons 1) to enable Web 2.0 integrations with data stores and backend systems 2) to allow RPC-style communication between client side web frameworks like GWT or YUI and backend systems. In addition, there are multiple frameworks to develop these services that are consumed internally and externally by different endpoints in different contexts. Hence, it is vital to provide simple and adaptable security that both integrates seamlessly with enterprise security and brings authentication, authorization and integrity to the services. This paper covers the pros and cons of various approaches of RESTful services security: 1) Transport level security (TLS/SSL) provides secure peer-to-peer authentication, but this technique is inadequate when requests for authentication are based on delegation (allowing sites to authenticate on behalf of the user). 2) The OAuth protocol enables consumers to access services through an API that doe s not require consumers to disclose their service provider credentials to access services. This is the most commonly followed approach used by Google AuthSub, AOL OpenAuth, and the Amazon AWS API. However, not all REST frameworks provide support to this protocol. 3) Token-based authentication developed for CA Technologies Unified Connector Framework (UCF) to expose services over REST or SOAP combines the advantages of these two without compromising standards and simplicity. Introduction Since RESTful web services are exposed using standard HTTP protocol and methods, they can easily be consumed in multiple ways, such as with direct access from browsers using URLs; through programmatic interface using HTTP client libraries; and from client side frameworks such as JavaScript,. If enterprise systems provide RESTful access to their data and functionality, the open nature of REST requires a strong security solution to prevent access by unintended users; to prevent sniffers on the network from reading messages; and to control the users who are allowed to interact with specific services and disallow certain actions for certain users. The question is what should be the strong security solution? The REST protocol itself does not specify any predefined security methods. Many people believe that HTTP security practices can be successfully applied for securing REST services. This can be true, depending on the scenarios where RESTful services are consumed. HTTP security may be ad equate if the RESTful services are intended for internal use only. One example is web applications using Ajax frameworks. Since they need RPC over HTTP or RESTful services for backend interactions, invocation of services is internal to the UI and transparent to clients who interact with the UI. In such a scenario, HTTP security may be adequate.. However, greater security is required when RESTful services are intended for external use, For example, CA Technologies Catalyst integration platform provides RESTful services that can be consumed by such mechanisms as mashups, ESBs, Ruby scripts, and many more, and requires a higher level of security. Although the security requirements greatly vary for these two scenarios, we need a simple and adaptable solution for both. This article describes the commonly used security methods for RESTful services and suggests a solution that mostly fulfills the security requirements for externally published services, including REST, SOAP over JMS, SOAP o ver HTTP, and other protocols. This approach was developed for and is used in the RESTful services of the Core API of CA Technologies Catalyst integration platform. Commonly available methods for securing RESTful services Container-Managed Authentication and Authorization: As RESTful web services are HTTP-centric, the most natural fit for authentication and authorization is container based authentication and authorization. The concept of realm places a central role in the Tomcat approach. A realm is a collection of resources including web pages and web services, with a designated authentication and authorization facility. The container approach to security also is declarative than programmatic that is details about the security realm are specified in a configuration file rather than in code. The container also provides option to enable wire level security. Refer [1] [2] for information about configuring realms for authentication and authorization and SSL/TLS for wire level security. The advantages of this method need not be specified explicitly here as they are proven and widely used. However, it has the following limitations when applied to RESTful services for enterprise use: With user credentials based authentication, the security solution is confined to identity silos. It does not support the Actas scenario. An Actas scenario involves multi-tiered systems to authenticate and pass information about identities between the tiers without having to pass this information at the application/business logic layer. Mutual Authentication: HTTPS with client certificate enabled performs two-way authentication. In addition to the client receiving a signed digital certificate representing the server, the server can receive a certificate that represents and identifies the client. When a client initially connects to a server, it exchanges its certificate and the server matches it against its internal store. Once this link is established, there is no further need for user authentication. Mutual authentication is perhaps the most secure way to perform authentication on the Web. This approach has the same drawbacks mentioned in the previous section. Another disadvantage of this approach is the managing of the certificates. The server must create a unique certificate for each client that wants to connect to the service. From the browser/human perspective, this can be burdensome, as the user has to do some extra configuration to interact with the server. Shared Key based authentication: This is the common method used by Amazon web services and Microsoft Azure services. In this method initially the client registers with the service provider. As part of registration, the service provider sends the client an Access Key ID and a Secret Access Key. When a client wants to invoke services, it prepares the request, performs a hash on the request using its Secret Access Key, attaches the signature (hash) to the request, and forwards it to the service provider. The service provider verifies the signature is a valid hash of the request and, if authenticated, processes the request ([3] [4]). This achieves requester authentication as well as integrity without SSL The problem with this authentication schemes is that the contents and ordering of the string to sign are different from one service provider to another service provider. For instance, though Amazons and Azures mechanisms are very similar, their differences make them incompatible. Perhaps due to this issue, the OAuth approach covered in the next section is gaining popularity as a standard security mechanism for RESTful services. OAuth Oauth is an open protocol allowing secure API authentication and authorization in a simple and standard method for web applications. OAuth allows users of a service to provide limited access to a third party account of theirs to the service without sharing credentials. OAuth is often described as a valet key that users can give to a service to access their accounts on other services. For example, a user of Flickr (the service provider) would provide Snapfish (the consumer) with read only access to their Flickr account. This lets Snapfish access photos in the users Flickr account so they can order prints. Refer [5] for more details about OAuth specification. OAuth has some distinct advantages: It doesnt require certificates By choosing the right token format, it can support claims based Token. A claim is a statement about a subject; for example, a name, key, group, permission, or capability made by one subject about itself or another subject. Claims are given one or more values and then packaged in security tokens that are distributed by the issuer. It supports the SAML token. SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) is a standard for exchanging authorization and authentication data between between an identity provider and a service provider regardless of their platforms or security systems. OAuth with SAML enables federated authentication and authorization. The only drawback is that not all RESTful services frameworks provide native support for dealing with OAuth based authentication. For example, Apache CXF does not support OAuth. Token based Authentication CA Technologies Catalyst4 integration platform includes the Unified Connector Framework (UCF) that provides a Java-based solution for connectivity and integration among CA and third-party products UCF has distinct security requirements: It should be able to support Actas scenarios; the platform should be able to invoke services from 3rd party providers on the behalf of clients Catalyst exposes services in several different protocols, including RESTful, SOAP over HTTP, SOAP over JMS, etc. Its security solution should work consistently in all the forms of the services. Its security solution should be extensible, simple and adaptable in different scenarios. To accommodate these requirements, UCF introduced the token based security solution using public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificate for authentication and authorization of its services. This solution has the following components:. Domain Trust Certificate (DTC) is an X.509 v3 certificate issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) or self signed owned by the DomainManager that controls the UCF domain. Trusted Certificate (TC) is a X.509 v3 certificate signed by DTC. A Node is either a service provider or service consumer who owns that TC signed by the DTC. Security Service is available per container2 which hosts several connectors1. This service issues a Token, validates the Token and sets claims retrieved from Token to the context so that they can be used by connectors or other entities in the container for Authorization or Actas scenarios. CertAuthService is an independent entity provides services like signing Certificate Signing Request CSR 5 and providing the DTC public key Token consists of set of claims signed by security service. Interactions on the Client side: The client generates a CSR (Certificate Signing Request) using keytool 6 and obtains a X.509 certificate signed by DTC from the CertAuthService. The signed CSR is called a Trusted Certificate (TC) in UCF domain. The client makes an addTrust() request to the Security Service at the service provider by passing its public key certificate. This step enables the Security Service to validate the certificate and add provided certificate to its trust store. Steps 1 2 are performed only once per client. The client makes a getToken() call with tokenRequest to the Security Service. The tokenRequest consists of claims and a signature computed using the clients private key. If client is using UCF API to make remote calls, then steps 1 2 are transparent to the client at the time of proxy creation to the service endpoint. The client prepares the request and adds the Token to the request header. If client is using the UCF API to make remote calls, then adding the Token to the request header is transparent to the client. The client makes a remote call Interactions on the Service side: The Security Service is hosted from a Catalyst container so that it is available to both external users and inside the container for security token validations. For addTrust() calls, the Security service validates the provided certificates signature to find whether it is signed by DTC or not. If it is DTC signed then the Service adds the certificate to its trust store. For getToken() calls, the Security service checks the signature against the available keys in its trust store. If it succeeds then a token is prepared and returned to the client. The token consists of claims, lifetime and the signature of the Security service. For all incoming calls to the services available in the Catalyst container, calls are intercepted at CXF handlers and the token is verified with Security service. If it is from a valid client then claims are extracted out of the token and sets to thread local context so that it may be used by connector implementation for further authorization or authentication with other service providers. Finally, the call is forwarded to the service. If the Security service is unable to validate the token, an unauthorized exception is returned to the client. Authorization is handled by any provider on service using claims. As described above, this solution supports authentication based on X.509 certificate and authorization is done by any provider using claims. The same set of claims is used for Actas scenario. For instance, services running in Catalyst container can use claims to talk to another services or endpoint on the behalf client. Conclusion The solution described in Section 3 is a better fit for platforms/products like Catalyst that need to make services available in more than one form such as REST, SOAP over HTTP and SOAP over JMS. It is a security solution that works consistently in all forms of services. Also, the solution is extensible to other modes of authentication like user credentials other than certificate based. This solution needs additional work to replace custom Token format to SAML based so that tokens can be consumed in third party software which understands SAML. This. Acknowledgments The solution described in Section 3 was contributed by entire UCF team which includes Sijelmassi, Rachid, me, GVN, Anila Kumar and Koganti, Naga. . Actas

William Shakespeares Hamlet Essay example -- William Shakespeare Haml

William Shakespeare's Hamlet There are enough conceptions, and thus misconceptions, about the melancholy Dane to fill volumes. However, while none of them has proved entirely acceptable, some of them, such as the diagnoses that Hamlet simply â€Å"procrastinates† or â€Å"cannot make up his mind† prove utterly unsatisfactory under careful scrutiny of the play and, perhaps more importantly, Hamlet himself. Indeed, it appears as if there are certain points in the play in which Hamlet comes to reversals as he eventually counters each one of his own arguments and concludes each of his struggles, until, in his return from England, he is someone quite different from the self-loathing, melancholy, emotionally torn man in the â€Å"inky cloak† (I.ii.77) to the one who proclaims â€Å"This is I,/ Hamlet the Dane† (V.i.258). One theme throughout Hamlet is a desire for suicide, a self-loathing that prompts him, time and time again, even after he receives a vocation from his dead father to â€Å"revenge his foul and most unnatural murder† (I.v.26), to consider taking his own life and, in so doing, allow him to escape from the world, a prison, â€Å"A goodly one, in which there are many confines, wards, and dungeons, Denmark being one o’th’ worst† (II.ii.246-248). From the first time the audience sees Hamlet, before his meeting with the ghost, it is clear that he has a strained relationship with God: â€Å"Or that the Everlasting had not fixed/his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter!† (I.ii.131-132): later on, in the same soliloquy, calling the world â€Å"weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable† (I.ii.133). Hamlet’s famed melancholy is at once apparent and understandable: his father is dead under questionable circumstances, his mother, the essence of â€Å"frai lty† (I.ii.146), remarried i... ... own demise in a revenge tragedy instills regard, yes, but significantly less than watching the slow decay of the intellectual from the self-loathing pensive student of the first act to the fatalistic almost thoughtless warrior in the fifth act is not only more dramatic, but significantly more thought-provoking, and Shakespeare even hints at this fact in Act III, Scene IV: â€Å"For ‘tis the sport to have engineer/hoist with his own petard† (III.iv.213-14), suggesting that to watch the most schooled of minds drown in an incomprehensible and perplexing anguish is so utterly ironic, like the engineer blowing himself up, that it succeeds in producing, in Aristotle’s mind, the desired effects of pathos and fear, perhaps better than in any other tragedy for here it is not just the good man committing the bad deed, but the wise man succumbing to the failure of his knowledge. William Shakespeare's Hamlet Essay example -- William Shakespeare Haml William Shakespeare's Hamlet There are enough conceptions, and thus misconceptions, about the melancholy Dane to fill volumes. However, while none of them has proved entirely acceptable, some of them, such as the diagnoses that Hamlet simply â€Å"procrastinates† or â€Å"cannot make up his mind† prove utterly unsatisfactory under careful scrutiny of the play and, perhaps more importantly, Hamlet himself. Indeed, it appears as if there are certain points in the play in which Hamlet comes to reversals as he eventually counters each one of his own arguments and concludes each of his struggles, until, in his return from England, he is someone quite different from the self-loathing, melancholy, emotionally torn man in the â€Å"inky cloak† (I.ii.77) to the one who proclaims â€Å"This is I,/ Hamlet the Dane† (V.i.258). One theme throughout Hamlet is a desire for suicide, a self-loathing that prompts him, time and time again, even after he receives a vocation from his dead father to â€Å"revenge his foul and most unnatural murder† (I.v.26), to consider taking his own life and, in so doing, allow him to escape from the world, a prison, â€Å"A goodly one, in which there are many confines, wards, and dungeons, Denmark being one o’th’ worst† (II.ii.246-248). From the first time the audience sees Hamlet, before his meeting with the ghost, it is clear that he has a strained relationship with God: â€Å"Or that the Everlasting had not fixed/his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter!† (I.ii.131-132): later on, in the same soliloquy, calling the world â€Å"weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable† (I.ii.133). Hamlet’s famed melancholy is at once apparent and understandable: his father is dead under questionable circumstances, his mother, the essence of â€Å"frai lty† (I.ii.146), remarried i... ... own demise in a revenge tragedy instills regard, yes, but significantly less than watching the slow decay of the intellectual from the self-loathing pensive student of the first act to the fatalistic almost thoughtless warrior in the fifth act is not only more dramatic, but significantly more thought-provoking, and Shakespeare even hints at this fact in Act III, Scene IV: â€Å"For ‘tis the sport to have engineer/hoist with his own petard† (III.iv.213-14), suggesting that to watch the most schooled of minds drown in an incomprehensible and perplexing anguish is so utterly ironic, like the engineer blowing himself up, that it succeeds in producing, in Aristotle’s mind, the desired effects of pathos and fear, perhaps better than in any other tragedy for here it is not just the good man committing the bad deed, but the wise man succumbing to the failure of his knowledge.

Ralph Abernathy: A leader of the Civil Rights Movement

Being a prominent leader during the Civil Rights movement was a perilous position to occupy. Very few people have the guts to make themselves the face of a movement, and even fewer succeed at it. Ralph Abernathy was an American Civil Rights activist who advocated equality alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and many others. Ralph Abernathy strived to help establish a more equal and welcoming America for all.Abernathy went on a journey to help change the way America is today and help create a more equal America for all, regardless of race or ethnicity. Ralph Abernathy began gaining the skills to be a leader at a young age, and exemplified those skills by leading multiple demonstrations. Ralph Abernathy was born on March 11, 1926, in Linden, Alabama. He was born into a time of social inequality and race segregation. Abernathy served in the United States Army during WWII and served as a platoon Sergeant, leading his own group of soldiers. After being discharged from the Army, he enrolled a t Alabama State University (ASU).While attending ASU he began to notice how the university was segregated. He gained fame when he started his first demonstrations, protesting the lack of heat and hot water in his dormitory and the dreadful food served in the cafeteria. Later, in 1951, he was called to the Civil Rights Movement when he became the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. As pastor he mentored Martin Luther King Jr. as a minister of a nearby church. They formed a close friendship that would carry on for the rest of their lives.Abernathy developed a leadership role from the start of his life which helped lead him into his role as one of the biggest Civil Rights advocates America had ever had. Abernathy organized, created, and lead multiple different protest and organizations to help the Civil Rights Movement. One of The biggest protests he organized was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Abernathy organized it with the help of Martin Luther King Jr. and toget her they lead the biggest boycott of the whole Movement. â€Å"It was decided that black people in Montgomery would refuse to use the buses until passengers were completely integrated† (Simkin).This protest was his call to action and one of his main contributions to the movement. Another one of Abernathys main contributions to the Civil Rights Movement was that he founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Martin Luther King Jr. was president of the organization and Abernathy was secretary treasurer.   They worked together in helping to desegregate America and  teaching people how to stand up for themselves and protest non- violently. The biggest trial that Abernathy went through was when his church was â€Å"sieged† by white supremacists. 1,500 men and woman were surrounded and Abernathy was willing to give himself up to save the innocent people stuck in the church.Ultimately, he did not end up sacrificing himself, but this was also a test of his character. â€Å"Over the next few years Abernathy was arrested nineteen times† (Simkin). Abernathy proved himself to be a dedicated, powerful, and resourceful leader. As the Civil Rights Movement progressed, Abernathy's role became a less dire. When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Abernathy took over the role as president of the SCLC. Ralph Abernathy led â€Å"daily demonstrations in May and June 1968, just a month after King's assassination† (Kirkland). Some of the important last demonstrations he led were the: Poor Peoples March in Washington D.C. in May, 1968, Atlanta sanitation workers strike in 1968, and lastly the Charleston Hospital workers strike in 1969.Abernathy retired his position as president of the SCLC in 1977. He then ran for a spot in the Georgia Congressional Seat. He was unsuccessful in the running yet continued advocating peace until his retirement. Abernathy's journey came to an end and he retired his title as a leader of the Civil Right s Movement. To conclude, Ralph Abernathy was a dedicated Civil Rights Activist who advocated equality and justice for all. Alongside many others, he accomplished impressive feats that once seemed unreachable. He went on a journey towards helping America become a more equal country. He was tested to his limits and proved himself to be a worthy, dedicated, and powerful leader.

Development through the Implementation of Physical Activity to Patients Suffering from Mental Illness. The WritePass Journal

Development through the Implementation of Physical Activity to Patients Suffering from Mental Illness. Introduction Development through the Implementation of Physical Activity to Patients Suffering from Mental Illness. ). In this report, Robert Francis revealed the failure among nurses and healthcare assistants to feed patients and give them the basic elements of care such as dignity and respect. Initiatives to combat such behaviour in the future included holding nurses personally and criminally accountable, as well as holding hospital boards responsible should they fail to ensure that all patients are receiving high quality care (Wright, 2013).   As I am a student who is in the transition period to a staff nurse, I am aware of the changing responsibilities and accountability that are inherent to being a nurse. Personal Development Plan Nagelkerk (2005) highlights the importance of setting and identifying goals that are intrinsic to your personal development, as it allows you to reflect on your practice and also highlight your strengths and weaknesses, which gives you the opportunity to initiate and implement change. With this in mind, I plan to draw on Snowden’s â€Å"clusters on essential skills for medicine management†. This is relevant to the current service improvement initiative as it highlights the need for newly registered nurses to be completely briefed on patient history and able to responsible administer medicines (Snowden, 2011). Moreover, I will draw on the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time) bound framework to set a time scale for my action plan.   I will also draw on Snowden’s clusters on essential skills for medicine management as it is a parsimonious model that allows me to evaluate educational needs and professional development. During the first month of the programme, I will ensure that I am completely knowledgeable of the commonly administered medicines that the patients are taking, their actions and side effects. I will do this by liaising with doctors and psychiatrists, and also attending weekly ward rounds. Within the second month, I intend to increase my confidence when it comes to managing my medication round effectively using the eight rights checklist: â€Å"right medication†, â€Å"right patient†, â€Å"right dose†, â€Å"right time†, â€Å"right date†, â€Å"right route†, â€Å"right preparation† and â€Å"right documentation† (Morgan, 2000). I will also develop my knowledge of pharmacology such as the interaction of medicines with different systems of the body. In the third and fourth months of training, I will build up my knowledge on the necessary techniques for administering medicine. I will attend a series of sessions on medicine management as well as observe trained professionals. This is in line with research that nurses must constantly build their body of knowledge and develop their professional skills (Burton Ormrod, 2011). The fifth and sixth months will focus on the application of the knowledge I acquired. This is where safety management, administration and monitoring of drugs come in. I will practice my skills in ordering medication, their storage and disposal of used medication. I intend to keep a reflective diary about all that I learnt from my own experience and experience of colleagues. The support and assistance of an experienced professional is very important and vital for a newly qualified nurse to gain confidence and practice effectively (NMC, 2008). With the right support and guidance from experienced colleagues, I should be able to manage medications safely and effectively. This will greatly enhance my professional confidence. Having clearly identified my goals and assigned a time limit to achieve them will help me to monitor my progress. I will work hard to make sure that my goals are achievable within the clinical setting. Conclusion Over the course of this paper, it has become clear that the responsibilities of a newly registered nurse are vast. The transition from a student to a nurse is not without its challenges and requires continuous training, support and guidance. To ensure that I am progressing in my knowledge of nursing, I will constantly engage in evaluations and assessment of my learning. For example, I will verify my learning in accordance with the standards of the Nursing and Midwifery Council.    APPENDIX A Service Improvement Activity Notification Proforma Details of service improvement project/activity: The main aim of the Service Improvement Initiative is to provide physical activity to mentally ill adolescents aged 10-17 years. The initiative will assess the clinical outcomes following the physical activity intervention, as well as the development of nursing skills needed for the efficient and effective delivery of care. Reason for development: Based on my observations in a psychological ward for adolescents aged 10-17 years, there are no opportunities to be involved in activities such as sports (darts, snooker, etc.). These activities are proven to provide multiple benefits to the service users, both in terms of physical fitness and mental health. Time spent on the project/activity: The program will take place over a span of six months. Resources used: There are a number of resources needed for this initiative. Resources include sufficient funding for paying for the services of team members and experts, as well as a range of sporting equipment, such as table tennis tables. Who was involved: A multidisciplinary team consisting of a group of nurses a physical therapist, psychiatrists, mental health practitioners, and other experts will be set up. Future plans: The initiative will be implemented in six (6) months. It is hoped that the program will become successful and beneficial for the service users and the multidisciplinary team. APPENDIX B Strengths  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Good communication skills,  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Good team player  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Positive attitude  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Good interpersonal skills  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Motivated and enthusiastic  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Responsible Weaknesses  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Assertiveness  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Medicine management skills  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Professional boundary issues Opportunities  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Access to training  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Learning from other members of inter-professional team.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Education, development and research  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Effective supervision  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Effective feedback Threats  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lack of time  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Staff attitude on ward  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Staff shortage  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My inexperience                   APPENDIX C    Objective    1. Improve   my knowledge of medication management. Where I am now Insufficient knowledge about medication.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Goal To become competent in medication management. Action plan Read British National Formulary Check NICE guidelines on medication Work with colleagues on the ward. Administering medication regularly with supervision Time 2 weeks 1- week 1- week continuously Evaluation Self-evaluation and evaluation by experienced professionals 2. Develop good knowledge of NICE guidelines on medication and current government policies on medication. Insufficient knowledge of NICE   on medication management. Competency and ability to practice independently. Read through NICE guidelines on medication (internet, Nursing publications) Administering medication regularly with supervision.   2-month. Self- evaluation and evaluation by experienced professionals 3. Attend training on medication. Insufficient knowledge of certain medicines Good knowledge about drugs, their use, dosages and side effects Attend training and seminars on medication   4-month Reflects on the experience gained, discuss with mentor 4. Develop confidence in ordering medication, organising its storage and disposal. Inadequate knowledge Ability to practice with confidence Actively participate in the daily running of the ward   6-month Evaluation by mentor and reflecting on practice REFERENCES Andalo, D. (2006). Medicines management in English care homes: a grim and chaotic picture. The Pharmaceutical Journal. 276, 198-199. Barker, P., (2005). The tidal model: A guide for mental health professionals. London: Routledge. Barr, J. Dowding, L. (2008). Leadership and Healthcare. London: SAGE Publications Limited. Beebe, L. H., Tian, L., Morris, N., Goodwin, A., Allen, S. S., Kuldau J. ( 2005) Effects of exercise on mental and physical health parameters of persons with schizophrenia. Ment Health Nurs, 26, 661-676. Benloucif, S. (2004). Morning or Evening Activity improves neuropsychological performance and subjective sleep quality in older adults. Sleep, 27(8), 1542-1550. Briles, J. (2005). Zapping Conflict Builds Better Teams. Nursing Times, 35(11), 32. Burton, R., Ormrod, G. (2011) Nursing Times: Transition to Professional Practice. London: Oxford University Press. Callaghan, P. (2004). Exercise: A neglected intervention in mental health? Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 11(4), 476-483. Campbell, R. J. (2008). Change Management in Health Care. The Health Care Manager, 27(1), 23–39. Caulfield H. (2005). Accountability. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, 3. Cohen, S. (2004) Social Relationships and Health. American Psychologist, 59(8), 676–684. Daley, A. (2002). Exercise therapy and mental health in clinical populations: Is exercise therapy a worthwhile intervention? Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 8, 262–270. doi:10.1192/apt.8.4.262 Department of Health (2004). Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices. Diamond, B. (1995). Legal Aspects of Nursing. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall. Ekeland, E. (2009). Exercise to improve self-esteem in children and young people. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 1. Elavsky S. et al., (2005). Physical Activity enhances long-term quality of Life in Older adults: Efficacy, Esteem, and Affective Influences. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 30(2), 138–145. Folkins, C. H, Sime, W E. (1981). Physical fitness training and mental health.  American Journal of Psychology, 36, 373-389. Frost, S. (2010). What are the benefits of activities in nursing homes? Livestrong Publications. Accessed March 21 2013 from: livestrong.com/article/151544-what-are-the-benefits-of-activities-in-nursing-homes/ Goodwin, R, D. (2003). Association between physical activity and mental disorders among adults in the United States. Preventive Medicine, 36(6), 698-703. Hainsowrth, T. (2006), The benefits of increasing levels of physical activity. Nursing Times, 102(20), 21. Hersey, P., Blanchard, K. Johnson, D. (2001). Management of Organisational Behaviour: Utilising Human Resources. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Gopee, N., Galloway, J., Eds.   (2009) Leadership and Management in Healthcare. London: SAGE Publications Limited. Huczynski, A., Buchanan, D. A. (2010). Organisational behaviour. 7th Ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Inter-professional Education Collaborative Expert Panel (2011). Core competencies for inter-professional collaborative practice: Report of an expert panel. Washington, D.C.: Inter-professional Education Collaborative. Kirkcaldy, B. D. et al. (2002). The relationship between physical activity and self-image and problem behavior among adolescents. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 37, 544-550. Koontz, H., Weihrich, H. (2008). 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Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation. London; Sage Publication. Pender, N. J. (1996). Health Promotion in Nursing Practice, 3rd ed. Stamford, USA: Appleton Lange. Penedo, F. Dahn, J. (2005). Exercise and well-being: a review of mental and physical health benefits associated with physical activity, Current Opinions in Psychiatry, 18(2), 189-193. Richardson, C. et al. (2005). Integrating physical activity into mental health services for persons with serious mental illnesses. Psychiatric Services, 56(3), 324-41. Roussel, L. (2011). Management And Leadership For Nurse Administrators. Burlington: Jones and Bartlett Learning Savard J., Simard S., Ivers, H., et al (2005). Randomized study on the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia secondary to breast cancer, Part II: Immunologic effects. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 23, 6097-6106, Schmitz, N., Kruse, J., Kugler, J. (2004). The Association between Physical Exercises and Health-Related Quality of Life in Subjects with Mental Disorders: Results from a Cross-Sectional Survey. Preventive Medicine 39, 1200–1207. Scrivener, R. et al. (2011). Accountability and responsibility: Principle of Nursing Practice B. Nursing Standard, 25(29), 35-36. Sharma, R. (2008). Change Management: Concepts and Applications. New-Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill Publishing. Smith, S. et al. (2007). A well-being programme in severe mental illness. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 61(12), 1971-1978. Snowden, A. Barron, D. (2011). Medicines management in mental health. Nursing Standard, 26(3), 35-40. Strà ¶hle, A. (2009). ‘Physical activity, exercise, depression and anxiety disorders’, Journal of Neural Transmission, 116, 777–784. Sullivan, E.J. Decker, P.J. (2011) Effective leadership and management in nursing. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Sullivan, E. J. Garland, G. 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Child Abuse Essay Example

Child Abuse Essay Example Child Abuse Essay Child Abuse Essay An Attributional or Social-Cognitive Approach to Causality Physical maltreatmentis one of the prima causes of decease for kids worldwide. UNICEF ( 2003 ) has estimated that, in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member provinces,kid maltreatment and disregardlead to 3500 deceases per twelvemonth. Furthermore, the entire figure of instances of maltreatment is estimated to be every bit much as two-thousand times higher than the figure of deceases due to maltreatment. What is the account for, or the cause of,kid maltreatment? Attempts to understand and extenuate kid ill-treatment have met withlimited success. A figure of factors have been identified ascorrelates of child ill-treatment. Included in these factors are lowsocioeconomic position, a cultural background tolerant of force, abreakdown of the household, societal isolation, kid morbidity, parentalmental unwellness and substance maltreatment, and parents who were abused duringtheir ain childhood. However, the events that lead to maltreatment arecomplex and are non good understood within any individual theoreticalframework. Frustration with the low impact of aetiologic research inthis country may explicate the displacement of focal point for many research workers, a shiftaway from causes of maltreatment toward intercessions with maltreatment subsisters.While it is improbable that an across-the-board theory is possible, anattributional attack to progressing the apprehension of thismulti-faceted phenomenon has gained some currency in psychologicalliterature. Attribution theory predicts that some signifier of aggressivebehavior, such as kid maltreatment, will be focused on the individual or objectperceived to be the knowing cause of a negative event. Incontrast, individuals or objects perceived as causally-linked with anegative event but in an unwilled manner are less likely to bethe receivers of focussed aggression ; in fact, a sympathetic responseis posited as more likely under these conditions. The followers is a treatment of the application of this theoretical account tothe sphere of child ill-treatment ; in peculiar, physical maltreatment. Inthe specific theoretical account to be discussed, physical maltreatment is conceptualized asan case of aggression, and attributional procedures are imbeddedwithin the context of a social-cognitive attack to aggression. Theutility and restrictions of this theoretical model, and itsimplications as a theoretical account for preventative intercession, will bediscussed.It should be understood at the beginning that wearing any one particulartheoretical position, with its defined and finite set of constructs, concepts and relationships, imposes a needfully restricting conditionon understanding causality as it relates to the comprehensiveness and range ofthekid maltreatment phenomenon. Perforce, a battalion of other lending variables is disregarded. About the Model With a focal point onphysical kid maltreatmentas an incidence ofaggression, it foremost is necessary to understand the social-cognitiveapproach to understanding aggression. The slightly mechanisticfrustration-aggression hypothesis ( Dollard et al. , 1939 ) , whichdominated earlier research on aggression, alerted the research worker andpractitioner to look for a anterior frustrating event. This attack had, and continues to hold, advocators and pertinence in the field ofchild abuse research. By contrast, an deduction of the social-cognitive attack isthat, given the presence of aggressive behaviour, one should look forthe aggressor’s judgement that the victim is personally responsible fora anterior negative event and for the aggressor’s feelings of choler towardthe victim. This theoretical account assumes that the perceptual experiences of negativeevents, illations sing possible motivations for those events, andother information-processing activities are cardinal to understandingthe instrumentality and etiology of hostile behaviours, the how and thewhy of aggression ( Crick A ; Dodge, 1994 ) . Within this position, attributional analyses focus on the procedure of imputing or assigningcausality for the happening of consequence events that are experient aspositive or negative, in changing grades, by the percipient. Attributional theoretical accounts differ from other social-cognitive signifiers ofanalysis in the inclusion of affect as a cardinal concept ( Wei ner,1986, 1995 ) . Adding affect to the mix consequences in a widening of thequality, every bit good as measure, of possible forecasters of aggression. As Weiner ( 1995 ) pointed out, affect takes us beyond the kingdom of coldand nonsubjective cognitive factors. In ascription theory, the perceived intentionality/controllabilityof an consequence event experienced as hostile constitutes the decidingfactor for the anticipation of whether an aggressive response willoccur. If a individual attributes a negative event to the voluntaryactions of another, so some signifier of aggression directed at theperceived cause of the event can be predicted. On the other manus, ifthe perceived cause of the negative event is believed to hold actedinvoluntarily, so a less aggressive response would be predicted. Whether the causal act is perceived as within or beyond the actor’scontrol is polar here, and the assignment of duty for theact determines the quality of the response. Deleterious actions, for illustration, elicit illations of duty if the histrion is perceived to possess cognition of the nature of the actand the purpose to bring down hurt. Conversely, duty is less likely to be assigned to an histrion whose behaviour is deemed to beoutside his control or the negative affect associated with the actionis judged to be unintended ( Graham, Weiner, A ; Zucker, 1997 ) . A ill-famed illustration of this mediational function forvolition/controllability in the assignment of duty may beseen in the Nazi war offenses adjudication proceedings. A less utmost illustration might be the greater assignment of duty for fiscal success to a individual perceived as holding worked difficult than to a lottery victor. These judgements of will and purpose are cardinal to the predictionof aggression from an attributional point of view. An often-replicatedfinding in the literature on childhood aggression is that kids andadolescents who tend to exhibit aggressive behaviour are more likely toassign hostile purposes to others than are their less aggressivepeers ( Crick A ; Dodge, 1994 ) . That perceptual experience can represent amotive for farther aggression in the pretense of requital and justness.In add-on, Averill ( 1983 ) and Weiner ( 1995 ) provided evidencedemonstrating that the perceptual experience of personal duty for aninjurious act can arouse choler and the related, affectively-negativeexperiences. This determination is in line with the thought from appraisaltheory that ideas have the capacity to arouse emotions ( Ellsworth A ; Smith, 1988 ) . In bend, choler has been demonstrated to arouseaggressive, relatiative behaviour ( Berkowitz, 1993 ) . The physiologicalexperience of choler can wor k as a stimulation to hostile action. Judgments sing duty for an consequence event besides canresult in more positive attendant behaviour. Contextual cues provide arich beginning of information for the appraisal of personalresponsibility. For illustration, if one’s remark is ignored by another, the negative affect, choler and aggression that might be generated giventhe premise of an knowing rebuff could be mitigated by theexplanatory cue of a noisy room. If an person is non heldpersonally responsible for doing a negative event, so the door possibly opened for a sympathetic response to that individual ( Schmidt A ; Weiner, 1988 ; Weiner, 1995 ) . In fact, surveies of selflessness ( i.e. , assisting behaviour ) have providedvery strong support for the prognostic value of attributional attacks. This literature testifies to the function of inferred duty in interceding behavioural responses to the perceived cause of an consequence event. It has been demonstrated, time-after-time, that people tend to react with sympathy and selfless behaviour given that the individual in demand of aid is non judged to be responsible for his/her predicament. Conversely, if the cause of a person’s hurt is attributed to actions within the person’s voluntary control, so people tend to react with choler and to keep back aid. For illustration, the inclination tocome to the assistance of a pupil, on crutches and have oning a dramatis personae, who dropsan armful of text editions, should be more marked than assisting behavior manifested toward the same student’s dropping a heap of magazines that extol utmost athleticss. Merely as attributional procedures do non intercede all aggression, altruismmay be found in the absence of responsibility-mediated ascriptions. However, ascription theory has a important differentiation in itsability to be applied to, and have prognostic cogency within, thedomains of both pro-social and antisocial interpersonal behaviour. Formany research workers, this grounds of the rich and robust quality of theattributional model places it among the general theories ofhuman motive. Using Attribution Theory to Child Abuse Two sequences qualifying the etiology of aggressive versusnonaggressive responses to negative consequence events can be derived fromthe theoretical relationships and the empirical grounds cited thusfar: Attribution of causality for a negative consequence event to a peculiar individual ( mark ) ? illation of personal duty for the negative event ? increased choler and decreased sympathy ? aggressive behaviour directed toward the mark. Attribution of causality for a negative consequence event to a peculiar individual ( mark ) ? no personal duty for the consequence event is inferred ? decreased choler and increased sympathy ? no aggressive behaviour directed toward the mark. These attribution-assessment-emotion-behavior sequences can be appliedspecifically to the kingdom of physical kid maltreatment. See thefollowing scenario. Small Janey paths mud into the house afterplaying outside. The female parent knows that Janey is the cause for muddyfootprints on her clean floor ( i.e. , ascription of causality for anegative consequence event to a mark ) . The female parent believes that Janey didthis deliberately, to do her more work ( i.e. , locates personalresponsibility for the event in the mark ) . The female parent becomes angryand work stoppages Janey. Alternatively, the female parent may recognize that Janeydid non purposively muddy the floor ; that she was trying to honorher newly-taught enamored preparation by hotfooting to the bathroom. The muddyfloor remains a negative event and Janey’s behaviour remains the cause ; nevertheless, the purpose to execute a negative action is non assigned toJaney. Therefore, the female parent directs less anger an d more sympathytoward her girl, and aggressive behaviour toward Janey is non thechosen response. The determiners of child ill-treatment include both attributional ( cognitive ) and affectional ( emotional ) constituents. This interpretationof the causes for physical kid maltreatment has received some support in theresearch literature. A cardinal ancestor of maltreatment was, at one clip, believed to be unrealistic outlooks on the portion of the parentsregarding the developmental gait of the kid ( Spinetta A ; Rigler,1972 ) . These false outlooks can be interpreted as illations ofcontrollability that mediated aggressive responses ( e.g. , Bradley A ; Peters, 1991 ) . Other findings related to this point have indicatedthat opprobrious parents tend to comprehend intentionality or control by thechild in the public presentation of negative behaviours ( Bugenthal, 1987 ; Bugenthal et al. , 1989 ; MacKinnon-Lewis et al. , 1992 ) . These informations areconsistent with the attributional analyses of kid maltreatment reported byBauer and Twentyman ( 1985 ) , Graham and co-workers ( 2001 ) , and Larranceand Twentyman ( 1983 ) . Milner and Foody ( 1994 ) reported the resistanceof parents at-risk for kid maltreatment to altering their ascriptions ofintentionality on the portion of the kid, even in the face of mitigatinginformation ( e.g. , contextual cues ) .In drumhead, there are empirical findings in support of an attributionalapproach to understanding physical kid maltreatment. However, the figure ofstudies is comparatively little. Deductions for Intervention The attributional attack and research findings reviewed haveimplications for preventative intercessions with at-risk health professionals. Oneobvious get downing point is attributional alteration, developing health professionals tosee their kids as less in control of, and less responsible for, their negative behaviours. Attributional therapy has been used toproduce alterations in behaviour by changing causal believing in educationaland clinical scenes for more than twenty old ages ( Forsterling, 1985 ) . Abusive health professionals can be instructed sing the meaningresponsibility, how accurately to deduce intentionality, and howcircumstances can alter illations sing incrimination. Decision A shared belief among research worker and theoreticians is that multiplesufficient causes exist and apply to peculiar manifestations ofaggression, includingkid maltreatment. For illustration, Belsky’s ( 1993 ) reappraisal of the literature covering with child ill-treatment concluded that: â€Å"All excessively unhappily, there are many tracts to child abuse† ( p. 413 ) . Were your parents opprobrious? Is it excessively warm in your house? Are you prejudiced? Do you experience frustrated? Are you mentally ill? A â€Å"yes† response to any of these inquiries, aswell as a mark of others, indicates that you are, to some grade, at hazard for mistreating a kid.Any individual history can embrace merely a little part of the dynamicsof aggression, in general, or of child maltreatment, in peculiar. While thetelling of a consistent narrative is the virtuousness of attachment to a particulartheoretical model or way, the way itself, by rights of its ownparticular properties, imposes bounds of understanding on thestory-teller and the audience. Attribution theory promotes a compelling position of the cognitive andaffective factors that can take to physical kid maltreatment or to asympathetic response. Possibly it is most compelling in its offering of intercessions toprevent mistreatment of kids, a virtuousness merely briefly touched upon in this paper. Overall, more research is needed, every bit good as the acknowledgment that the portion of theaetiologic narrativebased on ascription theory is a little portion, so.

Practicum Journal 1 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Practicum Journal 1 - Term Paper Example Be sure to delete any blank pages that appear between the weekly entries. Note: This document will serve as a cumulative journal. For each submission, you will add to the document so it contains all of your journal entries. Using no fewer than three peer-reviewed sources, analyze what you have observed within the context of your specialty using appropriate concepts, principles, and theories, giving special attention to observed events that vary from scholarly literature. (30 points) Explain how the problem, situation, or issue was handled in a manner that is consistent and a manner that is inconsistent with the theory, concepts, and principles detailed in the evidence. (30 points) There was a situation during my practicum experience where a day shift nurse was running over at 7.30 pm consequent to a patient experiencing a seizure 30 minutes prior. The day shift nurse could therefore not hand off all her patients as she was behind schedule. When the nurse supervisor was called, the night nurse stated that the situation would cause her to start her shift late and that it was unfair to her. According to Berkenstadt et al. (2008, p.159), the outgoing nurse must inform incoming nurse in regards to "Patient status and care, treatment and service, and any recent or anticipated changes in the condition of the patient". Conversely, bedside shift reports have become the conventional technique of handing off as it increases levels of patient satisfaction (Wakefield, Ragan, Brandt, and Tregnago, 2012). The fact that the night shift complained of unfairness is proof that she was not inclined towards bedside report hand off as an option as dictated by scholarly literature. A research aimed at establishing effective ways for hand offs cited by Philibert (2009, p.261) showed that "Frequent and time-constrained hand offs may frustrate the aims of the duty hour limits". This finding validates the night shift nurses concern that her shift would be affected. In terms of

New and Improved Rewards at Work Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

New and Improved Rewards at Work - Assignment Example Therefore, the relationship between the workers and the stakeholders will determine the level of change in any association (Politano & Macnaughton, 2009, p.110). Hence, this will contribute in integration of different skills, which if worked upon tactically will lead to growth of the organization to greater heights. In addition, all heads of departments should organize forums in which they have to meet with the aim of interacting, socializing, and exchange of ideas and experiences from their respective fields. Upon meeting, the heads will have robust environment to discuss for the way forward. Secondly, training of the workers by the organization will not only improve production by also the ability to use the required technology. Moreover, workers get motivated with the rewards from the organization. In alliteration, Innovation is the key factor in improving the strategy of any organization on the globe. Here is some crucial factor that all workers should embrace to initiate change a s below: learning, quality of life with innovation at hand, and monitory incentives just to mention but few. Learning It is noteworthy that the available innovation gives employees the opportunity to learn and put into practice the learned technological skills. In addition, by statistics analysis, it is evident that the number of hours worked by American employees is on the rise. The above, is propelled by the high standards of living and so many workers are scared on how effectively they will meet the demand of lives. Flexibility of employees is one key factor that facilitates production in an organization. Monetary incentives:- money is the main motivational factor globally, here the organization’s profit, if shared among the employees will motivate employees to a greater heights. Besides, to reduce absenteeism, and improve employees’ production, monetary rewards are the best igniters so far. On the contrary, if monetary rewards are not incorporated with other reward s can be short lived. Again, if not well distributed among all employees, the monetary incentives can prove to be fatal (Deeprose, 2007, p.120). However, the current competitive conditions in an organization or business world make it almost impossible to not only retain, but also acquire top talents. Therefore, an organization should offer the right pay and effectively manage the pay increase in order to retain the top talents after identification. On the other hand, it is advisable to keep personal budget by stabilizing the compensation strategy. Compensation strategies are vital in identifying the job markets to an organization hence building the attractiveness of company’s top talent. Compensation strategy and competitive advantages Nowadays, it is worth to note that employees are on the same level with the customers. Thus, they are not in a position to identify a good organization since better employers are identified no longer. Competitive advantage is a propelling facto r to a mix success. It is important for any organization to identify differently themselves for not only presentation but also for a different approach to the employees. In addition, it is real that the most successful differentiators are compensation strategies. An organization is not only differentiated from other organization by compensation strategy but also it brings differentiation in an organization. It is pertinent to note that, effective compensation gives the

Network Securty Hardware and IDS systems Research Paper

Network Securty Hardware and IDS systems - Research Paper Example Routers have a built-in mechanism, which ensures LAN protection by blocking the packets invalid packets from moving on the LAN. A router not only checks for the valid destination address but also ensures the delivery of flawless packets to the destination. If a router finds any sort of error in a packet, it discards that packet and sends the remaining message to the destination. Therefore, we can say that a router is a very important data transfer device used on a network. Topic # 2 An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is a software application, which not only detects and stops unauthorized activities but also reports them to the network administrators for further action. One of the most famous Intrusion Detection Systems is Snort, which is used to detect the presence of worms, malicious activities, and unauthorized accesses. Haas (2010) states, â€Å"Snort is a libpcap-based packet sniffer/logger which can be used as a lightweight network intrusion detection system†. People ma ke use of Snort software to detect the hacking attempts on their networks. Snort examines every packet that a computer transfers over a network and reports transfer of suspicious packets to the administrators. Snort software manages a database in which it keeps all traffic signatures.

Liberty Communication Satellite Phones Essay Example for Free

Liberty Communication Satellite Phones Essay Mexico is one of the leading markets for electronic goods such as mobiles creating a global business avenue. Like any other business, a number of risks face electronic goods. The objective of the paper is to conduct a risk analysis on Mexico for Liberty communications Satellite Phones Company a new business venture. Risk analysis in this case is an aspect of identifying risk factors that jeopardize the success of the new communication company in Mexico. The rules regulate marketing, supply and distribution of satellite mobile phones which affects operation of business. Communication through satellite mobile is regulated by rules made by politicians and thus the company is supposed to have adequate knowledge about communication rules. Another risk to be analyzed is exchange and repatriation of funds which relates to exchange rates. The company is supposed to consider the value of Mexican currency against other currencies to meet global standards (Fleisher Craiq, 2005). This risk occurs when currency trades badly against other currencies as it is a loss to the communication company. Competition is a general risk to any kind of business and thus Liberty communications should consider evaluating whether there is any other dominating company that deals with satellite mobile phones. Upon close evaluation of the communication sector, Liberty communications is bound to make sound decisions about that particular venture. Every business is bound to pay tax to government and this is a major area of concern by Liberty communications. The taxation rate differs from one business to another according to laws made by political entities (Culpan Refik, 2002). In certain instances, the rate of taxation is very high making business to pay heavily. The communication company should consider laws regarding taxation and double taxation. Marketing of satellite phones is a major risk that ought to be analyzed before venturing into communication market. The major aspects to be considered include the 4p’s such as product, price, place and promotion. Management at Liberty communication is supposed to consider putting satellite phones (product) at the right place (Mexico) at the right price and time (promotion). Once these elements are considered the company successfully ventures communication sector without obstacles. Distribution and supply chain is another major risk that should be analyzed as it can lead to poor trading. The company is bound to exploit certain royal customers with the intention to make maximum sales. Distribution of satellite phones is exposed to both physical and environmental risks which should be evaluated before venturing into the business. Social and cultural life of Mexican people is another major area that exposes the company to risks. The social life and cultural practices in Mexico have an influence in communication and Liberty communications is bound to consider such values. This is related to life style as it is influenced by technology and cyber. Management of Liberty Company should consider whether Mexican people have enough knowledge on technology as it is the main area of specialization. References Fleisher Craiq, 2005, Competitive Intelligence and global Business, Praeger. Culpan Refik, 2002, Global Business Alliances: Theory and Practice, Quorum Books.

Cost Volume Profit Analysis: Advantages and Disadvantages

Cost Volume Profit Analysis: Advantages and Disadvantages â€Å"Cost Volume Profit Analysis is not appropriate in an environment where companies produce many diverse products†. Cost volume profit analysis is the study of the effects of output volume on revenue, costs and profit (Horngren, Sundem and Stratton). The most common use of cost volume profit analysis is to find break-even point in terms of number of units sold. In its simplest form cost volume profit analysis works for single product companies. But most of the companies produce more than one product. Sales mix is the relative proportion of quantities of different products that comprise total sales. When sales mix changes, break-even point changes and so does the profit. Like any model, cost volume profit analysis is based on certain assumptions. This paper looks at the applicability of the assumptions, especially for a company producing more than one product. Most of the assumptions in cost volume profit model are based on the linearity of cost and sales with units. Major elements impacting cost are sudden increase in fixed costs, gain in worker efficiency and higher bargaining power of the company. Similarly revenues are non-linear because companies give varying discounts to different customers. Assumptions made in cost volume profit analysis: Unit selling price remains constant. This implies that the price of the product or service will not change as sales volume varies. In reality the situation is different as reduced selling prices are normally associated with increased sales volume and this supports the supply-demand hypothesis which states that lowering of price will result in higher sales and vice-versa. It is a common practice in the business world to offer different discounts to different customers based on the volume of purchase and the strategic importance of sale. Companies offer bulk discounts to larger customers. Managers often reduce prices as volume increases to attract more customers. Also stiff competition means selling product at discounts during lean periods or during festive times. Bigger companies producing more than one product have often more than one sales manager and they have their own targets. Each sales manager would adjust his sales volume and price to maximize his products profits and this may not result in ideal sales mix for the whole company. Hence the assumption of constant sales price is rarely applicable in today’s dynamic world. The realistic sales-output relationship is more like a curve than a straight line. And when a company is selling more than one product, the analysis of break-even point under multiple non-linear relationships becomes more difficult. The behavior of costs is linear (straight line) over the relevant range. This implies the following assumptions: Costs can be categorised as fixed or variable. In a large organisation with multi-product it becomes very difficult to organize costs into fixed and variable. Not only there are a large number of costs involved but also there are a large number of cost drivers acting on those costs. Under such circumstances segregating costs into fixed and variable is a very tedious and time consuming job. Unit variable costs are fixed and constant. It is possible that unit variable costs remain fixed under circumstances like where a company produces just one standard product. Most businesses enjoy benefits of economics of scale as their production increases in terms of Higher trade discounts; Better credit and financing terms. The above benefits result in reduction of variable cost per unit with increase in number of units. The assumption of linear variable costs doesn’t hold true in reality and will result in a situation where the relationship between variable cost and output is a non-linear relation (Williamson). Also when a company sells many products, unit variable costs can’t be identified properly and hence not known. It is hard to classify variable cost to each product. As an example, a superstore sells thousands of products at different prices. Calculating break-even point in terms of number of units sold would be meaningless. In such scenarios, companies can use total sales and total variable costs to calculate variable costs as a percentage of total sales. Fixed costs remain fixed over a wide range of activity. Companies, based on their experience and studies, can analyse fixed cost over a range of activity. But it would be improper to assume that fixed costs would remain constant over a wide range of activity. In a multi-product company, different products will take different unit time of various production facilities. A change in sales mix may not be met by existing fixed capacity and involve setting up of further facilities resulting in higher fixed costs. Many times fixed cost has a step change and a particular fixed cost is applicable for a range of production only. Because of sudden change in fixed costs, unit costs can vary a lot just near the step change point. In case of multi product companies, because of change in sales mix, it becomes difficult to access which product has caused the change in fixed costs. The efficiency and productivity of the production process and workers remain constant. Under economics of scale, efficiency of production processes increases with increase in production of units. Higher production levels should result in lower variable cost due to higher productivity. This means that assumption of constant unit variable costs doesn’t hold true when there is a change in productivity and efficiency. It is easier to calculate efficiency gains in a single product business. But for a company involved in multiple products, it becomes difficult to track efficiency gains in each process. In multi-product organizations, the sales mix remains constant over the relevant range. It is hardly a scenario where all products perform as per budget expectations in terms of number of units sold. Let’s first examine the scenario where sales-output relationship is a straight line. If products have different contribution percentages, change in sales mix would change overall contribution. A change in sales mix is now basically a question of working out new contribution to sales ratio which is a weighted average based on the number and contribution percentage of each product sold. Change in sales mix would change the contribution ratio and hence the break-even point. If now sales-output relationship is a non-linear one, it becomes much more difficult to calculate contribution percentage at different sales mix. The use of computer programming has made the task of calculations much easier but managers can miss the learning by just focusing on overall break-even point and profits. Fearon (1960) reasoned that the problem of maintaining a constant product-mix in a multi-product company may not be that serious because of the following main points: Break-even analysis is not just to give exact answer, it is more to throw light on the problem areas for management; Break-even point should be used as approximation and as an area rather than a point; Over time, multi-product companies reach a stable product mix which changes slowly. Hence constant product mix could be a good approximation for such scenarios; and Also if company uses constant margin over the cost for all products, then it is much simpler to use cost volume analysis. For companies adopting this pricing strategy, sales mix is not a complex issue. Ignores the time value of money. Cost volume profit analysis doesn’t take into account the time value of money. All cash flows are taken at face value. In real world, there are differences in timing of cash inflows and outflows. Companies have to pay for buying stock, workers salary, marketing and distribution before they can realize sales. Companies pay interest on any money borrowed to finance their working capital. Companies operating in high margin products can still manage to ignore the time value of money but companies with low-margin products have to take into account interest charges. There is no change in inventory levels at the beginning and end of the period. This is hardly the case as most of the companies have work in progress at the beginning and end of a period. It can be a coincidence that the inventory levels are same at the beginning and end, but very rarely a company would plan inventory levels in such a way so that there is no net change in inventory during a period. The task of managing inventory with multiple products is even more difficult. This is not a major issue as companies do stock taking at the end of a period for financial records. But the change in prices over the period and interest on working capital should be taken into account for proper cost volume profit calculations. Fearon (1960) suggested some techniques to incorporate the product mix in a multi-product company for cost volume profit analysis. Though he suggested five different ways of adopting simple cost volume profit analysis in a multi-product company, he himself wasn’t fully satisfied with any of those solutions. But he mentioned that the sales mix could be approximated to benefit from the cost volume profit analysis. With all its shortcomings and assumptions, cost volume profit analysis can be used to look at the profitability levels. Companies producing multiple products in today’s dynamic world should carry on the analysis with a view to look at the results as an approximation and not the definite answer. Management should use the results to highlight problem areas. CONCLUSION Cost volume profit analysis is a common tool used to find break-even point in terms of number of units sold. Assumptions used in cost volume profit analysis are debatable because of linearity of cost and sales price. In real world, both cost and sales price remain fixed only over a narrow range and are impacted by elements like improvement in worker efficiency, bulk discounts both in purchasing and being offered to clients and competition. When a company produces more than one product, a change in the relative proportion of quantities of different products changes the break-even point and profit. Because of the non-linearity and change in sales mix, cost volume profit analysis will not give a correct answer but could be a good approximation of what levels of production should a company target to break-even or to make certain level of profits. Management should use the analysis to look more at the problem areas and profitability of products rather than finding exact profit numbers. BIBLIOGRAPHY Fearon, H. E. (1960). â€Å"Constant product mix – A limiting assumption in B-E analysis†, National Association of Accountants, NAA Bulletin, July 1960, Pg. 61 Horngren, C.T., G.L. Sundem and W.O. Stratton. â€Å"Introduction to management accounting†. Prentice Hall International, Eleventh edition. Williamson, D. â€Å"Cost Volume Profit Analysis: Its assumptions and their pitfalls†, (http://business.fortunecity.com/discount/29/cvpass.htm), date 21 January 2007